Three Storylines To Watch When Georgia Tech Travels To Face Wake Forest On Saturday

Georgia Tech will head on the road for just the second time this season and will face ACC opponent Wake Forest. The Yellow Jackets saw an increase in their national ranking and are now the No. 16 team in the country. They weren’t satisfied with a win over Temple last week and kept their eyes on the main goal. Let’s take a look at some storyline heading into their matchup against Wake Forest.

1.Can Georgia Tech overcome some of its lulls on offense?

The theme in the postgame press conference for the Yellow Jackets is that they were not satisfied. They felt they left a lot on the table this season, disseminated from head coach Brent Key down to the players who were in the press conference in Jamal Haynes, Haynes King, Kyle Efford, and Clayton Powell-Lee. King said it best after the team struggled mightily in the second quarter and couldn’t get it going.

“I mean, it was really just self-inflicted wounds. That was a big part of what we were trying to do: start fast at the beginning of the game and the second half. In the second half, we necessarily know how we started. I think we had three-and-out first, but we found a way to keep playing and scoring the ball,” said Haynes King. It's not the standard of who we want to be and who we are going to be for the rest of the year. This is a great learning point. But we also need to learn, know, wins are really good as well. So we can't just be sitting here miserable and, oh, we should have had this and that. Let that linger on. Like, hey, we can learn from it, but we still have to move on and accept wins.”

“Happy we won for sure, but still, we do gotta play better. We do gotta keep the standard of who we are and what we're gonna do offensively. I feel like defense did their job and played a really good game, but offensively, we can't have a second quarter like we did.”

2. Will we finally see a complete Yellow Jackets team?

Georgia Tech gave us a good taste of how potent they can be when they are hitting on all cylinders in the first quarter, when the offense scored on three consecutive possessions and the defense pitched a first-quarter shutout. It was the first time all season the Yellow Jackets looked complete and like a true problem for opponents. Throughout the season, it has been the defense stepping up big and keeping the team in games while the offense went through its struggles of turning over the football early in games, putting the defense behind the eight ball. Regardless, the defense continued to answer the call and keep the team in games and not letting games get away from the Yellow Jackets. We know that at its full potential, Georgia Tech has a solid defense that can cause havoc and negative plays. On offense, we know that the Yellow Jackets have big play capabilities in both the passing and the running game. We saw it once again on Saturday with multiple plays of over 30 yards. This team has built a standard that it lives by, and they want to ensure they are hitting it every day and every game they play. Jamal Haynes said it best.

“I think Haynes kind of really hit it. We definitely have to accept the wins. But at the end of the day, from a team standpoint, we have to know that's not our standard. That's not what we built. That's not what we destined to go out there to do. So we just have to maintain our standard, honestly. That's really it. Haynes kind of really hit on it,” said Haynes.

In hitting that standard that the Yellow Jackets are striving to, we should see them as a more complete Georgia Tech team and one that is playing at an optimal level. Saturday will give us another look to see if they can play a complete game for four quarters.

3. Will Malachi Hosley and Jamal Haynes get more touches?

Malachi Hosley Georgia Tec — Sep 20, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets running back Malachi Hosley (0) runs after a catch against the Temple Owls in the second quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Make no mistake, this is one of the best running back duos in the country. When Haynes and Hosley touch the ball, they are tough to stop. The bright spot has been Hosley, who, despite having limited touches, has taken full advantage of his opportunities. In just five carries on Saturday against Temple, he rushed for 59 yards and two touchdowns on just five carries. On just 24 carries this season, Hosley has 219 rushing yards and four touchdowns, and is averaging 9.1 yards per carry. He certainly deserves more touches and the ball in his hands on offense because when he gets it, Hosley turns it into big plays. Haynes has looked fresher this season for the Yellow Jackets and hasn’t seen a workload he is accustomed to. In their win over Temple, Haynes rushed for 107 yards on 12 carries. One of his best plays came on a 47-yard scamper where he reversed field and found a big opening for a long gain down the field. For the season, he has rushed for 290 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Big plays are what Haynes is known for, and he is always capable of changing a game when he touches the ball. The Yellow Jackets have been trying to get the vertical passing game going this season and are still running back, but not necessarily to the level it did last year. Saturday will be a good glimpse to see if they will feature their dynamic duo in the backfield more against Wake Forest.

More Georgia Tech News: