TOBACCO ROAD – After a wet, sloppy victory over the Temple Owls this past Saturday, the No. 16 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets hit the road for an ACC road game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
The Yellow Jackets walked out of Bobby Dodd Stadium victorious this past weekend, even though the team didn’t play to their full potential, despite having the win in full control. A big enough win, to where it is encouraging, but also makes room for improvement and keeps the team humble, off a big win over Clemson.
The last time Georgia Tech and Wake Forest faced off against each other was September 23rd, 2023, where the final score was 30-16, in favor of the Yellow Jackets. It will be only the third time in the last 15 seasons the Jackets play the Demon Deacons. The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series 24-8 and look to make it 25 wins on Saturday.
Georgia Tech looks to become 5-0 before their bye week, for the first time since 2014.
Although, it will be a test, Tech is favored to do just that. Wake Forest will have had 15 days to prepare for its fourth consecutive home game, with a bye week, while the Jackets faced Temple. The last time Wake played at home was on September 11th, where they fell 34-24 to NC State.
Wake Forest hasn’t beaten a ranked opponent since 2022 and the Demon Deacons haven’t beaten the Yellow Jackets since the 2006 ACC Championship Game, before the Paul Johnson era on the Flats. First year Head Coach, Jake Dickert, said he knows a lot has to go right for both of those streaks to end in favor of Wake.
Coach Key obviously has the program rolling in a high capacity,” Dickert said, “One of the biggest things I look for in an opponent is their identity. It screams off the tape; it’s their physicality and toughness. It’s all over film. It’s the way they play.
Wake Forest Quarterback Robby Ashford, a player that has transferred from the SEC, has only thrown one touchdown this season. Running back Demond Claiborne is currently averaging 82.3 rushing yards per game, after posting 1,049 in his third-team ALL-ACC campaign a year ago.
The Stakes
The Yellow Jackets defense has another big assignment ahead of them, after giving up 328 yards of offense to the Temple Owls.
Good news from this past weekend, Quarterback Haynes King threw for 161 yards, while rushing for 15 yards on eight carries, along with two passing touchdowns. Backup Quarterback Aaron Philo came in for one of the last series of the game, with it being a handoff to Running Back Daylon Gordon for 67 yards and a touchdown.
Vegas has the spread at Georgia Tech (-14.5) and are giving the Yellow Jackets a 83.9% chance of winning per ESPN analytics.
Will Georgia Tech continue the winning streak or will the Demon Deacons trip them up in a potential trap game on the road at high noon? We will find out on September 27th on ESPN.
Tech looks to head into the bye week at 5-0, while Wake Forest seeks its first win in conference play. A loss for Wake would eliminate the Decons from conference contention, while Tech cannot afford a slip up after early season momentum.
If the Jackets want to reach the playoff (and Charlotte), they must keep winning the “easy” games on paper. Of course, nothing is a given in the crazy world of college football, but Tech should turn out alright for its final stretch of games.
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