Georgia Tech Football: Can Matthew Jordan be the next George Godsey?

Once upon a time the Yellow Jackets had to replace a prolific quarterback with a quiet kid who had been waiting his turn in a tale that had a happy ending. Is there a sequel in the works?

A season after Joe Hamilton wrapped up his prolific Georgia Tech career after the 1999 season, the Yellow Jackets quickly realized that their man in waiting wasn’t too shabby himself.

Hamilton won the Davey O’Brien Award and was second in Heisman voting his senior season in a career that would eventually lead to spot in the College Football Hall of Fame.

A once-in-a-generation quarterback is tough to replace, but in 2000 George Godsey did as good a job at following in the footsteps of an instant legend as anyone could have.

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Fast forward to the 2017 season, and the Jackets are now looking to fill the shoes of Justin Thomas following a fantastic tenure on the Flats. In what Tech fans certainly hope turns out to be a familiar tale, a new No. 11 named Matthew Jordan will soon be turned loose from his role as a backup.

Behind Hamilton, Godsey saw limited action as a backup in a dozen games during the 1998 and 99 seasons. Very similarly, Jordan waited his turn behind Thomas during the 2015 and 16 seasons. Both players were left with two years of eligibility after waiting in the wings.

George Godsey went on to have a pretty incredible career of his own in Atlanta, accounting for 47 touchdowns and over 6,000 yards in his two seasons as a starter. He finished his tenure at Tech with a .633 passing percentage, an efficiency rating over 143.6, and only threw 18 interceptions in 765 attempts.

While Godsey played in a pass-heavy offense, in terms of impact and number of wins the stories could possibly play out similarly. Under Godsey, Georgia Tech went 17-8 (10-6 ACC). Could a healthy Matthew Jordan meet, or even exceed this type of success following behind Thomas?

Another thing the current Yellow Jackets have in common with the transition between Hamilton to Godsey and Thomas to Jordan have in common? Both sets of teams have Ted Roof running their defense. While a steady defense doesn’t directly affect the offense, it certainly has a significant indirect impact on the overall game.

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While seems to be rather deep at the quarterback position, no player on the roster has as much real experience as Matthew Jordan. To keep himself solid in the starting position, keeping the likes of TaQuon Marshall, Lucas Johnson and Tobias Oliver off the field, Jordan will need to keep himself off the hot seat with solid play. We’ll soon find out if the Yellow Jackets are about to turn a new “Goose” loose.