Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key talked to the media one final time before the Yellow Jackets travel to face the Pittsburgh Panthers. 

On Pittsburgh 

Pittsburgh may be on a three-game losing streak, but they are not going to be a pushover for the Yellow Jackets this weekend:

“Really good football team, you know, talking about the offensive line there before we got started, and I mean, you look at their offense and, you know, really you got five guys that played up there, you know? And look, I mean all seniors, all right? Three, I think three of them are fifth-year seniors, all right? So, it's just a huge, you know, learning point that development within your program still matters, right?

 They're an attacking defense in that regard, so. But there's also holes in in in the coverage back there. A lot of guys being able to to to do things there. Um, let's not look at stats either and and you know, had Malachi Tony last week had, well I think 150, 160 in the first half in the first half. Yes, so uh, you talk one of the best players in America right there if those stats off a little bit, right? So, um, but no they they are. We got to be able to calculate it with with when we uh take our shots. Um, we got to be smart with the football. I mean, hands down number one thing. 

The percentage of games won when the team wins the turnovers battle 

Georgia Tech has been one of the worst teams in the country at creating turnovers, but Key knows that is going to be one of the things his team has to do this weekend:

“We got to be smart with the football. I mean, hands down number one thing. I mean, I wish I brought it with me, the stat, but I think it's 93% over the last four years, 93% winning percentage we have when we win the turnover battle. When we win the rushing battle, it's like 87. Those might be flipped, maybe one's, you know, maybe the other one up; at the end of the day, those are pretty telling, aren't they? Pretty telling,” said Key. 

On Dalen Penson and getting him more touches early in games 

After switching over from defensive back, Dalen Penson has become one of the most reliable targets for Yellow Jackets quarterback Alberto Mendoza:

“Dalen is one of my favorite players on this football team, and just a great kid, great family, um, you know, I mean, he comes up every day, coach, I want to play both ways. I can't play both ways. Let's keep working right here, right? Let's keep developing because he is- I mean, this guy, he's played receiver now for about six months. Yeah. So he's still developing. There are a lot of things he's still learning at the receiver position. Um, he wants to play everything. He wants to return every punt, every kick, play corner, kick the ball. 

“Been super impressed with him. He's one of those guys when I'm talking in terms of the true core, you know, that young to middle-aged guys in the program, the core guys, and DP is one of them. He is one of them. Love that kid, love what he's done, love how he's uh grown at the receiver role and would love to see him continue to grow in that role. So I'll make sure we get some first-down slants and hits to him and let him roll,” said Key. 

On true freshman Trae Stevenson 

Georgia Tech has had a number of injuries on the defensive side of the ball, especially in the secondary. That has led to the Yellow Jackets having to rely on first year players, such as cornerback Trae Stevenson:

“He missed a lot of time early. He missed a lot of games you know early on. He was starting for Mercer. And that week guess what? He gets hurt. These are legitimate injuries too, now. Like these are not like bullcrap things you see. Um, it was the same thing he kind of struggled with in in the spring, right? So now he's out a good bit of time. When you're a freshman, and you're out that time, you can't just throw them right back in the fire. You want to build those reps back up, but he has. He's going to play a lot of football now. Uh, to me, it's not necessarily who starts the game; it's who gets in there and plays the best. Um, you know, as we've played more guys over the last three to four weeks um, to continue to accelerate their growth and development. 

I could say if he if he had not had that stretch in there, you know, I would be hard-pressed to say he wouldn't be a starting corner right now. I've been really, really pleased with Trey. He's one of those core freshmen that we have that I think is going to be a really good player.

Um, you know, also there are adjustments within the game that, you know, I talk about us as coaches putting the players in position, but also when they're out there, you know, they've got to be able to execute it too, and um, I've been pleased with him. I'm sure you'll probably continue to see him play more and more, and hopefully we do what we're supposed to do, so they have to throw the ball more to be able to see those guys,” said Key. 

Coach Key describes Josh Petty as having an alpha mindset 

After missing the first six games of the season, former five star recruit Josh Petty was put in place at left tackle last week and in just 27 snaps, he finished as the highest-graded player on the offense. He is in line to start this weekend vs the Panthers:

“The first six games when he didn't play, I don't know if there was a person I've seen in many years that was that end of the game cheering for everyone else, trying to get everyone else emotionally and the energy levels up. But you know what you'd see him do on the sidelines in the game: he's doing that every single play at practice for the last three months, every single day. You talk about somebody who really wants to want to take the energy level, affect what you can affect, and control what you can. When he took that and ran with it and really tried to be that motivating, and he's got the unique ability, especially in this day and age, to do things whether they're right or not right, but if he feels they are, and this is different than as a freshman, like this is him coming out of his shell, and he has that alpha personality where he's going to say what he believes and he thinks, or the message from the coaches, and he's not going to care what other people think about him. 

He's not going to care what other people say, and he's not going to care who he says it to, but he's got the personality where it doesn't always come off the wrong way.

You know, it's not always just berating somebody; it's truly challenging other people. Yeah, even somebody like, " Hey, you ain't even done anything in the last four months. Well, I don't care. I'm going to keep you, you know, let's go, let's go. Run on the field, run off the field, run to the ball, man, that's been every day for the last, you know, three months, but really, back into spring ball, so he's got a lot of those qualities that go along with some of the great ones, right? But he's young, still has not started a football game in college, right? He will make mistakes at times, just like we all do, just like we all have in the game. I'm glad we got him back out there,” said Key.