Everything From Head Coach Brent Key After Georgia Tech's Loss to Louisville

Key spoke with the media after the loss to Louisville

Aug 31, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key on the sideline against Georgia State Panthers in the third quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech had some chances to take down another ranked ACC team on the road, but they shot themselves in the foot on 4th and short decisions, had a fumble returned for a touchdown, a blocked field goal to ice the game, and a costly running into the kicker penalty on Louisville's final possession. It resulted in a 31-19 loss and Georgia Tech is now 3-2 heading into their bye week.

After the game, head coach Brent Key spoke with the media and here is everything that he had to say.

Opening statement...

"All right, credit to Louisville, Coach Brohm for the win. Anytime you come on the road in the league, you can't come on the road and play sloppy and, you know, make those critical mistakes that were made. And, you know, it's, you know, you can be spotted in 14 points on a defensive touchdown in the minus six in the first half in a block field goal for a touchdown. And, look, you know, for the majority of the time, just from the side, we'll watch the tape and see if... the majority of the time, I thought a lot of the guys played hard, but that's not enough to play hard, right? You got to play smart, right? There were times that I didn't think we played the smartest football we are capable of playing you know, so that's what ends up happening to you on the road and make those those mistakes that end up costing ya ."

1. On why they were not able to run the ball, especially in short yardage situations...

""Yeah, I mean, you know, it was more than a little. I mean, it was, you know, there was, what was little was the amount of yardage we had to go. And,you know, there was a, I mean, what was it? You know, 35 and 40, so the two of the fourth downs, you know, one of them was inches. And, you know, You've got to be able to, no matter if they have six, eight, 12 guys on the line of scrimmage, right? You've got to be able to move a guy, not allow penetration. So going into the bye-week, that's something that we will address. That's in two losses. We've had two opportunities on the fourth and one. To possibly keep the chains and keep the game moving. So That's something that we do work on, we will work on it, we will address it, we will look at it and we will have a plan to improve on that."

2. On some of the fourth down decisions...

Okay so far as the first one goes that was to back it up to give a little better angle on the kick. Yeah I mean you look at it you've got to get points And, you know, the way the game was playing out felt like that gave us our best opportunity. And if we didn't get it, they had to go 99 yards. And we would have a chance to get the ball back with possession. So, it's a reasonable decision."

3. On Haynes King turnover that led to a touchdown and if him throwing the ball was part of the play...

"eah, we were a little read-option type of play, pulled it. And, You know, everyone didn't execute, you know, he threw it, behind, to the receiver. They got a bat, got a bat at the ball. You know, when you're running those plays, you obviously can't throw it forward as you're running, so you throw it backward, you've got to hand on it, and it comes with a live ball. Oh, yes, yes, yes. Well, he wasn't just trying to identify it. No, no, no, that was off."

4. On the offensive line not being able to move the line of scrimmage...

"No, it's different things on different plays. There's different fronts. Look, as a head coach, I'm a coach of every position. I don't, I don't, I mean, whether my background was, uh, DB's, receivers, quarterbacks, offensive line. I mean, head coach, we get, we get fourth and ones, right, that expectation is, uh, we're going for them to be able to get them. And, uh, like I said, second, I mean, there's different issues on different plays. I mean, sometimes it's moving a guy, sometimes it's, uh, you know, not hitting the right spot in the landmark, and a guy you on the back side, but at the end of the day none of that matters. At the end of the day day all that matters is you got it done, you got the job done, you didn't get the job done, and we didn't get the job done on a couple of those as well."

5. On the offensive line not allowing a sack...

"No, I mean, there was, I mean, yeah, there was a blitzes, but the biggest thing was you started getting closer down, the tighter you get, the louder you get, and, you know, it splits the fraction of a second being later off the football matters, and they got good players, too. So, at the end of the day, you had to be able to do your job, and you were talking about before that, you know, sometimes sacks, or not sacks or it's not just one position or one person I mean Haynes does a good job of manipulating and negotiating through those things and breaking you know, breaking free but we had some pressure on some of the plays we had that you know maybe has a chance to make a clean or throw without it."

6. On why some of the mental mistakes occured...

"No I'm just... yeah there's Yeah, there's never been a game played I don't think where there weren't mental mistakes, right? But playing smart, that's more of the-- when you come on the road, and you're in a big game on the road in conference, you can't try to do more than you're going to do or get out of that. Once you become emotional You know, your fundamentals, your techniques, those are going to go out the window and, you know, really the defense, you know, versus our defense versus their offense. I mean, they had some explosive passes that, you know, if we're doing our job or, you know, playing the right technique, you know, maybe those things don't."

7. On getting the team to win consistently...

"It's hard to win. Yeah. We know that, of course, for sure. Every game is hard to win, And this one's obviously no exception. So they didn't change what the goals are. They didn't change what we worked to do and what we're working to do."

8. On freshman Isiah Canion getting snaps today and Christian Leary not being with the team...

"Yeah, Isiah is a true freshman that's really developing. When he got here earlier in the year, he was coming off a height like dangerous in my school. He's back full speed, and he's going to be a good football player for us. And he earned the opportunity to get in there. With Christian, wish him the best of luck. He's no longer with the football team, personal reasons"

9. On what happened on the field goal that was blocked and returned for a touchdown...

"Yeah, I mean, blocked off the edge. I'll take a look at it and see exactly what it was. But it's no one person at the end of the day. It's my responsibility. I take responsibility for it. And I take responsibility for improvement."