Everything Brent Key Said At His Thursday Press Conference Ahead of Clemson

Saturday is almost here and one of the biggest games of the weekend will be in Atlanta between Georgia Tech and Clemson. The Yellow Jackets are hoping to end their long losing streak to the Tigers and earn one of the biggest victories of the Brent Key era.

Ahead of Saturday's game, Key spoke with the media one last time and here is everything that he had to say.

Opening Statement...

"Get that out of the way now, the injury report that let you guys know, you know the way to have it listed is available, questionable, out,and there's an update on it on Friday and then a final version on Saturday, but you know right now only available. All right, Haynes King, Rodney Shelley, AJ Hoffler, all right questionable is Ronald Triplette and then out are Trelain Maddox, D.J. Moore, Savion Riley, Shymeik Jones and, Chad Alexander, okay. So I'd like to make that part of just the weekly thing come down and give you guys that every Thursday to start off. It'll make your jobs a little easier.

So but, you know, we got a really good opportunity on Saturday here at Bobby Dodd Stadium and a really good crowd, excited to be home again. And just to play here, it is such a treat for myself and for these players. And have an opponent like Clemson coming in. It makes it even more special. Dabo is a coach that's been in the league, obviously a long time, but he's really set the barometer of you know that you want to build and in the success that you want to have and he's done it the right way he really has, you know, 17 years as the head coach with nine ACC championships two national championships, unfortunately those two national championships I was on the other side line for him we got one as well we got a couple there but it was they've always been hard -fought games you know you look at his teams, they're built very similar every year, year in, year out, you know, defensively really strong on the defensive line, active linebackers, you know, cover, cover DBs.

They don't beat themselves. And then offensively, you know, skill players on the edge, you know, a quarterback that you've always been been a really good player for and no exception this year. So I think one of the big differences in their team now is their offensive line. Even though they've been shuffling guys in and out, moving guys around, I think Matt Luke who's been there now I think two years has really done a great job with those guys and getting guys to play different positions and the position of versatility that it takes to be able to do that. That doesn't start just, you know, your first game of the season, that starts early in the off season, You know, we're trained guys to do that, so I think those guys, regardless of who's in and play well together, they play physical, and they're very talented players too, so. But offensively, it goes behind Cade. You know, he's been a quarterback in this league for a long time now, and seen a lot of things. It's hard to throw him off, to confuse him. You don't have to be sharp on defense at the same time. It's about what we do and how we do our base defense as well as our base offense, our special teams, and they're able to make adjustments in there.

So we've got to be sharp on that side of the ball because we've got a really talented offense that we're going to be going against. And then, offensively, we've got to be able to establish the line of scrimmage. We've got to be able to make plays. I mean, the big thing, we can't beat ourselves. All right, so that's what we're looking for and I think special teams, we've had two weeks, the first two games, we've made improvements each week and looking for those guys to continue to improve. It's exciting, the players are excited, the coaches are excited and I know he fans are excited for a really good game here on Saturday."

1. On what he has seen from Clemson in their first two games...

"Well, first off, they've played two good football teams. You know, LSU's a really good football team, came down to the last drive. And then, you know, didn't play as well in the first half against Troy, but there was also a weather delay. And there's a lot of factors that go into these things. But when you turn the tape on and you watch the film, I mean, it's hard to believe that when you watch the tape. Especially, I mean, they came out rolling in the second half, and I'd expect them to be able to continue moving and moving at that pace and rolling into this game on Saturday.

So, you know, as they got the run game going, they started going offensively and they went into a little tempo in the second half and cracked some runs and were able to get some momentum going and I think that was the big thing that really got them out of the, a little bit of the first half run that you see a lot of times all across the country, but having gone against Clemson for a lot of years and going against, as an assistant, going against Dabo and his, If there's one thing you can say that he does a great job of is when they have had a down week or down game, he gets them up and they're ready to roll that next week."

2. On Blake Gideon facing Clemson last season as Texas assistant...

"No, I mean, it's a different year. Different players. We didn't play them last year but I played them for seven, eight years prior to that."

3. On the injury report and if it changes any preparation...

"They asked us to do it for a lot of reasons, and that's what I'm gonna do. I mean, I'm gonna be transparent with it, and it is what it is. I mean, people look into that a little bit too much too. I mean, once the ball's kicked off on Saturday, the guys play, and the guys play."

4. On the message to the team to keep their focus...

"Yeah, focus is such a big word for something that really is a small, small point or dot that you're looking at and its ability to put blinders on. We have 27 seniors on the team. We have a lot of new guys too, but we have 27 seniors. We have guys that have been in the program now for going on their third year. Some of them have been here even prior to that. They understand the opportunity in front of them. There's no need to get guys focused in or long expectations of ourselves or much higher than anything externally anyone could ever put on them. And as long as they know that and they continue that way, we'll be fine."

