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Georgia Tech Football: Jackets future still bright despite shocking loss

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 1: Ramblin' Wreck of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets enters the field prior to their game against the Alcorn State Braves at Bobby Dodd Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 1: Ramblin' Wreck of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets enters the field prior to their game against the Alcorn State Braves at Bobby Dodd Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images) /
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Losing to an FCS team can make it feel like the end of the world for Power Five programs, but its not all doom and gloom as recent history will show.

Losing to an FCS team is always a hard pill to swallow for fans of Power Five football programs. How does a program that is not even in the same subdivision as you, beat you, despite your program without a doubt having much better talent and athleticism across the board?

That being said, for Georgia Tech, the upset on Saturday by The Citadel was perhaps the perfect storm. The Jackets were coming off the high of their first win of the 2019 season the week before but still had almost no identity on offense through the first two weeks. The Bulldogs on the other hand were looking for their first win of the season and saw an opportunity to take advantage of a struggling offense and rebuilding program.

Now, that’s no excuse to lose to an FCS program, but in the world of college football, these things do happen. Additionally, just because the Jackets did lose to an FCS team does not mean the future isn’t bright for the Jackets or Goeff Collins isn’t the man for the job.

A look back in history would show us that in the grand scheme of things, the Jackets lost to The Citadel on Saturday may just be a blip in the road. Below are three brief examples of programs that lost to FCS programs and still have gone on to have success down the road.

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2018:

Villanova defeats Temple 19-17:

Okay, it’s not a Power 5 program but its’ another Geoff Collins lead team, the Temple Owls last season got off to a rough start including a loss to FCS program Villanova who at the time was the country’s 19th ranked FCS program. Now, sure, they weren’t an 0-2 triple-option based team who has gone under .500 each of the last two seasons but they’re still an FCS opponent. However, the Owls would bounce back strong from the loss to Villanova and an 0-2 start overall winning eight of their last teen regular season games.

2017: Liberty defeats Baylor 48-45 

Baylor was in a similar state when head coach Matt Rhule took over in 2017, his first season with the Bears was rough to say the least. They only went 1-11 that season including a loss to FCS program Liberty (who has now made the jump to FCS). While the 2017 season wasn’t great for the Bears, they turned it around in 2018 going 7-6 and are a formidable Big 12 program in 2019. The Bears won’t be dominating like they used to any time soon but they’re in good hands with Matt Rhule and the trajectory for the program is on the right course.

2016: Richmond defeats Virginia 37-20

In Bronco Mendenhall’s first year with the Cavaliers, they were blown out by Richmond 37-20. It was an ugly performance and it was an ugly first season for Mendenhall and the Cavaliers, they went just 2-10 with a conference record of 1-7. It was a tough first season but since the Cavaliers have gone on to become one of the ACC’s top programs and look like the best threat to Clemson this season.

As you can see, each of the three programs above went onto have success after disappointing losses to FCS teams. In a way, their head coaches in Matt Rhule and Bronco Mendenhall are a lot like Geoff Collins in the energy they bring to their program.

Yes, it’s going to be an incredibly tough season for the Yellow Jackets, and their going to have their struggles but the recipe for success is there and one loss to an FCS team isn’t going to throw their plan off track.

Georgia Tech fans have a right to be upset with the loss, it’s an inexcusable loss and it was preventable, that being said, it’s not the end of the world and it’s not going to set the program back. In the end, Tech fans will need to take a deep breath and a step back. The future is still bright and the Jackets are on the right path going forward.