Georgia Tech Opens As A Road Favorite in Week Four Matchup vs Stanford

The Yellow Jackets begin ACC play this weekend and will be a favorite to beat Stanford

Sep 19, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets wide receiver Debron Gatling (6) celebrats with offensive lineman Will Reed (66) after a catch for a touchdown against the Mercer Bears in the third quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Georgia Tech picked up its first win of the season on Saturday vs Mercer, and now it will head out West to face Stanford in the first ACC game of the year for the Yellow Jackets.

There were some good and not-so-good elements of the win over the Bears, and Georgia Tech is going to be looking to continue those good elements next Saturday vs the Cardinal and try to eliminate some of the bad. Stanford has started the season 1-2, and they are 0-2 in ACC play with a 45-6 loss to Miami and a 35-7 loss to Duke yesterday.

It might seem like a surprise that Georgia Tech is going to be a road favorite considering they are 1-2, but that is the case. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Georgia Tech is opening as a 5.5-point favorite, and the total is 55.5.

Can Georgia Tech get a win?

Sep 19, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Alberto Mendoza (15) celebrates with fans after a victory over the Mercer Bears at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This is going to be an important game for Georgia Tech. As many things that have gone wrong for them, a win over Stanford to open ACC play 1-0 and to move them to 2-2 heading into the bye week is would be important. For this program to get to its fourth consecutive bowl game, this is as much of a must-win game as you can get, but they are going to have to play better.

The most concerning thing, even in the win over the Bears was the run defense was still very lackluster. Mercer ran for nearly 200 yards in the game on Saturday and they came into the game clearly wanting to test the Yellow Jackets linebackers and front seven. They ran it 46 times compared to just 14 passing attempts and you can bet that Stanford is going to try and do something similar, though they have not been able to get anything going on the ground so far this season.

In his opening statement after the game, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key talked about the need to slow down the run and it being something he has not been pleased with:

"One thing I don't think we did a good enough job in was, again, still a major work in progress, stopping the run and consistently running.

And you can't play good run defense if you don't set edges and you play downhill with your backers, right? But they got to know where to be and what to do. And when you start moving the front around, right, trying to disrupt the things in the front, you know, it's hard for them because they don't know where those gaps are going to end up."

It was a solid game from Alberto Mendoza and running back Justice Haynes was able to get 141 yards on the ground, though the offensive line still had its struggles and is banged up.

It is crucial that Georgia Tech wins this game heading into the bye week.

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