Georgia Tech Football: Everything From Brent Key After Yellow Jackets Eight Overtime Loss to Georgia

Georgia Tech ends their season 7-5 after losing in eight overtimes to Georgia

Nov 29, 2024; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key talks to Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart after an eight overtime game at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech led Georgia by double-digits with less than six minutes to go and it looked like the Yellow Jackets had finally ended their losing streak to the Bulldogs. After a crazy final five minutes and eight overtimes though, Georgia came out on top and yet again beat the Yellow Jackets. After the game, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key met with the media and here is everything that he had to say:

Opening Statement:

"It's tough. I love that team in there, fought their asses off. There is no moral victories, but I'm proud of those guys. We'll use this to continue to fuel us, to continue to improve in all areas of the program. Georgia Tech is special. These kids are special."

1. On if this is the toughest loss he has had...

"What do you think? I think it is. Yeah. Probably my career, my life."

2. On Haynes King...

"He's a warrior. He's one of the toughest kids I've ever been around in my life. He wills others around. Proud of him. Proud of all of them."

3. On when he knew Haynes King would be able to play at full strength...

"This week. As soon as we knew we could throw, we wouldn't know it would be as good as it would be until right before But he was he was throwing the ball better and better this week. So we had high hopes."

4. On not going for two in the first overtime to try and win the game...

"Yeah, there was a lot of consideration. Didn't like to play call right then yeah, that was you know going into the the staff meeting last night, we went through it all. And we said, if we liked the situation, we ended up using kind of our special two -point play. Had to use it earlier, so we didn't have it. We weren't going to be able to prolong it. We didn't feel certain about it, I think."

5. On what changed in the second half...

"We will watch the tape and find out."

6. On his message to the team...

"Sucks. Losing stinks. Losing like this, told them there's no moral victories. I'm proud asa heck of them. I'm proud of the seniors and what they've done for this program. I'm proud of everybody that's on that sideline, and the work they put in, really since January, they've never wavered, they've hit obstacles and they've overcome them. They've truly cemented what our vision is of the Tech way."

7. On the mental fortitude it took to play eight overtimes

"There's about 160 people that look like me in that locker room right now. I mean, it's... And I apologize, guys. I'm almost... It's tough right now. It's tough. It's mentally exhausting. It takes a lot. Just came up a little short."

8. On the defensive performance...

"Tyler (Santucci) put together a really good plan. We were able to affect the quarterback the way we wanted to. You know, had a couple guys go down and that was, you know, kind of the instance of some of the plays there at the end and they kept fighting, they kept scrapping, they kept battling, kept working to find a way."

9. On if this season served notice as to where the program is headed...

"Correct, but, the game's-- there's so much about college football that's special, And there's so many things that as a college football coach that you take pride in. Yeah, the judgment comes from when the scoreboard hits zero. But the things we do with these kids and to see these kids grow and mature, to see them do what they do in school, do what they do socially, do what they do each week on the football field, they're special. They're special. And it hurts. It hurts them. That locker room, I've never seen anything like that. What I know about these kids, what I know about this team, what I know about this school, this emotion will turn into fuel, and we'll use that fuel."

Additional Links:

Georgia Tech Squanders Opportunity to End Losing Streak To Georgia and Falls Just Short In Eight Overtime Game

Social Media Reacts to Georgia Tech and Georgia's Eight Overtime Classic