SYRACUSE, N.Y. — After a strong start to the season, No. 23 Georgia Tech hit a roadblock on Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets travelled to Syracuse to face former UGA defensive backs coach and current Orange head coach Fran Brown. Ultimately it was Brown and Syracuse who claimed a 31-28 victory.
Here's a full breakdown of how it happened.
Taking away their bread and butter
A big reason why a then-unranked Georgia Tech was able to defeat a then No. 10 Florida State was thanks to a dominant run game.
After two games, running back Jamal Haynes had 159 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Haynes King ran for 91 yards and a touchdown himself.
However, the Orange shut down the run game, as Haynes was held to 35 yards and a late game touchdown, and King lead the team in rushing with 67 yards and two touchdowns himself.
King was forced to air it out more, which wasn't a disaster, but wasn't successful enough to gain the Yellow Jackets a win.
He completed 74% of his passes for 259 yards and a touchdown. However, the strategy of leaning on screen plays and quick out routes behind the line of scrimmage wasn't successful enough to keep up with Syracuse's offense.
While the team had a late burst of offense, the teams' slow and ineffective approach through most of the game prevented the Yellow Jackets from ultimately claiming victory.
Beat at the line of scrimmage
A key piece for the Georgia Tech defense has been its control of the line of scrimmage.
Central Georgia native and pass rusher Romello Height and the rest of the Yellow Jackets' defensive line held up extremely well against Florida State in Week 0.
However, until towards the end of the game, Syracuse controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
Former Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord had no problem picking apart the Georgia Tech defense, as he completed 70% of his passes and threw for nearly 400 yards and four touchdowns.
It was a full group effort from the Orange receivers, which includes former UGA receivers Jaxon Meeks and Zeed Haynes, who found success all game.
Running back LeQuint Allen also found a way through the Georgia Tech defensive line on his way to a game leading 83 rushing yards.
It wasn't all bad, but it certainly wasn't the expectation Yellow Jackets fans had for their team coming into their third game of the season.
What's next for Tech?
The Yellow Jackets strengths were shut down and their weaknesses were exposed on Saturday.
Yet, the team still rallied back to make it a three-point game when all was said and done.
This late comeback showed the team has plenty of fight and Georgia Tech's first win of the season shows that the team know how to win against tough opponents.
Ultimately, the team has to shore up its weaknesses in order to take down top programs like Miami, Notre Dame and Georgia later in the season.
While the loss stings, no doubt, the season is still young. However, head coach Brent Key and the Yellow Jackets will have a lot of work to find consistent success against one of the toughest schedules in college football.