RECAP: Georgia Tech Commits Too Many Mistakes in 31-19 Loss vs No. 19 Louisville

The loss to Louisville drops Georgia Tech to 3-2 heading into their bye week

Sep 21, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals running back Donald Chaney (21) tries to break free from the tackle of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defensive back Taye Seymore (7) during the first half at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Louisville, KY- A repeated series of mistakes cost Georgia Tech the opportunity to go on the road and beat a ranked opponent.

The Yellow Jackets outgained Louisville, had more possessions, and stopped their rushing attack, but lost by double-digits. A fumble returned for a touchdown, a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown, multiple 4th downs not being converted, and a running into the kicker penalty on a 4th down near the end of the game prevented Georgia Tech to be 6-0 under Brent Key against ranked ACC teams.

There were some positives to take away from the game. The run defense held Louisville to 57 yards on 27 carries and Haynes King, Malik Rutherford, and Eric Singleton Jr had a good day throwing the ball around around. But it was overshadowed by poor execution on 4th and short calls, a fumble and blocked kick resulting in a touchdown, and a team that prides itself on running the ball not being able to. Georgia Tech did not have any more success than Louisville did on the ground, gaining only 98 yards on 37 carries. Going back to the Syracuse game, this offense has not been able to run the football and that is going to cause major problems for them if they can't figure out how to do so.

When talking about the lack of a run game after the game, this is what head coach Brent Key had to say:

"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,yeyou 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."

For the game, King finished 21-32 for 312 yards to go along with 58 yards on the ground and one touchdown. Rutherford was the leading receiver with 113 yards on seven catches and Eric Singleton Jr had 88 yards on five catches. Jamal Haynes finished with 25 yards on 12 carries. Georgia Tech ran 69 plays while Louisville ran only 46.

Louisville averaged 20 yards per completion and 7.1 yards per play. Georgia Tech had no sacks and only three tackles for loss.

Georgia Tech won the toss and chose to receive to start the game.

It was a quick three and out for the Yellow Jackets on their first possession however. The Cardinals were able to get pressure on the third down play and Haynes King could not find a receiver. They were forced to punt and it was Louisville's chance to try and put some points on the board.

After a defensive holding penalty on 3rd and short, Louisville got a new set of downs and Tyler Shough found his No. 1 target Ja'Corey Brooks for a 42-yard gain. The Yellow Jackets defense shored up after that and after Kyle Efford was able to pressure Shough on 3rd down, they were forced to settle for the field goal. A couple of weeks ago vs Syracuse, Georgia Tech had a very good day on special teams, blocking multiple kicks and they continued that on the first field goal attempt of the day. Jordan van den Berg blocked the kick and gave Georgia Tech the ball at their own 35-yard line.

After a facemask penalty moved them to midfield, Georgia Tech was the first team in the end zone. The six play, 65-yard drive was completed by a 23-yard Haynes King touchdown run. The quarterback run game seemed to be an early feature for Buster Faulkner and the offense and it got them a 7-0 lead.

Louisville did not move the ball much on their second possession. They were having a hard time getting anything going on the ground and the Yellow Jackets defensive backs had solid coverage on the drive and the defense forced a punt.

Georgia Tech had a disaster of a third drive. Backed up in their own end zone, they faced a third down and King looked to run for the first down, but tried to get the ball out to Malik Rutherford at the last second. The ball went backward and Louisville recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. It was poor decision from King, but he was mistake free the rest of the half. Still, it was a costly mistake and the game was tied because of it.

King bounced back from the fumble and looked like he was going to lead a touchdown drive. He found Rutherford on a 45-yard pass, but a series of mistakes led to another empty drive. An ineligible receiver penalty wiped away a third down conversion and then Aidan Birr missed a 46-yard field goal to keep the game 7-7.

When the second quarter started, the Cardinals offense got going. Shough led the Louisville offense on a 7-play, 71 yard drive that ended with him finding receiver Chris Bell for a 37-yard touchdown. After good coverage on the first couple of drives, Louisville started to find open guys with the Yellow Jackets blitzing to get pressure on Shough.

