Everything from Brent Key's media availability ahead of Bowling Green

Georgia Tech faces Bowling Green at home this Saturday

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Sep 26, 2023 3:01 PM EDT

In this story:

It is now a new game week in Atlanta.

Coming off of a two-game road trip, the Yellow Jackets are now back at home and ready to play at Bobby Dodd Stadium for only the second time all season. Bowling Green is coming to town and Georgia Tech is hoping to build off of its win over Wake Forest this past Saturday.

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key met with the media on Tuesday as usual and here is everything the Yellow Jackets head coach had to say today.

Opening Statement:

"Back out on the field today and it is exciting to know we are coming back home and have a chance to play at Bobby Dodd Stadium here this weekend. I am excited, I know the team is excited after two road night games that were long weeks so it is good to get back home in front of our fans, excited to go play in front of those guys and hope we have a really good crowd this weekend and excited to be here.

It was a good win for us on Saturday night, a lot of things to take away from the game for the team. The things that we addressed on Sunday and were able to work on and see on film and see as a group, I am encouraged by a lot of the things and improvements that we have made and one of the things that I think is really showing up is the recipe for success for this football team is taking shape. The understanding of individual accountability, unit accountability and accountability through the whole team. It's a team game.

There was a point in the game the other night where it was third down at the time and I went over to the defense and said hey guys, we are going to go for it on fourth right here, we have two downs right here and it became fourth down, I think it was 4th down on the 25 and the defense said go coach, we got your back and we got the offenses back and that was the first time this year that I have heard this team rally around each other, I am almost getting chill bumps thinking about it right now. That is a major step in a season, that is a major step in building a football team and to see that and to see the excitement in each other in the game, good or bad, right or wrong, whatever, ups and downs and those guys having each other's backs, you know special teams having the other sides back and we talked during the week about special teams , you start the flow of the game, you create momentum, you get momentum back when it goes away from you and I think they did that at times in the game so that was a major point that I feel like for this football team is important.

Now we have to be able to put two weeks together of the same mentality and there are ups and downs in every game, but we were able to win a game in the fourth quarter and that says a lot about where we have come and the process we are making, but as I have said before, the progress you have made is only as good as the last game you played so we have to continue to make that progress and that starts during the week with the preparation and the practices. We have a big challenge in front of us this weekend, we do, and they have a really good quarterback, No. 7, the running back has the ability to run the ball inside and bounce the ball outside and we have to be good on the defensive side to disrupt the running game, keeping contain on the edges, which is something that we have worked on today. They have the ability to create some explosives with what they do offensively.

Scott Loeffler is a heck of a football coach. He has been around a long time and called a lot of plays and coached a lot of really good players and I have a lot of respect for him as a head coach and he understands what he has, the strengths and weaknesses on their team. They are going to get the ball out quick so we have to do well on the defensive side to try and affect the game based on us and our strengths and the game plan we will put in place.

On the offensive side of the ball, they are a heavy-fire zone blitz team and they are going to be stunting and moving and bringing a 5th and a 6th guy a lot, so we have to be prepared for that. When you have five or six guys blocking, now you have to sort out who those guys are on the run and get the right hats on the right people and that is the run game and protection so we have a big challenge to get ready for this week. No record is indicative of any football team in my opinion and all you have to do is watch the first half of the Michigan game with this team, you are talking about a 7-6 ball game over halfway through the second quarter and they have created a lot of turnovers and they have had some untimely turnovers themselves so we have a challenge in front of us.

It was good to see the team on Sunday come out to practice and have a good pep in their step. We did conditioning at the end of practice and it was as good as they have run as a team so far this season and we had another spirited practice today with a lot of good on good periods within the practice. Looking forward to the game this weekend. Excited to get back out here in Bobby Dodd and play."

1. On getting the run game going...

"Yeah you know, going into the game, we knew they were a good defensive line and I thought in the pass pro part of the game, we are making a lot of strides there, we really are. They twist and stunt and for those guys to stand in there and be able to sort those things out and stand in there in pass protection part of it and in the run game part of it we have to be more consistent. It is not like the old days where you line up mono-e-mono and try to move a guy off the line of scrimmage. They are gonna slant and angle and move the front to the direction or away from the direction they are running the ball and we have to be able to sustain those blocks.

