Everything from Brent Key's post-practice media availability: 9/5

Brent Key spoke to the media after practice today

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Sep 5, 2023 7:23 PM EDT

In this story:

Today was the first day that Georgia Tech's Brent Key was available to the media following the loss to Louisville last Friday night.

Key discussed what the team is doing to make adjustments going forward, facing South Carolina State on Saturday, and much more.

Here is everything from the Yellow Jackets head coach.

Opening Statement

Just finished up our second practice, getting ready for South Carolina State. In preparation for these guys coming in to play here at Boby Dodd on Saturday, excited to be here at the stadium after a good crowd and really good atmosphere last Friday night at Mercedes Benz. we are really excited to get here and play at our stadium and be able to run out of our tunnel with the team.

It is exciting to play South Carolina State too, I wanted to talk about their head coach. Coach Pough is a legend in his conference and division and his level of football, he is finishing up his 22nd year at his alma mater and be retiring at the end of this season. We were privileged to play them many years ago when I was at UCF and they gave us a dog fight. His teams are well-prepared and they play hard and they have some good players on their team. I just wanted to make sure I noted that and his retirement and it is an honor to be able to coach against him on his final ride as a head coach after 22 seasons at South Carolina State.

Hitting the field today, we started on Sunday night and started with corrections and getting into game prep and back out today with a full pad day today and building on the things that were good and continue to get those things going and correcting mistakes and the things that we have to build and we have to correct them and have to learn from them and that is what we have done.

We have spent a lot of time today really focusing on ourselves and those mistakes and look... if you allow it too, the most improvement can be made between game one and game two but in order to do that, you have to be able to self assess and be able to be critical of yourself individually and collectively as a unit and myself collectively as a team and that is what we have been able to do, spend these, really the day Saturday and the latter part of today and Sunday doing that. Being critical from the small things individually player wise to the position group to each side of the football to collectively to the entire team and that is what we have been addressing.

At the same time, you wanna continue to build on the things that you did well and the speed we were able to play at, the spurts we were able to have on each side of the football, some of the situational football that was good, you have to continue to build on those things, otherwise you lose sight of those so that is the challenge and you have to do both of those and self assess to make sure that those things are taking place.

Like always, we are not going to dwell on the past of past games, especially one from Friday night. We have had an extra day to get those things cleaned up and it could not have come at a better time after a game one now going into the second game of the season and getting ready to hit a good run.

1. On the injured players, particularly Sylvain Yondjouen...

"Yeah, he (Sylvain Yondjouen) will have another check-up tomorrow. So we should probably know more after that, he suited up today but we will see tomorrow. That is usually the way we work, to be able to play on Saturday, we want those guys to be able to practice on Wednesday so we will see with that moving forward. The other guys, everyone else was fine and back out there practicing today."

2. On keeping the explosive plays going each game...

"Yeah, that is what we have to do. Talking about the things that we have to build on, that is definitely one of them. Football, but college football especially, is a game of explosives, who can create and generate explosives and who can limit those. So, finding out the ways that we were able to create those, the way that we have to continue to do those and play complementary football at the same time and then on defense, breaking down and asking why the explosives occur and being able to adjust and fix those things so we are able to limit them on that side. Now you are talking a swing of a couple hundred yards when you start to look at it that way. That is what we have been working on.

We have some explosive players on offense now and continue to get those guys in the swing of the game and get the ball in their hands."

3. On true freshman left tackle Ethan Mackenny...

"You will see him again this week. He is a very talented young man. Ethan is a guy we have had at camp for several years and I have known him a long time, I have known his family for many, many years. He is a super talented guy that has grown into his body, 290 LBS plus guy, I remember the first time having him at camp he was 225 LBS and about 6'5 and I said if that kid can ever grow into his body, then he has a chance and low and behold, he certainly has.

He is going to be a fine football player, he really is. He plays the game the right way when he had an opportunity to get in the game. I thought he might heading into the game but did not know for sure if he would but the opportunity presented itself and he ran with it. The moment was not too big for him at all. He was as dialed in and as locked in as he would have been if he had started 10, 15, 20 games up to that point.

Are there corrections and things he has to get better at, yeah, there definitely is, but for the first time out there, I thought he did a fine job, especially in the run game he did some good things. Behind him in the running game, he plays the game the right way, he is an o-lineman at heart and I say that in a good way so the more experience that he can get, the better that he can become."

4. On how he would assess the defensive line...

"I thought they were solid in the run game and I thought at times we got high and the pad level started raising up and the pad level got underneath us. There were some things on some stunts, some stunts we had where we might have been slow getting to the gap, getting across, and as a defense as a whole, we have to continue to disengage in blocks and defeat blocks and that is for all positions. Getting the extension finishing at the ball carrier.

