ESPN | Desmond Howard reacts to Georgia Tech upsets FSU Football 24-21 in Nail-biting season opener!

decent starts I just introduced the fellas here they are uh Trevor mat I'm going to start with you because he's a big fella up front you saw from start to finish there was no doubt about who was the more physical team in the trenches today and that was Georgia Tech they had four starting offensive linemen returned from last year they had unfinished business and in watching this game begin the first several drives it became clear that this was like Mike Tyson was fighting Mike Tyson I mean Florida State came down and just pounded the ball in for their opening touchdown Georgia Tech didn't Wilt they had a drive with six plays five runs just rammed it down Florida State's throat to answer that initial sem old touchdown I'll tell you right from the beginning you knew this was a heavyweight slug Fest o what I loved about what Brent key just told Katie George there in the postgame interview he said it's all about knowing who your team is I think everyone looked at Florida State top 10 team undefeated a year ago perhaps gave them a little too much credit based on last year's Bonafide based on what was returning relative to what Georgia we saw in the beginning of this game there was early energy versus sustained success think about early energy you plan for this all offseason the first 15 plays we talked about it in the break the first the first series or two but then all of a sudden Brent key and Georgia Tech said hey no we knew we were going to get that punch for the Mike Tyson reference reference we're going to come back in Evander Holyfield and bring that longterm success for four quarters you're seeing a look now there in the stadium everybody the game Brent ke getting the trophy where are you I I mentioned a second ago how how a game like this is haes King set to get the player of the game trophy the player of the game everybody haes King give it up King MVP how about Haynes King in his college football career started at Texas A&M who was a highly rated recruit didn't work out for whatever reason under Jimbo Fischer goes there to Georgia Tech and when you look at a and I were talking about this during the game that Brent key in his second year he thinks he's building this thing Foundation by Foundation you can talk all you want but you need to see the results on the field and that's what this win does today against Florida State and not just for the players in the locker room but also for recruits players who have been excited about Georgia Tekken thinking that okay I like what I hear from Brent key but let me see it on the field if you're watching this game around the nation if you're a player who's from Georgia maybe he's excited about this program you thought you believed it at the end of last season now you've seen it and you really believe it and we talk about the big guys up front for Georgia Tech offense they were phenomenal but the little guys in the back end of Georgia Tech's defense were also phenomenal djele for the first really three quarters of this game tried to go deep a few times and in man coverage those vaunted young talented recruits from high school and then transfers from Florida State at wide receiver were smothered there was nowhere for dju to throw the ball then in the fourth quarter he finally found a couple of openings on fourth down twice in their game timeing touchdown drive but ultimately the reason that Georgia Tech defense was able to slow down that Florida State running game was because the little guys on the back 10 right or back end were fantastic in man coverage by the way the the pictures you were seeing there live in Dublin this isn't January 2nd or January 3rd after a big bowl game it is what August 2 August 24th I mean that's how big of a game this is to set the tone for the rest of the season we'll get back to Georgia Tech in a minute I do want to talk to Florida State side of this because this was a program that was put in the National Spotlight for all of the right and wrong reasons 13 and0 a year ago they lose Jordan Travis a debilitating injury that in most people's eyes knock them out of being one of the best four teams in the country in the college football playoff that's a chip on your shoulder moment for your program to go into an offseason albeit a lot of those players gone but you regroup with some guys in the portal you want this win to prove to every body that what we saw last year was not an aberration it's what Mike norell has built well not necessarily CU you made a great Point Matt Barry and that yes there is that history from last season but a lot of the players who were there last season are gone Jared verse Braden fist they're in the NFL Keon Coleman's playing for the Buffalo Bills right now there are 17 new transfers on this team and so though there's there was that feeling from the players who were there a lot of those players are gone Jordan Travis quarterback is gone a lot of the defensive Stars kayin D do do gone and Johnny Wilson correct correct and so there wasn't this sense of well we got to go prove to the world no this is a new team and that new team on the defensive side of the ball wasn't able to get it done foundationally though it's still Florida State football it's one of the biggest brands in the country this is not how they needed their season to start and and my sense in their first drive was that they were trying to do that now it is a new team you're totally right about that but they got the ball first Florida State drove the ball up to the 50 yard line and then five straight runs straight down Georgia throat opening touchdown and then a swinging gate trick play for two points in a two-point conversion to go up 8-0 and when I saw that I thought you know what this program wants to show that they are dominant in every way right well Georgia Tech had something to say about that when they came back and answered that touchdown but I think that they wanted to do that but this is where I think the playoff there you go with 12 teams you're not out of it by any stretch of the imagination this is a Florida State team with a new quarterback a whole bunch of new receivers and it'll take time for them to get rolling Michigan similar situation they're new head coach new quarterback a whole bunch of ranked a lot last year but they play Texas in week two they play USC in week four and if they stumble early this 12 team playoff still allows them to stay in the national race and still make the playoff if they don't win their own conference you look at Florida State schedule and what they have coming up again 12 team play we think 10 and2 is going to get a number of teams in the the playoff but when you look Boston College Memphis that's a big game for Memphis out of the group of five I think they're team that could win the group of five bid you got Cal SMU when you look at the schedule big picture as of right now this is my soapbox moment I cannot stand preseason rankings I think they are absolutely worthless I think there are teams that are ranked that aren't going to be ranked I think there are teams that are on that schedule that may be ranked Higher by that time look at the schedule Florida state has enough good quality games in their way they can play their way back into this to Point week one of who you are isn't necessarily who you're going to be in week 10 and let alone week one this is week zero so there's only a few games going on right now and so part of the committee's job is to look at who a team is and right now and where they're going to be people are going to say okay maybe that was a tough loss but who knows in a few weeks you get a chance to beat some ranked teams like Clemson or at least face some ranked teams and then also with that 12 team playoff there are more slots more opportunities even if you don't win the ACC you may get one of those at large bids and so though this is a somewhat of a devastating loss cuz your a top 10 team it's definitely a loss you can recover from based off an expanded playoff format and teams that you play Down the Line based off your strength let's go big picture ACC because they did a great job of it on college game day this morning we were talking about it we believe that the ACC is wide open a lot of people thought that Florida state was going to be the toast of the ACC and that very well may still be the case as we get to the end of the season Clemson's a really good team Miami is a really good team I'm big on Virginia Tech because of their schedule who they've got coming back I think they're going to be a threat to win this conference and now Georgia Tech they go to another country and beat a team a lot of people thought was the favorite in the ACC you got to throw Georgia Tech into a conversation that where we could go six or seven deep and say hey this conference is going to be fun to watch and that'll be good for the top of the ACC to maybe get more than one team in because as the committee looks at the the quality of the depth in this conference they'll say look there's quality wins in here and we don't just have to take the conference Champion just based on the rule I think that's important but I also think that the AC has some really big games with Miami at Florida with NC State at Tennessee you know these are are Clemson at Georgia these are massive games for the acc's perception for speee Al for for [Music] [Music] [Music] for for