Tale of two halves: Poor second half from Georgia Tech leads to Louisville win

Georgia Tech is 0-1 to start the season

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Sep 1, 2023 11:28 PM EDT

In this story:

Brent Key took over as the interim head coach last season and went 4-4 and that was good enough to earn Key the full-time job. After an offseason of changing the coaching staff and retooling the roster on the recruiting trail and through the transfer portal, Key's team took the field tonight against Louisville, trying to start 1-0.

After a 28-7 run in the first half, it looked like Key was going to pick up a win in his first game as the full-time head coach at Georgia Tech.

The second half told a different story though and Louisville escaped with a win.

1st Quarter

Georgia Tech received the ball to start the game and it was time for Texas A&M transfer Haynes King to take the field. The first drive of the game resulted in an interception and it came largely due to pressure from King's blindside. This was not the start the Georgia Tech offensive line needed in this game.

The good news was that the defense hung tough on their first drive. After Louisville carried the ball for a first down. Georgia Tech forced a field goal attempt, which Louisville hit to take an early 3-0 lead with 12:13 left in the game.

Georgia Tech took the field for their second drive of the game and looked to get into a rhythm. King connected with Chase Lane for a nice gain and found tight end Luke Benson for a first-down grab. King took off for a nice run but appeared to be hit late after the play. The play was reviewed and it was indeed targeting. The drive would stall however and Georgia Tech was forced to punt.

Louisville would take over on its own nine-yard line for its second drive of the game with 8:20 left in the 1st quarter.

On the next drive, Louisville was faced with a 3rd and 2, but a false start penalty backed the Cardinals up. A short throw was incomplete and the Cardinals were forced to punt.

Georgia Tech did nothing on the next drive, however. Pressure from the left side again caused a misfire by King and a three-and-out by the Yellow Jackets.

Louisville connected on a 40-yard pass to Kevin Coleman to get into Georgia Tech territory on the next drive. The red zone defense was huge in the first quarter for Georgia Tech. After Louisville got into Yellow Jackets territory, the defense held them to a field goal once again and trailed 6-0 with 21 seconds left in the opening quarter.

2nd Quarter

After a nice carry by King, Georgia Tech's offense got the shot in the arm that was needed. King found running back Jamal Haynes for a 46-yard gain to get into Louisville territory. The Yellow Jackets faced a big third down on the goal line and King found UGA transfer tight end Brett Seither for the first score of the year for the Yellow Jackets.

Georgia Tech had another big play courtesy of Malik Rutherford for 55 yards. The Yellow Jackets were once again in the red zone and Louisville transfer Trey Cooley found the end zone to give Georgia Tech a 14-6 lead. The offense found a spark in the second quarter and scored 14 unanswered to start.

Louisville needed to find answers and they got them on the next drive. The Cardinals went on a long drive to the end zone and scored a touchdown, aided by a pass interference call in the endzone on Kenyatta Watson. Louisville cut the lead to one point with 5:42 left in the first half.

This is not your old Georgia Tech offense though.

The Yellow Jackets got the ball back and marched right down the field. Jamal Haynes had another big carry and King found Duquesne transfer Abdul Janneh for a big gain. It was the Louisville transfer Trey Cooley that found the endzone again to extend the lead to 21-13.

After a Louisville three and out, Georgia Tech's offense got the ball once again with a chance to score before the half. They did not and Georgia Tech led 28-13 at the half.

It was the best first half that Georgia Tech has had in quite some time, but they needed to finish the deal to pull off the upset.

3rd quarter

Haynes King — Georgia Tech could not get anything going on offense in the second half
Nathaniel Caudell

Louisville got the ball to start the first half and proceeded to march right down the field on the defense. A crucial fourth-down conversion kept the drive alive, but the Georgia Tech defense held strong in the red zone and kept Louisville to only a field goal and Georgia Tech led 28-16.

