Tech Springboards Into The 2026 Season

Patrick Conarro

Patrick Conarro

— 3 min read
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Happy Coach Brent Key following Tech's Spring game

Swarm 34, Wreck' em 10.

Sounds official. But like every other facet of college football, spring football ain't what it used to be.

Like my brother said, "It don't mean much, but it means more than nothin'--but not much more.

The roster familiarity from years past is no longer a thing. The schedule of plays is sporadic, even borderline erratic.​ By design there were four quarters lasting 12 minutes each. Kinda. The time clock brought to mind a soccer match– that is, a little mysterious from moment to moment.

Spring football is a long way from real football. And like the practice of medicine, the first rule of Spring Football is " Do no harm"..

Accordingly, the goals are as follows:

1)Don't get hurt.

2)Don't get hurt.

3)Learn something about the team

Using those criteria, Georgia Tech's spring game was a resounding success. Nobody sustained any big injuries, and per Brent Key, the Tech staff did learn some things...as did we, the viewers.

To wit:

1) Alberto Mendoza is the Number one QB " coming out of spring". He was 8 of 12, etc, etc- mainly he had the poise and awareness that gave hope to all those fans prepared to miss Haynes King come September.

2) the D- line looks good

3) the running backs look good

4) Brent Key is ready to pull it all back a click or two regarding roster moves. With no spring portal window ( unlike last year) he now looks forward to a few weeks of relative calm, before things crank up in earnest after Memorial Day.

For today's game, special rules were in place to achieve the goals listed above.

  • No hitting the QB- if you're a defender, and you touch him, he's down.
  • - essentially no tackling to the ground- no live punting or place kicking
  • Even in that structure, Key felt that the " tackling " was better. He noted that one week earlier, in a live scrimmage, the tacking prowess had been substandard. Today, by contrast, and even with contact heavily " managed", Tech defenders looked more sound in their technique.

There's a bunch of new faces- some from early start as college freshmen, but many more from the transfer portal.

This new amalgam has been practicing together for only a few weeks, and now this game is designed to give players and coaches a taste of actual game action.

But only a taste.

At game's end, you are likely to hear the following:

-- the defense is ahead of the offense. but we expect that at this stage of the season

  • " I saw some good things."
  • -- "I saw a lot of things that need work".
Rush end Noah Carter had two " sacks"

All in all, though, the vibe was upbeat and light. New RB Justice Haynes vowed to maintain his end of the Tech- Uga rivalry with his famous Bulldog alum Verron Haynes. And he also asserted that his job as a new transfer to Tech was to earn his teammates ' respect.

New defensive end Noah Carter broke things down in simpler terms. When asked if he felt frustrated to get two sacks but not be allowed to actually hit the QB on this day, Carter said " Yes! That's the whole reason I play football", he said.

But he then added, " But we'll have plenty of chances to do that in the fall".

And he will. Because this was just Spring.

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