The running game for Georgia Tech was having a rough first half and it was evident on their next drive. A 3rd and 1 situation is usually where Georgia Tech's offensive line can get push, but the Cardinals stopped Trelain Maddox on the third down play and forced a three and out.

The next drive for Louisville was their best of the first half. Shough found open guys against the blitz and took the Cardinals 75 yards in 11 plays. He found Bell for a big 45-yard catch on 3rd and 9 and after Georgia Tech's defense got a stop on 3rd and 1, Shough found Don Chaney on 4th down for a big gain to get into the red zone. Louisville got down the field through the air, but decided to run it three staight plays in the red zone and got stopped. They had to settle for a 27-yard field goal and it was 17-7 with 1:56 left in the first half.

With Louisville getting the ball to start the second half, it was a huge drive for Georgia Tech and they needed points.

King faced a third down early on the drive and found Jamal Haynes for the first down. Then, he connected with Singleton Jr for a 51-yard gain and got the Yellow Jackets deep into Louisville territory. After three straight plays in the red zone and not being able to punch it in, Key and his team faced a 4th and goal at the 1-yard line and it was decision time. With no timeouts left and Louisville getting the ball to start the second half, Key decided to go for it and be aggressive. The aggressiveness paid off and Jamal Haynes punched it in the end zone. That was a huge momentum play and it resulted with the game being 17-14 heading into the half.

At the half, King was 8-12 for 148 yards and one rushing touchdown. He was also the leading rusher for the Yellow Jackets with 40 yards on six carries. Rutherford had six catches for 65 yards and Singleton had three catches for 72 yards.

For Louisville, they were held to just 39 yards on 16 carries by the Georgia Tech defense. Shough was leading the offense through the air, going 9-12 for 191 yards. Chris Bell was the leading receiver with 82 yards on two catches.

To start the second half, Georgia Tech's defense needed to get off the field and they did just that thanks to some penalties by Louisville. The Cardinals were set back by penalties and the drive ended in a punt. Georgia Tech had a chance to tie the game or take the lead.

The Yellow Jackets drove down the field in 13 plays, but had to settle for a field goal. Birr was able to connect on this one and tie the game 17-17.

They did not have the lead for long though. After a pass interference penalty on Georgia Tech gave the Cardinals good field position, Ja'Corey Brooks beat Ahmari Harvey on a deep throw and scored from 57 yards out to give Louisville the lead. The defense gave up big gains to Louisville's receivers in the game and that is where the majority of Louisville's offense came from in this game.

After that drive, Georgia Tech took over and the game got into the 4th quarter. After driving the ball all the way down the field, the Cardinals got a huge stop on a Haynes King QB keeper. It was a missed opportunity for Georgia Tech, but lucky for them, Louisville was about to make a bone-headed mistake to gift them two points.

The Cardinals started their next drive backed up on their own 1-yard line and instead of trying to move the ball out of the shadow of their own end zone, Shough tried to pass, but committed an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone which resulted in a safety and cut the lead to 24-19. Georgia Tech was going to get the ball back and have a chance to take the lead. It was the first safety for Georgia Tech since the 2018 season.

The rest of the game was a disaster for the Yellow Jackets. After getting the safety, they drove the ball down the field but got stopped and had to settle for a field goal to try and cut the lead to two points. Birr's kick was blocked and Louisville returned it for a touchdown to get the lead to 31-19. It was a gut punch after getting the safety and cutting the lead down and even with seven minutes remaining in the game, it felt like it was over and it was. Georgia Tech did get a decent drive together but got stopped on 4th and 1 yet again.

The final nail in the coffin came when Georgia Tech got a stop on third down to force a Louisville punt. Instead of getting the ball back though, the Yellow Jackets ran into the punter and gave Louisville a first down. They knelt the ball out from there and it was history.