Three Biggest Areas of Improvement for Georgia Tech at the Bye Week

What are the biggest improvements that Georgia Tech needs to make during their bye week?

Sep 21, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets running back Jamal Haynes (11) runs the ball despite the facemark from Louisville Cardinals defensive lineman Dezmond Tell (99) during the first quarter at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Heading into their bye week, Georgia Tech sits at 3-2, which would have been the record a lot of analysts would have pegged the Yellow Jackets for at the beginning of the year. Still, it feels like Georgia Tech has some serious areas to improve on during their bye week if they want to make another bowl game. Now, of course you are not going to fix every single problem during the bye week, but these three issues certainly stand out right now when watching the Yellow Jackets.

Let's talk about them.

The Run Game

After leading the ACC in rushing a season ago, the rushing attack has not been as imposing this year and it showed on Saturday vs Louisville. Currently, Georgia Tech is 10th in the ACC in rushing, averaging 163.0 yards per game on the ground. The last two games against power four competition have been the most concerning. Against the Cardinals on Saturday, Georgia Tech totaled 98 yards on 37 carries and averaged 2.6 yards per carry. Against Syracuse, the Yellow Jackets totaled 112 yards on 24 attempts and averaged 4.7 yards per carry. Georgia Tech wants to have a physical identity on offense, but the running game has not found a way to get going and that has meant Haynes King and the passing game have had to do a lot of heavy lifting on offense.

The running backs in particular have not been able to have much success this year, as King has also led the team in rushing in the last two games vs power four teams. Against Louisville and Syracuse, Jamal Haynes has 60 yards on 23 carries, averaging less than three yards per carry. Another running back has not emerged as a No. 2 option behind Haynes and that has left the offense without much of a rushing identity.

Can they get back to running the ball well? I think so, but it has been disappointing to watch so far.

Pass Rush

Georgia Tech has only five sacks this season and three of those came against VMI. While the secondary has faced plenty of issues, not having a consistent pass rush has been just as detrimental to the defense. The Yellow Jackets had only one sack vs Syracuse as they were shredded by quarterback Kyle McCord and they had zero sacks against Louisville on Saturday. When you are 114th in the entire country in sacks, that is going to spell trouble for the defense. While some offenses they face the rest of the way are not as good at throwing the football as Syracuse and Louisville, teams like Miami and Georgia can certainly throw the ball around. Even Duke (Georgia Tech's next opponent) and quarterback Maalik Murphy have had good moments throwing the football this season.

Pass Defense and Lack of Turnovers Created

The pass defense and pass rush could honestly go hand-in-hand. Georgia Tech is 89th in the country in passing yards allowed per game, allowing 229.0 yards per game through the air. The Yellow Jackets have not intercepted a pass and have only forced two turnovers all season, which ranks 116th in the country. While the run defense for Georgia Tech has improved quite a bit, they can't rush the passer, force turnovers, or guard against good passing games. There is still plenty to work on as far as defense goes for the Yellow Jackets.