Georgia Tech’s season begins in two weeks, but there was still another fall camp scrimmage scheduled today. The Yellow Jackets will now turn their attention to Florida State, but here are the notable things from today’s scrimmage.

1. Defensive back DJ Moore suffered a torn ACL. Brent Key said he will most likely miss the rest of the season.

“The only one, the big one we had, DJ Moore, the only one that can tell you guys that. DJ to ACL last week. I think it was last week. Got it confirmed last week. You know, DJ was really hated. Someone worked really hard, from receiver to defensive back. He really progressed and did a good job on that side. He was a big contributor on our special teams. But he’s in the right frame of mind now to work and come back and be ready. So, you know, that’s the big thing I’ll tell you guys, is that he’s most likely out for the season.”

Key continued to highlight the additions they made to the position through the transfer portal over the spring and how they help the position:

“Oh, no question. You know, I don’t really see it any differently than the NFL. There are two philosophies. You build your team in the National Football League. You build it through the draft and add to it through free agency, or you lean a little more toward the free agency part. It’s really no different in college now. You have the high school recruiting part and then the acquisition through transfers, which is really college-like, free agency, for lack of a better word, but the way they can transfer. And, you know, I think when you look at the teams in the NFL that we really study and I’ve studied a lot over the last few years, guys have done a really good job at the draft. You know, I think one that comes to mind over the course of the last three or four years is really the Detroit Lions. They’ve done a great job at the draft, you know, drafting guys. There’s a lot more depth on the football team because of that.”

2. The team issued fewer penalties today compared to last week’s practice game, which Key emphasized today:

“One of the biggest problems was that we had 16 penalties in the practice game last week. Today it was five. That was something we really tackled strongly during the week.”3. The c

3. The coaching staff will be working really hard on the roster over the next few days to prepare for Florida State.

“Tomorrow we’re going to get together, sit down and have some really open conversations and set the lineup from an offensive defense and special teams perspective.

4. For the second week in a row, Key praised the defense, with the defensive line in particular receiving the majority of the praise. He was asked if it was fair to call the defensive line ahead of the other units, and he said no.

“I thought the defense excelled. I can’t say what I wrote down here, but I thought the defense really excelled and played at full steam. It was very encouraging to see the energy they played with, the physicality they played with, the ability to not only stop the run but attack the quarterback and pass attempts, to go from a run-stopping mode on normal attempts to a pass attack and still be able to impact the quarterback. It’s really nice to see the defense respond like that over the course of a week.

I don’t think anybody is ahead of anybody. I think we all know we have a long way to go. I don’t think anybody is leading this race. All you have to do is turn on the tape and watch it. And if you’re really honest with yourself and the players are honest and the coaches are honest, which they all are, there’s no one that thinks they’re ahead of anybody. I think I was complimenting them because those are probably the positions that have had the biggest influx of new guys, whether it’s been freshmen or transfer players. And let’s be honest, I mean, we’ve got a pretty good offensive line here, and they’ve been getting a beating. I mean, these guys have been getting a beating in the face the last three weeks, and it’s pretty good to see. It’s been really good to see.”

5. When Key talked about the depth at running back, he mentioned freshman Anthony Carrie and second-year running back Chad Alexander as two players who stood out today. He also talked about the kind of workload they plan to put on Jamal Haynes:

“Anthony Carrie and Chad Alexander really stepped up today. Chad came in as a walk-on last year, a first-year walk-on. He’s a 10-3, 400 guy, you know, he’s got good speed.

I mean, he (Jamal Haynes) is a real energy generator. He’s like an energy bunny. He can go all day. I’ve told you before. Last year, you’d be on the sideline and he’d jump in and tell whoever was kicking off that we weren’t on the field. He wanted out. So you have to watch him really closely to make sure he’s not trying to jump in to get more plays. But today was the day to see who was going to be there with him, right? And so today we were able to really have some guys sit out there to see the other guys. And it’s not like Jamal is a really good football player. But we also know running backs, I mean, you can be the second, third, fourth, even fifth man in the game very quickly. So we had to look at those guys today and see what they can do running behind the first and second offensive lines and against the first and second defenses. So up to this point, it’s been an ongoing process. You know, I think Norv does a great job with these guys, developing them, training them hard and holding them to a standard. And it’s good to see that today, you know, because up until this point today, it’s really been a committee. We haven’t had that, but I think we’ll be able to come in tomorrow and really start to figure out who’s behind all of you.”

