Everything From Brent Key Ahead of Matchup With Syracuse

Georgia Tech can clinch a spot in a bowl game with a win over Syracuse on Saturday

Georgia Tech has their biggest game of the year coming up on Saturday. 

The Yellow Jackets host Syracuse and the winner of this game clinches a spot in a bowl game. Georgia Tech has not made it to the postseason since 2018 and it would be a good step for Brent Key in his first year. 

Ahead of the matchup against the Orange on Saturday, Key met with the media today, and here is everything from the Yellow Jackets head coach. 

Opening Statement:

"A loss on Saturday, it was a painful loss, it sucks to lose any time. We have talked about it before, you only have 12 opportunities guaranteed to you during the season to go out there and do what you have worked all season for. Anytime you don't come out on top, it is a painful deal to put so much effort and work into it. Like we talked about also early in the year, our response to any event is what is going to give us the outcome we want. Our response this week and moving forward to that game but also how we prepare ourselves to play Syracuse is going to give us the outcome that we want on Saturday. 

This team has responded well this year. When they have had a game prior, they have done a good job of rebounding and responding and I am anticipating that this week. Coach (Nick) Saban used to talk about all the time, "Never waste a failure" and looking the failures in the eye and approaching those things and not wasting them is the approach as always and looking forward to a new mission this week and going out and competing and preparing all week and then going out and playing against Syracuse. 

It will be a different challenge for us, they pose some challenges offensively and defensively in some of the things that they have done and changed the last two games offensively and schematically what they do on defense, they got some... really statistically on defense they have improved and they are top 20 in a lot of categories defensively. Offensively, they have had four guys behind the center at times in the last couple of games, to wildcats to big wildcat to quarterback to a read option type of quarterback and really the biggest thing is that this team on Sunday night when we had the team meeting and addressed moving forward this week, we talked about being at home and playing at 8:00 at Bobby Dodd this weekend, its really what broke the ice and got them excited again and thinking about how it was for the last home game we had and I said hey, we are back at 8:00 again in the same environment and that really got the juices flowing and got them excited again to move on and prepare for this week. 

The crowd is big, it was huge in the win two weeks ago and it is going to be huge again this week. I encourage everyone to continue to come out and be that same loud state that they were two weeks ago because our team feeds off of it and it was an outstanding environment and I really hope to see the same thing this Saturday. 

Also, for Georgia Tech to welcome back Coach (George) O'Leary and the 1998 Gator Bowl ACC Championship Team, a lot of former coaches and friends coming into town for that game so that will be a special time for them. I won't be able to enjoy the festivities and whatnot but I will be there in spirit guys. It is an exciting time for those guys, any time former teammates can get back together and share some experiences and invoke memories here from playing the game, it is special and that is what these guys are doing now and I talk about that, down the road, you are going to have those same memories when you come back. 

Excited to play this weekend, excited to be at home and I am excited for the environment that will take place for this week."

1. On how to change and prepare for what Syracuse does on offense...

"There are only so many things you can do to change. The thing we have to do is get set, they are doing a lot of this with tempo as well so it is not like they are coming up there and always waiting and taking the time off the clock. They have been running the plays the last few weeks and playing with mixed tempos, we have to get up and get our cleats set in the ground, we have to get aligned, we have to defeat blocks, we have to cover guys in the back end, some of the shot passes or pop passes they might have off of it but we have to get an edge to ourselves and get down and get ready to play football on Saturday because it is going to be a battle with them coming in on offense."

2. On some of the issues with the passing game on Saturday...

"No. 1, we played a really good and talented football team. We have to be able to go out and execute. We go into games to try and win the game and that is one of the things that after every game, I am going to sit there and reevaluate myself within the game and we went there to win the game and it was evident by the first third and two we had, we threw a play-action shot and we have to make plays. It happens. It happens when you're playing teams that are a little bit closer in coverage, a little bit closer in this, the pocket is a little bit further back, so we have to continue to grow from those things and we have to continue to have the precision in it. The passing game is all 11 on the field, there is not any one person that... there could be a receiver to the right that might have run an incorrect or an offensive lineman giving up a twist so its not just the person throwing and the person catching the football, it is all-encompassing and we took some of those shots early and it was a combination of everything. It was protection on some of them, it was the crispness of routes on some of them, it was making the play on some of them, it was everything."