5. On winning the margins in games like these...

"I'm the same person that I was last week, and I will be next week as far as the process that we go through. Look, it's a huge opportunity for us, okay? It's a big mark for us, but it's not our end -all goal, okay? It's an opportunity that allows us to proceed towards our goal, And that's what it is. We've, I told the team today, right? No one needs to do anything other than they've already done. All right? They have the confidence in themselves and it's gonna be a hard -fought game. But those are things, if you wait until Thursday, a game week to start, according to him. If you wait too late, those are things that begin in January."

6. On Ethan Mackenny...

"Yeah. I mean, I think people forget. I mean, Ethan was a true freshman two years ago, started with eight or nine games and it was a, kid's good player. And, you know, had some ups and downs last year with injuries and time loss and then really started settling back in at the end of the season. And he's really, you know, From January to now, just like I spoke about, Ethan's been in a great place. He's healthy, his body's totally changed. And anytime you have that experience out there, playing a tackle position, it's a comfort."

7. On the offensive line penalties...

"I don't know. We've worked on it like we do every week. It's a focus every day. Whether it be penalties, whether it be turnovers, whether it be can you have the right spot, hands in the right spot? Penalties or something that we look at them two ways. You have discipline penalties which are pre snap post whistle and you have combat penalties. The discipline penalties that are pre snap post whistle those are the individual right those are concentration right those are you know your focus right combat penalties those are coaching right, where your hands are, how you move your feet where you put your hat. So when we talk about, you know, we're all in this together, we truly are. It's on both its own, you know, us as coaches and its own players, both to correct mistakes each week."

8. On previous matchups against Clemson in national championship games...

"The cool thing about him (Dabo Swinney) is he's the same person all the time. He believes in his plan, his process, he sticks with it. Yeah, like everybody you adapt things each they're consistent, they're consistent and you know what you're gonna get, you're gonna get a disciplined team, they're gonna play hard, they play four quarters. We've been in games, I mean literally, one of those games we're talking about there, literally we lost the last play of the game down in Tampa, and you know, there's been a lot of those that are back and forth, back and forth, and it's hard to sustain success. That's one of the hardest things in the world, and you know, to see 17 years of him there, and not to mention the fact that he got the head job at Clemson, very similar to, you know, very, very similar paths, he's someone that even before knowing him that I've looked for and I know that he's going through a lot of things that recently in the last couple years that I've gone through and It's kind of funny. It was two years ago. We played up there pre -game, we're out on the field before the game they said yeah, he said you're kind of halfway, you know through your first year. everybody thinks it's your second, right? I'm like, go yeah they do."

9. On the missed tackles...

"As I said, nine's too many, 12's too many. You want to be at zero, but if there is a mistackle, I expect two, three, four, five other guys there, so it's not a missed tackle for 15, 20 yards, it's a missed tackle for one yard, or even no yards, because of the rallying to the football. And that was with playing a lot of young guys out there. A lot of guys got an opportunity to play for the first time, which was really good to see."

10. On getting Rodney Shelley and A.J. Hoffler back...

"You know those, those guys I've said it each week when it comes to the health of our players we're gonna make sure they're ready to go right that's not something we're ever gonna mess around with. We have really good doctors, really good trainers. Brad Kimble and his staff do an outstanding job and I put full faith and trust in those guys and these guys are back and they're ready to go, but they're ready to go and they've had good practice."

11. On the long history of this rivalry game...

" A lot of great memories. Yes this is rivalry. This is one of the most natural rivalry, rivalries in this league with being in two separate states, you know it's the proximity, it's the types of ball games that have been played over those 40 years, but the rivalry needs to be just that, a rivalry, and that's on us to put the game back in the right balance. It's not a rivalry if it's one -sided completely, so it's on us to be able to go out and compete and make these games what they should be and I believe Saturday will be a really good football game. We know we can't control outcomes, these things, But we can control what we put into it and you know everything you know the support from the fans and student body They come in and help be a part of this and help make this a true home field advantage."

12. On what he has learned about this team through two weeks...

"I thought and have confirmed that we're a resilient, very, very mentally tough, gritty football team. The surprise was the way the first drives have started the last two games. That's something that we've taken a lot of pride in, and we work extremely hard on. I mean, evidently, last year, I think their turnover was like eighth game of the season and you know I've said it before if you put a hundred things down on a piece of paper you know a thousand things on a piece of paper that's not something that I would have written down as one of the things that I was worried about what would have happened but that's why I play football that's why it's a what they say it's a oblong shaped ball that you don't know which way it's going to bounce and there's a couple times I think bounce the wrong way on us but we We gotta do a job, do a better job of, of that, we can't beat ourselves. Our margins aren't big, okay? We have small margins, we understand that. We try to create more margin in the way we play and the style we play with. And that can't be one of the things that sets us apart."