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The 2024 College Football season began with a thriller across the pond as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets upset the No. 10 Florida State Seminoles.

Football is a simple game. Georgia Tech outplayed, outcoached, and out-physical-ed Florida State for all four quarters. The Yellow Jackets managed to complete the upset without forcing a Seminole turnover, which is shocking to believe.

First Half

The Noles received the opening kickoff and marched down the field. The ground game was on fire, recording four runs of 10+ yards, including a 28-yard run by Lawrance Toafili out of the two-back set to score the first touchdown of the college football season.

Mike Norvell dialed up some trickery for the 2-PT conversion, calling a jet-motion swinging gate out of the unbalanced formation to Brian Courtney to jump out to an early 8-0 lead.

Georgia Tech answered right back on the ensuing drive; a 42-yard catch-and-run by Malik Rutherford off the quick screen set the Yellow Jackets up in the RZ before a quarterback blast from Zac Pyron on the goal line made the score 8-7.

After the Seminoles' efficient opening drive, the offense became utterly stale. On the offense's first three drives, the wide receivers combined three catches for 11 yards. It was a lot of power run game with screens to the backs off of those looks.

In the second quarter, a 3rd & 15 facemask penalty on DJ Uiagalelei gave the unit life, leading to a Ryan Fitzgerald 52-yard goal from the right hash, making the score 11-7.

The GT offense responded again, with an 8-minute TD drive in the heart of the 2nd quarter to take a 14-11 lead on Jamal Haynes' run from the goal line.

Florida State got the ball late in the 2nd quarter and tied the game at 14 apiece heading into halftime with a Ryan Fitzgerald 59-yard field goal from the left hash.

The Seminoles' clock management was very suspect during the 2-minute drive. They burned critical seconds and did not call the team's first timeout until under a minute to go at midfield.

The kick would mark the second-longest field goal in the school's history and a career-long for Fitzgerald.

Georgia Tech's offense set the tone early in the trenches, averaging 5.6 yards per carry on the ground in the first half. It also did a superb job limiting negative plays, something I mentioned would be pivotal for the unit to avoid in our game preview.

DJ Uiagalelei's first half of action in the Garnet & Gold left a lot to be desired, an average of -0.1 yards per pass attempt, with 12 of his 14 attempts having an air distance of five yards or less.

Second Half

Georgia Tech received the kickoff coming out of the break, beginning the opening drive of the 3rd quarter with a 36-yard flash from Jamal Haynes off the right side.

The Seminole defense forced a stop, resulting in a missed 51-yard field goal attempt from the Yellow Jackets, keeping the score 14-14.

After a scoreless third quarter of play, GT took a 21-14 lead on a Jamal Haynes run from the goal line, his second TD on the day.

Florida State responded with a gutsy drive, converting a 4th&8 and a 4th&7 to keep the game alive. DJU delivered strikes, a back shoulder fade to Ja'Khi Douglas, and a dart to Malik Benson on a slant to set the offense up with 1st and goal.

A Roydell Williams touchdown from 1-yard out tied the game at 21 apiece with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Garnet & Gold, this would be its last offensive drive of the ballgame.

Georgia Tech executed a masterclass of a drive to close out the game; Haynes King made several clutch throws on 3rd down and continued to torment the FSU defense with his dual-threat ability.

Aidan Birr drilled a 44-yard walk-off field goal to complete the upset in Dublin, a huge tip of the cap to second-year GT head coach Brent Key.

Overall Takeaways: FSU Offense

Many fans and pundits will run to blame DJU for the Seminoles' offensive struggles in this game; the coaching staff must hold some of the blame.

The game plan and playcalling were timid. They refused to attack the GT defense vertically with the All-American track athletes Malik Benson and Jalen Brown out wide.

This begs the question: Does the staff have zero trust in Uiagalelei's ability as a passer? It certainly seemed that way on Saturday.

But in DJU's defense, the staff did a poor job of putting its players in positions to succeed. Every third down was 3&7+, and the first down success rate was terrible.

The complete absence of a deep or even intermediate passing game was eye-opening.

The offensive staff assumed they could bully the Tech front all game, and the Yellow Jackets were up to the task, holding Florida State to 3.2 yards per carry and under 100 yards rushing.

