Everything From Brent Key Ahead of Matchup With No. 1 Georgia

Georgia Tech hosts the Bulldogs this Saturday at 7:30

Georgia Tech vs Georgia is inching closer. 

The Yellow Jackets will welcome the No. 1 team in the country to Atlanta on Saturday and it will be their biggest test of the season. After clinching bowl eligibility, Brent Key's team is going to try and ruin the perfect season and 28-game winning streak that Kirby Smart's Bulldogs have going. 

Ahed of the matchup on Saturday, Key spoke with the media, and here is everything that he had to say. 

Opening Statement

"We had a really good win on Saturday night, I thought the team did everything that we asked them to do in the course of the game in terms of playing four quarters, weathering the storm with some ups and downs and playing to the next play, they showed grit and toughness throughout the game and they finished the way we wanted them too. I am really happy for the kids and the staff, they were able to get the result they wanted and the outcome of the game was the way they wanted it so I am happy for those guys. 

Players of the game from last week: Offensively, Haynes King and Jamal Haynes, defensively it is Zeek Biggers and Kyle Efford, who was also the ACC linebacker of the week and then on special teams, it was Paul Moala. 

Along with that, on Sunday night we voted for permanent team captains and it was 12 guys received 20 or more votes, which is outstanding to see. All classifications, from redshirt freshman to sophomores to seniors. The four guys that were named permanent captains for the 2023 Georgia Tech football team were Joe Fusile, Dylan Leonard, Jaylong King, and Haynes King. Excited for those guys, I was able to call them in one-on-one yesterday and from one team captain to another, it was a really cool moment and the I announced it to the team right after practice today. Happy for those guys and happy for the leadership that continues to be built on this entire football team and excited to see it throughout the week and on Saturday. 

Big game coming up this weekend and yeah, it is a big game. It is not just the next game on the schedule, it is our in-state rival, it is a chance to play for a state championship, it is a chance to have bragging rights for a year, these kids grew up playing against each other and that is what makes it special, that is what makes in-state rivalries great so we are going to continue our preparation to play on Saturday night."

1. Can they play fast and loose now that they have clinched a bowl game...

"I hope the pressure is never off of me. I hope they never take the pressure off of themselves. Pressure busts a pipe, but it also makes diamonds and you grow under pressure and you thrive under pressure. These kids are Georgia Tech students and Georgia Tech graduates. That is the world that we live in and that is the world that we love."

2. On if they will play three linebackers against Georgia like they did against Syracuse...

"It is personnel driven, it is all personnel driven. It has to do with how many receivers are on the field vs how many tight ends and fullbacks type of players. If you were to play three linebackers on the field with 11 personnel you have basically condensed yourself to two coverages that you can play. Now, we would not do that but it is all personnel driven. Each team has a new game plan and a new scheme that goes along with it but I thought it allowed us to be able to play faster and allowed those guys and we had four or five guys making tackles."

3. On him being able to beat Georgia three times in his playing career...

"It was tremendous. The feeling of winning that game and receiving the Governor's trophy, to be able to... I have one in my office now, I want guys to see that and I want them to know what that is, I want them to understand the importance of this game. It is not just another game. When you come into the season, there is two goals. There is a goal to go to the bowl game and there is a goal to beat Georgia. We don't come out and openly talk about what our goals are. That is why last week I began to talk about a bowl game because it is time to talk about it and now it is time to talk about another goal and that is to beat Georgia. Is your goal to win every football game? Yeah, it is to win every game, but our true team goals are to go to a bowl game and to beat Georgia. 

I said it in my opening press conference a year ago. We will work every day to beat the team on the other side of the state and that is what we have done."

Brent Key beat Georgia three times as a player at Georgia Tech / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

4. On how to sell to his team the possibility of victory and if how lopsided the game has been has bothered him as an alum...

