2017 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

American college football season

The 2017 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team represented the Georgia Institute of Technology during the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Yellow Jackets were led by tenth-year head coach Paul Johnson and played their home games at Bobby Dodd Stadium. They competed as a member of the Coastal Division in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 5–6, 4–4 in ACC play to finish in third place in the Coastal Division.

Previous season[edit]

Georgia Tech ended the 2016 season with a 9-4 overall record, 4–4 in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets ended the season winning six of their last seven games, defeating arch-rival Georgia in Athens by a score of 28–27, and finishing the season with a 33–18 win in the TaxSlayer Bowl over Kentucky.

Schedule[edit]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	8:00 p.m.	vs. No. 25 Tennessee*		ESPN	L 41–42 2OT	75,107
September 9	12:30 p.m.	No. 5 (FCS) Jacksonville State*		ACCRSN	W 37–10	50,161
September 16	7:30 p.m.	at UCF*		ESPNews	Cancelled[2]
September 23	12:20 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ACCN	W 35–17	40,211
September 30	12:00 p.m.	North Carolina	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ESPN2	W 33–7	42,805
October 14	3:30 p.m.	at No. 11 Miami (FL)		ABC	L 24–25	55,799
October 21	7:30 p.m.	Wake Forest	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ESPNU	W 38–24	45,224
October 28	8:00 p.m.	at No. 7 Clemson		ABC/ESPN2	L 10–24	80,346
November 4	3:00 p.m.	at Virginia		ACCRSN	L 36–40	38,448
November 11	12:20 p.m.	No. 17 Virginia Tech		ACCN	W 28–22	47,909
November 18	3:30 p.m.	at Duke		ACCRSN	L 20–43	20,141
November 25	12:00 p.m.	No. 7 Georgia*		ABC	L 7–38	55,000
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[3]

Game summaries[edit]

vs Tennessee[edit]

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
No. 25 Volunteers	0	7	7	14	7	7	42
Yellow Jackets	7	7	7	7	7	6	41

Georgia Tech controlled the clock and dominated most of the game yardage wise, but gave up a key score in the final minutes of the 4th quarter. Georgia Tech had 2 missed field goal attempts that sent the game to overtime. During the second overtime, Coach Paul Johnson opted to try for a 2-point conversion to win the game there instead of kicking a point after try to tie the game and continue overtime play. Tennessee’s defense came up with the stop and the Volunteers held on to the 1 point victory.

Jacksonville State[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 (FCS) Gamecocks	0	7	0	0	7
Yellow Jackets	3	7	20	7	37

Georgia Tech had a poor offensive performance during the first half. Their only score was a touchdown after an interception gave the offense a short field. After some half time adjustments, Tech came storming out and put up 27 unanswered points to win the game.

at UCF[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets					0
Knights					0

The game was canceled due to the cleanup for Hurricane Irma.^[4]

Pittsburgh[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	10	0	0	17
Yellow Jackets	7	14	7	7	35

Coach Pat Narduzzi of Pittsburgh a few days prior to the game criticized Georgia Tech’s use of cut blocks during their offensive possessions calling them “dangerous.”^[5] After Georgia Tech’s win, Coach Paul Johnson criticized the Yellow Jacket offense for causing 4 turnovers and said they would not have won had they played a good team as what was described as a “snide” response to Narduzzi.^[6]

North Carolina[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	0	0	0	7	7
Yellow Jackets	7	3	14	9	33

Georgia Tech received the opening kickoff and traded a few short drives with the Tar Heels before scoring on an 18-play drive. From then on, the Jackets dominated on both sides of the ball against a severely injured UNC team by using time of possession to their advantage and smothering the UNC offense. The Tar Heels scored late in the 4th quarter, against Tech’s backup defenders, to end a 5-quarter shutout streak. Both TaQuon Marshall and Kirvonte Benson tallied over 130 yards rushing each on the day. This was Tech’s first win against UNC in 4 years.

at Miami (FL)[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets	7	7	10	0	24
No. 11 Hurricanes	3	10	3	9	25

Tech led most of the game until the 4th quarter when Miami kept its chances alive with a long pass and miraculous catch. Miami would eventually kick the game winning field goal giving the Jackets their 2nd loss of the season.

Wake Forest[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Demon Deacons	7	14	3	0	24
Yellow Jackets	3	10	12	13	38

at Clemson[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets	3	0	0	7	10
No. 7 Tigers	14	7	3	0	24

at Virginia[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets	7	7	14	8	36
Cavaliers	3	10	15	12	40

Virginia Tech[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hokies	3	6	7	6	22
Yellow Jackets	7	7	7	7	28

at Duke[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets	7	13	0	0	20
Blue Devils	3	17	10	13	43

Georgia[edit]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	10	14	7	38
Yellow Jackets	0	7	0	0	7

Despite coming within a touchdown near the end of the first half, Georgia Tech would go on to lose as Georgia would score 24 unanswered points in their way to a victory. Tech was officially disqualified from bowl eligibility with the loss causing their final record to be one win shy of qualifying.

Rankings[edit]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	RV	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	—	RV	—	—	—	—
Coaches	RV	RV	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
CFP	Not released									—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

Coaching staff[edit]

References[edit]