From a pass rush standpoint, too many times the ball was coming out quick, credit to Louisville and their quarterback for getting the ball out quick but at the same time, we have to hit edges and work edges and when we run line games, be able to take that vertical and penetrate as opposed to getting stuck on an individual blocker at different times and a lot of that comes back to using our hands and continue to get guys off of us and that goes for both sides of the football."

5. On how to improve the tackling...

"You don't want to deal with it by any means but we have been dealing with it for two of the last three days but yeah it does and you guys remember last week I talked about where this team was relative to this team playing each other, but how are we playing another opponent. That is going to be the real telltale sign and that is what the first game is, it is the first real telltale of how you are compared to someone else, how you are as a rush end going against another tackle and vice versa.

You know how you are with tackling the running backs or receivers that you have and defending the tight end that you have, but now, relative to another team and now we see where that is and really there is no way to know that until you go out and play another game and something that we work on all the time. Every day is some form of a tackling circuit and we had over 400 live reps of scrimmage over the summer and there are some things from the first scrimmage to the last scrimmage that were improved on but we still have a ways to go with it and now seeing where you are compared to another team and compared to another skill set, now you can really hone in on some of those finer points even that individually and collectively that we have to get better at.

We have confidence to that we can go take that shot and make that tackle and we have 10 other guys behind us and that is a big thing that we have talked about and if someone throws a quick hitch or a slant or a bubble out wide, you don't assume that thing is going to come down, you have to have 10 other people running over there with their hair on fire and ready to have that guys back and we have worked on that as well."

6. On the third down defense...

"Yeah, we talk about setting an identity here and creating who you are and it goes back to playing that first opponent and to be honest I thought as we went into that second quarter, it was almost like we... wow, we can do this and that momentum was going so much in that 2nd quarter and at halftime, everyone has the right frame of mind but at the same time, you go out in the third quarter and you have a lull in all three phases in the game and we have to understand that momentum is just what it is, it is momentum, it is not something that continues, there are ebbs and flows to football games, that is why there is a halftime at games and that is why a different team gets the ball to start the second half and whatever internally for a young man might think that this is going to keep going and being shocked in the 2nd quarter at the success that was occurring and then you have to get to the third quarter and restart it and get it going again.

Being able to play off of what you did during the football game, keep that consistency going when you do have a three and out as an offense and the defense has to respond and in the first half I think they did a fantastic job. We throw the interception on the first drive and the defense steps up and bows their necks back and holds them to a field goal and that is what you hope happens in a football game. We have to bow our necks back on the other side of the football and get the ball back and let the offense go out there and find the confidence to do what they did in the second quarter and that is what we are looking for. Stats are just what they are, they are on a piece of paper, the only thing that really matters is what is on the scoreboard at the end of the football game."

7. On the challenges that South Carolina State poses...

"First of all, a legendary coach is always going to have a trick up his sleeve, you can bet that. Offensively, they are going to run the football, they have a couple of quarterbacks that can make plays with their feet, they are going to try and get the ball to the edge with their quarterback. They have two freshmen running backs, both of them are really good football players, one of them is really big and strong back that gets north and south, the other one is a little more compact, but has a way of doing some things and getting loose on those slip screen routes and flaring out of the backfield, some of the things that we have to be aware of.

On the defensive side of the football, I think they were fourth in the FCS in havoc plays, disruption, negative plays. They have two guys on the defensive line, No. 43 and No. 34, they can cause some issues and schematically with their defense, they are a penetrating up the field defense, they are gonna try to get in the backfield and cause havoc. They have a linebacker, No. 11, who has a chance to be an all-conference player for them so there is a skill set there and that we are aware of on both sides of the ball that we are gonna have to address but going out today, it was about us, it was about continuing to on what we had to learn from and correct from the first game because if we can do that, we have a chance to go out and be successful and get the win on Saturday."

8. On the positive things they can take from the game vs Louisville and carry forward...

"You have to be able to come in on the day after and make the corrections and be level-headed about it. Five years ago, if someone told me that was the way I was going to be after games, everyone would have said I was crazy or anybody that knows me.

You have to be. You are the rock of the team and the organization and the coaching staff and I told the team, yeah we are pissed, we are all pissed, that we let one slip away. The coaching staff was pissed, but at the same time, there were 48 games involving power five teams this past weekend and by this morning, 48 think they are winning the national championship and the others think the end of the world is coming and neither is true. As the head of the program, you have to make sure that one game does not lead to two and then three and then four. We do take the positives, playing hard and playing fast, I thought the guys played hard but there is no consolation for playing hard. I think we look like a faster football team.

The way we have prepared and the way we have trained the entire offseason and then through preseason camp with the same physicality, it shows. It is something that we have to continue to do. We have to continue to understand that preparation is the way you end up playing. We talk about playing disciplined, to go the first game of the season and we had two penalties in the game, two that we can't have, but we have to play and have fun, they were dialed in and locked in and played with discipline.

