Welcome back, college football. Oh, how we’ve missed you.
The 2024 season debut delivered in spades, as Georgia Tech downed No. 10 Florida State in Dublin to kickoff Week 0. The Yellow Jackets’ 24-21 victory was their first win over Top 10 team in nearly a decade (2015, 15 games), as they rode a physical, pounding ground game for the upset.
“Are you kidding me?” Ga. Tech head coach Brent Key said with a huge smile during his postgame interview with ESPN.
“Run the bawlllllll!”
And the Yellow Jackets sure did.
Behind Jamal Haynes (75 yards, two touchdowns), Chad Alexander (41 yards) and quarterback Haynes King (54 yards), the Rambling Wreck gashed Florida State’s supposed “best defensive line in country” for 190 yards and three touchdowns. FSU’s run-fits were poor all afternoon, but more worrisome for the Seminoles was how a line featuring former blue-chippers like Patrick Payton, Marvin Jones Jr. and Darrell Jackson was consistently punched backward.
Tech not only controlled both lines of scrimmages (defense had seven tackles for loss and two QB hits), but dictated the pace and flow of the game. With the walk-off field goal, Key now has five wins over Top 25 teams in less than two full seasons as Georgia Tech’s head coach.
So what all can we glean from Saturday’s stunner? Much like a Monday Night NFL game, Week 0 spotlight games are ripe for overreactions, but that’s also what makes college football fun.
Here are three takeaways on Georgia Tech’s win over FSU:
Florida State’s playoff hopes aren’t dead
It’s true!
The bad news for FSU is unlike their no-show in the Orange Bowl, Saturday’s loss actually means something. Week 0 may be silly, but the game’s count.
The good news is unlike a year ago the Seminoles can still make the College Football Playoff even though they already have more regular-season losses than they did in all of 2023.
The inaugural 12-team field allows for a mulligan — particularly an upset in Ireland. FSU can still regroup, end Week 1 with a Labor Day victory over Boston College and get right before important games later in the season against Clemson, Miami and Notre Dame.
The ACC is seen as a rather wide-open league, so an early loss shouldn’t outright derail the Seminoles’ 2024 goals. They can still repeat as ACC Champions.
The issue is whether the ‘Noles can actually rediscover their mojo from last season, though. This wasn’t some playoff snub hangover. Mike Norvell’s team might have real problems.
Red flags galore with FSU’s offense
The Seminoles are too talented defensively to be overly concerned with the way their DL played on Saturday. In all likelihood, it was an inopportune time to have a bad day. That group will bounce-back after a no-sack, just three tackles for loss performance.
The same cannot be said for FSU’s offense.
Jordan Travis, Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson aren’t suddenly going to be available next week.
Mike Norvell’s offense was clunky all game outside of a strong opening drive and some hope-and-heave throws by DJ Uiagalelei on 4th down. The Noles had zero offensive identity, and their offensive line (one with multiple All-ACC honorees) struggled to block Georgia Tech’s aggressive front.
They finished with just 98 rushing yards — 58 of which came on their first drive.
There were rumbling and reports throughout the preseason that Uiagalelei and a group of green wide receivers weren’t exactly in-sync — and that was obvious from the jump. Norvell didn’t trust Uiagalelei to push the ball vertically, as the former Clemson and Oregon State transfer had an average air yards per attempt of -0.1 in the first half.
Uiagalelei made a couple of clutch throws to help FSU tie the game in the fourth quarter, but mostly, it was the same DJU we’ve seen the last several seasons.
Inaccurate downfield. Slow processing. Feet stuck in the mud.
He finished 19 of 27 for 193 yards — with 13 of his completions traveling under five yards. Uiagalelei didn’t get a ton of help from FSU’s wide receivers, who oftentimes struggled to create separation. But he also missed two would-be walk-in touchdowns on misfired deep balls to Malik Benson and Ja’Kai Douglass.
I’m not sure what Norvell can do to fix Uiagalelei’s issues that have been unsolvable since he was a freshman slicing up Notre Dame. The Noles need playmakers to emerge and their OL has to perform better for the offense to have any hope.
With a quick turnaround, there’s no time for an autopsy, so Norvell better have some answers fast.
Georgia Tech has a proof of concept
The Yellow Jackets led the ACC in rushing in 2023, and Key was emphatic his program was going to double down on that approach in 2024.
To the delight of the ex-offensive lineman, they did. Georgia Tech took it to Florida State — and if they can push around the Seminoles, they can push around any team on their schedule outside of maybe Georgia.
Buster Faulker is one of the most underrated OCs in the country, and in the smallest of sample sizes, new Ga. Tech DC Tyler Santucci looks like a home run hire. King is a game-changer at quarterback and the team clearly believes and loves Key.
“We’ve got 100-120 guys who play as one,” Key said.
Georgia Tech has perhaps the most difficult schedule in the ACC, so competing for a conference title seems a bit of a bridge too far, but this is clearly a bowl game again in 2024 and with the way Key & Co. are recruiting (Top 20 class with a 5-star offensive tackle), the program has as much momentum as its had since 2014.
