Georgia Tech Football: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly From Win vs Pitt
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For the first time since 2016, Georgia Tech celebrated a road win over a ranked team. The Yellow Jackets were three-touchdown underdogs against Pittsburgh on Saturday night and found a way to get a victory over the defending ACC champions. The defense was fantastic for much of the night and the running game helped propel this offense to 26 points, a season-high against FBS opponents.
While it is always great to get a win over a ranked team, there is still plenty to work on for Georgia Tech. The passing game was not very good and the offensive line continues to not be a good unit. However, cleaning up things after a win is much better than doing it after a loss.
Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly for the win vs Pittsburgh.
The Good
Gavin Stewart kicked four field goals in Georgia Tech's win over Pittsburgh
1. The Yellow Jackets won. That is the best thing to take from the game. They went on the road as a three-touchdown underdog and took down a ranked team. Always a good feeling, especially after how crazy the week has been.
2. The special teams were fantastic. Gavin Stewart was 4-4 on field goal attempts, there were no blocked punts, and Tech recovered the onside kick at the end of the game. So far, so good for the new special teams coordinator Jason Semore.
3. Hassan Hall had his best game of the season running the football, finishing with 165 yards on 20 carries. From the way the game played out, he might be the lead back now. Dontae Smith and Dylan McDuffie combined for only three carries last night.
4. Charlie Thomas was a menace on defense in the second half. In just one half of football, Thomas had seven tackles, a fumble recovery, and an interception. Thomas is the best player on the team and his impact is always felt when he is on the field.
5. The defense as a whole played great. The only complaint I would have is letting Pitt drive down at the end of the game to make things interesting late, but the defensive effort was fantastic.
6. Pitt has been running the ball well heading into this game and Georgia Tech held them to just 106 yards on 31 carries.
7. Georgia Tech finished with 12 quarterback hits and two sacks. Ace Eley had one sack and Sylvain Yondjouen also had a sack.
8. Georgia Tech's defense forced three turnovers. That is always a big key when wanting to pull an upset and the Yellow Jackets did just that on defense today.
9. Georgia Tech was 6-7 in red zone opportunities. After being 0-5 last week, this was a huge key in the game.
The Bad
Pitt tight end Gavin Bartholomew flips into the end zone vs Georgia Tech
1. Allowing Pitt to score near the end of the game to set up an onside kick. That is the only thing I will nitpick about the defense, but the last drive for Pitt was way too easy and if they had recovered the onside kick, it would have been trouble.
2. Georgia Tech was 5-17 on third down. The Yellow Jackets also started 2-2 on third down, which meant they finished 3-15 the rest of the way. That is a number that needs to be better.
3. Scoring 13 points off three turnovers. It is good that they at least scored, but you want to be able to punch the ball in the end zone instead of settling for field goals.
The Ugly
Jeff Sims had a tough game passing the ball vs Pittsburgh
1. The passing game was terrible. Sims might not have thrown an interception, but he threw at least four or five passes that should have been intercepted. His decision-making was rough in this game and needs to be better in future games.
2. The offensive line was once again not very good. Pitt got four sacks on Sims and 11 tackles for loss. The Panther's defensive line is very good, but Tech can't allow numbers like that if they want to keep winning.
3. The goal-line fade call on 4th and 1 at the one-yard line was terrible. The decision to go for it was fine, the play call was not.
Georgia Tech will now get ready for another ACC Coastal clash when Duke comes to Atlanta next week. There are plenty of things to build off of and things to get better at before they have to play the Blue Devils.
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