Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 2023 College Football Preview
July 8, 2023
2022 Recap
Record – 5-7
ATS – 6-6
It was a strange season. Usually, they didn’t show up. Sometimes they did.
The Yellow Jackets scored just 17 PPG and allowed 28 PPG yet somehow managed to win five games. Wait. It gets better. They took down Pittsburgh (!) and North Carolina (!) on the road and also defeated the scrappy Blue Devils. Could it be that the mid-season coaching change to Brent Key was the TONIC they needed to start moving in the right direction?
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 2023 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Jackets were fairly abysmal on offense LY and ranked #91 in rushing offense (132 YPG) and #109 thru the air. The QB play was poor overall (10-9 TD to INT) and all three doods that threw more than 80 passes were extremely inconsistent. The battle for the starting gig over the summer months will be between Texas A&M transfer Haynes King who looked MEH is his cup of coffee with the Aggies, and one of last year’s contributors Zach Pyron. #2 rusher Dontae Smith (420, 5 TD) and LUA-VUH transfer Trey Cooley should provide a decent 1-2 combo but we don’t know if either of those men are #1 material. The WR/TE options look pretty grim as they lose their top-three in receiving yards but the hope is that one of a talented transfer portal bodies works out. WR Christian Leary ROLLS in from Alabama and WR Chase Lane is another former Texas A&M Aggie. The OL boasts nice size, returns four starters, and has solid depth thanks to transfer additions. The offense will score more points this year but they don’t appear to be anything better than “average” on paper.
DEFENSE
The defense struggled again last season, particularly vs the run were they ranked dead last in the ACC (189 YPG). In fact, the Jackets haven’t allowed fewer than 28 PPG since 2017 (26.5). Although seven starters return on this side of the football we’re unhappy to report that they’ll be without their top-three tacklers from a season ago including two guys that booked over 100 of those BAD BOYS (Eley, Thomas). And they’re definitely gonna miss their devastating pass rusher Keion White (7.5 sacks, 14 TFL) who’s off to the NFL. They’ve still got seven returning starters to work with including three on the DL but they’ll need a player or two to develop into legit PENETRATORS. Texas A&M LB Andre White could end up being a yuuge addition at LB, but the teeth of the defense is definitely the secondary. The back end retains three starters including a very talented safety tandem. Georgia Tech could be ok on defense but they appear to be lacking in “difference-makers”. We’ll see how things go.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Georgia Tech will need to find a new primary KR and PR but at least they can count on PK Gavin Stewart who nailed 12-13 FG attempts in 2022. The Jackets were dead last in the FBS in net punting LY thanks to four (!) of their punts being blocked so that might need to get cleaned up.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – They’ve got two automatic losses to look forward to in non-conference action (at Ole Miss, Georgia) but they’ll almost certainly be able to handle South Carolina St and Bowling Green. They miss Florida St in ACC play but have to travel to Clemson in November. Note that week one is yuuuge as they start with ACC rival LUA-VUH on a Friday night.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Bowling Green (Sept 30)
This is a classic SANDWICH ALERT as this game falls between road dates with Wake Forest and Miami. Also recall that Bowling Green has shown the ability to SHOCK the WORLD recently (2022 – Marshall, 2021 – Minnesota). This doesn’t appear to be a good time to lay a lot of points.
Season Win Total
Market consensus July 8
Over 4.5 +100
Under 4.5 -130
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean: Over
We’re not in love with the roster but we think that we might possibly think two things. One, they’ll be 2-2 in non-conference play. Two, they can win three ACC clashes. Don’t love it, but LEANAGE to the ‘over’ as we approach press time.
MEGAmazing Long-Winded Rambling Tidbit
Like the super-hot actress who hits her 50s and is still a total SMOKESHOW, but decides to turn her entire head into a demonic-looking plastic extravaganza, the Yellow Jackets just couldn’t stick with what was working. Head coach Paul Johnson went 82-60 (.577) with Georgia Tech and had them in a bowl game almost every year, but that wasn’t good enough. So let’s get a “modern” head coach and change from an offense that drives opponents crazy to the same boring crap that everyone else runs! And we’ll do it with less-talented players! Gotta be “exciting” for the fans, and “exciting” apparently means going 14-32 (.304) since Johnson’s departure.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
This is a tough team to figure out because they look sooooooo average, yet you can’t deny that they played very well at times last year once Brent Key took over the controls. And we can say with 99% SAFE AND EFFECTIVE certainty that the QB play will be much improved. We’ll call for five wins but wouldn’t be totally shocked if they weaseled into a bowl game.