Three Key Matchups To Watch On Saturday When Georgia Tech Faces Pittsburgh

Georgia Tech is on the road this week as they face their rival Pittsburgh, which has won four of the last five matchups against them and ended their ACC title hopes last season. You know, after struggling last week, the Yellow Jackets want to get back on track and avenge their loss last season to the Panthers. Let’s take a look at three matchups to watch.

Pittsburgh Pass Offense vs Georgia Tech Pass Defense

Despite the injury to Mason Heintschel, Pittsburgh still boasts the No.12 pass offense in the nation, and the No.3 pass offense in the ACC. The Panthers average 290.8 passing yards per game. It’s been a carousel of quarterbacks for Pittsburgh this season, but they have been able to figure it out. True freshman Corey Dailey started last game and was efficient for the Panthers making a lot of big throws. It will be interesting to see if they go with him this upcoming week.

Georgia Tech has had some communication issues and some busts in the secondary that they must fix and improve on. The Yellow Jackets do rank better at defending the pass and have the No.41-ranked pass defense this season. It’s been an emphasis to get things corrected and not allow so many big plays. They will have to be ready to defend Catarus Hicks and not let him and the Pitt offense go off.

“We just try to make a really big emphasis on it in practice. We're just trying to always overcommunicate especially now that we got like young guys out there and such. So it's really important that we get that communication across and coach Vinnie has made a big emphasis on us trying to communicate across the whole defense. Yeah that's really all just putting a big emphasis on it,” said Hewitt Jr.

“Pitt is a great football team, and they did have an injury at quarterback. So, that did change around some of the things that I seen on film, but still it doesn't really change anything. It's not I wouldn't say that it's more on them. It's more on us to really just get the team together first. They got um they got twitchy guys and uh it's just important that we are able to get to the football, all 11 guys.”

Georgia Tech run defense vs Pittsburgh run offense

This is a major matchup to follow in this game, especially with the struggles the Yellow Jackets' defense has had this season. Last week vs. Boston College, they gave up 399 rushing yards and five touchdowns. That simply can’t happen again.

“There was not one player on defense that looked calm, set, and ready to play ball. There was a panic. There was a sense of panic from the second and third levels, you know, where to go, how to align, what to do. And that's an alarming thing when you see that early in the game. So, again, without getting into all the, you know, X's and O's part, but talk about common sense. Common sense tells you to. If you're not doing a bunch of things well, simplify it down and do your best to do one thing well, right,” said Key.

When the injury report came out, both Pittsburgh running backs Ja’Kyrian Turner and Damon Ferguson Jr. were listed as questionable. This will be something to watch, with both coming into the game banged up. Ferguson Jr. leads the Panthers with 477 rushing yards and four touchdowns this season. He’s been the go-to guy there for Pittsburgh.

Turner was a freshman standout in 2025, but has dealt with injuries so far. A good thing for Georgia Tech is that they get their best run defender back in Tawfiq Thomas, who was not listed on the injury report. It should give them a major boost in this game and help them out a ton. With an up-and-down pass offense since Mason Heintschel went down, if the Yellow Jackets can slow down the running game, they should be able to come out with a win.

“He's a very good running back. Um, very good running back. For us to stop him, we have to set edges. We have to communicate. We have to communicate on the line throughout the whole defense. Um, we can't lose at the line of scrimmage. That's a major part,” said Speakman.

Georgia Tech Pass Offense vs Pittsburgh Pass Defense

The pass offense is an area the Yellow Jackets have had success this season, especially when they call it up the right way. They have big-time playmakers in Jordan Allen, Dalen Penson, and Kevin Roche Jr., who can give defenses fits. It will be vital for them to get the ball to them. Georgia Tech has the No.41-ranked pass offense. They’ve shown the ability to explode and hit on big plays in games if they get a tiny sliver of space.

Pittsburgh struggles against the pass and has the No.127-ranked pass defense. Last week was a bad performance, as Heisman candidate Malachi Toney finished with 16 catches for 194 yards and three touchdowns. Georgia Tech has playmakers that can also get off like that if given the chance. I think this will be a major matchup to follow and one that could pay dividends for the Yellow Jackets if they are aggressive and attack early.

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