Everything From Head Coach Brent Key In His Final Media Availability Ahead Of Matchup Vs Pittsburgh

On the injury report…

“Out same as we have been with Will Benton being out for the season. And then questionable Andre Fuller and Dean Patterson, both questionable going into the game. And then that's it. Again, in a really good place right now. We'll see how those two guys progress, and hopefully they progress in a good direction and will be ready to go. So in a good place there.

Opening Statement…

“I do want to take some time and talk about the seniors and mention those guys who were playing their last game in Bobby Dodd on Saturday night and how much they mean to the program, mean to me personally, mean to the team and the teammates. Talking about this class, 14 of the 26 of them have been with me the entire time I've been the head coach. Over these three years, and that's something that's remarkable, really for this day, this time this day and age but in those guys, there's such a huge reason you know why we've been able to have the success we've had. These guys chose to trust in a vision and trust in a plan when there was really no proof of it. Those guys have been outstanding. 10 of the freshmen have been at Georgia Tech since their freshman year, and came here right out of high school. With those seniors, D-line Matt Alexander, tight end Josh Beetham, long snapper Will Benton, tight end JT Byrne, DB Omar Daniels, O-line Joe Fusilel, DB Jyi Gilmore, running back DaylonGordon, linebacker Jackson Hamilton, corner Ahmari Harvey, running back Jamal Haynes, DB Ben Hollerbach, quarterback Haynes King, defensive line Jason Moore, punter Marshall Nichols, wide receiver Dean Patterson, safety Clayton Powell Lee, offensive lineman Ryan Purves, wide receiver Eric Rivers, wide receiver Malik Rutherford, offensive lineman Keylan Rutledge, tight end Brett Seither, corner Rodney Shelley defensive tackle Akelo Stone, defensive line Ronald Triplette, and defensive tackle J.J. Van Den Berg. So, you know, those guys obviously mean a lot to the program, a lot to me. I think that's what's great about the way football is. Everybody, you know, talks the negative about college football these days. I think the exact opposite of it. I think it gives you a chance to really affect a lot of different types of players. But to see those guys where, half of them have been here, half of them, you know, have come over the last two years or one year, and all be able to mold together into one collective team and mold into the culture of what the locker room is, it's pretty outstanding.”

“It's part of what's really, really good about college football. Senior class, first senior class to go to three straight bowl games since 2014, 13-3 at home over the last three years, with 10-0 over the last two years, and has an opportunity to become the first group to go undefeated at home for two straight years since 1952-1953. There's a lot that these guys have to play for. There's a lot that the team has to play for the seniors for. I expect the entire team to rally around these guys to lift them up and have our absolute best game come Saturday night. I wanted to make sure I talked about the seniors and gave them the recognition that they all deserve. I want them to know how they all mean. You know, there should be some emotional times on Saturday night when these guys are out there for their last time, so we need to take that emotion and turn it into energy and make the most of this opportunity.”

On Joe Fusile, Jason Moore, and Daylon Gordon earning scholarships as walk-ons….

“I've talked a lot before about how important the walk-ons are to me here and how that's something that I always want to have here at Georgia Tech: the walk-on. They're the heart and soul of the team, of what they do, how they go about their business. They came here to do it for free, especially in a day and age when everyone talks about money and the dollar. These guys came here because they wanted the value of the education and to still continue to play football. All three are hugely impactful. It's kind of ironic that one's offense, one's defense, and Daylon's offense, but he's also the core captain of our special teams. So how they affect all three different ways. They all have different journeys or different stories on their journey. You know, JMO (Jason Moore) had to leave for a minute, and, you know, same with Akelo, you know, leaving and coming back. I think that's just even more so a credit to the culture that these kids have established in the locker room.”

On Ahmari Harvey and how far he has come as a player and a person…

“I love Ahmari as a player, but I could really care less about him as a player. Ahmari is a human. Amari is a young man. The development that he's had, the maturity that he's come across, the ups and downs, the highs, the lows, all for him to become this version of himself. To have a nasty injury five weeks ago, now, and come back and be cleared to play last week. Just because you're cleared doesn't mean you're going to play. For him to go out there, he walked up to me at halftime when we came back out on the field and said, Coach, put me in the game. I want to help change the game. It's a credit to who he is and how he's matured. Amari's got a great future ahead of him. He really does. He's special to this football team. He's special to his position and his side of the ball, but he's special to me. All these guys have been here from the start and seen the ups and downs. I read his little thing he put out on social media yesterday, and just reading those is pretty cool to see the response these guys have.”

