Georgia Tech is the perfect trap game for Ole Miss

Can the Yellow Jackets stun the Rebels on Saturday night?

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Sep 14, 2023 2:52 PM EDT

In this story:

I don't know if you heard, but Alabama lost last weekend.

Also, I don't know if you have also heard, but LSU got trounced by Florida State in the opening game. Texas A&M lost to Miami last week, Arkansas and Mississippi State have looked unimpressive through two games, and Auburn had trouble beating Cal on the road. The SEC as a whole looks down compared to where they have been, especially in the West Division (at least through two weeks).

What does this have to do with Georgia Tech? Well, it has more to do with who they are playing this week.

Ole Miss has played two games so far against Mercer and Tulane. The Tulane game was supposed to be one of the top games of the weekend but lost its luster due to Tulane's star quarterback Michael Pratt not being able to play. Even then, The Green Wave and the Rebels were tied heading into the 4th quarter. Then, Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart stepped up and helped them pull away.

With that win, Ole Miss is 2-0 and looking pretty solid through two games. With SEC conference games against Alabama and LSU to finish out the month, the Rebels might be thinking about how the SEC West could look if they can find a way to win those games, especially with Alabama and LSU looking more vulnerable so far this season.

That is where Brent Key and Georgia Tech come in.

Georgia Tech interim head coach Brent Key — Brent Key has pulled off big upsets as the Georgia Tech head coach
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

After taking over as the interim head coach, Key was faced with taking a 1-3 team, who had just had their coach fired, on the road to play a ranked Pitt team as a three-touchdown underdog. He won. Later that year, Key took Georgia Tech on the road to play North Carolina, who was 9-1 at the time, and Georgia Tech was on their third quarterback. The Yellow Jackets were once again three-touchdown underdogs and Key got the outright win. He also got a win as an underdog against a nine-win Duke team last season.

Key gets his guys to play hard for him, no matter who the opponent is. Last year, he did it with a team that was decent on defense, but dreadful on offense. Through two games, Georgia Tech is 9th in the country in total offense, 18th in passing offense, and 20th in rushing offense. They had Louisville on the ropes in their first game of the season due to a 28-point 2nd quarter and the Yellow Jackets put on a show against South Carolina State last week. They still have a lot to prove, but Georgia Tech looks more explosive on that side of the ball.

Now, there is cause for concern in this matchup. Georgia Tech has one of the worst run defenses in the country and has been unable to create pressure on the opposing quarterback, as well as create negative plays. Ole Miss has struggled to run the ball in the first two games, but Key knows that Lane Kiffin is going to keep pounding the rock this week to get one of their best players loose:

"I know what I have seen on tape for two games, they are explosive, have a good quarterback who manages the offense and puts the ball where it is supposed to go and they have one of the best running backs in the country. Statistically, you can't just look at statistics on something. No. 4 is one of the best running backs in the country, they are going to get him loose. You can look and say they are not running the ball. Yeah right. You ask about what I know about somebody, that is Lane Kiffin. He is going to run the football, he is going to get No. 4 going.

We have to be balanced on defense to make sure that we are able to cover and to defend the explosive. But with No. 4, you are looking at one of the best running backs in the country, if not the best running back in the country. You can be rest assured that he is going to do everything he can to get that guy going this week."

If Georgia Tech can't contain Judkins and get pressure on Dart, the chance of an upset is going to be near zero.

When talking to the media this week, Kiffin expressed concern that his team took Tulane lightly after they saw Pratt was not going to suit up on the other side:

"We started slow, obviously. Maybe our players took them for granted. I do worry sometimes when you go out to warmups and see the star quarterback's not playing, you have a letdown because you think things are going to be easy. Maybe some of that happened, but very proud of how they finished."

If Ole Miss already has their eyes on games against Alabama and LSU, that could be the chance that Key needs to pull another shocker. Who knows what might happen in Oxford on Saturday night, but Georgia Tech has a coach with a recent track record of success as an underdog, and the Yellow Jackets are sandwiched in between two of the biggest games of the year for Ole Miss. This could lead to Ole Miss not taking Georgia Tech seriously, which is what makes this game the perfect trap game.

Georgia Tech at Ole Miss kicks off this weekend at 7:30 on the SEC Network.

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