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Tag: Haynes King

  • Braves, Falcons, Panthers & Tech: Busy weekend in Atlanta Sports

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    The Atlanta Falcons and General Manager Terry Fontenot (above) will begin the 2025 season at home on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    One season is grinding to an end, while two others are just beginning. This weekend will be busy in Atlanta sports, with the final month of Atlanta Braves baseball games beginning, the start of the Atlanta Falcons season, and the football seasons for Clark Atlanta and Georgia Tech. 

    The Atlanta Falcons, back from another non-playoff season in 2024 (Note: If you’re counting, that’s seven consecutive seasons without a playoff berth), will open the 2025 season with a home game inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an NFC South rival, is expected to sell out. 

    The Falcons swept Tampa last season, beginning the season 6-3, before the wheels fell off. A strong start to the season will directly coincide with a victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday. 

    The Atlanta Braves will also be in town for the weekend. The Braves spent the early part of the week in Chicago playing the Cubs. Atlanta, back to .500 at home with a 33-33 record, returned to Truist Park to play nine straight. The initial third of that homestand will begin with the Seattle Mariners. Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh (50 home runs) is still pursuing the switch-hitter home run record of 54 by Mickey Mantle in 1961, so there’s a chance that by the time he and the Mariners get to Atlanta, fans could be a part of Major League Baseball history. 

    The Atlanta Braves will host the Seattle Mariners at Truist Park (above) this weekend. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    The Braves lost the series in Chicago after being up several runs in the first game on Monday, losing on a walkoff, and wasting a quality start from Joey Wentz on Tuesday. A pair of Braves pitchers made their Major League debuts on Tuesday night. Dominican right-hander Rolddy Munioz pitched two scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth. Augusta, Georgia native Hayden Harris pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh. 

    Braves rookie catcher Drake Baldwin is racing towards the National League Rookie of the Year award. Baldwin is hitting .283 with 62 RBI and 15 home runs. Though he has only won National League Rookie of the Month once, Baldwin has played a large role in the Braves’ offense this season. His defense behind the plate has also been a plus for a Braves team with very little to celebrate this season. 

    Not to be outdone, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will also play host duties at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets and Heisman hopeful (joking. Not joking) senior quarterback Haynes King won a close one in Boulder, Colorado, last Friday. 

    During that game, King had 156 rushing yards (and three touchdowns) in comparison to Colorado’s 157 total rushing yards. He also passed for 143 yards during the 27-20 victory. Look for those numbers to be equaled if not surpassed during Tech’s next game against Gardner-Webb on Saturday (3:30 p.m.). 

    Tech will play its next three games at home, including games against Clemson on Sept. 13 and Temple on Sept. 20. 

    The Clark Atlanta University Panthers (right) lost their final home game of the season Saturday, 41-21. Photo by Menra Mapfumo/The Atlanta Voice

    The Clark Atlanta Panthers are back in action in the Atlanta University Center. The Panthers, 0-1 after opening the 2025 season with a 31-28 loss to Valdosta State at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, last week, will host Florida Memorial University on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.

    Morehouse College, also 0-1, will be in New Jersey at MetLife Stadium on Saturday. The maroon Tigers will face the Howard University Bison in the HBCU NY Football Classic. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

    Atlanta United forward Miguel Almirón (above) are off this weekend, but will be back in Mercedes-Benz Stadium go host Columbus next Saturday. Photo by Matthew Dingle/Atlanta United

    Atlanta United will be off for the week, but returns to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to host the Columbus Crew on Saturday, Sept. 13. First kick is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The last time the two teams met at Lower.com Field on June 25 in Columbus, Atlanta United lost 3-0 on a rainy night. The Five Stripes were mired in inconsistent play at the time, and are now playing better heading into the international break in the Major League Soccer schedule.

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    Donnell Suggs

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  • Georgia Tech on the upswing under Brent Key after one of darkest periods in program history

    Georgia Tech on the upswing under Brent Key after one of darkest periods in program history

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    ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia Tech program that was about as low as it could go is suddenly filled with optimism.

    The Yellow Jackets are coming off their first winning season since 2018 and feel like they’re ready to push even higher under coach Brent Key.

    The Yellow Jackets were a laughingstock under previous coach Geoff Collins, who talked a good game but was woefully unprepared to lead a major-conference team.

    Those dark days are in the rearview mirror. While no one expects Georgia Tech to contend for national titles on a regular basis, this group has shown it can be competitive in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

    “We want to embrace these challenges that we have in front of us,” Key said. “Nothing’s easy. We don’t want it to be easy.”

    Key’s impact

    Heading into his second full season as coach, Key deserves credit for lifting the Yellow Jackets out of the abyss that was the Collins era.

    The fiery coach has instilled a winning, edgy attitude in his players, which paid off a season ago with unlikely victories over North Carolina and Miami.

    Georgia Tech was 10-28 in three-plus years under Collins, including a 7-19 mark in conference play. Since Key took over four games into the 2022 season, the Jackets are 11-10 overall and 9-6 in the ACC.

    Good to be King

    Haynes King returns at quarterback after a breakout season.

    The transfer from Texas A&M threw for 2,842 yards with 27 touchdowns to go along with 737 yards rushing and 10 more TDs.

    If there’s one thing King needs to work on, it’s being a bit more selective with his passes after getting picked off 16 times. But no one was complaining much after the Yellow Jackets averaged 31.1 points per game — their highest output in five years.

    “He does everything you want him to do,” offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in him and what he can do, and we just keep putting more and more on his plate.”

    Offensive weapons

    Faulkner received plenty of kudos for King’s development, which was hardly a one-man show.

    Running back Jamal Haynes piled up 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 6.1 yards per carry, to go along with 20 receptions for 151 yards. Eric Singleton (48 catches, 714 yards, six TDs) and Malik Rutherford (46 catches, 502 yards, four TDs) were the top receivers. All are back.

    “He’s got great players around him and he understands that,” Faulkner said of his quarterback. “He knows how to get them the ball and makes them look really good.”

    Defensive shakeup

    While the offense was a bright spot, Key was not pleased with a leaky defense that surrendered nearly 30 points a game, ranking 97th nationally.

    Georgia Tech overhauled its staff on that side on the line, most notably bringing in Tyler Santucci from Duke as the new defensive coordinator. Under Santucci, the Blue Devils surrendered just 19 points a game to lead the ACC and rank 16th nationally.

    He is expected to bring the same sort of results to Georgia Tech.

    “That’s why I got hired,” Santucci said. “Stop people, create takeaways, get the ball back to the offense and don’t let them score touchdowns. That’s not pressure. That’s our job.”

    The schedule

    Georgia Tech faces a difficult slate of games, beginning with the Aug. 24 opener against No. 10 Florida State in Dublin, Ireland.

    “It’s a great opportunity for Georgia Tech. for people to see the GT on a worldwide stage,” Key said.

    The Yellow Jackets also host No. 7 Notre Dame at Mercedes-Benz Stadium — home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons — on Oct. 19 and close the regular season at top-ranked Georgia on Nov. 29.

    For good measure, there are back-to-back home games against No. 19 Miami (Nov. 9) and No. 24 N.C. State (Nov. 21), plus another tough road trip to Louisville (Sept. 21).

    It’s the kind of schedule that could make it difficult for Key’s team to improve much on last year’s 7-6 mark, even if they continue their upward trajectory.

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    AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll

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