Staff Predictions For Georgia Tech vs Mercer: Can the Yellow Jackets Get Their First Win?

Georgia Tech returns to action at home on Saturday for a noon kickoff against the Mercer Bears. It is a chance to grab the first win of the 2026 season.

Can Georgia Tech instill confidence?

Georgia Tech has a chance to right the ship and turn the season around. While most will look at the opponent and say it's Mercer, they have a legit chance to build confidence with young guys and veterans on Saturday. That comes from making plays and turning them into difference-making plays that help guys ooze with confidence. For the Yellow Jackets, confidence is big, especially with having a young football team and players in new roles.

“Next play mentality. Well, if you're going to talk about momentum, then it's hard to say the other thing too. Even in terms of building a football team, right? You used to talk about building a team and one season carrying over, and you had success one year, and you got an excellent number of players back and continuing that. It's not that way. That's where it's probably most like the National Football League. There's new players, new coaches. A

new team, there's no start in it. You know, DEF each year, you gotta start at the very beginning of the basic building blocks of what your program, what your identity is: offense, defense, special teams. So can good things keep going? Yeah, it means probably that you've got confidence, you're playing well, but really that comes from your preparation, how you practice things. The game plan has been put in, or the players are confident,” said Key.

When you think of guys who could build confidence, Trae Stevenson, Tae Harris, Vincent Carroll-Jackson, Braylon Outlaw, Trelain Maddox, Kevin Roche Jr, Dalen Penson, and Jordan Allen are all names that come to mind that could take a major leap forward. Saturday will tell us a lot, and guys, Georgia Tech can lean on moving forward.

Staff Predictions

After Jackson and I both nailed our predictions for the Week 3 matchup against Colorado, we are looking to get over .500 with a victory this week. We do not doubt who we are taking to come out with a win this weekend, and it should be the home team.

Jackson Caudell (publisher, 1-1 record)- Georgia Tech 41, Mercer 10

Georgia Tech needs a decisive win from start to finish against Mercer after the first two weeks. Look for the Yellow Jackets to emphasize the running game and stop Mercer's run game, plus a fast start to take the lead and force the Bears to play from behind. With a trip to the West Coast coming up next week, Georgia Tech takes care of business early and gets a decisive win.

Najeh Wilkins (writer,1-1 record)- Georgia Tech 48, Mercer 10

Georgia Tech needs to build confidence and move in the right direction with ACC play starting the following week. They should explore every possibility for playing time at each position to build depth and improve rotations moving forward. Expect a lot of young, talented guys to play and make an impact. It should be an early game for the starters, and the backups should be able to come in and get valuable reps. I expect a major win for the Yellow Jackets at home, and it's their first victory of the season.

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