Technical Tidbits 9/16: Yellow Jackets Climb In ACC Power Rankings

The Yellow Jackets impressive win over the Seminoles last week in their season opener certainly caused many to reassess their standing in the Atlantic Coast Conference. In this ACC Network power ranking, the Yellow Jackets were ranked 11th in the conference. The program does seem to be on the right track and hopefully Tech can continue moving up in the rankings. A win on Saturday would definitely be cause for a whole new reassessment of the team. Even if they lose but put up a good fight, I’d expect the Yellow Jackets can continue gaining clout in the ACC. Personally, I feel they are at least among the top 10 teams in the conference.

This was a fun and informative article about the Wreck and how it’s one of the key traditions for not only at Georgia Tech, but also all of college football in general. This season Abi Ivemeyer will have the honors of driving the Wreck onto the field. Apparently the tradition was almost scratched because of ACC protocols regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Tech was granted an exception as the article points out. They definitely made the right move. Seeing the Wreck on the field is one of the iconic images associated with Yellow Jackets football and it wouldn’t be the same without it.

When it comes to proper precautions for the pandemic, some traditions are less risky than others. Allowing the Wreck to continue its ride onto the field makes sense. Tailgating not so much. That’s how Institute officials saw it, as athletic director Todd Stansbury announced yesterday that tailgating for the UCF game this weekend will not be allowed. I’m guessing alcohol sales will do fairly well on Saturday.

As the article discusses, Tech’s special teams will need to make some progress in this week’s practice if the team wants to give itself a chance against Central Florida on Saturday. The blocked field goal and extra point attempts were very alarming. Head coach Geoff Collins did take part of the blame for having limited the amount of practice and drills because of safety precautions due to COVID-19. Hopefully the special team units will get the kinks sorted out for Saturday’s game. Giving up the equivalent of a touchdown and extra point attempt is not encouraging and could make up the difference in a close game.