Colorado Buffaloes 2025 Season Opponent Preview: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Led by quarterback Haynes King and coach Brent Key, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will face coach Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes in Week 1 of the 2025 college football season. Get to know Georgia Tech ahead of the August matchup at Folsom Field.

Oct 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Haynes King (10) looks to pass in the first quarter at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Long connected by their 1990 national championship split, the Colorado Buffaloes and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will finally meet on the gridiron this fall.

Georgia Tech, led by third-year coach Brent Key, is set to visit Folsom Field on Aug. 29 for the first time in the program's 133-year history. The home-and-home matchup was announced back in 2016, and both programs have gone through countless changes, including Colorado's hiring of coach Deion Sanders in 2022.

"It will be a terrific high-profile series, and I am sure some fans will use it to settle the bragging rights back to 1990," Colorado athletic director Rick George said in 2016.

Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King (10) celebrates with his teammates after scoring touchdown during the second half of a NCAA college football game against Georgia Tech in Athens, Ga., on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. / Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Georgia Tech's 2024 Season In Review

The Yellow Jackets had a thrilling yet ultimately average 2024 season, finishing at 7-6 after losing to the Vanderbilt Commodores in the Birmingham Bowl, 35-24. With dual-threat quarterback Haynes King setting the tone, Georgia Tech began its season with wins over the Florida State Seminoles and Georgia State Panthers to earn a No. 23 ranking in the AP Poll. However, the Yellow Jackets fell to the Syracuse Orange next and never returned to the AP Top 25.

Georgia Tech's biggest win of the season came in November against the then-No. 4 Miami Hurricanes, 28-23. Key's squad followed that up with a win over the North Carolina State Wolfpack before coming up short against the then-No. 6 Georgia Bulldogs in a wild eight-overtime battle. It's now another year later, but the Yellow Jackets demand respect for their efforts against Miami and Georgia.

"We made a tremendous amount of improvement over the course of a year," Key said after the Birmingham Bowl, per Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on SI. "I'm excited (about) where this team will continue to go. You learn lessons through every experience in your life, and the football team learns and grows through experiences, and where this team is today, compared to where this team was a year ago, I'm extremely proud of where they are, and I'm sure extremely excited about where we're going moving forward."

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Nov 9, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defensive back Zachary Tobe (23) celebrates on the sideline against the Miami Hurricanes in the fourth quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech Offensive Preview

The aforementioned King returns to lead Georgia Tech's offense after throwing for 2,114 yards and rushing for 587 last year. In a run-heavy offense, King was highly accurate when the ball did leave his hand, completing 196-of-269 (72.9 percent) passes for 14 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

King's weapons include wide receivers Malik Rutherford (702 receiving yards in 2024) and Eric Rivers (four-star transfer from Florida International) and running back Jamal Haynes, who rushed for over 900 yards in each of the past two seasons.

Georgia Tech may not have the talent Colorado does on the outside, but Key takes great pride in his offensive line, which allowed only nine sacks last season.

Georgie Tech Defensive Preview

Sep 7, 2024; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange running back Will Nixon (24) avoids a tackle by Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg (99) in the third quarter at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Defensively, the Yellow Jackets have experienced some turnover this offseason but managed to bring in defensive linemen Akelo Stone (Ole Miss) and Matthew Alexander (UCF), EDGE A.J. Hoffler (Clemson) and cornerback Jon Mitchell (Penn State) out of the transfer portal. Also key to Key's defense is the return of defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg, who totaled five TFLs and one sack last season.

Former Texas Longhorns safeties coach Blake Gideon was named Georgia Tech's new defensive coordinator in February.

"Coach Gideon's come in and done a real good job," van den Berg said in April, per Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on SI. "He's kept a lot of what we were really good at before, kept it in our game, allowing us to play fast, allowing us to (do) shank blocks and everything. And we've also added in some new pieces that I really feel like have helped us. Texas has had a lot of success over there, and we've brought in some key pieces from that.. It's gonna be a really powerful defense."

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