Tech Falls To Pitt In 2025 Home Finale
Well, it's official. The emperor that was Georgia Tech's defense through an 8-0 start actually has no clothes. Not that this unit ever did perform in an imperial manner- that is to say dominant. But for the first eight games of 2025 , they were certainly good enough, especially in key moments, to get the job done. Meaning, good enough to help the team win.
That profile was brought into serious question when they were helpless to stop NC State's offense three weeks ago. Questions grew louder when Tech then could not stop the attack of a 1-9 Boston College team - even after an extra week to prepare. Of course, the Yellow Jackets did eke out that win at BC, thanks to the Jackets offense, which has been among the nations best– until Saturday night.
This past weekend, at home, with a rowdy capacity crowd ready to celebrate the ACC Championship berth that would come with a win, Georgia Tech spit the bit.
Pittsburgh built a 28-0 lead on the Jackets' porous defense, while Tech's own offense was uncharacteristically ineffective...and at moments, even inept. Poor blocking, pre- snap penalties, and bad reads all conspired to make one of the nation's leading offenses quite pedestrian. The effect was to face what Brent Key would later call an "insurmountable" lead.
Then came a turn, though, where the Tech attack came alive. In the second period, the Yellow Jackets began to move the ball and they scored twice to take the tally to 28-14 Pitt. And when Pittsburgh missed two consecutive field goals to close out the first half, Tech fans could feel the momentum swing to the home team.
That feeling gained strength when Tech stopped Pittsburgh in the third period, and then was driving toward a third consecutive score --when King's pass was picked off by Pitt LB Brayan Lovelace who returned it 100 yards for a touchdown, taking the score to 35- 14.
You can read too much into one play, but it's hard to dismiss the notion that King was feeling extra eager to right the ship of his 9-1 team, to orchestrate yet another comeback win in.order to salvage all that was riding on this one game.
When you see the play unfold, King is avoiding pressure by moving backwards and throwing off his back foot. That's the type of play that he frequently made his first year at Tech , 2023--and then almost never made in the years since– 2024 and 2025.
King being King, he brought his team back yet again, and they looked to have a faint shot to climb back into it again—t when the defense gave up yet another explosive, this time a 56 yard run right up the middle by RB Turner. Ironically, that was the only score by the Pittsburgh offense in the second half. But that score did the trick for the Panthers and Tech's Big Night ended with a loud thud.
Post- game, Key was disconsolate, his voice a low volume monotonal croak, as he struggled to make sense of what fans and analysts had just witnessed.
In the immediate post -game conversation, neither Key nor his players could offer meaningful explanations for what had unfolded. Not that the Pittsburgh win was itself highly improbable. The Panthers are a talented team who came in with seven wins.
Rather it was the stunningly poor play that Tech put forth in the opening stanza that left players and fans sullen. The defensive challenges over the preceding two games for Tech had been acknowledged and allegedly addressed, and Tech seemed ready to extend it's perfect 2025 home record.
Instead, things went almost comically poorly. First quarter stats told the sad story . Pitt had gained 176 yards, to Tech's 21. Pitt was 3 of 5 on third down, while the Jackets were 0 of 5. And of course , the biggest number of all was tbe score– 21- 0 Pittsburgh at the end of quarter number one. The Panthers added another score before Tech finalky joined the battle with two 2nd quarter touchdowns to leave it at 28-14 at the half.
Tech's defense picked up its own performance through this stretch, keeping Pitt's offense out of the endzone through the 3rd period. The long pick- six by Lovelace was a likely 14 -point swing that really reset any likelihood of a miracle comeback for King and crew.
King's two interceptions equaled his total for the preceding 10 games . He made several other throws that were uncharacteristically off the mark. You can read too much into such play, but it was easy to wonder if Tech's talented QB was feeling a strong personal responsibility to make the comeback happen in front of this giant crowd who brought giant expectations.
All fans who attended the game were handed small placards with the printed message " All Hail The King". The placards also carried the small instructional that fans should wave the placards whenever King " made a big play". That last tidbit of orchestrated fandom brought back faint and still unpleasant memories of the old failed regime of Geoff Collins, he of the " Money Down " signs and the weirdly aborted post-game handshake after his own Pitt fiasco in 2021.
Whatever the reason, Tech appeared wholly unreadable for this moment, despite coaches and players insisting that they would and did prepare like any other game. That element added plain old embarrassment to the glum tone of the loss.
It's telling that Tech's performance only improved after wholesale changes in the defensive approach finally produced meaningful pressure on Pitt's talented freshman QB Mason Heintschel. That pressure produced a number of sacks and several errant throws and generally put Tech's defense in aggressor mode, a place they had not visited in weeks.
The pressure did not , however, produce any turnovers for Tech and so that odd stat in this long and still successful season will be noteworthy for the unusual paucity of turnovers produced by a team thst will finish with at least nine wins.
The Jackets now take aim at Georgia, who comes into the rivalry game on a clear upward trend. It will interesting to see how the Tech braintrust will fashion their defensive approach to the Bulldogs ' multi-faceted offense.
With the game set for Friday, it won't be long til we see the plan and the subsequent result as Georgia Tech tries mightily to halt a distasteful downturn to a 2025 season thar felt so rosy just a few weeks ago.
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports