Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Preview 2022: Season Prediction, Breakdown, Key Games, Players

Georgia Tech College Football Preview 2022: Team breakdown, season prediction, keys to the campaign, and what you need to know

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Georgia Tech season with what you need to know and keys to the season.


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Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Preview
Head Coach: Geoff Collins, 4th year at Georgia Tech, 9-25
6th year overall, 24-35, 2021 Preview
2021 Record: Overall: 3-9, Conference: 2-6
Keys To The Season | Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Top 10 Players | Georgia Tech Schedule & Analysis

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Preview 2022

Georgia Tech should be a whole lot better than this.

It seems like 50 years ago when the program was hanging around in the ACC Championship – going in 2012 and 2014 – and the idea of simply going bowling feels like it’s 50 miles away after three straight three-win seasons under head coach Geoff Collins.

Even worse than the lack of wins are the lack of competitive performances. Since the last year of the Paul Johnson era in 2018, 22 of the last 29 losses were by double digits.

Closing out last season losing to Notre Dame and Georgia by a combined score of 100-0 didn’t help.

It’s not for the lack of trying. Collins had to change the program around from being designed for the triple-option to a more balanced attack to now more of a pro-style version, but that’s the offense. The defense should’ve been better from the start.

Collins knows how to coach – the guy took Temple to two straight bowl games and 15 wins in two seasons before taking over the Yellow Jacket job – but his team needs to catch a break.

Big changes in the coaching staff are a part of the last gasp push, and several gets from the transfer portal will help, but it’s still a reboot four years in.

Considering all the changes and the nasty schedule, it’s going to take something big for there to be a Year Five.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Preview 2022: Offense

The old option offense might not have always been perfect, but it took control of games and gave defenses something to worry about. The offense over the last three years hasn’t been anything to lose sleep over.

Last year the O was 93rd in the nation, averaged 24 points pr game, and it couldn’t keep the chains moving. But there are positives.

The offense is still full of promising young parts, offensive coordinator Chip Long knows how to get an attack moving, and …

The Yellow Jackets have a gamer at quarterback. Jeff Sims can run, he has two years of experience, and he has shown enough flashes to think he’s ready to break out as an all-around playmaker if he can keep the interceptions down. Akron transfer Zach Gibson should push for the No. 2 job, but this is Sims’ offense.

Leading receiver Malachi Carter is a pro prospect and needs to be used more – he led the team with 37 catches for 489 yards and two scores. Combined with Kalani Norris – a promising deep threat who averaged 17 yards per grab on his eight tackles – there’s speed at receiver.

The offensive front has to replace three starters, but help is on the way for a group that gave up too many plays in the backfield and only pushed for 169 rushing yards per game. Pierce Quick is a possible starting tackle coming in from Alabama, Paul Tchio is a guard option from Clemson, RJ Adams is coming in for the interior from Kentucky, and Corey Robinson is a tackle option from Kansas.

Now they need to block for the promising group of backs.

Leading rusher Jahmyr Gibbs bolted for Alabama. It doesn’t help that second-leading rusher Jordan Mason is off trying to become a San Francisco 49er, but Dontae Smith averaged 5.6 yards per carry and Louisville Transfer Hassan Hall is a going to be a factor. Getting Dylan McDuffie from Buffalo will help.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Preview 2022: Defense

The offense gets all the attention because that’s what’s been the biggest change over the last few years, but the defense was bad and it needs to make huge strides. It was 11th in the ACC, couldn’t hold up against the run, and it was dead last in America in pass efficiency defense.

It doesn’t help to lose top tackler linebacker Quez Jackson and safety Juanyeh Thomas to the NFL and the best ends – Jordan Dominick to Arkansas and Jared Ivey to Ole Miss.

There’s rebuilding to do.

So what do the Yellow Jackets have back that works? 232-pound senior Ayinde Eley is a good tackler in the middle of the linebacking corps, and outside linebacker Charlie Thomas is back after leading the team with ten tackles for loss. They need to be the veteran rock in the 4-2-5 alignment.

There’s size to rotate around on the interior of the line, and the hope is for former Old Dominion star pass rusher Keion White to blow up on one end after suffering an ankle injury last year.

The secondary is getting instant help with corners Eric Reed from Auburn and Kenny Bennett from Maryland. Former Notre Dame safety transfer Derrick Allen and Michigan corner transfer Myles Sims need to rise up for a secondary that generated at grand total of one of the defenses’s three interceptions.

Keys To The Season | Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Top 10 Players | Georgia Tech Schedule & Analysis

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats NEXT

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022

Who are the top 10 Georgia Tech players going into the 2022 college football season?

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Preview 2022: Who are the top 10 players going into the season?


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Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Preview 
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will HappenSchedule & Analysis 

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: CFN College Football Preview 2021

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Georgia Tech football season with what you need to know

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Georgia Tech football season with what you need to know.


Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
Top Players | Keys To The Season
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
Georgia Tech Football Schedule Analysis
– Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

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2020 Record: 3-7 overall, 3-6 in ACC
Head Coach: Geoff Collins, 3rd year, 6-16 (21-26 overall)
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 82
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 65
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 122

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets College Football Preview 2021: Offense

The transformation continues to take awhile. The Yellow Jackets are still trying to pivot away from the option offense under Paul Johnson, and there’s been more of a passing game to balance things out, but the consistency isn’t quite there.

The offense averaged 390 yards and just 24 points per game, but when it worked, it was terrific. Now it has to score.

After the 16-13 win over Florida State, the Yellow Jackets were 2-0 when scoring more than 27 points and 0-7 when scoring that many or fewer. There’s some work to be done, but …

Jeff Sims appears to be a keeper. The 6-3, 215-pounder stepped in as a  freshman and threw 13 touchdown passes and ran for close to 500 yards and six scores. There were 13 picks, and the passing attack wasn’t consistent enough, but the skill and upside are there.

With backup and former starter James Graham off to Georgia Southern, it’s a thin group behind Sims with Jordan Yates the main option after getting in a little work.

The receivers aren’t all that bad. It’s a deep group and the passing game spreads the ball around, but as long as big plays are there, all is fine. The passing game wasn’t Alabama, but averaging over 13 yards per catch is a good thing.

Leading receiver Jalen Camp is gone, but Malachi Carter is a 6-3, 200-pound veteran who averaged 14.5 yards per catch with three touchdowns. Junior Adonicas Sanders is another good deep threat who caught 17 passes, and there’s more 6-2ish, 200ish pound receivers ready to shine. Also a big part of the passing game is …

Jahmyr Gibbs can do a little of everything. The 5-11, 200-pound second-year freshman was second on the team with 24 catches and was second on the team in rushing behind Sims.

2019 leading rusher Jordan Mason is the team’s best runner with good power and 100-yard, carry-the-offense toughness – he missed four games last year – and sophomore Dontae Smith is a quick hitter who averaged close to seven yards per carry.

Now the offensive line has to get the job done.

It’s been a decent line so far in the Geoff Collins era, but now it has to replace two starters and has to get more out of the young, big options being brought in over the last few years.

Junior Mikey Minihan is a solid interior blocker, and 6-6, 330-pound Jordan Williams is a promising young option, and 6-7, 320-pound former Vanderbilt grad transfer Devin Cochran is expected to finally be in the mix after he committed last year but didn’t play.

– What You Need To Know: Defense
Top Players | Keys To The Season
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
Georgia Tech Football Schedule Analysis

NEXT: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets College Football Preview 2021: Defense