The struggles of Georgia Tech continued Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. Geoff Collins returned to Philly as the head coach of Georgia Tech to face his previous employer, the Temple Owls. The reunion was anything but a happy one for Collins, who came up on the wrong end of a 24-2 final score.
Georgia Tech’s two points scored is the lowest point total for Georgia Tech since being shutout by Florida State in 1997. The No. 3 Seminoles dominated the No. 21 Yellow Jackets, 38-0, in Tallahassee. The last time Georgia Tech was held to three points or fewer in a game was in the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl, a 38-3 loss to LSU.
“Obviously, the loss hurts really, really bad, multiplied by how personal it was,” Collins said after the game, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I thought we played really, really hard against, I think, one of the best front sevens in all of college football.”
It was painfully clear, once again, that Collins is taking on a bit of a rebuilding project. Georgia Tech had been built with the option of Paul Johnson in mind, and Collins is working hard to transform the offensive identity of the program through recruiting. Saturday was another brutal reminder that transition can be tough for any program, especially when changing the offensive approach so drastically. As if they needed another reminder, The Citadel was there to remind them.
This was the second victory by Temple against a power conference opponent this season, marking the first time since the formation of the football side of the Big East Conference was formed where the Owls had two wins against power conference opponents in the same season. If there was any positive to take out of the game for a Georgia Tech fan, it may be that Collins helped get Temple to this level of play. Of course, aspiring to be a team on the same level as a team that may not even play for the American Athletic Conference championship may be a hard sell for the Yellow Jackets fans.