Though he rarely opts to give out more information than he absolutely has to, Coach Johnson dropped a bit of a nugget in the post-Tulane press conference about Tim Byerly, picked up by our own Kieffer Milligan who was in attendance:
Johnson says the QB situation won't be clear until they find out more about Byerly in a couple weeks. Chase Martenson comes back Monday
— Kieffer Milligan (@FTRS_Kieffer) September 12, 2015
There's been all sorts of speculation on Byerly's injury, thought to be one to his knee. Having him back would be a big deal for Georgia Tech, both for his short-yardage ability and his effectiveness as an insurance policy for Justin Thomas.
Matthew Jordan filled in as a backup quarterback for two drives late in Georgia Tech's game against Tulane (only one week removed from playing significant time at A-Back) and did a nice job, carrying 3 times for 72 yards and a 65-yard touchdown, and throwing once for a 35-yard touchdown to true freshman A-Back TaQuon Marshall. (Believe it or not, Jordan was the Yellow Jackets' leading rusher on the day.)
The other note here is that walk-on QB Chase Martenson will be healthy for Georgia Tech's game next week against Notre Dame. That may seem insignificant, but Martenson was the third-string quarterback when Jordan moved to A-Back during fall camp. Martenson is a redshirt freshman walk-on from Marist High School, thus coming with plenty of experience running the offense.
There are multiple scenarios possible right now moving forward with regards to Georgia Tech's backup quarterback scenario. If Byerly is indeed lost for the season, the coaches may elect to use Jordan as a permanent backup. Alternatively, they may elect to move Jordan back to A-Back (where his future appears to be) and use Martenson as the primary backup to Thomas. The third player in the equation is true freshman Christian Campbell. It's unlikely that his redshirt is burned for the sake of mop-up duty or a single-game fill-in situation, but if it happens that both Thomas and Byerly are ever both lost for a significant part of the season, Campbell likely gets the nod as the QB of the future.
For now, the coaches will stick with Jordan as the backup, but this is unquestionably a situation to keep an eye on as the season continues to develop.