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Last season, Zach Gibson took over at quarterback after Jeff Sims' injury in the game against Virginia. The Yellow Jackets lost that game and after playing only two series against Florida State the next week, he was pulled for freshman Zach Pyron.
After Pyron was injured in the game against Miami, Gibson came back. He led the Yellow Jackets to a road win over North Carolina in one of the biggest upsets of the season. The following week against No. 1 Georgia, Gibson performed admirably against the best defense in the country, despite Georgia Tech losing to the eventual national champs.
Despite doing those things, Gibson is being counted out when it comes to being the starting quarterback for the Yellow Jackets. Pyron is back from injury and the coaching staff brought in Haynes King from Texas A&M leaving most to believe that it would be either King or Pyron as the team's starting quarterback and not giving him as much credit as those two.
When talking with the media yesterday, Gibson admitted that he has heard that narrative and he is using it to drive him:
"It is definitely the driving force. I mean, I hear the narrative, it is hard not to hear it because my dad sends me something every two days. But it has driven me to work this offseason.
I am just trying to put last year in the past. It is what it is and I am just trying to focus on what is next and what is ahead and obviously I had some bad moments, some really bad moments and some really good moments but that's just with anything. The season is a long season, it's 12 games and all three quarterbacks are going to have an opportunity to play this year at some point"
Gibson finished the season with 589 passing yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions, as well as a 59.8 completion percentage.
Quarterbacks coach and Co-OC Chris Weinke talked about the similarities and differences that each quarterback shared and praised Gibson for his accuracy when throwing the football:
So at the end of the day, they are all a little bit different but there are some similarities. I can say that the toughness is part of all three of them. The skill level and talent are a little bit different, Haynes and Zach (Pyron) are going to be able to run a little bit better and I think Zach Gibson brings the ability to layer the football and has good touch, good accuracy. So they are all a little bit different and that is why this is so fun."
Head coach Brent Key has said that the staff is in no rush to name a starting quarterback:
"With the quarterback situation, we have a great battle between three guys that have college experience, college game experience, big-time game experience. We are as fortunate as any team in the country in terms of the depth we have at that position and right now it is a lot of installation and a lot of routes on air, those kinds of things, getting timing down.
Like I have said before, it is different when you have the helmets on and the cleats as opposed in the summer and doing 7-on-7's. Every day is an evaluation of those guys, how they do in team periods, how they do off the field, how they transition from one play to the other. We have a good thing to have right now and that is experience and that is probably the same answer that I am going to give for the next three weeks. Don't plan on an announcement coming anytime soon"
Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner has echoed that:
Faulkner said that the coaching staff is in no hurry to announce the starter:
"With the quarterback situation, we have a great battle between three guys that have college experience, college game experience, big-time game experience. We are as fortunate as any team in the country in terms of the depth we have at that position and right now it is a lot of installation and a lot of routes on air, those kinds of things, getting timing down.
Like I have said before, it is different when you have the helmets on and the cleats as opposed in the summer and doing 7-on-7's. Every day is an evaluation of those guys, how they do in team periods, how they do off the field, how they transition from one play to the other. We have a good thing to have right now and that is experience and that is probably the same answer that I am going to give for the next three weeks. Don't plan on an announcement coming anytime soon"
Georgia Tech kicks off its season on Sept. 1st against Louisville at 7:30 on ESPN.
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