Georgia Tech Football: Key Takeaways From The Yellow Jackets 31-13 Loss to Notre Dame

Yellow Jackets fall to Notre Dame at Mercedes Benz

Georgia Tech defensive back Warren Burrell (4) intercepts the pass during the first half of the Notre Dame at Georgia Tech NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. (Photo/Jim Blackburn)Jim Blackburn/@JmbAtlanta

It was a tough afternoon for the Yellow Jackets who couldn't muster up enough points offensively and their special teams struggled for the third week in a row. Here are some key takewaways from a tough defeat.

1. Special Teams has been bad over the past few games- I think head coach Brent Key said it best. 

 "Yeah, I mean, I saw the same thing you saw. Again, we missed two field goals, and then that goes with everybody and everything. I'm not going to say anything about one individual player, you know, to see it and see why it was and what happened. But then today we missed two field goals, they were more critical times. For three weeks now we have not been up to expectations,” said Key.

Last week there was a punt return for a touchdown against UNC. A dropped snap in the first half would have cut the deficit for the Yellow Jackets to 14-10 going into halftime instead it was a 16-yard loss. In the second half after a big play made by Abdul Janneh that was his longest play as a Yellow Jacket, the special teams went out to put points on the board after a sack of Zach Pyron. The field goal was blocked by Notre Dame and the Yellow Jackets finished 0/2 on the day in field goal attempts. There were more problems for Georgia Tech. Notre Dame also had a fake punt on 4th and 8 that extended the drive after the Yellow Jackets' defense got a stop. The Fighting Irish also faked a field goal and converted it late in the fourth quarter. For the season, the Yellow Jackets have kicked eight field goals longer than 29 yards and have a make, two blocked, four missed, and one missed snap. If you are going to pull off an upset, especially without your star quarterback, the complementary pieces have to play well. That was not the case on Saturday and special teams hurt Georgia Tech more than anything. It feels like it's been years since we were raving about this special teams unit earlier in the season against Syracuse. 

2. Georgia Tech struggled with open field tackling- “I thought in the first half we missed a lot of tackles,” said head coach Brent Key. 

Granted Notre Dame only had a seven-point lead at the break, but the Yellow Jackets were struggling to make tackles in the open field. Countless times on the perimeter you would see a Georgia Tech defender one-on-one with a Notre Dame offensive player and couldn’t bring them to the ground. A stat that brings this home is the 217 yards through the air in the win for Notre Dame, 120 of those yards came after the catch. RB Jeremiah Love had the longest play on a short curl. He took 34 yards for a big gain in the game. When they roll the tape back and look at all of the missed tackles in open space, Georgia Tech will be kicking themselves. 

3. The Yellow Jackets' run game struggles return- Georgia Tech only had 32 rushing yards in the first half and finished with 64 yards in the game. Granted part of it came on the loss on a special team snap that resulted in a -16-yard gain but the Yellow Jackets would have only had 50 yards on the ground for the day. They couldn’t get Jamal Haynes going, he only had eight carries for 15 yards and Chad Alexander had five carries for 19 yards. Two weeks prior they had 275 rushing yards and 371 rushing yards against Duke and UNC. Georgia Tech was facing one of the best defensive fronts they’ve played this season but it seemed like they couldn’t get enough push in order to keep running lanes open for backs to run through. I also feel like the Yellow Jackets didn’t go to it as much in the second half when they were trailing. There were only 13 carries total between Alexander and Haynes. I think we know that for this offense to have success the running game has to be a significant part. 

4. Run defense struggled- Notre Dame rushed for 168 yards and three touchdowns. Jadarian Price was the best rusher on the day finishing with 69 yards on just eight carries and averaging 8.6 yards per carry. He had a long of 23 yards and was carving up the Georgia Tech defense. There was also no answer for QB Riley Leonard in the running game. He led the game early in rushing and used the QB power and RPO. It gave the Yellow Jackets' defense fits in the game. Leonard was the second-leading rusher finishing with 51 yards and two touchdowns. It seemed like on critical downs Notre Dame had an answer and used Leonard’s legs early to get the offense going. 

6.  Zeek Biggers and Taye Seymore were standouts on defense for Georgia Tech- Overall, it was not a good performance for the team but there were some welcoming signs for the Yellow Jackets. Biggers and Seymore both made a lot of plays for Georgia Tech and stayed around the football. Biggers lived in the backfield against Notre Dame and caused havoc. He finished tied for the second-most tackles on the team with five. He also had two tackles for a loss. It was a great all-around performance from Biggers who made his presence felt. Seymore had a team-high seven tackles including five solo tackles. He did a great job from the safety spot making plays and tackling in open space. It looks like the game is slowing down for him. He is the fourth leading tackler on the team. Also worth mentioning is the one-handed interception by Warren Burrell who made a spectacular play on the ball. It came at a big moment in the game as Notre Dame was driving but Burrell halted the momentum and Georgia Tech would score seven points off the turnover.

It was a rough outing for the Yellow Jackets and you can tell they missed two of their best players, QB Haynes King and LB Kyle Efford. Still it's a next man up and collectively Georgia Tech has to be better. The silver lining is this game didn't count against the ACC standings for the Yellow Jackets. They can still become bowl eligible and finish the season strong.

Additional Links:

Georgia Tech Football: Key Takeaways From The Yellow Jackets 31-13 Loss to Notre Dame

ACC Power Rankings: Week Nine

Georgia Tech vs Virginia Tech Odds: Yellow Jackets Open As Near Double-Digit Underdog vs the Hokies