Although Clemson will not host Georgia Tech until Nov. 14, a few big red flags were raised during Thursday night's home opener loss for the Yellow Jackets. It may have been an Atlanta homecoming of sorts for Deion Sanders, but his Colorado Buffaloes eked out an impressive 14-13 road win at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Brent Key's program is left to pick up the pieces after letting this one slip away.
Georgia Tech is one of eight teams Clemson will face during league play. While the Tigers do not have the most difficult ACC schedule to begin with, their upcoming home date with the Ramblin' Wreck is not as daunting as it appears. To be frank, if Georgia Tech plays like it did against Colorado for the better part of this year, Clemson could have a breezy finish to ACC play if Duke pulls back a bit, too.
Plenty will change between now and then, but these issues plaguing Georgia Tech may not go away.
Major coordinator attrition could finally get the best of Georgia Tech
This was bound to happen. For as strong a head coach as Brent Key is, leading his alma mater, he cannot do everything alone. The former Georgia Tech offensive lineman had to replace both of his coordinators from a year ago. George Godsey took over for Buster Faulkner after he left for Florida on offense, while Jason Semore calls the shots on defense, with Blake Gideon now on the Texas staff.
Godsey may be a program icon from his days playing quarterback in Atlanta, but replacing Faulkner was never going to be easy. Key will have had four different coordinators on defense in as many years as he has been the head coach. Semore replaces Gideon, who replaced Tyler Santucci in 2025, who took over for Kevin Sherrer in 2024. With Key being an offensive-minded guy, this will be problematic.
The fact that Georgia Tech's only touchdown on the evening came from its special teams is a gigantic red flag as well. Alberto Mendoza played well in his team debut at quarterback, while Justice Haynes struggled to get much going on the ground with 64 yards on 19 carries. The Georgia Tech offense lacked any firepower, while the defense could not get Colorado off the field on crucial third downs.
As with Dabo Swinney, we can't rule out Key being a coordinator-dependent, CEO-type head coach.
It will be hard to play from behind if Georgia Tech cannot stop the run
Above all else, this is what everyone keeps going back to from this Week 1 game. Georgia Tech could not stop a nosebleed when it came to Colorado's rushing attack. The Buffaloes had 183 yards on the ground and a touchdown on 49 carries. It was an offensive recipe for success that Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris will want to recreate by calling plays for the Tigers this fall because it works!
Although Mendoza should grow in Godsey's system as the season progresses, he is not the runner Haynes King was a year ago. Thus, Georgia Tech could potentially get behind the eight ball by way of time of possession if the Yellow Jackets are not careful. It may require them to take big shots down the field late in games because they cannot keep the opposing offense from chewing up the clock.
Right now, Semore has to be looking at himself and wondering how he let this Georgia Tech defense collapse in one big spot after another. For a program that used to run the triple-option for years, the Yellow Jackets looked like run defense was a foreign concept to them. Now, just imagine what may happen to them when they take on a team like Clemson or Georgia, who can run the ball effectively.
Thursday night showed us Georgia Tech is a team that can be pushed around in critical moments.
Aidan Birr has left serious doubts about Georgia Tech's kicking game
It was only fitting that Georgia Tech's Week 1 loss came down to the kicking game. Nearly a year ago, Clemson lost to the Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium because of Aidan Birr's leg. While he was a sure-footed kicker as a freshman in 2023 (89.5 percent on field goals) and as a junior in 2025 (86.2 percent), he missed two of his four kicks on Thursday night, including this potential game-winning try.
COLORADO BLOCKS THE FG TO BEAT GEORGIA TECH🤯
— On3 (@On3) September 4, 2026
(via ESPN) pic.twitter.com/ZeKEuEJCCB
Birr has a history of making clutch kicks throughout his Georgia Tech tenure. While he has made 79.7 percent of his kicks over the last four seasons, he sits at only 50 percent this year. If his struggles continue, Birr may become as unreliable as he was as a sophomore. He may have made the kick to beat a bad Florida State team in Ireland that year, but he only connected on 68.2 percent of his kicks.
As is the case with any college football team, there is nothing worse than having an unreliable kicker, with the exception of that kicker having been nails before... There will come another point in the season where Key will call on Birr's number to go win the game for the Yellow Jackets. He may have a long year ahead of him, but the sour ending to Week 1 could stick in the back of his mind all season.
Georgia Tech is not strong enough in the coaching department just yet to have special teams issues.
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