Everything From Head Coach Brent Key After A 30-29 Win Over Wake Forest

Georgia Tech picked up a big win on the road against Wake Forest. Head coach Brent Key talked to the media after the win. Here is everything he had to say.

Opening statement….

We got a win. We got a win. Really, a tale of two halves played about as poorly as we could play in the first half. Didn't look fast, didn't look crisp, didn't look sharp. A lot of execution errors. Played with some good energy with defense early, then we gave up big plays. The whole thing was coming at halftime, so we had to hit a hard reset. There was no yelling and screaming. There was no getting after people. I simply said to them, We have to take a deep breath, blow the first half out, and all that matters is us going out there to win the third quarter. Whether it's two possessions each, three, it doesn't matter. Our whole objective was to go out and win the third quarter. We were able to do that, we won the third, and then brought them up in the middle. Then that was the next challenge. We have to win the fourth. I didn't mention anything about overtime,but obviously, you have to win that too. You know, there's something I say pregame usually. I said it before the game today. I said, you know, the harder we play, the faster we can play, as physical as we can play for 60 minutes or as much as they let us. I think I'm going to stop saying that. So, but credit to Wake Forest and the job they're doing. I credit our kids for not quitting. The one thing I'll say about this team, for 60 minutes and then some, there still was not one person outside of them that didn't believe they were gonna win the football game, right? They were accountable for their mistakes and their actions early on. They rallied and strung together some good plays, and like good situational footbal,l there at the end.

On the two point conversion at the end, and if it's something a home team should do per analytics…

“No, it has nothing to do with analytics. I mean, you have to go for two in the second one. I would have done the same thing. We were prepared to do the same thing. We were going to go for two. It's a lot of value to keep that time out with you. As soon as they show their formation, you're paying the time out. Learned lessons on that one. We were able to see the formation. Just about the film study, I figured it was going to be a sprint out throwback. It's about film study. We're going to figure it's going to be a sprint-out throwback.

On the decision to punt on 4th and 10….

“It was fourth and ten. Four minutes on the clock, look, it started running under four a little bit. It was the right decision. We had two timeouts remaining. And if we could get a stop, all right, we were good. So we got them on third down. They hit the big, you know, the play, you know, down the left side, defensive right side. Got him at first, and we were able to, you know, change it on.

On the leadership qualities of Haynes King when the team is struggling….

“It says people believe in him. Kids believe in him. The coaches believe in him. We believe in him. I believe in him as a competitor. A lot of times, look, you know, you don't, when you're out of sync in the first half of football, it's either all on you, which we didn't execute at times, but, you know, they changed things up, had 16 days prepared, had some good things. You can tell early on, you know, we're looking one way, and boom, it's not there, and now we're having to, you know, like, sprinkle it back across the field, and by the end of it you know it was too late. So we make some adjustments at halftime, and it just leaves remains to build the job done.

On how much time the Yellow Jackets practiced the two-point conversion in the offseason..

“A lot. A lot. A lot. Yeah, that's a big thing. Look, everything you do when you're preparing for the upcoming season and you're going back and you're correcting things from the year before, you're improving on things, a lot of it's guesstimates. You're guessing what to put your time and effort into. It usually ends up being things that can affect, big-time affect the game. Situational things, right? 60% to 70% of the game, those normal down calls that you make, anybody can make those calls. It's the situational things that matter. It's experience in situations. We work those things every single day, guys. Every single day. We do numerous situational aspects of practice. So it becomes second nature. There are so many things you can't predict that are going to happen in a game. When you get in those situations, you've got to rely back on your training and your preparation.

On the backup quarterback who came in for Wake Forest, Deshawn Purdie, and if he knew a ton on him….

“Not a ton. I mean, we've watched all the guys, especially at that position; you always try to gain as much info as you can. So when he comes in, hey, is he a runner, is he a thrower? Is he good with the RPOs? Is he good with the deep shots? What is it? What's his rhythm? Try to have as much information as you can. But on a normal week, all the time and effort, the majority of your time and effort really goes into who the starter is and defending him. We had a bit of an idea.”

“On seeing plays quick with Eric Rivers and Isiah Canion….

“We didn't get the run game in the first half early on. We were trying to establish the run, trying to establish the run. I'm still a believer now that just because it's not successful in the first half doesn't mean it's not going to be successful in the second. Body blows, those things accumulate over the course of time and over the course of the game. You know, guys start to wear down, you know, the constant grinding of it. It does serve a purpose. I expect this to be more like the second half when it comes to, you know, playing pitch and catch.”

On why the team struggled in the first half….

“Look, we had a good week of preparation, a good week of practice. If I had a magic eight-ball and I could predict that, golly, we'd all be imminently wealthy. I don't know. You know, defense came out and played well early on. Offensively, we just weren't in sync. You know, we had some good runs on that first drive, and then we stalled out. That's why you play a full four quarters and then some.

On any frustration of not playing a complete game…

“I'm extremely excited we won the football game. We've got two weeks now to deal with all those things. I'll tell you then.

On if the bye week comes at a good time…

“Yes. Yes. We've got to recharge. We've got to mentally get ourselves back and ready to go. You know, the physical part, yes, everyone, you know, thinks about the physical part, but the mental grind of it, you know, as it starts to mount, as the season starts to mount. So, yeah, it could come at a better time. I'm very excited, you know, very, very fortunate we are as a team, but also really happy and excited that we're able to come out of this with a win and finish off that first part of the season. We're in the endurance phase now of the season. We're in that endurance phase. Everybody comes out the gate sprinting. In the last third of the season, you see the finish line. But this middle part, that's the endurance phase. Endurance doesn't mean taking it easy. It doesn't mean coasting through it. Endurance is that you're out in the middle of the ocean, you swim all the way out there, and now you turn around and it's just as far to go back, and you can't see either side. That's endurance now. We've got to have that for the next four or five weeks. Then we get into that final sprint towards the end. There's a big test of our identity as a football team today. We talked about that prior. We all just saw last night how quickly it can disappear. I'm proud of these guys for the way they played the second half and the way they finished the game.”

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