3. On looking at simplifying things on defense and playing the base package on third down to create a pass rush...

"I am not going to get into schematic things or what adjustments are made week-to-week, I am not going to sit up here and act like an idiot either and act like I don't address those things and that we don't look at those things and that we don't gameplan those things. Sometimes you gotta win a one-on-one, sometimes people have to get the call, there is a lot that goes into it but don't think that we said the gameplan this week is to let them throw the ball,they can't run it, take off for 15 yard gain on 3rd and 14, we ain't doing that. We went in to win the games. So do we have to get better at it? Damn right we do, we have to put a lot of work in to get better at it. Believe me, that work is taking place It is the right people to be on the field, it is the right schematic part of the game, the right schemes and the right calls made and executing those calls. 

The biggest challenge for us is getting up and getting our cleats set in the ground and defeat blocks and win one-on-ones and win in the backend and that is what it comes down to right now."

4. On how resilient Haynes King has been...

"Haynes is a competitor now. When you sit down and talk to him, his knowledge of the game, his competitiveness. The competitiveness is what makes people great and when you get down in a game a little bit and look face it, when things are not going right, he is the guy that is going to step up and try to make things right. Sometimes he does not always have the right decision and like I said, it is a route or a protection and look at the end of the day he is the quarterback and he has the spotlight on him and I am the head coach and I have the spotlight on me. That is the nature of the position, it is. Is he hard on himself, yeah he is hard on himself, most competitors are. 

The thing you love about him though, talking to him the other day, I made the comparison to Brett Favre, not as a player but Brett Favre would throw a pick and then let it rip the next one and then he would rip it again and that is what made him a great player as he matured and got older and got comfortable is that he progressed in his years playing that game and he was ripping those things in those tight windows when nobody thought he should have. But it is that confidence to continue to make a play and be the guy to put the ball in the right spot, to pull down and run and those things and is there coaching to it? Yeah, but that is like every game, there is coaching whether you win or lose. 

There are as many things that go blindly... that go blindly unseen I guess you could say that go by in wins that need to be corrected in losses every week, we are going to correct mistakes that need to be fixed so yeah he is hard on himself and he is going to continue to grow and he is going to continue to mature and he is going to continue to rebound like he has, I have full faith and confidence in Haynes King."

5. On getting another crack at bowl eligibility...

"So up until Sunday, I had not said the word at all, it is the same mentality each week, it is a one-game season each week and that is the mentality each week and taken, but yeah on Sunday, I brought it up, I did. This is playoff football now, this is NFL Championship, win and you're in. There is no... there is no dwelling on the last game, it is boom and you have to move on and that is the way it works and we brought it up. We talked about it. It is a big deal for these kids, a really big deal. As an alumni here, it is a really big deal for me, it is a big deal for these guys coming back here, it is a big deal for Georgia Tech, it is a big deal for the athletic association, it is a big deal for the entire Georgia Tech community so heck yeah we talked about it and these guys understand that and know it is something special they have in front of them to work and get."

6. On stopping the fake punt by Clemson early in the game...

"I would not say everyone executed, there were some zeroes on that play. If you graded someone as a zero or a one or a plus or a minus, there were definitely some minuses there, there were a lot of people that did not do the jobs that they were supposed to do. When you collectively have every guy doing what they are supposed to be doing and playing hard and playing fast, you are able to overcome some mistakes, but they were able to sniff it out and see it but we were in the right call to hopefully have them do it and they had a mishap on there side of things and we were able to continue to get the stop."

7. On what made him want to bring up bowl eligibility on Sunday...

"It is bowl eligibility. It is a one-game mentality always and you play the next game. I brought up two things on Sunday. I said, there are two games left, this is win and you are in and next week can be bragging rights it is the week of so yeah I brought it up."

8. On how the crowd can affect Syracuse when they are on offense...

"Yeah that is huge. They have had some struggles... as an offensive line coach I get those issues that you have several different guys back there with cadences and different rhythms of the cadences, you have different types of sounds and noises and things and that is tough on the center, he has to be keyed in on his calls and getting everyone lined up, keying in to listening to the snap count or cadence or whatever mechanisms they use and the louder it gets, the harder it is to do and for the fans and the student body in particular, this week, the way they were at UNC, the way these guys are able to support the students out there playing, we really have an opportunity to make this a great, great homefield advantage and be a 12th man for the defense and to help them with these things as long as possible and be a part of this, I want everyone in the stadium to be a part of this game this weekend."

9. An update on injuries, including cornerback Ahmari Harvey...

"Ahmari traveled with us on Saturday, at gametime, he was not able to go. We are hoping to get him back this week, everyone else we have come out with some bangs and people bruised up but we are as healthy as we have been."

10. On the challenges Syracuse will present this week...

"You have to adjust. They basically put in an entirely new offense in six days so who is to say they are not going to do that again this week. There is a lot of communication to that this week and a lot of moving parts and our crowd can really have an impact this week."

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