On what has led to the struggles on defense the past few weeks…

“It's me. It's all me. Take it, need it right. It's a combination of everything. There are a lot of things that we didn't do right. The good thing about that, Kelly, is that we've shown in the season to do things the right way. We've shown to, you know, we were making progress in a lot of areas, especially situationally, throughout the year. We had a tough time of things. I mean, we did not play good defense the last two weeks. That's pretty evident. We've worked extremely hard, continued this week to work, and we've given them the tools, and I expect them to play highly confident and highly – they know this is a time for them to truly go out and play the way that we've built this program, the toughness, the discipline, the commitment, the execution. They've got to believe in themselves and believe in all that because I believe in them. I believe in the defense. I believe in the guys that are playing on defense. They need to go out and do the same thing on Saturday night.”

On what makes the rush defense of Pittsburgh so good…

“They've got good players. They run the same scheme forever. There's little tweaks in it that Pat has put in there each year. Every year they're going to have guys, I mean, this is obviously not Aaron Donald, but when you look at that type of player, there's a 6'1", 6'2", extremely twitchy, extremely fast, explosive. They have long arms. They can get off blocks. They run to the football. They run to the football, all eyes, 11 eyes on the ball, nine eyes on the ball, minus two corners. They're going to put themselves in position, and they're going to load up to stop the run, and they're playing short to deep. They're playing to stop the run and then react to the pass. So at the end of the day, you get in championship football, and this time of year, you've got to be able to establish a line of scrimmage. You know, you get in championship football at this time of year, you've got to be able to establish a line of scrimmage.”

On the home game against Syracuse being announced as a sellout…

“It means a lot. It means a lot to the players. Therefore, it means a lot to me. You know, personally, yeah, it's great to see the place full again. It's been the culmination of a lot of hard work by these players to put themselves in a position to have the success, to have the fans come and watch and see. The next step now is to have this be a continuous thing. The continuous thing and the expectation is that every week the stadium's filled. Can't thank the fans enough for coming out and supporting these guys who work their tails off and go to class and do all the right things that they're supposed to be doing there. The students is what have been the real game changer. The game changer has been these kids on campus that are just involved in the game, and they are the 12th man on the field. There's not just juice to come and play at home and excitement, but I think we got word on the way back from the last game that it was going to be a night game. I think you kind of hear a collective, yes, you know, right when it was announced, I mean, everybody was excited. They're fired up to be able to play under the lights here at Bobby Dodd.”

On if he gave more attention to the defense this week compared to the past…

“I give my attention to everything. Whoa. Whoa. Yeah, we got more. We got more. We got more. Come here, man (Ahmari Harvey), I was just talking about you. Proud of you, man. Proud of you.”

On Bailey Stockton…

“He's cleared again, obviously. It's like I said a second ago with Ahmari. Just because a guy's cleared doesn't mean they're totally in that space to go. He's had a good week of practice, and he continued to work himself back in. That's one of those things where just because they're cleared medically, I'm not going to put a guy in a position to still be of any harm to themselves, whether they're not in the mental space to play, whether they're physically not feeling it. We're not going to press a guy if they're not feeling up to going back in. We're going to push them to get ready to play. Then we've got to take everything into account with that.”

Zyeek Biggers on seeing where the team is now…

“I'm a little jealous. But it's great seeing the team perform like they're doing. That's why I'm coming back this week, expecting to get that dub. So definitely great seeing all the younger players stepping up, growing up, and going out there and playing and putting a good ball on tape.”

Key on Zyeek Biggers, a former player..

“That's another one, man. It's just kind of crazy. I'm just talking about the seniors in here, and he walks in. It's another product that you're so proud of when you see those guys come back. That's what makes it all worth it. It really is.”

On the coin toss on Saturday and potentially losing it…

“I'll be excited. Next year, though, we're going to decide what we're going to call at the beginning of the season, and we're going to call it the whole time. What is it, 9 out of 10 right now that we've lost? Yeah, 10 out of 11 if you count overtime. Oh, thanks. I'm trying to be half full here now, guys. Never seen anything like it. It's crazy. But, I mean, it's not 50-50 when you're picking it before, and who decides? But 9 out of 10. 10 out of 11? No. I'm going to guess the third one.”

More Georgia Tech News:

•Projecting Where Georgia Tech Will Land In Tonight's CFP Rankings Release

•Everything From Brent Key On Tuesday Ahead Of The Matchup Vs Pittsburgh

•Postseason Projections for Georgia Tech After Their Win Over Boston College

•What Do The Advanced Analytics Say About The Matchup Between Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh?