First Look: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Today we continue our Early Look series, where we preview each of the Tigers opponents during the upcoming season.

When Clemson’s third game of the 2021 season rolls around on September 18 the Tigers will be facing a Georgia Tech team that is still in rebuild mode.

Geoff Collins is entering his third season as the Yellow Jackets head coach and many feel he is one of college football’s bright young minds as well as one of its best up-and-coming recruiters. He is the only coach to ever be nominated for the Broyles Award at three different schools, an award given annually to college football’s top assistant coach in college football.

Collins is having to rebuild a program that featured a roster built to run the triple option under former head coach Paul Johnson. In other words, he’s pretty much having to begin from the ground up and it has shown at times, although the Yellow Jackets did show some signs of improvement in 2020.

Georgia Tech offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dave Patenaude, like Collins, is in his third season and continues to work on the huge job he’s been given of completely overhauling the offensive scheme. He’s already had some huge accomplishments in his short time there as well.

In 2019 quarterback James Graham tied Shawn Jones’ freshman record of 12 touchdown passes in a season (1989) and wide receiver Ahmarean Brown, also in 2019, tied one of Calvin Johnson’s freshman records of seven touchdown receptions in a season (2007), and Johnson is considered one of the all-time greats in Atlanta.

Progress is happening, it’s just taking time, but Yellow Jacket fans appear to feel confident in Patenaude going forward. He was Collins’ offensive coordinator at Temple for two years before following him to Georgia Tech. During that time under his direction the Owls put together two of their three highest single-season passing totals ever (3,273 yards in 2017, 3,297 yards in 2018) and were ranked 23rd nationally in scoring offense in his last season there.

As for their defense, the Yellow Jackets also are still a work in progress under Andrew Thacker, who too begins his third season as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In his first season alone, Thacker coached a defense that ranked among the nation’s top 40 in pass defense and the top 25 in red zone defense in 2019.

That same season saw Thacker’s defense produce two all-ACC honorees in linebacker David Curry and cornerback Tre Swilling. His defensive squad as a whole ranked among the nation’s Top-40 in pass defense (207.7 ypg) and in the Top-25 nationally in red zone defense (.774). This is something that the Yellow Jackets will want to get back to.

Fast forward a season and you’ll see why. Last season they not only had issues against the run but even bigger problems against anyone that had any kind of passing offense. This led to them allowing 459 yards and 37 points per game, so they will definitely be looking for improvement on that side of the ball.

Georgia Tech has some talented players currently and has another decent recruiting class coming in this year. They continue to have players to watch on both sides of the ball.

Some players to watch on offense will be Jeff Sims who looks to continue to build on what he showed in his freshman year as the Yellow Jackets starting quarterback. Running backs Jordan Mason and Jahmyr Gibbs look to continue to improve upon their one-two punch in the backfield. Mason, to this point, has been their best overall rusher, while Gibbs has shown to be their “do-it-all,” all-purpose type back.

On the defensive side of the ball, along with Swilling, Georgia Tech will also be expecting Quez Jackson to continue not only his leadership role but also his ability to find the ball. Over his career he has 144 total tackles (82 solo, 62 assists, and 9.5 for loss). Their defensive interior doesn’t have a great deal of size but 302-pound Mike Lockhart, along with 305-pound Djimon Brooks, should be big enough to hold their own.

This game will be Clemson’s second test of the early season and even though the Yellow Jackets are rebuilding don’t expect the Tigers to sleep on them. This is a storied ACC rivalry and this Clemson team knows they will get everyone’s best shot.