Saturday's victory over Clemson is the biggest win of Georgia Tech's Brent Key era to this point, but weirdly it was a loss that put the program on the radar as one to watch across college football. Last November, the Yellow Jackets took Georgia to the brink in an unforgettable eight-overtime game, falling 44–42 to the Dawgs in Athens.
Despite a losing effort in the game known as Clean Old Fashioned Hate, Key's Yellow Jackets looked the part of a contender at the end of the 2024 season. Georgia Tech finished just 7–6 (including a bowl game loss to Vanderbilt), but picked up an upset of Miami three weeks before the near-upset of Georgia, and faced a rough schedule, ultimately falling in road games to solid ACC programs at Louisville and Syracuse and a non-conference home game to national runner-up Notre Dame.
