Georgia Tech Linebacker Kyle Efford and Defensive Back Rodney Shelley Will Miss Birmingham Bowl vs Vanderbilt

Efford and Shelley are two of the top defenders on Georgia Tech's defense

Aug 31, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets linebacker Kyle Efford (44) warms up before a game against Georgia State Panthers at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech is going to be without two of their top defenders for their upcoming matchup with Vanderbilt in the Birmingham Bowl on Friday. Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key announced today that linebacker Kyle Efford and defensive back Rodney Shelley are going to miss Friday's game due to injury.

Georgia Tech coach Brent Key confirms today that starting linebacker Kyle Efford and starting nickelback Rodney Shelley will miss the Birmingham Bowl due to injury

— Chad Bishop (@MrChadBishop) December 24, 2024

Georgia Tech's defense is going to miss both of these players on the field Friday. Efford has been battling injuries this year, but is still the leading tackler for Georgia Tech and the leader of the defense. Shelley is the starting nickel for Georgia Tech and is one of their top coverage players. The linebackers will rotate between E.J. Lightsey, Jackson Hamilton Trenilyas Tatum, and Tah'j Butler while I would expect Syeed Gibbs should see a lot of snaps at nickel.

For the final time of 2024, it is game week for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are playing in their second consecutive bowl game and for them to end the season with eight wins, they are going to have to defeat Vanderbilt. Like Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt has made a habit of playing their best against top opponents, getting a win over Alabama and almost knocking off Texas and LSU. These two teams have a lot of similiarities and it should make for one of the top bowl matchups of bowl season.

So what is at stake for the Yellow Jackets in this game?

• If Georgia Tech wins, it would give them a final record of 8-5 and would complete their first eight win season since 2016.

• A win would cap its 15th eight-win season in the last 69 years (since  1956) and the 34th overall in the program's 132-season  history; 

• A win would make Brent Key the fifth head coach in Tech history with  an eight-win season within his first two full years at the helm  of the program — the other four (John Heisman, William  Alexander, Bobby Dodd and Paul Johnson) — are all in the  College Football Hall of Fame; 

• A win would give Georgia Tech bowl wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time  since 2003 and 2004; 

• A win would  move Georgia Tech up it to 27-20 all-time in bowl games (.574); • up it to 21-15-3 all-time against Vanderbilt (.577); 

• A win would be its seventh-straight win over Vanderbilt (since a 10-10  tie in 1965);

• A win would extend its unbeaten streak versus Vanderbilt to 14 games  (13-0-1 since 1948, with Tech's last loss in the series com ing in 1941); 

• A loss would give Georgia Tech a final record of 7-6;

• A loss would drop it to 26-21 all-time in bowl games (.553) and drop it to 20-16-3 all-time versus Vanderbilt (.551); 

• A loss would snap a six-game winning streak and a 13-game unbeaten  streak against Vanderbilt and be its first loss to an unranked SEC opponent since a 13-7  defeat at unranked Georgia in 2015. 

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