Georgia Tech head coach knows what a win over Clemson would mean for the Jackets

Brent Key took over the head coaching role at Georgia Tech last season and secured the job full-time. (Photo: Brett Davis / USATODAY)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Nov 08 14:06:28 GMT-04:00 2023

Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key is no stranger to Clemson, and he knows a win over the Tigers on Saturday would be a big step for his program. But he doesn’t want to make it any bigger than it already is.

Clemson will attempt to extend its active winning streak against Georgia Tech to nine games when the Tigers host the Yellow Jackets on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for noon on ABC.

The game will be the 89th all-time meeting between Clemson and Georgia Tech, a series that dates to the teams' first meeting: a 23-0 Clemson win in 1898 in Augusta, Georgia. This will be the 41st consecutive season the programs have met, a streak that is set to end next year under the ACC's new 17-team scheduling model that left the Clemson-Georgia Tech rivalry unprotected. Clemson is 24-17 against Georgia Tech since the Yellow Jackets joined the ACC in 1983.

When was the last time the Jackets defeated Clemson? It was on a cold mid-November day in Atlanta back in 2014. Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson exited the game with a knee injury in the first quarter, and backup Cole Stoudt threw three interceptions, and two of those were returned for touchdowns in what would be a 28-6 Jackets win.

Since then? Clemson has been to several College Football Playoffs, played in four National Championship Games, winning two, and won several ACC Championships along the way. Since that 2014 game, only one game between the program has been decided by single digits (a 14-8 Clemson win in 2021).

Key was asked what a win would mean for his program.

"You want me to say the politically correct thing? It would be great for 24 hours, we would enjoy it and then on to the next game,” Key said. “We play one season, each week is a season, there is no tomorrow after Saturday as far as we are concerned. There is nothing... we are going to lay it all on the line. We are going to take the punches, throw the punches, and when I say take the punches, I mean take our punches, in football you are always going to take a few punches. If anyone had seen our team last week, the excitement, how excited they were, it is another team that we have the opportunity to play football against.”

However, he knows the significance of a win over Dabo Swinney’s program.

“Now what would it mean to beat them? They are the standard of the conference. What they have done the last 12 years, what Dabo has been able to accomplish there, it is a truly remarkable job, and it is one of the only teams in the last 12 years to do what they have been able to do. So, would it be big? Yeah, it would be big, dadgum right it would be big, but we are not going to make it more than it is because that is when the anxiety and the emotional starts to kick in. When the game is over, I will let these guys, like we have every week, choose how to let their emotions go," Key said.