After four straight drives in the second quarter that ended with a touchdown, Georgia Tech went three and out on their first possession of the first half and gave the ball back to Louisville.

It should be noted that safety LaMiles Brooks was not on the field and Georgia Tech's safety depth was being tested.

The tackling at the start of this quarter was dreadful for Georgia Tech. Louisville hit a couple of quick passes and the Yellow Jackets' defense gave up the yards after catch. Louisville was back in the red zone, but Georgia Tech could not hold them to a field goal again and Georgia State transfer Jamari Thrash hauled in a touchdown to cut the lead to 28-23.

The Georgia Tech offense needed a drive in the worst way, but they could not come up with anything. King scrambled for a first down and it looked like Tech was going to get its groove back. The Cardinals forced a punt however and it would be up to the Yellow Jackets defense to prevent Louisville from taking the lead with 2:00 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

Louisville took over and had a chance to get the lead, but the Georgia Tech defense stood tall. Wallace was back in the game and had a crucial third-down pass breakup to get the defense off the field.

The Yellow Jackets took over and that was the end of the quarter. Louisville won the 3rd quarter, but Georgia Tech had the lead going into the final frame.

4th Quarter

Georgia Tech faced a huge third down at the beginning of the quarter, but King found Rutherford to extend the drive. After another big pass to Lane for a first down, Louisville got a third down stop and Gavin Stewart was brought out for a field goal attempt. The kick sailed wide right and Georgia Tech's drive came away with zero points, giving Louisville another chance to score.

The Cardinals continued to be efficient and create big plays against the Yellow Jackets' defense. Tackling was once again an issue and Thrash got wide open on a 1st down play in the red zone to give Louisville the lead back. A failed two-point conversion attempt kept the Yellow Jackets within one point, 29-28, with 8:08 left to play.

Plummer and the Cardinals offense really came alive in the second half and a lot of credit should be given to Jeff Brohm and the Cardinals coaching staff. The Georgia Tech defense looked worn down

Georgia Tech took over at their own 25-yard line and Haynes King needed to have a big drive. After a few big runs and throws, King got Georgia Tech in scoring position. However, Louisville got pressure and had a strip sack on King and the Cardinals got the ball back. It was a rough ending to a great drive from King.

Louisville scored on the very next play to extend the lead 36-28. The Yellow Jackets defense once again looked worn down and let Louisville score on a 74-yard rushing touchdown.

The next drive would be the biggest of the game for Georgia Tech. Down eight points with a little over three minutes remaining, it looked like the last gasp for the Georgia Tech offense.

Georgia Tech faced a 4th and six and elected to go for it, but a tough throw was dropped and Louisville took over.

After a field goal from Louisville to make it 39-28, Georgia Tech went on a quick touchdown drive. King found true freshman Eric Singleton Jr for a touchdown with 1:07 left. After a failed two-point attempt, Georgia Tech needed an onside kick to keep the game alive.

Louisville recovered the onside kick and that was that.

The Yellow Jackets looked fantastic at different points in this game, but this is no doubt a heartbreaking loss. The offense looked the best it has in years in the first half, but failed to get anything going in the second half. The defense looked worn down and poor tackling resulted in several big plays for the Cardinals.

Georgia Tech finished the game with 488 yards, compared to 476 from Louisville. King was 19-32 for 313 yards and three touchdowns. Georgia Tech ran for 175 yards in the game and averaged 4.6 yards per carry.

Malik Rutherford led the way at receiver with five catches for 85 yards on seven targets. Georgia Tech had two turnovers compared to Louisville's one.

Jack Plummer finished the game 18-31 for 247 yards and three touchdowns. Louisville ran for over 200 yards and averaged over seven yards per carry.

There were improvements shown by Georgia Tech in this game, particularly on offense, but they have things to figure out on defense.

Georgia Tech is back in action next Saturday against South Carolina State at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Kick-off is set for 1:00 p.m.

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