News, Notes, and Standouts From Georgia Tech's First Fall Camp Scrimmage

Nov 21, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key on the field before a game against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Georgia Tech is now halfway through fall camp and today, the Yellow Jackets held their first fall scrimmage. After the scrimmage was over, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key met with the media and talked about how the day went for his team on the field.

Let's break down everything.

1. Key said the team went 140 plays and 15 possessions today, calling it a "balanced scrimmage"

"Offense and defense were good spots. All three teams went. I think we went out right at 140 plays in the scrimmage. It was about 15, might have said about 15 possessions. Each group had about halfway through it. Came off script a little bit. And I just felt like this team just needs to play ball, not as much the situational things like we do in the second half a lot of times. Those were all coming up within the scrimmage and the flow of the game. So coaches have to be prepared. This is our time to work too. Coaches practice just like players do for game days."

Dec 27, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key tracks his team during the first half of the 2024 Birmingham Bowl at Protective Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

2. The young players on defense, especially on the defensive line, seemed to stand out today...

Georgia Tech has an interesting blend of young talent and transfers on the defensive side of the ball, as well as a brand new defensive coordinator. How will all of those pieces mesh together? That is still to be determined, but today it seemed like the young guys stood out:

"Will Kiker had an interception return for a touchdown. Just continuing his ascension on this football team, which really, I think everybody saw in the summer, his strength numbers, weightlifting and speed and explosion and all that. He's really showing that up, that's showing up when he gets his opportunities on the field too. We had Shymeik (Jones), had a blocked extra point. I'm not sure who, or what groups were in, who was in. Ahmari picked it up and ran it back for, you know, 98 yards for a two -point conversion. Then, you know, as far as the defensive lineman, some of the young guys really, really showed up today. And we wanted those guys to get a lot of plays and to see where they're at.

Christian Garrett showed up with multiple sacks out there. Christian's been playing end and three technique, playing both of those positions. I think he can be a force, you know, he's got, you know, for side the size and strength that he has and the athletic ability and the quick twitch. I mean, you talk about a matchup nightmare when you move him inside, you know, but he's, you know, it's like all of them. He's got a ways to go, but he's starting to flash and show the real signs of what we've thought he thought he was. You know, at the end by Jordan Boyd, who missed some springtime. He was a freshman last year, played a little bit, played a lot on teams, but he's really starting to show up out there. You know, played with power and quickness and juice off the edge.

Then two guys inside, I thought Blake Belin and Derry Norris showed up a lot inside. So, you know, really increasing that depth and not just the depth, not just to have a body there, but have depth that, you know, can play when it is their time, when they're right, and that's what we want. We want all freshmen to come with the mindset and attitude that they're they're coming into play as a freshman because if you don't have that mindset, you're never gonna play right. So you always have to be thinking that way.

Some of the other guys, I thought Elgin Sessions showed up today, as far as another young guy, Dalen Penson. I thought Tae Harris was around the ball a lot today. One thing we asked our team was to make sure they take care of each other, right? Make sure you go out and you gotta play physical, gotta play fast, but we wanna take care of each other too. At the end of the day, we're all teammates, and there are the QBs.

Now, they did. There were some times that it was piled up, and there were three, four guys on the tackle, and they could have dumped a guy or flown in, and they didn't. So that shows a sign of maturity on the team, that's a positive sign. A.J. Hoffler missed some springtime, but he showed up today. So I was really pleased with the defensive end spot, and that's what I'm really, and that's not saying anything negative on the other side of the ball, like I said, I think it was a pretty balanced scrimmage across the board."

3. Freshman receiver Jordan Allen impressed today in multiple phases...

It can be tough to get on the field as a true freshman in college football, but it helps when you have a dominant skill and for receiver Jordan Allen, that is his speed. Allen has blazing speed and is starting to show why he might belong on the field sooner rather than later:

"Jordan Allen, who's really been flashing this camp, he can roll now. He is real, really fast. And all of a sudden, you get out there the damage, well, now that is real fast with the real, real, real, real fast, and now you're trying to, whether you get him a ball or just trying to turn before he catches it or whatnot, balls end up on the ground. So those are a lot of things we've got to coach up.

You know, Jordan, the same thing with punt returning. You know, he's one of the guys who were working punt returning and, you know, just, you know, only so many times you can, you know, so many reps you can get. So we're trying to maximize those"

4. More praise for the running back...

Nov 29, 2024; Athens, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets running back Jamal Haynes (11) scores a touchdown past Georgia Bulldogs defensive back Dan Jackson (17) during the first half at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

In every media availability session, whether it is Key, OC Buster Faulkner, or RB Coach Norval McKenzie, the sentiment is that Georgia Tech has the deepest running back room they have had so far:

"I think, you know, whether it's myself, Buster (Faulkner), Norval (McKenzie) said it, you know, we have pretty good running back room guys. We got a deep running back room. It was good to see the young guys in there today. Do some things. JP, Shane Marshall, Malachi Hosley. I mean all of them had big chunk runs."

4. Key shared a positive update on Aaron Philo...

Key has said multiple times that he believes that he has the best quarterback room in the country. While Haynes King gets the attention, Aaron Philo showed a ton of talent last season and Key took time to talk about the kind of camp that Philo is having:

"'I've been really pleased with Aaron, you know, we know the talent he has. Tremendous talent, and that definitely hadn't gone anywhere. But it's almost one of those things too, the older you get when you come out of that true freshman year, it's every position, it's not just quarterback. You know a little bit more, then you know a lot more, you know, almost, sometimes knowledge can be deadly. All right? So, now for a quarterback especially Chad, there's so many different things for that person to see. They really take game -like experiences and reps and speed, and whether you're Haynes, who's started for eight, nine years in college football, or Aaron who's going into the second year, both of them are tremendous football players, But Haynes is still seeing things, you know, you see new things you got a new coordinator to different coverages different, you know tweaks to it different things, but I'm really I've been really very pleased."

Nov 21, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Aaron Philo (12) throws a pass against the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the fourth quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

5, Georgia Tech is completely healthy...

Injuries are unfortunately a part of football and there are some injuries that have affected some programs at the start of fall camp. Georgia Tech is not one of them though, as Key said the Yellow Jackets are completely healthy right now:

"We're healthy. We're as healthy as we've been at this point in camp in three years. And that is a massive, massive credit to really a lot of areas. I mean, AJ Artis and his crew and what they do during the summer. You know, the training room and how they've been able to put guys in position in the maintenance and rehab and what we do there and then then Pat Boyle and Jordan Diaz from the sports science aspect of it. I mean we went hard last week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and you know they yeah I want to go hard again on say, well, maybe you got to dial back a little bit. But we use all those things. You use your gut instincts, your experiences, but also the scientific data. We're not going to be driven by any just one thing. We're going to put our heads together, and that's where the trust comes in with the staff. And I trust those guys tremendously. I mean, we were able to go right at 140 plays today. And obviously it was cool out there, relatively speaking, but we could have gone 40 -50 more without missing a beat. These guys are in really good shape. I need the sun. I need the heat."