Georgia Tech's overhauled roster gets its first real test at home against a Mercer team that's used to winning everywhere except against the Yellow Jackets.
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MERGT
MERGT
OverUnder
Best BetGeorgia Tech
Georgia Tech isn't walking into this as a coin flip — it's a Power 4 program with a portal-loaded roster hosting a Southern Conference team breaking in a first-year head coach. Back the Yellow Jackets here; the talent and depth gap is too significant to expect anything else, even accounting for early-season rust. Mercer's realistic ceiling is competing in stretches, not pulling the upset.
−Coming off a 47-0 blowout loss in the FCS playoffs
−Historically winless against Georgia Tech since 1892
Georgia Tech
+9-4 season, ACC runner-up, Brent Key stability
+Loaded transfer haul on both sides of the ball
−Returns just 49% of last year's production
−New starting QB replacing the reigning ACC Player of the Year
−Faded late, losing 4 of final 5 games in 2025
Brent Key hosts Mercer on Saturday, September 19, in what's really the first look at a Georgia Tech roster that turned over more than half its two-deep this offseason. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 9-4 season that included an 8-0 start, a stint inside the AP top 10, and a runner-up finish in the ACC — but also a fade that saw them drop 4 of their final 5 games. This one's less about the scoreboard and more about finding out how fast the new pieces mesh.
The backfield is the headline addition. Justice Haynes, a former 5-star who averaged over 7 yards per carry at Michigan before a season-ending injury, now pairs with returner Malachi Hosley (697 yards, 7 TDs in 2025) to give Georgia Tech two proven backs behind a retooled offensive front. The defense got an even bigger facelift, with transfers Noah Carter (Alabama), Jordan Walker (Rutgers), Taje McCoy (Oklahoma State) and Tawfiq Thomas (Colorado) joining returning tacklers Kyle Efford (77 stops) and EJ Lightsley (76) to rebuild most of last year's front seven.
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MER Mercer
GT Georgia Tech
Mercer is building something too, just on a different clock. The Bears have won back-to-back SoCon titles and made the FCS playoffs three straight years, but they're breaking in new head coach Joel Taylor, hired away from West Georgia, while still stinging from a 47-0 second-round playoff exit to South Dakota last postseason. History isn't kind here either — the two programs have met 18 times since 1892, and Mercer's only win came in the very first meeting.
Mercer Bears
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Sep 12?vs Tennessee—
Sep 3?vs Colorado—
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Georgia Tech's quarterback change adds another layer. Sophomore Alberto Mendoza steps in for Haynes King, who finished 10th in Heisman voting and won ACC Player of the Year a season ago, and an early-schedule game like this is exactly where a new starter finds a rhythm before ACC play turns serious in October.
For Mercer, it's a chance to show a new coaching staff can still compete a level up, even in a game most people will write off before kickoff. For Georgia Tech, it's about stacking reps and building continuity across a roster that's still getting to know itself ahead of the real gauntlet.
