Georgia Tech Athletics: 2013 Year In Review

All photos credit to Danny Karnik of Georgia Tech Athletics.

January

Georgia Tech basketball starts the month with a win against Chattanooga, before starting conference play with 5 straight losses. They picked up their lone conference win in January at home against Wake Forest on the 26th, but would finish the month 2-6 and start their conference play at 1-5.

February

Basketball alternates wins and losses, and finishes the month at 4-4 with wins against Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, and Maryland. The .500 mark is a marked improvement over January, but leaves them at 5-9 in ACC play and 15-12 overall.

Georgia Tech baseball started their season with 8 wins in 9 February games, including sweeps of Akron and Georgia Southern. The Jackets scored 10 runs in 5 of 9 games, entering March with plenty of momentum.

Georgia Tech football had signing day, bringing in 14 new players including 2013 contributors LB PJ Davis and K Harrison Butker. Also, the NFL Combine saw Rod Sweeting run a 4.38 40-Yard Dash, good for third amongst Defensive Backs.

March

Basketball goes 1-2, except the one win came against then-#6 Miami in Coral Gables. The Jackets came back from an 11-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 69, only to win on a last-second tip-in by Marcus Georges-Hunt by a score of 71-69. The Jackets then went on to lose to Boston College twice in a row -- once to end the regular season, and once in the opening round of the ACC Tournament. There would be no postseason play for Brian Gregory's squad.

Baseball would win 13 games in March, including sweeps of Rutgers and Boston College, and finished the month with a 13-5 mark. The only series the Jackets lost was at Florida State, where two losses followed an opening round 11-0 beatdown of the Seminoles. Tech entered April with a 21-6 overall record.

April

Baseball had a disastrous month, posting 7 wins in 17 games. They won 2 of 3 at home against Virginia for their only series win of the month, with series losses to Duke and Clemson, and being swept by North Carolina State as part of a 6-game losing streak. An early-April win against uga in Athens was followed by a 17-0 embarrassment at Turner Field. Overall, an ugly month for the Jackets. They finished the month at 28-16.

The NFL Draft was not prosperous for Georgia Tech alumni, producing no draft picks even with high hopes for NT T.J. Barnes and CB Rod Sweeting. Those two, plus Izaan Cross, were picked up as free agents, and played on practice squads for much of the season. Barnes started with the Jaguars before being acquired by the Jets, Sweeting is with the Saints, and Cross is with the Bills. Sweeting in particular has been promoted to the Saints' NFL squad and plays regularly.

May

May saw baseball continue to struggle, with series losses to Coastal Carolina and Miami, and a 2-game split with Ohio State. The highlight of the month saw Tech win a 3-game series at home against #2 UNC, thanks to Mott Hyde and Zane Evans walk-off hits on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The Jackets went on to play in the ACC Baseball Tournament, winning their first game against Florida State before losing their next two against Virginia and Virginia Tech, resulting in elimination. Georgia Tech went on to finish the regular season at a 33-23 mark, falling to 34-25 after one win and two ACC Tournament losses.

Also worth noting in May was the re-addition of former Georgia Tech QB Joe Hamilton to the football staff, who has since been serving mainly in a role of recruiting support.

June

It was a rough month for Georgia Tech baseball, with an opening-round loss to Illinois to start the Nashville regional of the NCAA Baseball Tournament. The Jackets would come back to win 3 straight though, forcing a "loser goes home" game against National-#2 seed Vanderbilt. Buck Farmer pitched on short rest and gave four good innings, but the Commodores would prevail by a score of 7-1. The Jackets' season ended with a 37-27 record, and considerable disappointment after the high hopes created by February and March.

June's MLB Draft would see 7 Jackets drafted, including OF Daniel Palka (3rd Round, Diamondbacks), C Zane Evans (4th Round, Royals), RHP Buck Farmer (5th Round, Tigers), OF Kyle Wren (8th Round, Braves), OF Brandon Thomas (8th Round, Yankees), 3B Sam Dove (14th Round, Phillies), and RHP Matt Grimes (31st Round, Phillies). Of those, Grimes was the only one not to sign with the respective teams, with Daniel Palka receiving a major payday of a $550,000 signing bonus on top of a $602,000 salary.

