At The Mid-Season Mark , Georgia Tech's Defense Is A Big Part Of The Problem

It can be easy to over- complicate football. The point of playing is to win. You do that by ourscoring the opponent.

Those basic tenets of football sound painfully obvious. A corollary of the obvious is that the fewer points your opponent scores, the easier it becomes to outscore that opponent. And the reverse is also true– when they score a bunch, you've got to score more than a bunch in order to win.

Georgia Tech is 2-4 after six games of the 2026 season. That record is worse than any other that Brent Key has thus far produced in his head coaching career at the six- game juncture, including his first year in 2022 when he went 4-4 as the interim following the firing of Geoff Collins. And counting that 2022 year, he has yet to bring a team in under .500.

Right now, in 2026, 6-6 looks like a lofty goal.

Poor defense is a big part of the problem. Coming into this season, there was uncertainty on both offense and defense, given that there were many new players and two new coordinators - George Godsey on offense and Jason Semore on defense.

The offense was an unknown largely because there would be a new quarterback who had minimal game experience. The running backs were thought to be a strength, as was the O line. Wide receivers were another group with little experience, and thus a nig question.

So far, though the offense has been ok. Not great, and certainly far from consistent. But QB Alberto Mendoza has generally performed well enough, with a completion percentage of 71% and nine scores , and with four interceptions. He has shown a tendency to try too hard to salvage some bad plays, occasionally taking huge sacks or drawing a grounding.

The running backs have also been reasonably productive, with Trelain Maddox picking up slack recently in the absence of injured Justice Haynes. Overall, they've been good, though far from the reliable foundational piece of an offense that would control games as has been Tech's identity during Key's time.

And among the receivers, Jordan Allen is an emerging star, averaging over six catches a game, good for a 70-plus yards per game average. Penson and Roche have also played well.

But the defense? That's a different story. Yes, injuries are at play. Multiple linemen have missed time. Same in the secondary. And senior linebacker Kyle Efford retired from football following the Duke win, due to recurring injuries. That said, and injuries aside, the results of the defensive play overall have been poor.

They've given up over 30 points per game, with a whopping 412 yards per game allowed. Opponents have converted 45% of third down plays and a hard- to- believe 82% of fourth down conversions. ...82%!

Each of those sad numbers rank in the lower than 100th, of the 138 FBS teams in the US.

That type of defensive production makes it hard to win. (Imagine a baseball pitcher allowing 7 or 8 runs per game, game in and game out). By the way, those numbers look even worse if you look solely at Tech's most recent four games ( 1-3), ignoring the 14-13 loss to Colorado and the 44-11 win over FCS Mercer. That's a trend that needs changing.

One more sobering stat- again so far this year , Tech has a markedly negative turnover ratio. They have gathered only three turnovers, while surrendering seven. That is yet another area whereby the Jackets struggle. It's not an easy skill to learn, gathering turnovers. Some teams, and some players, seem to have a knack for it. But both this year and last, Tech has not been a turnover- positive team. That's a fact, and it puts yet more pressure on the offense.

Tech began this unfortunate trend in November of last year. Begining with the NC State game, they sureendered an average of 33 points per game– and that's including the Georgia game, when Tech allowed just 16.

it was immediately after last year's Pittsburgh game that a frustrated Brent Key said that his defense did better " ...after they started getting after people". Unfortunately, that did not happen that night until the Panthers had built a huge lead. Presumably a lesson was learned.

But one year later, Tech is still yielding a pile of points- and that includes only 14 by Colorado. Game #7 is this week. Myriad " adjustmets" have not made a difference.

It's time to do something radically different. . Here's a suggestion:

AUI.

• Be aggressive
• Be unpredictable
• Be intense
• Very few college quarterbacks can thrive under heavy pressure. Sacks are great, of course, but heavy pressure consistently applied is more important.

Blitz liberally, from linebackers and corners as well as safeties. Make the quarteback make quick decisions and make him execute under duress.

Yes, there's a risk. But using the same plan as prior is likely to bring the same results as prior....which have been poor...and that leads to losses.

Get after 'em!

Unrelenting aggressiveness. Unpredictability. Intensity.

Bring a defense that not only helps the team, but leads the team. ....LEADS the team.

Now.

Patrick Conarro

RamblinSports.com