Everything From Georgia Tech Head Coach Brent Key After Georgia Tech's 27-20 Win Over Colorado

It was not always pretty, but Georgia Tech went on the road and got a big victory against Colorado on Friday night. After the game, Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key spoke with the media and here is everything that he had to say:

Opening Statement...

"All right, first of all, I want to thank our fans. I mean, there were a lot of people who came from Georgia Tech out here to Colorado to cheer us on, and it doesn't go without saying how thankful we are to that entire team. And we all are for our fans' support, and we want to hope that that continues the rest of season. So, uh, proud of the football team, proud of these guys that, you know, we couldn't play worse in the first half. Uh, you know, self, self inflicted errors, three turnovers on the first three drives, penalties, um, busts on different things, you know, allowed a score early on that first drive. Uh, but, you know, we talk about, you know, playing the next play, and that's all we talk about next play, next play, next play, play, next play, and the resiliency of these guys really showed. And you've got three turnovers in your first three drives, and it's real easy for everybody to start pointing fingers and talking and whatnot. That's the identity that we want to have, and we'll continue to have. So it was a good football game. We were able to come out on top. So very thankful for that. We got a lot of work to do. We want to get back and get ready for our next game."

1. On his team's resiliency and if he learned anything new about them in the game...

"No, I mean, it's like I said, I mean, that's why I'm proud of them. Proud of them for fighting back and overcoming those things. There's been a lot of times in the past where that wouldn't have happened at all. And the finger point can start. And to be 18, 20, or in Haynes's case, like 33, 34, years old, it's hard to get those guys to have that mentality and our team does. And look, there's things we got to continue to work on and clean up, a lot of things we got to clean up. But at the end of the day, that's why it's a team game, you know, we had, you know, Aidan has some, you know, big kicks that really kept us in there and he was, he was as confident and money on it as you could be. Got two hands on a couple of their kicks, which could have been big, they both ended up, you know, floating through there, so yeah, really, really happy about them. And again, you ask things you things you don't know, what do you find out? Really, first game, there's a lot of things you don't know. You think about it, you hope that's the case, you hope that's the way they're gonna play, but it confirms it that way."

2. On the offensive line's performance...

"Yeah, I mean, that's the name of the game. You guys hear me talk all the time about position flexibility and position versatility. You know when one guy goes down you're not necessarily putting in the next guy behind them. It's putting in the next best offensive lineman, that sixth guy, the seventh guy, the eighth guy. I think we had, you know, seven or eight guys play on the O-line tonight and I want to do that. I mean you got to be able to get guys experience guys out there play and it's the only way they're going to continue to improve. So proud of those guys. They had a lot of things that they could have folded the tunnel. And then they didn't, Geep on a great job of getting those guys prepared from a mental standpoint to be able to play the next play and put those things behind and get corrections made. But it was good to see them take over. I thought they played very physical, especially in the run game. that they were wanting to lean on those guys and impose their will, and that's what we talked about. Body blows are going to add up, and they're going to accumulate."

3. On Andre Fuller and other young guys that played...

"Yeah, AJ was banged up, and he'll be back soon. But what leads you to play them is the fact there's a production over the last four weeks, you know, and how they played over preseason camp and training camp. We got a lot of really good young players on the football team. We've got experience in a lot of places, but we also have a lot of really young guys. So the more they get out there and play, the more accustomed they're going to be. There was plenty of things out there that, you know, happened first time where there's, you know, the awareness of when a special team goes, but I don't think the game was too big for any of them. And that's what's important, and that's what we always strive for, is to, you know, we talk about closing that gap between practice and the games."

4. On what makes the fake toss play so successful...

"It's pretty cool, isn't it? It works all right. Yeah, all right. Come on, Ken. It's a compliment. It's a hell of a play. When you get guys that-- the teams are playing man coverage and matching guys out in the backfield, and you run a lot of the toss pitch stuff, and it really opens a huge seam inside for that, for the quarterback run. And that's what happened. And I thought our guys leaned on them for the game. And that's what you want, you want guys, you want those accumulated body blows to add up. And all of a sudden, now those arm tackles, and they're not getting to the ground."

5. On the play of the defense...

"Yeah, I mean look, first time playing now on new defensive scheme and I thought leading up to the game was really, really good communication out of these guys. And you know, you get in the game and that communication all of a sudden, the offense is going faster. You know, things are moving quicker, he's moving quicker. We had some communication breakdowns early on. Had to get slipped in the turf one time. And we had several times we got close to getting sacks. But it's one of those things that defensively you just got to bow your neck back and play the next play. I know it does sound like a cliche, but that is a mentality that we've instilled in our team of playing the next play. And Blake kept saying the same thing. And there were plenty of times in the second half that we had guys were communication errors on a route or whatnot. When they got down, tightened that red zone, I thought they really bowed their necks back and played good football down."

6. On what the difference in the game...

"Our ability to run football, it was a huge challenge we put on these guys up front on the O -line. And we know who we are as a football team. We know what our identity is. I just wanted to make sure about it, isn't it?"