That is one thing defenses do to take plays away and we have to be able to come back with those complementary plays. I think as well some of our play action game that we are continuing to work and build out will help iron out some of the safeties trying to sit low on us and trying to double our guys, which has happened in the last two games now and double different offensive skill players. That is why we are coaches and we get back to work and after four games now, the book is kind of out, people know what you are going to do in a lot of ways, they know what is good against you on both offense and defense.

So when you are preparing for the next team, you are preparing and ironing out your own flaws that teams have previously done against you, that is why self-scout is so important. I spend the majority of Sunday night and Monday night doing self-scout on offense, defense, and special teams. What have people done against us? What are our tendencies? What are we doing to break our tendencies? If you start to get to 80% of something, than that is a tell-tale sign.

We want to smooth those tendencies back out, but at the same time, most good football teams do have tendencies because you are doing something good, but we have to be able to look at it through the eyes of the opposing defense or what the opposing offense sees with our team and that is something that I spend a lot of time with on Monday and then spend a lot of time with our offense, defense, and special teams to get a plan put in place."

2. On the amount of penalties...

"We addressed it on Sunday night with the football team. At the end of the day, all of the penalties can be called, every one of them and that is on me, that is one team, and that is my responsibility. Have we been really good up until then? Yeah. One thing leads to another very quickly and it is a very slippery slope when you are talking about the emotional stability of young people and adults as well and it is very easy to slip to that side and become emotional when you do things and I challenged the team strongly last week and challenged the defense strongly, I challenged both lines of scrimmage to affect the quarterback on one side and protect the quarterback on the other and we have to be able to take those challenges and turn them into our play and then not become emotional after we do have success based on those challenges.

So that is something that we talked about and we watched 20-25 plays and addressed it as a full team on Sunday night and talked about the way we are supposed to play the game and how we are not supposed to play the game here at Georgia Tech."

3. On getting Dontae Smith and Jamie Felix back in the mix at the running back position...

"We have got to get some other guys in there and playing and Dontae has been banged up a little bit, but he is back to full strength now and that is good to see No. 4 running around out there full speed and at that position, when you are back there fully healthy if you have not had the contact in practice, it is a little hard to go into a game and do things because a ball might all of a sudden come lose or leaning one way or the other so I think to get that group some more guys in there... but at the same time, the guys that are in there have to play the way we expect them to play, they have to continue to hold onto the football and be factors in the run game and the pass game."

4. On Kyle Kennard and the defensive line using this performance as a springboard for the rest of the season...

"Yeah, they need to do it again. Pretty simple right? First question is why you didn't do it before and when are you going to do it again? Kyle is playing good football and that... he had a dominant performance, he really did. Me and Kyle had long talks yesterday, we had long talks on Sunday. You can help and hurt the team in the same way and Kyle has shown so much maturity, not just in the last year, but in the last four weeks and I am extremely proud of him and the maturity that he has shown. But as you see, it only takes on small thing to go back off and to do things that become emotionally based and to see the remorse on his face and know that he was not trying to do anything to intentionally hurt the team, yet the outcome of it was. To be able to have those conversations and talks with guys like that cause he is playing at a high-level, he really is.

When you talk about affecting the quarterback, he really is and he has played really well the last several games and we have to continue to have him play like that and I am convinced that he will. They accepted the challenge, it was kind of time where enough is enough and they took it personal. They took it very personal that they had not been able to do the things that they are capable of doing and that they had been doing all preseason.

Look, I think the offensive line is doing a nice job of protecting the quarterback at times over summer camp, we would have a 12-play blitz series and they would get 10 or 11 of the plays would be sacks, so we knew the capabilities would be there, we knew that they could go do it and the mindset of being more aggressive and getting up field and the disruption in the run game has helped and I think (Andrew) Thacker has done a good job of helping over the last couple of weeks, the calls that have allowed those guys to play a little more freely and get up the field and cause some havoc."

