Notre Dame-Georgia Tech: The Establishment Vs. The Rebuild
Georgia Tech’s 11-year era from 2008-18 under triple-option/flexbone guru Paul Johnson might someday be viewed in a more favorable light via the passage of time.
During Johnson’s era, the Yellow Jackets captured four Coastal Division crowns in the ACC and even finished No. 8 in the country in 2014 after winning the Orange Bowl.
However, because Johnson’s offense was branded from a national perspective as “outdated” and one that only the military academies should operate in order to remain competitive, the general sentiment was it was time to join the rest of the Power Five schools in updating to more of a conventional offense such as the spread/pro style.
Under 2019 first-year head coach Geoff Collins, this required a massive overhaul in recruiting philosophy and the infrastructure, resulting in a 3-9 debut that included a loss to Football Championship Subdivision foe The Citadel and a 24-2 defeat to Temple — where Collins was the head coach in 2017-18 (15-10 record).
Year two already has seen some progress with upsets of both Florida State (16-13) and Louisville (46-27), but the realities of the continued makeover reared itself on Oct. 17 with a 73-7 thrashing from No. 1 Clemson, followed by a 48-27 thumping at Boston College this past Saturday.
The recruiting has been on an upswing under Collins, notably a No. 25 class ranking from Rivals in 2020, highlighted by landing four-star figures in dual-threat quarterback Jeff Sims and running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who was ranked as the No. 70 overall player in the country, a little bit ahead of Fighting Irish freshman running back Chris Tyree (No. 78).
Both are already in starring roles — and they represent the team's top two rushers with Gibbs at 308 yards and Sims at 275 — while a third freshman, tackle Jordan Williams (6-6, 330), also is starting. They helped lead Georgia Tech to four straight 400-yard total offense outputs to begin the season, the first time that has happened for the program against four Division I-A/Football Bowl Subdivision foes since 1999.
Defensively, Georgia Tech has a little bit more of a veteran look, spearheaded by linebackers David Curry and Quez Jackson, although three freshmen dot the two-deep along the line and rookie defensive back Wesley Walker is fourth in tackles.
Regardless, this matchup features one of the oldest teams in Notre Dame history against a Georgia Tech roster that has been in flux and is leaning much more on a growing youth movement.
On offense, Notre Dame’s 11-man starting lineup features five fifth-year seniors, most notably Ian Book at quarterback, four other seniors, plus junior center Jarrett Patterson (who has started 18 straight games and is quite the veteran himself), and sophomore running back Kyren Williams.
Defensively, six of the front seven are seniors or fifth-year players, with the lone exception the Buck linebacker rotation that is led by junior Shayne Simon.
The secondary features not only a fifth-year senior in cornerback graduate transfer Nick McCloud, but also a sixth-year figure in safety Shaun Crawford. Such veteran presence that already has experienced much success with a 38-6 record since 2017 provides a stabilizing force through both handling success and dealing with any setbacks, especially during a global pandemic.
Where this also is manifested is in turnovers. Georgia Tech's 18 turnovers this season are the second-most in the country (first-game opponent Duke has 22),while the Irish have only four during their 5-0 start, and none in the last two contests.
It is a matchup of what has become an established top-10 operation over the past four years versus one that is in an ultimate state of flux while building for the future.
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