Can The Yellow Jackets Overcome An Injury To The Secondary On Saturday When They Face Duke?

Georgia Tech will be put to the test this week on the backend in trying to slow down an explosive offense that ranks in the top 20 in the NCAA in the Duke Blue Devils. Georgia Tech has one of the better pass defenses in the country, ranking No. 34 in pass defense, giving up 188.8 yards per game, which is their best number in the past three years. They also rank No. 3 in the ACC in pass defense. They are also a top 50 unit in red zone defense, third down defense, and scoring defense.

It’s a pretty quality unit under first-year defensive coordinator Blake Gideon that is continuing to improve week by week. One of the keys to stopping the backend will be the secondary. One of the players in question is veteran cornerback Ahmari Harvey. Now, we won’t know the status of Harvey until Thursday when head coach Brent Key has his press conference, but the signs are pointing he could miss the game against Duke on Saturday. This opens up the opportunity for other guys to step in.

One of the big keys in helping out the Yellow Jackets on Saturday is the depth they have at the position. Georgia Tech hit the portal to bring in several guys, including Daiquan White, Jy Gilmore, Kelvin Hill, and Jon Mitchell. Coach Key talked about the depth of that room.

"Yeah, you know, that's the reason we play a lot of guys on defense, we play a lot of guys on the football team, the only way to really get experience is to play,” said Key. “Rodney Shelley was out for the first few games so he is getting back in the swing of things and back in the mix so that is good to see, you know, Daiquan has played a lot of football, Jon has played a lot of football, we have depth there, it is like the running back situation, we have some guys who are young that are not quite ready yet but they are going to be good football players too so if anything were to happen like that, it happens with a position where you have depth and experienced depth."

Rodney Shelley has been battling injuries himself this season which made him miss a few games, but he had one of his better games against Virginia Tech and came up with a critical interception that turned the momentum in the Yellow Jackets favor. It was also his first career interception.

“Yeah, in the moment, it felt great. First career interception, I knew that there needed to be a turnover or something to change the events in the game. So, took it into account and it came my way. So, I'm thankful for that,” said Shelley.

Veteran safety Clayton Powell-Lee said it best about what Harvey meant to the team and the difficulty of replacing him.

“I mean, this sucks that I was on the field right beside him when it happened. So it's tough to see your brother that you've been playing with for three to four years go down like that. I don't know any of the details behind it. I mean, that's the trainers and obviously, Coach Key likes they're all over that," said Powell-Lee. So if we can give him the play, we want him to play, and I know he wants to play as well. So just with him, you know, he's gonna keep on playing. We know that we got him in spirit, even if he doesn't honestly, but just knowing that he's more willing to play than us honestly, like he really wants to come back, so we get him back. He's a big key to our success honestly, on defense.”

It will be a cumulative effort on Saturday to stop Duke on defense and the Yellow Jackets veterans Shelley and Zachary Tobe, along with their transfer portal additions, will loom large in the Yellow Jackets coming out with a victory on Saturday.

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• Everything From Brent Key Ahead of No. 12 Georgia Tech's Matchup With Duke On Saturday