6. Regarding the standout players on the defensive line in today’s practice game, Key mentioned the defensive end group with freshmen Jordan Boyd and Amontrae Bradford, two guys who played well, and veterans like Romello Height, Sylvain Yondjouen and Kevin Harris, who also had a good practice game:

“So, you know, same thing on defense. We had 11 TFL, six sacks. I think the defensive end position really showed today. Sylvain, some of the young players, I mean, Amontrae Bradford, Jordan Boyd, Romello Height, and I think Kevin Harris played some of the best football he’s ever played in his career. I mean, I’m really proud of that kid. And it’s just a continuation of the progress he’s made in the spring and now. So all in all, I’m happy with the scrimmage, happy with the performance, happy with the attitude, but we still have a lot of improvements to make to be able to play in two weeks.”

7. Regarding the special teams return game, Key mentioned that they are trying to replace Dominick Blaylock and mentioned Rodney Shelley, Christian Leary, Malik Rutherford and Eric Singleton, but it didn’t sound like the position was settled:

“That’s actually what I worked on last night, looking at the death charts. That’s one of the first things we’re going to address tomorrow. We’ve got some serviceable guys that they can return. Both sides, and you work your returners way up long before you start working out your whole team. Return teams, you know, with a punter turn kick off return. Because the most important thing is securing the football, right? You better secure the football, not put the ball on the ground, then it’s going to be about who can help us get first downs without the offense being on the field. Who can get positive field position, who can impact field position in the game with their return ability. But the first thing is, who’s going to hold the football? Last year with Dom, he was a very safe guy, meaning we knew the ball was going to be secured. Anything he got after that was a plus. So, yeah, you mentioned Rodney. Rodney is dynamic. He is. He’s done a really good job, you know, of catching the ball. You know, we’ve got other guys as well. I mean, Malik and, you know, Eric, I mean, we’ve got a lot of guys that can return. So we’re going to start solidifying that. We’re going to have three guys that we’re going to use at the punt return position on Monday. And we’re really going to have four guys that we’re going to use at the kickoff return position.”

8. On the linebacker side, Key talked about the progress both EJ Lightsey and Tah’j Butler have made:

“Yeah, you know, both of them, you can tell both of them, it was their first time in a new defense in the spring, they were learning a new defense. Tuch has very high expectations of these guys. He has very high standards for them. I don’t think if you ask him, he’ll ever say he’s happy with the work they do day in and day out. But that doesn’t mean he treats them poorly. It’s just the standard that he sets for everybody, and that’s what I love about the guys on the team. I mean, that’s why he’s been such a good fit here from the beginning. I mean, his standard is the same as mine, it’s the same as the offensive coaches. It’s the same everywhere, and he expects perfection, right? He expects the guys out there to be perfect. We all know that’s not going to happen, but as the saying goes? I mean, if you strive for perfection, you’re going to get excellence in most cases. Time, and that’s what we’re trying to achieve, and that’s the standard that he’s putting on those guys. They’re going to be good football players. I’m excited to watch the film tonight and see those guys. That was one of the position groups. We mixed and matched some of the guys with the twos with the ones, the threes with threes, twos, and I’m excited to see what those guys did. You know, some runs through the middle that I think we probably should have put a hat on. So we’re going to look at the gaps and how they fill the gaps from the side of the ball where they come in and pull the double coverages off the line of scrimmage. There was also enough that were flat-walled at the line of scrimmage where those guys were making plays in the box but also had the range to make plays in space. So an improvement over those guys from the week before. But until we look at the tape and really be able to put those guys in the right spots, I’m happy with the development of those guys.”