"To answer the first part of your question, you are damn right it does. Yeah it does. Rivalries are not one-sided, rivalries are competitive games between two games, that is what makes rivalries great, this is hands down one of the greatest rivalries in the country. Well, in order for that to be the case, outside of our scope, it needs to be competitive. That is on us, that is on us at Georgia Tech to be able to go out and compete for four quarters in a football game. 

As far as selling it to the team, we have another opportunity to play another game and our rival. If you have to do that, you have to have ice water running through your veins."

5. On how to convince his team that Georgia is not invincible...

"Success comes from believing you can have success. Individual success comes from believing you are going to play a good football game, collective team success comes from believing you are going to win that football game. You can say all the politically correct things in the world that you want to say and try not to trip over yourself, but at the end of the day you go out and try to win football games, you play to try and win football games. When you believe you are going to win the football game, yeah, you have more success and you play well. 

When you don't believe in that, you don't play well. That is individually and collectively."

6. On how much he can lean on Buster Faulkner because of his connection to Kirby and the staff...

"Zero. Zero. We have every game on tape they have played this year and every game they played last year. That is not something that takes place. They have good coaches, they have good players. We have good coaches and we have good players. We are going to put a game plan together and they are going to put a game plan together. You game plan off of film. Everyone thinks those things happen and they really don't."

7. On how valuable Dominick Blaylock (former Georgia receiver) has been...

"Yeah, we brought in four transfer receivers last year because we knew that offensively, we had to increase our production and become more explosive and become a more explosive offense. The quickest way to do that in college football is to have receivers that can spread the field horizontally and vertically and to have a triggerman that can get the ball to them and then his added value in the punt return game will be a big challenge this week so. 

It has been great to have him, but Dom is a great kid. He is a guy that comes in and he does not say anything and just goes to work. To see what he has overcome in his career and to be able to have some success, I am really happy for him."

8. On if we will use the success they had last year vs Georgia as motivation...

"I have not yet, I don't know if I will. We will talk about a lot of things this week. Putting one log on the fire at a time."

Brent Key and Kirby Smart before last year's game / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

9. On how to get his team to believe they can beat Georgia, despite never having done it before...

"There is a first time for everything in your life. But guess what, I have beat them, I know what it is and I am the head coach. They are going to believe as I believe."

10. On Kirby Smart complementing his offensive line as a physical group...

"Well, I appreciate that from Kirby. That has zero bearing on the outcome of this football game but we still have a long way to go up front and we have a big challenge ahead of us this weekend. I am proud of the guys and the way they have come around this year, the way they are playing together, I am proud of the fact that most great offensive lines that I have ever been around and had the pleasure to coach, look nobody is going to be perfect for an entire season or an entire game and they are going to have ebbs and flows within a game, just like we have and those guys have been able to come back and play consistently, whether it be overcoming a bad game or a bad series and then be able to finish games in the fourth quarter, which I have been proud of."

11. On how to contain Brock Bowers...

"I am usually pretty quick-witted... put three guys on him, I don't know. Put one person on him and cross your fingers and hope things don't happen. We will put a game plan together, they have a lot of explosive players on their offense, they have a quarterback that is doing a heck of a job this season, playing as good as anyone in the country right now. They generate explosives with a lot of different players, he is not just the only one. I think they have 40+ explosive plays over 20 yards this year, 48 if I am not mistaken in the passing game. 

They have two running backs that are very quick and efficient runners, running backs that can take it the distance at any time, they can condense sets and be able to play bully ball and able to spread you out and go different motions and unbalanced and they have a really good play-action game so if you just focus on one person, you are really going to leave yourself open all over so it will be a big challenge for us this week."

12. On if there is anything special he will do for this game in terms of speeches or other things...

"I am going to be me. I am very comfortable in my own skin, I am very comfortable in the way that I motivate these guys and get these guys to play, every game is a different game, just like I said when we started out though, this game is different than the other ones."

SP+ Predicts Georgia Tech vs Georgia Score

Follow us on social media for the latest news on Georgia Tech Athletics!

Facebook: All Yellow Jacket

Twitter: @AllYellowJacket