June was also a prosperous month in Georgia Tech's incoming recruiting class, with 8 commitments in DE KeShun Freeman, DB Step Durham, DE Tyler Merriweather, TE/OL Trey Klock, DB Lance Austin, DB Lawrence Austin, DB Qua Searcy, and QB Matthew Jordan. Freeman, Jordan, Durham and LB Tre Jackson are all enrolling early, and are in their first day of college classes today.

July

An extremely quiet month for the Yellow Jackets, the only notable news from this month were the commitments of DE Michael Preddy and OL Jake Stickler. Also committing was RB Caleb Kinlaw, though he has since flipped his commitment to Wisconsin.

August

The month of August began with Georgia Tech Football Fan Day, an annual event gaining in popularity with each passing year. Early August also saw the release of the news that incoming freshman RB Travis Custis would not be able to enroll at Georgia Tech due to an academic eligibility issue with the NCAA Clearinghouse. It was reportedly an issue that was completely separate from his college choice, meaning it would have occurred no matter where he went to school. A few days later classes began, and shortly after the Jackets began their football season with a 70-0 thumping of FCS Elon.

September

Georgia Tech's football team followed their win over Elon with a strangely-placed bye week before wins at Duke (38-14) and against UNC (28-20). The Jackets came back from a 20-14 halftime deficit to beat the Tar Heels on a rainy day in Atlanta.

The Jackets ended September with a Thursday night home game against Virginia Tech, a game in which they celebrated the 100th anniversary of Bobby Dodd Stadium with a whiteout. Unfortunately, the Jackets played their worst game of the year and lost 17-10.

October

A month famous for sweets began in sour fashion, with losses at Miami (45-30) and BYU (38-20). The Jackets' thrashing in successive weeks by Miami RB Duke Johnson and BYU QB Taysom Hill were very concerning, as the team's trend was not a positive one. However, home cooking did the Jackets some good -- a week after the 18-point loss in Provo, Tech dropped a 56-0 shallacking on new ACC foe Syracuse, re-instilling the fanbase with confidence. The following week, the Jackets went to the Bermuda Triangle that is Charlottesville, VA, and struggled against a bad Virginia team. They would end up coming away with the win anyways though, 35-25.

November

The football Jackets continued to build momentum with a Homecoming 21-10 victory over Pittsburgh, and headed to #8 Clemson for their annual cross-division rivalry. It was not to be though, as Tech played tough in the first quarter before the floodgates opened to a 55-31 loss on a cold Thursday night. That loss was followed by a 66-7 win against Alabama A&M, before hosting archrival uga in a 41-34 double overtime loss. It was a rough ending to the season for Tech, who finished with a 7-5 record.

Basketball would start the season 5-3, including a win in Athens against uga. However, Coach Gregory's team lost to Dayton, Ole Miss, and St. John's, with the last two coming in Brooklyn in the Barclay's Classic. It was a discouraging month for Tech basketball fans, but things were about to look up.

Also notable in November was tennis duo Megan Kurey and Kendal Woodward winning a USTA/ITA Doubles National Championship!

December

Georgia Tech began "Dead Week" with a Tuesday night game against Illinois for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Jackets were down 60-48 with 8:43 to play, but finished on a 19-4 run to beat the previously-undefeated Illini and avenge a 2012 loss at Illinois. Tech went on to finish December 4-1, but with a critical loss in Nashville to Vanderbilt.

The football team had an ugly end to its season, playing in Nashville's Music City Bowl against the Ole Miss Rebels. The Jackets never led and turned the ball over twice en route to a frustrating 25-17 loss. For a bright spot in the game, Jeremiah Attaochu managed half of a sack to become the school's sole all-time leader with 31.5. The good news was scarce though. Three days later, starting QB Vad Lee announced that he will transfer.