It is one thing if you go out and you play loose and then all sorts of penalties start flying in, but that is not the case and they understand that there is a certain attitude and demeanor that you have to have to play the game of football and you can't be anxious and up tight, but you have to play with discipline and we accomplished that.

Some of the situational football, if you look statistically, which means nothing, but it means something if you carry it over in the way you are preparing and you want to build on. Third downs defensively, we did a nice job of getting on the field and on offense of staying on the field. Now, some of those middle downs, 1st and 2nd downs, we have to continue to stay on the field and continue to get positive yards. We did not have a lot of negative plays offensively, which was an issue before and when you come out and for the good portion of the game, get drives going, I think we have a quarterback who can make plays with his arms and his feet so that is a positive.

The running backs, we had four guys that ended up getting in there and playing and we found some young guys out there. We had some young guys play meaningful snaps and they will continue to play more and more meaningful snaps.

So those are some of the positives, but it is about building on those, as well as correcting the things that did not allow you to be successful and get the win."

9. On the running back position...

"Trey did a nice job. The ball slipped out right there on the goal line, which is unacceptable but that is one of the things that is being addressed and being consistently addressed. And I say addressed, not just talked about, actually worked and worked to fixing an issue and we can't have that. Jamal, I think everyone knows how high I have been on Jamal really all camp and the electric player that he is and being able to be a factor in the run game and passing game is a huge bonus for us as a football team and people don't see it but he is also out there on kickoff return, kickoff coverage, he is running down the field. He has a dual number on so he had to a cover-up on it like he was wearing his big brothers jersey. But he is out there and loves playing the game and he is a firecracker out there on the sideline and you loving having those guys on the team that love being out there and playing football.

But it is not just running backs, it is every position. Our job is to put the best eleven out there for every football game and you hope those 11 guys continue to get better, better, and better and what makes a good football team is competition. Guys that can get out and rise to the challenge and continue to develop and that is what we are going to do, play the 11 guys that give us the best chance to win week in and week out and hopefully you have guys that continue to battle and improve themselves."

10. On the special teams miscues and the 4th quarter rule changes...

"That is something that we were, talking about the kicking game first, we were going to be aggressive in the football game and Clayton (Powell-Lee) came up with the interception with five seconds to go in the half and conventional wisdom would be to take a knee and get out of dodge, but we are not playing the game that way. We want to be aggressive and want the players to go out and execute and do their job and we came up a little short on it.

The first half kickoffs were sailing through the back of the end zone and hit one short right before the second half and we get down there and have an opportunity to, I think that would have put us up eight but I don't remember, it had a chance to put us in a good position right there and he hit it thin. He has been kicking the ball well and kicking the ball well today with pressure on him and in live field goal situations today so I have confidence in Gavin. I have complete confidence in Gavin to go out there and to do his job.

At the same time, it is no different than the running backs or the offensive line or the defensive line or the DB's or receivers. We are going to play the best guys that give us a chance to go and win. He went back out and he is a competitor. He is going to go out and compete and he did that today and was booming them. I have just as much faith and confidence in him as when I had him with five seconds left in the first half to put that one through.

I thought the punt team and David Shanahan put the ball inside the three yard line. There was much improvement there with him and credit to Ricky (Brumfield) and the scheme that we have been able to know all the ins and outs of being multiple and being able to protect and cover. I thought the guys did a nice job in coverage and getting down the field and understanding their coverage responsibilities and coverage lanes and that is part of the field position game and we have to continue that. We are playing a team that is coming after the ball this week and it is on tape and that is what they do, we have to be good in protection and we have to get the ball off.

What you did in the last game is only as good until the next game, but I was really happy with the improvement that David had made with the touch on the ball and the understanding of the situation and knowing where the ball is supposed to go. As a coach, that gives you a lot of confidence when the ball starts to cross the 50-yard line and by the book, when the ball starts getting in those go areas, it does factor in as a coach. What is the field goal line, what is the sky punt line, where can we get the ball inside the ten.

When you have a kicker that can get it through the up rights and a punter that can get it down inside the ten, that gives you a lot more confidence in that area of the field, especially when that clock starts rolling and in the second half, I thought the clock showed up a little bit more than it did in the first. The first, there was some penalties they called some delays on the clock so you did not get into the flow of the new clock running until the second half.

But we were able to say organizationally and operationally as a team, anytime that you can have all three timeouts sitting there at the end of the half and end of the game, then your team has done something right with the organizations or substitutions and now when that clock starts to roll down, have them in your favor. Once you are under two minutes, you are under two minutes and it is in the three minutes and 40 second time frame where it does, depending on how the plays come out, and the efficiency of the plays where that thing starts to move a little bit faster so we were prepared with it and on point with it."

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