Georgia Tech Football: News and Notes From Yellow Jackets First Spring Scrimmage

While the spring game is still 13 days away, Georgia Tech held their first spring scrimmage yesterday and there were several takeaways.

1. Georgia Tech went 77 live plays, 161 plays total

2. Brent Key talked about the pass rush and how effective it was yesterday, singling out Mercer transfer Brayden Manley, Amontrae Bradford, and true freshman Andre Fuller:

"Pass rush for a first scrimmage was really good, really, really good, and that was whether some of the third down fronts and blitzes and what not, but also just in some of the normal down situations early on when we weren't blitzing or moving just straight pass rush, thought Brayden Manley showed up today. Amontrae Bradford showed up, Andre Fuller showed up, you know, disruptive and actually had a 65 -yard fumble recovery for a touchdown."

While just a spring scrimmage, the pass rush is one of Georgia Tech's biggest questions this season and they need all three of these players to step up.

3. With the pass rush being good, the pass protection struggled and that is something to keep an eye on. Georgia Tech has ongoing battles at the center and right tackle positions.

"We got a long way to go in pass protection on the offensive line. A lot of these new guys and the guys that hit and played together and you see cracks and we're you know they're just getting used to being next to each other and you see sometimes where guys truly get we guys truly get get you get beat one -on -one so we got it we got a long way to go there it'd be really good. So the protections got to improve. They got to be confident to stop the guys on their tracks. We didn't bend back too much into the quarterback. Not having time to throw the ball. I thought when the quarterbacks had time, they executed well, did a really good job."

4. Key singled out some receivers who made big plays. including Bailey Stockton, FIU transfer Dean Patterson, and Zion Taylor. When it comes to tight ends, Luke Harpring and Cal transfer J.T. Byrne had solid days:

"I mean, we had some big plays by receivers and explosives. Bailey had a really big day. Got a lot of different ways. We got the ball in different ways. Zion's starting to show up. Dean Patterson today had some big plays. And tight end wise, Luke Harpring was productive. J.T. Byrne had some production out there and some things. So like we've done a lot of guys are getting the ball. A lot of guys we did it a lot of different ways, which ball is probably even on catches and runs with what we were doing with him. Had one high hurdle. Thought he was channeling his inner Najee Harris. Hurdle's one of the DB's out there."

5. Key mentioned they are really working hard on short yardage situations and he said that Trelain Maddox made some big plays running the football:

"Then we had some third down situations, short yard situations. Short yardage is something we've really spent a lot of time on. Really since the season ended philosophically, schematically, personnel -wise. So it was good to see some of those live reps out there today and some of the things we've done. You know, Trelain Maddox had a big done. He had two 50 -plus yard runs. That's a big man moving now. And I think he had three touchdowns. So all in all, offensively, we were able to get the ball distributed to who we wanted to get it get attributed to that was see guys go and a lot of the runs we had you know they're you know some get some quick hitters inside that popped or you know some might go around the edge."

6. A lot of linebackers got snaps yesterday and Key mentioned Tennessee Tech transfer Cayman Spaulding and returning starter E.J. Lightsey as having good days. Nickel Syeed Gibbs also had an interception yesterday:

"A lot of linebackers out there playing. It was good to see those guys running around a bit. Cayman Spaulding, 35, is really starting to show up in a lot of different ways. We've got to play in a lot of different positions right now in different groupings. So really force -feeding a lot of stuff to him, but when he knows what he's doing, he makes plays. You know, EJ (Lightsey), EJ's been a really, really solid player in their force for the first several weeks. I think Syeed (Gibbs) had an interception today, had a good play and a good interception."

7. Key liked what he saw out of the special teams unit, including UNLV transfer punter Marshall Nichols:

"So, and then we got four or five punts in, live punts, seeing the new punter out there, and he had some really good kicks. One just missed on a sky kick down kind of in the cross midfield. And then we had some PA, we had PAT field goals, a lot of PAT field goals today. So got some special teams working today. So it was all in all, a lot of reps, a lot of work, a lot of guys playing. We got to really evaluate be very critical with it, you know, make sure we're showing the guys a path of improvement. So, you know, when you're coaching young kids, you got to show a path of them. You got to show the improvement. You got to show day one and two and then, hey, here's what you're doing then, here's where you are now. So it gives them encouragement and encourages guys to see themselves improving that know what they're doing is right and the right thing. We also have to be very critical of mistakes and point them out and call them out and and we have to get them fixed and we have to get them corrected. The big goal of spring is we have to improve day -to -day, week -to -week, and this time next week, we have to sit here and say that we improved from scrimmage one to scrimmage two, collectively with all three phases."

Georgia Tech will return to the practice field on Tuesday to continue their spring. The annual White and Gold Spring game will be on April 12th at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Additional Links

Georgia Tech Gets Commitment From 2026 Three-Star Defensive Back Ladarrious Crumity

Everything From Brent Key After Georgia Tech's Saturday Spring Scrimmage

Georgia Tech Football: Yellow Jackets Get Updated Win Total Projection For the 2025 Season