Tuesday Thoughts 9/3: An Era Past, An Era Forming

In which we try to live in the moment, free of the past’s grip on our mindset.

Well it wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t really need to be. We covered a big spread against an inferior team and that’s all that matters.

Game Recap in Three Sentences

The ground game again was the star, rushing for 6.6 yards per carry and scoring three of the touchdowns.

72 penalty yards, an interception, and a few big defensive lapses made for a bit of a sloppy game.

The defense gave up plenty of yards, but a couple of big goal line stands gave State only three points for all that work.

Above The Line of the Week

• Meaningful local games. It’s cool to see the MARTA Bowl moniker make its way around the internet and have so many people in the city care about this matchup. It should obviously always be a big win for Tech, but it’s neat regardless.
• Haynes King. After not needing to do much against FSU in the rain, he looked pretty decent with somewhat vanilla playcalls completing 83% of his passes for 2 TDs.
• Anthony Carrie. Nominative determinism is real: he’s shaping up to be an excellent backup, reminds me of the role Dontae Smith played.

Twitter Roundup

5 Star (7 Star, 5 Star) Developmental Program Haiku of the Week

Welcome to the A
Where the Jacket players play
Keep on climbing up

An Era Past, An Era Forming

We’re 2-0 for the first time since 2016. That season was also the last time we started 3-0, the last time we won four games in a row, the last time we beat Georgia, and until 2023 the last time we won a bowl game (I’m wearing my 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl Champions shirt as I write this). It also should’ve been the last time we were ranked but oh well. Fresh off of the most disappointing season in modern Tech history, 2016 was the year that we got our groove back and showed people that we could still compete at a high level.

Starting 2-0 has me feeling nostalgic, pining for a time when this kind of start was commonplace. Nostalgia is a double-edged sword though; it’s nice to remember the good times, but it’s also important to remember that the past is gone and the present is even more worthy of our attention. We’ll never return to 2016 and that’s okay. We’re forging our own new era now, making new memories that we’ll look back on fondly in 10 years. A perspective of the moment is valuable – a 2-0 start in 2024 is important because it is 2024 and we’re living through what is so far a good season. Right now that’s enough for me.

Look Ahead

Up next is Syracuse (9/7, noon). The Orange handled Ohio easily in Week 1, but we’ll be their first real test. We’re currently the slight favorites and I think this game is going to teach us a lot about what we can expect for the rest of the season. On paper this should be a win against a middling conference opponent; these are exactly the kinds of teams that we need to start beating solidly with regularity. If we can come away with a comfortable 7-10 point victory then I’ll feel very good about our prospects for the rest of the season. They allowed Ohio to run all over them so I’m hoping we can grab control early on the ground and figure out some of our own deficiencies on defense.