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Georgia Tech

A look at the passing game

3:51 am October 26, 2010, by Doug Roberson

Year Team Leading Name Team Games Average
1997 GSU 619 Joyner 1469 13 113
1998 GSU 790 Joyner 1725 15 115
1999 GSU 496 Johnson 1612 15 134
2000 GSU 988 Johnson 1651* 15 110*
2001 GSU 502 Owens 1273 14 91
2002 Navy 429 Roberts 1184 12 99
2003 Navy 493 Roberts 1304 13 100
2004 Navy 273 Tomlinson 1192 13 92
2005 Navy 445 Tomlinson 1398 12 117
2006 Navy 244 Campbell 728 13 56
2007 Navy 263 Singleton 1239 13 95
2008 Ga. Tech 627 Thomas 1290 13 99
2009 Ga. Tech 1154 Thomas 1774 14 127
2010 Ga. Tech 268 Hill 1102 13 85

* These stats are an approximation, based upon the production of the Eagles’ top two quarterbacks.

The chart above represents the passing statistics for Paul Johnson-coached teams. It includes each season’s leading receiver, as well as the team’s total and a per-game average that has been rounded up (which is why the average multiplied by the games doesn’t always add up). The team’s passing stats are the numbers that could be found in media guides.

The 2010 stats are a projection for the season, based upon the averages through eight games.

Two things stood out to me after compiling the information:

  • Demaryius Thomas’ 1,000-yard season in 2009 seems to be the exception, rather than the norm. Only one other time did a receiver come close to surpassing 1,000 yards and that occurred during a 15-game season in 2000. There were many games in Johnson’s days in Statesboro in which the stats weren’t that eye-popping….more 2008 than 2009. However, the Eagles were so far ahead in some of those games that there was no longer any need to pass, which would suppress the stats.
  • Alarmingly, unless things turn around quickly, this could be the second-least productive passing offense Johnson has ever coached.

There are many reasons the passing game has struggled this season:

  • The most obvious is the dropped passes. It’s not that much of an exaggeration to say that hundreds of yards have been left on the field.
  • The offensive line has struggled with pass protection, though there was some improvement during the three-game win streak.
  • Tech is averaging just about the same number of passes as it threw last season (13.1 this season compared to 12.9 last season). They’ve passed when facing third downs and at least 7 yards 30 times this season, compared to 40 attempts all of last season. They’ve rushed in the same situation 17 times this season, compared to 38 last season. I’m not sure what to make of that, other than they have faced third and longs an average of 5.9 times per game this season compared to 5.6 last season.

The difference suggests, as many of you have said, that Tech needs someone to catch the ball.

Anyway, there’s some fun with numbers. Let me know what you think.

Year Team Leading Name Team Games Average
1997 GSU 619 joyner 1469 13 113
1998 GSU 790 joyner 1725 15 115
1999 GSU 496 johnson 1612 12 134
2000 GSU 988 johnson 1651 15 110
2001 GSU 502 owens 1273 12 106
2002 Navy 429 roberts 1184 12 99
2003 Navy 493 roberts 1304 13 100
2004 Navy 273 tomlinson 1192 13 92
2005 Navy 445 tomlinson 1398 12 117
2006 Navy 244 campbell 728 13 56
2007 Navy 263 Singleton 1239 13 95
2008 Ga. