Brent Key on what he wants to see from the offense on Friday: "I want to see them be efficient, I want to see them move the ball"

Can the Yellow Jackets upset Louisville on Friday night?

Georgia Tech was not a good offensive team last year. The Yellow Jackets ranked 124th in scoring offense, 90th in rushing, and 108th in passing. The Yellow Jackets were 121st in offensive EPA (expected points added) and 119th in success rate. 

To improve those numbers, head coach Brent Key went out and got a new offensive staff, notably offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner. Faulkner is going to be calling plays for the Yellow Jackets and look to make this team more explosive and efficient. Quarterback Haynes King was named the starter last week and he is going to have a new-look wide receiver room this year, which should be an upgrade over last season. If the offensive line takes a step forward, this should be a much better unit. 

Key is not one to set expectations for his team, but when asked about what he wanted to see from his offense on Friday against Louisville, this is what he said: 

"I want to see them be efficient, I want to see them move the ball , situational football. We have spent a lot of time on situational football through spring ball and preseason camp and I want to be able to see them get into situations and not, they are not too big for them, it is not something they are nervous about. to be able to play with a cool, calm, and collective demeanor and play physical and play disciplined.

I told our team this week that this is a team I want to see play loose, I want to see them play confident and be extremely disciplined and play with a physicality and toughness that we have demanded from these guys every single day."

Georgia Tech opens the season on Friday against Louisville / Georgia Tech Athletics

While those might be things that Key is looking to see from the offense on Friday, there are things that he wants to see from his team as a whole as well: 

"I do have a good feel for this team and I know what type of team that we have but its... I know what team we have practicing against each other, I know what type of team we have from January and the type of improvement that we have shown from January to now but it is all relative to who we are going against everyday so that is the unknown. How is the team going to respond then against someone else, how are they going to respond to a different venue, how are they going to react when adversity sets in.

We all know what adversity is and at some point in the game, it will occur. You take the things that have occurred over the last 8-9 months and you hope that you have a little bit of a pattern and you think you know what they are going to do. We all as coaches have been in first games of the season and there are a lot of unknowns and things that happen that you would never expect.

I think the biggest question is, when that adverse time hits and adversity comes, what are we going to do to work our way through it, what are we going to play the next play, to leave that play behind and understand that its one play at a time just like it is one game at a time, we are playing this as a season. It is just like in the past when we have 12 one game seasons and this is a season right here.

Are they going to be able to have the focus for the entire rest of the week, are they going to be able to focus on the entire day Friday and throughout the game and then rebound and something happens and the next play and that is where I am excited.

It is not about the nervousness, it is not "I hope this happens" or "I hope this happens", I wanna see how they take those challenges on."

When the offense takes the field on Friday, they are going to be facing a Louisville defense that is talented, but is missing some star power from last year. The Cardinals were fantastic at rushing the quarterback last season and creating havoc and the Georgia Tech offense has to stay ahead of the chains on Friday night. Everything is not going to run smoothly in game one with so many new faces, but the Yellow Jackets can't afford many negative plays that put them behind. 

Betting Odds

Betting odds per Si Sportsbook: Louisville -7.5; Over/under 49.5; Moneyline: Louisville -300, Georgia Tech +220

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