5. On playing Makius Scott at defensive end and if that will continue...

"Yeah and we played that way in the week before and it gives you the ability to jump in some new fronts and play your three down and four down and have a bigger body to control the body of the tackle. That field end is a bigger body guy, Sylvain (Yondjouen) was playing there, we have Makius there and it makes us a little more stout in the run game and obviously he has the ability to go inside and play the nose or the three, but there are several combinations that we would like to get out there.

That is one of them. I think the ability to get Kevin and Kyle both out there on the field at end. I was drawing last night different numbers and combinations of guys to get on the field... to have Kevin (Harris) and Kyle and Zeek (Biggers) and Horace (Lockett) on the inside, that is a different looking D-line now. Being able to flip Makius outside and have the other two guys outside. So what we have done is be able create flexibility in that front.

From an offensive standpoint, when you see these four guys on the field or these three guys on the field or this guy is coming in to sub in, you don't necessarily know how the combination is going to work out so as an offensive playcaller on the other side of the field to say, hey this guy is coming in now and they are going to be in this front or this type of defense and now you can become multiple and it makes it a lot harder on the other teams play caller."

6. On Horace Lockett...

"He is massive and he moves extremely well for his size. He got a few plays, spent a few plays against Louisville and a few more against South Carolina State and then this past game, it was 30-35 plays in the game where Horace played and there are times that him and Zeek played and really made a wall and I think having some success in that game has really propelled Horace to understand why myself and Marco (Coleman) have been on him to get those things done in practice and see that reward in the game, not just go in there to fill a couple of spots in the game, but be in a spot to make an impact.

He is 6'5, 340 LBS and moves like a dancing bear, but now he is learning how to strain, he is learning how to finish, learning how to run to the ball and how to use his hands and get blockers off of him. I am excited about him and I have been excited about him for a long time and he has a tremendous future, but that future is now and we have to continue progressing him in that way so he can be a factor for us."

7. On Jamal Haynes and Haynes King's impact in the running game...

"Anytime that you have a quarterback that can be a factor in the run game, it is a huge bonus and makes life easier on the offensive line and you know you are limited defensively when you have a guy that can run around like that, as far as your pass rushes and your blitzes. Some guys sit back there like a statue and you are able to bring guys whatever way you want, but when you have a guy who can move up in the pocket and break contain, that is scary from the defensive side and he can do that and it settles things down offensively and for the offensive line on those third down situations.

As far as designed runs, yeah there might be one or two runs that we look at for him but he is going to look to use his feet without having a designed run per se for him. He carries the ball like nine or ten times a game and that is enough to break a defense down and make them honor that guy, the quarterback that can run like that. The other thing is, he is not looking to run just to run. He is looking to run and evade a rush and be able to throw a ball downfield and now the DB is having to plaster the receiver down the field or the pass rush can't let him out and it is a headache to have a guy like that who is able to throw the ball while he is running.

I saw that the other night in the game where he is looking to... double, triple optionish plays where he pulls out where he looks like he is going to throw it and one guy goes here and one guy goes there and the middle is wide open, it is a headache to prepare for.

Jamal has done a good job of taking and running what is there. Running to the intent of the run. We are a stretch team and he knows how to press the landmark and make the backers commit over the top and get vertical. What is impressive about him is he has the ability to get something when nothing is there. They brought two off the back side edge and he spins out of one of them and a guy gets cut free in the B gap and he is able to get out there and make yardage and that is where a lot of his yardage is coming from and there are those six, eight, 12 yard runs that he is popping inside, but he is getting some 15 yard runs when nothing is actually there to start with.

I think it was Jamal one on of them where he bounced it outside in the game and you see Haynes running down the sideline with him and making two key blocks to spring him and when I talk about buying in to what we are doing, those are the things that you want showing up that make you believe you we are on the right track."

8. On reflecting on taking the job one year ago today...

" I am as happy as you can be. I love every day when I get to wake up and come in here and coach these kids and have a chance to impact these kids lives. I have a tremendous staff that I am able to work with every day and try to put these kids in a position to be successful when football is over, to graduate from Georgia Tech."

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