ATLANTA, GA — Georgia Tech football was nonstop action in 2023, to say the least. And just like a roller coaster, it had its twists, turns, and fans were certainly thrown for a loop.
But to understand fully the story of this team, we must go back and look at the 2022 season.
Midway through the 2022 season, Georgia Tech decided that they needed a change. A 1-3 start to the season was more than disappointing, and head coach Geoff Collins paid the ultimate price for his lackluster performance as the Yellow Jackets head coach: being fired. It came after a 27-10 loss to UCF. The selling point of “this is Atlanta” proved to be not enough for Collins to turn the program around, leaving the Yellow Jackets no choice but to fire him after an abysmal 10-28 record over the course of almost three and a half seasons.
In came interim coach Brent Key, a Georgia Tech alumnus that played guard for the Yellow Jackets from 1997-2000 and another branch from the Nick Saban coaching tree that would eventually become a head coach.
Key made an immediate impression to Georgia Tech fans by beating then-ranked Pittsburgh on the road. Key would lead the Yellow Jackets to another win over a ranked team later that season, a road win against North Carolina. Key would lead Georgia Tech to a 5-7 record in 2022, a major turnaround for the program. However, their bowl game hopes would not be a reality in 2022.
Key wasted no time jumping on the recruiting trail after the 2022 season, going out and getting former Texas A&M quarterback Haynes King from the transfer portal. Now that he had the guy he wanted behind center, it was time for Key to start assembling a coaching staff and his vision for Georgia Tech football in 2023.
It started with bringing in Buster Faulkner from the in-state rival Georgia Bulldogs as his offensive coordinator. Faulkner had been a part of the Georgia program for three years, helping the Bulldogs win two National Championships in that span.
A commitment from incoming freshman Eric Singleton Jr would give King a big-name target in the passing game to go along with Malik Rutherford. The two would combine for over 1,200 yards in 2023 and 10 touchdowns.
A familiar face for Yellow Jacket fans, running back Jamal Haynes, who had been with the program since 2020, finally got the nod from Key and Faulkner to be the feature back in the offense for the 2023 season.
On the defensive side, Georgia Tech still had question marks heading into 2023, and those got even bigger as the season went on. LaMiles Brooks was injured in the first game of the season and the Yellow Jacket defense seemed to fall completely apart at times during the season.
The Yellow Jackets started the season against the Louisville Cardinals. The matchup didn’t seem like a marquee one at the time, but the Cardinals would eventually be featured in the ACC Championship. The Yellow Jackets held their own in the game with the Cardinals, even having built up a 28-13 lead at half time. Then came the first drop in the roller coaster, as the Cardinals would rally in the second half and beat the Yellow Jackets 39-34.
Week 2 seen the Yellow Jackets beat South Carolina State 48-13. Then there was another downward spiral in week 3, as they came within a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Ole Miss Rebels, only for the Rebels to outscore the Yellow Jackets 24-6 in the final 10 minutes of the game, resulting in a 48-23 Ole Miss win.
Yellow Jacket fans were still unsure about Key and the 2023 Yellow Jackets, and it got even worse in week 5, when the visiting Bowling Green Falcons beat the Yellow Jackets 38-27. Suddenly, fans started comparing the loss to the 2019 loss Georgia Tech suffered at the hands of the Citadel. Nonetheless, the Yellow Jackets sat at 2-3 heading into a matchup against the then-ranked Miami Hurricanes.
Many Georgia Tech fans, like me, thought that this would be a game that Georgia Tech would be competitive before Miami would ultimately pull away in the third quarter. However, Georgia Tech stayed in the game and found themselves close with the Hurricanes late in the fourth. When all hope seemed to be lost with Miami controlling the ball with 30 seconds left and no timeouts for Georgia Tech, all they had to do was kneel the ball.
However, Miami decided to run the ball and Georgia Tech recovered a fumble with 20 seconds left. The Yellow Jackets went 74 yards in just four plays, including a game-winning 44-yard touchdown pass from King to receiver Christian Leary with one second remaining to defeat the Hurricanes 23-20.
Georgia Tech fans, although sitting at 3-3, now had confidence that they may have found their coach for the future in Brent Key. It seemed that they had all the momentum in the world heading into their game against Boston College, but again this is a roller coaster ride. And what comes up must also come down. The Yellow Jackets would fall to Boston College 38-23.
However, Georgia Tech had one more trick up their sleeve. A trip back up to a high point for the Yellow Jackets after another win against a ranked team. This time, the North Carolina Tar Heels. A thrilling game that included an 11-point comeback in the fourth quarter now had the Yellow Jackets sitting at 4-4.
So, in the span of four weeks, the Yellow Jackets had now lost to the lowly thought of Bowling Green, beat a ranked Miami team, lost to a lackluster Boston College team, and beat a ranked North Carolina Tar Heel team. Makes sense right? Yeah, not to us either.
The Yellow Jackets then put together one of the most complete football performances I have seen them put together in four seasons, beating Virginia 45-17.
One win separated the Yellow Jackets from their first bowl appearance since 2019. They would drop their next game to Clemson, 42-21. Now at 5-5, they would have to win one of their last two games: Syracuse, or Georgia.
Needing a win, the Yellow Jackets put up the best effort they could against Syracuse. That effort would pay off in the form of a 31-22 win, meaning that the Yellow Jackets would have the opportunity for postseason play for the first time in four seasons.
There was still one game left to play though, and top-ranked Georgia seemed to look past the Yellow Jacket to their imminent game with Alabama the following week in the SEC Championship game. That would nearly cost the Bulldogs the game, as Georgia Tech came closer to beating the Bulldogs than any other team during the regular season. A 31-23 loss that was something to be proud of as a Georgia Tech fan.
Then came the chaos of last-minute bowl invitations. The Yellow Jackets were slated to play Troy in the Birmingham Bowl, but at the last minute the ACC swapped out the Yellow Jackets for the Duke Blue Devils and put Georgia Tech in the Gasparilla Bowl against UCF.
In a statement game, Key would lead the Yellow Jackets to a 30-17 win over UCF, with Georgia Tech having their first winning season since the 2018 season.
So, Georgia Tech football in 2023 was truly something to behold. They beat teams we weren’t supposed to, and they lost to teams we weren’t supposed to, but at the end of the season I can say that I’ve enjoyed one hell of a season of Georgia Tech football.