Georgia Tech did lose their OC Buster Faulkner to Florida and QB Haynes King to graduation, they have plenty of pieces in place to repeat a 9-3 season. Fernando Mendoza's little brother, Alberto, takes over Brent Key's team, who also added the top RB in the portal in Justice Haynes. Last year, when GT won 27-20, the Yellow Jackets ran for 320 yards. Deion Sanders is basically starting over after last year's 3-9 season, bringing in over 40 transfers (again) to fix a team that finished 114th in total offense and 100th in rushing last season. Colorado has only 2 players on their 2-deep defense that were there last year. GT should control possession with its run-first approach and efficient QB in Mendoza.
Haynes King graduated from Georgia Tech after 3 years as the starting quarterback, and replacing him will be Alberto Mendoza, the brother of the 2025 Heisman winner. Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key wants to run the ball, and Tech has the horses to pound it on the ground with Justice Haynes and Malaki Horsley. The real reason for betting on Georgia Tech in this game is the lack of interest I saw from Coach Deion Sanders last year. He's trying to do the same thing this year as he did with his QB son two years ago, with freshman starter Julian Lewis. Colorado went 3-9 last year and 1-8 in the Big 12, with no starters returning on defense this year. Georgia Tech wins.
One of the biggest moves of the CFB offseason was Colorado's hiring of Brennan Marion as their offensive coordinator. His ability to get the most out of the run game and QB with his Go-Go Offense has been well documented. Speaking of run game, that's what the Yellow Jackets do really well. Expect this game to be won or lost on the ground game, which means it'll be more than likely a field goal type contest.
