BYU’s staff has just days left to prepare for the matchup with the 22nd-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Of all the non-playoff bowl games on the schedule, this one widely draws the most intrigue in college football circles, even if you remove the Notre Dame angle. From a roster talent standpoint, this is about as good a non-playoff game as you could ask for come late December.
As of now the Cougs are four-point favorites with ESPN’s FPI metric giving them a 65.7% chance to win Saturday. That number seemed small to me considering how each team closed out the regular season. BYU won their last three games decisively and after the Texas Tech loss and subsequent playoff snub one could imagine they'll want to close this season on a high note meanwhile Georgia Tech lost three of their last four and missed the ACC title game after an 8-0 start with some impressive wins.
I do think BYU easily covers the four points and shows a national audience the brand of football they play while sending a message that this team is still going to be in the mix next season. I imagine the line setters in Vegas had ample reason to give GT less than a touchdown on the spread in this game.
One obvious reason comes in the form of Senior QB Haynes King. An early Heisman candidate this season, King’s 2025 passing stats won’t “wow” anybody, but he’s been a force on the ground all season long. At 6’3” and 215 lbs., King has the ability to get around an edge rusher and break tackles on the second level. They give him a decent amount of designed runs and options, but his ability to defer to the run when a passing play breaks down has made him lethal. Watch his tape from their Clemson win back in week three just to see how this guy can exploit a talented defense. King has accounted for 922 rushing yards with 15 touchdowns while adding another 12 in the air. His passer rating against top 25 teams this year is 127.1, but he hasn't accounted for a single passing score in any of those games. His style of play will likely be appreciated by BYU fans; he’s the kind of guy I envision having a Taysom Hill-esque career arc in the NFL.
Georgia Tech’s resume provides further evidence that this team is more than capable of pulling off the upset in Orlando. Looking back some of their wins don't seem impressive; however, at the time, these were big-time wins. Clemson was ranked #12 in their matchup in Atlanta, while Duke, who they beat by two scores, went on to win the conference. Before the wheels fell off at the end, the AP had them ranked #7 in the country. It should also be taken into account that the Yellow Jackets' last opponent was Georgia, who only beat them by seven before steamrolling Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.
Another reason Georgia Tech has a chance in this one is Kicker Aiden Birr, who has been nothing short of sensational. Birr is 25-28 on FG for the season and hasn’t missed a PAT. His season-long 55-yarder came as time expired in a 24-21 win over #12 Clemson. He’s been a machine for Georgia Tech all season long and is all but guaranteed to find himself on an NFL roster in the near future. GT has three wins by a field goal or less this season, and Birr has been surgical in all of them.