Deion Sanders' Colorado reset gets its first real test on the road, and it's against the team that just beat him.
Bush’s Picks
COLOGT
COLOGT
OverUnder
Best BetGeorgia Tech
Georgia Tech enters as the more established program off a 9-4 season and returns most of its defense, while Colorado is breaking in a new coordinator and an unsettled quarterback room. That continuity gap is exactly why the price favors the Jackets, and there's little in Colorado's profile yet to suggest they're being overpriced. Back Georgia Tech to handle business in its own building.
Colorado
+Talented young QB Julian Lewis has real upside
+Full roster reset brings fresh playmakers
−Finished 3-9, just 1-8 in ACC play
−Run defense ranked 133rd of 134 nationally
−QB job still unsettled entering the opener
Georgia Tech
+Went 9-4, tied for 2nd in the ACC
+Defense and system continuity outside QB spot
+Won last meeting, 27-20 at Folsom Field
−Losing Heisman finalist Haynes King at QB
−New starter Mendoza unproven in live games
−Risk of rust with a whole new QB debut
This is the second leg of a home-and-home, and Georgia Tech already has the receipt — a 27-20 win at Folsom Field last season. Now the rematch shifts to Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta for the Thursday, September 3 opener, and both sidelines will be leaning on quarterbacks who haven't started a game for their current team. Georgia Tech is moving on from Heisman finalist Haynes King and handing the offense to Indiana transfer Alberto Mendoza, while Colorado's job is a three-way scrap between Julian Lewis, Utah transfer Isaac Wilson, and freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne, with Lewis holding the edge into fall camp.
Georgia Tech's calling card in 2025 wasn't King alone — the Jackets ripped off an 8-0 start, tied for second in the ACC, and closed 9-4 after a bowl loss to BYU, which means most of the machine around Mendoza is intact. Colorado can't say the same. A 3-9 finish and a run defense that ranked 133rd nationally forced Sanders into a teardown, with 66 new players in the building and Brennan Marion now calling plays. That stability gap is exactly why Georgia Tech opens as the steadier side walking into Week 1.
Show fees
7:00 PM CT
Spread
ML
Total
COLO Colorado
GT Georgia Tech
Still, roster overhauls in Boulder have produced fast turnarounds before, and Sanders isn't shy about pointing that out. The bigger question for Atlanta is whether a defense that bled yards for most of 2025 can hold up long enough for Colorado's new-look offense to find its footing on the road in a hostile, nationally-televised setting.
Colorado Buffaloes
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Recent form.
Georgia Tech's front seven returns a lot of the pieces that made life miserable for opposing offenses down the stretch last year, and Brent Key has spent the offseason talking up Mendoza's ability to get the Jackets in and out of the right looks — the kind of quarterback trait that plays well when Week 1 gets chaotic. Colorado, by contrast, is starting from closer to zero: new coordinator, new signal-caller, and a roster that turned over by more than half.
Colorado Buffaloes
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Whoever wins the quarterback battle in Boulder won't have much runway to work with — Georgia Tech's crowd, a Thursday night stage, and a defense that's already shown it can get after opposing passers. For Colorado, this opener is as much about establishing an identity as it is about avenging last year's loss.
