I’m going to start off by saying that I’m a regular commenter on this site and I’ve put my season predictions out in a comment before, but I don’t care because I honestly love doing it because it makes me hopeful and excited for what could be the season that saves The Jackets as a program! I’ll give a brief summary about my reasons to have hope then we’ll get to the predictions.

It’s been an extremely frustrating 4 years after the retirement of Paul Johnson, a Georgia Tech and College Football legend. Although the triple option rarely gave us 10 or more wins, it almost always got us to a bowl game and that’s all that we could have ever wanted. When Geoff Collins took over, things spiraled downward extremely fast and the Jackets went from an annual Bowl Game team to a laughing stock of the ACC and all of the College Football world. 2021 gave us fans a glimmer of hope, but a series of devastating and disappointing one and two possession losses put us at the bottom of the ACC once again. Then 2022 rolled around. We lost to the first three FBS opponents we faced, which led to Tech finally cutting ties with Collins along with AD Todd Stansbury. Brent Key took the job and he got hot fast with an immediate win against 24th in the Nation, Pittsburgh. We squeaked out a win vs. Duke, who ended off the year with a 9-4 record, shattering their Vegas win total odds which was a mere 3.5 wins. That’s exactly what Tech can do this upcoming year. Vegas was way less than generous with the win total odds which is at 4.5 right now, and I believe it is expected, almost certain, that we shatter that total like Duke did last year. Tech went 2-1 against top 25 opponents with brent Key at the helm, as we beat #13 UNC and lost to #1 UGA. If Tech went 1-3 with Collins and still fell just one win short of a bowl game, we have to expect success when we can control our destiny in all 12 games and not just 8. Let’s do this…

Game 1: GT: 24 UL: 21

1-0

Game 2: GT: 30 SCST: 7

2-0

Game 3:GT: 20 OM: 38

2-1

Game 4: GT: 15 WF: 21

2-2

Game 5: GT: 41 BG: 16

3-2

Game 6: GT: 16 UM: 28

3-3

Game 7: GT: 23 BC: 11

4-3

Game 8: GT: 28 NC: 25

5-3

Game 9: GT: 21 VA: 12

6-3

Game 10: GT: 21 Clem: 45

6-4

Game 11: GT: 14 Syr: 24

6-5

Game 12: GT: 17 UGA: 30

6-6

Recap: We face 4 (arguably 5) teams that will most likely be ranked when we face them, Ole Miss, UNC, Miami, Clemson, and Georgia. Miami games have always been entertaining except for the game last year. I’ll never forget that legendary OT win in 2019 where current Pittsburgh Steelers punter, Presley Harvin III, threw a touchdown for us. Nevertheless, the Canes look like a solid squad this year and I think they’ll have our number. You may be surprised to see UNC in the win column, but truth be told, we’ve beat them 2 years in a row while they were in the top 25 and we seem to give them our best game and that’s what I anticipate for this year. Georgia looks a bit softer this time around, at least they aren’t 2021 UGA who made the field seem 5 yards wide for former Tech QB Jordan Yates who has since transferred to Sam Houston. The Bulldogs lost a ton of talent to the draft and in usual Georgia fashion, there will be a QB battle, similar to the JT Daniels, Stetson Bennet battle which lasted all of 2020 and the very beginning of 21’. I still expect the Dawgs to go undefeated considering they have one of the easiest schedules in all of CFB. Ole Miss killed Geoff Collins and the crew last year in an extremely forgettable 42-0 bashing of the Ramblin Wreck, and there will be an improvement this year, but not enough to knock down the Rebels who are expecting a major year according to Lane Kiffin. Clemson is slipping out of the "Powerhouse" category and while they still are one of the most highly respected and prestigious football programs ever, they seem to be falling behind. They have still produced double digit win seasons every year since their 6-7 campaign in 2010, but something about their game seems slower and less dominant than they were with Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson leading them. They will still overpower Tech once again (most likely.)

The game vs South Carolina State shouldn’t be a challenge at all, and neither should Bowling Green, but there is still some worry among us fans for that game. In Geoff Collins’ third game as head coach, Tech was embarrassed by Citadel in Overtime. Then in 2021, Tech lost to Northern Illinois, who happens to be in the same conference as Bowling Green. Bowling Green is expected to be one of the worst teams in the MAC, but they did reach a bowl game last year. Tech should take care of business. Brent Key has yet to play in a game where the Jackets are heavily favored, in fact, the only game Tech was favored in last year, we lost (UVA.) We’ll see how the boys handle these two games. UVA and Boston College are the most winnable conference games and Key should be thirsty for revenge due to the fact that Virginia gifted him his first loss as coach and it was the closest game we could have won that would have put us in a bowl game last year. Boston College beat us in 21’ but it was close and Tech wasn’t nearly as good on Defense as they are now. That’s another thing. The D had the 2nd best turnover difference in the nation with plus 11. Sadly, stars Keion White, Charlie Thomas, and Ace Eley are all on to the big leagues, but the incoming transfer Linebacker talent from Minnesota and Louisville is set to boost the secondary and improve blitzes. Games against Syracuse, Wake Forest, and Louisville are all up for grabs and are very possible wins. I am personally very excited for what is yet to come this year, and I’m hoping to see a Georgia Tech football revival in the Brent Key era. Go Jackets!