The running back group is again this team's strongest position, a recurring trend since Norvell's arrival in Tallahassee. Roydell Williams showed flashes, and Lawrance Toafili even took snaps at receiver.

The right tackle position will be a significant liability in the future, and the offensive line will be criticized for its overall effort and execution. The unit as a whole played poorly compared to expectations entering 2024.

The wide receiver position is a glaring hole; I see this as no more evident than the offense resorting to throwing back shoulders to 5"9 slot receiver Ja'Khi Douglas on critical downs. Hykeem Williams and Destyn Hill need to get healthy as soon as possible.

It's hard to fathom that this offense committed just one penalty, didn't turn the ball over, and still managed to score only 21 points against a defense with a new coordinator and several new faces.

Overall Takeaways: FSU Defense

This was an underwhelming opening performance for the 2024 season for Adam Fuller's unit.

The Seminole defensive line entered this season with high hopes, projected as one of the top units in the country, and they got bullied entirely. There was a glaring absence of a presence on the edge; Haynes King and Justice Haynes constantly beat FSU defenders to the corner.

The linebacker core is the weakest position on this team. Outside of the 2023 season, this has been the case every season under linebacker coach Randy Shannon. Tech made it a point of emphasis to attack DJ Lundy with deception and succeeded all game.

The tackling was something to watch, but it was just downright wrong. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to identify the lack of physicality.

I don't have many takeaways from the secondary because the Tech offense never pushed the ball downfield, nor ever had to. As previously stated, the tackling in open space left much to be desired, but this can be fixed.

Overall Takeaways: GT Offense

One of the best compliments you can give to Brent Key is that he knows what he has in his team, and they play hard for him.

The GT offense did exactly what we thought they would do - zone runs, jet sweeps, RPOs, and quick screens - and they executed.

Haynes King was phenomenal. With his play-making ability, he looked like Jordan Travis. The quarterback's run game off the jet-sweep motion was unstoppable, and he made clutch throws when he had to.

King finished the game 11/16 for 146 yards through the air with 15 carries for 54 yards on the ground.

The offensive line met expectations, and the four returning starters on this unit controlled the game. The Yellow Jackets totaled 190 yards on the ground at 5.3 yards per carry.

The unit did an exceptional job mitigating negative plays and staying on schedule. They finished the game 5/9 on third down and limited penalties.

Overall Takeaways: GT Defense

Georgia Tech's first-year defensive coordinator, Tyler Santucci, deserves massive applause. After spending last season with Duke, Santucci took over a GT defense that ranked No. 130 nationally in rush defense, No. 127 in yards per carry, and No. 103 in opponent third down conversion rate.

The defense held the Seminoles offense to under 200 yards passing, 3.2 yards per carry, under 100 yards rushing, and 5/12 (42%) on third down.

USC transfer DE Romello Height was a problem for the Florida State offensive line, recording two tackles, one for loss, and several pressures. The staff may have found themselves a playmaker on defense for 2024.

LB Kyle Efford was all over the field on Saturday, recording ten tackles and serving as the green dot for Santucci's defense.

The secondary was never exploited in the passing game, but the unit did a great job in its run fits, making several tackles at or near the LOS.

What's Next?

Football is a simple game. Georgia Tech outplayed, outcoached, and out-physical-ed Florida State for all four quarters.

FSU is now 2-6 in its last eight season openers. Despite the loss, Florida State's goals and aspirations are still in front of them.

The chance to make the conference championship is still alive despite being 0-1 in conference play before the beginning of Week 1. A potential playoff birth is still alive, as the Seminoles are still in contention with the revamped 12-team field.

What a start to 2024 for second-year head coach Brent Key. Georgia Tech is now 10-6 straight up and 13-3 against the spread under his command. Positive momentum is a huge factor for this team, which features one of the most challenging schedules in college football.

The Garnet & Gold will return to Tallahassee for its 2024 home opener in a Labor Day matchup with Boston College at 7:30 PM.

The Yellow Jackets will return home to Bobby-Dodd Stadium for their 2024 home opener against Georgia State on August 31st at 8:00 PM.

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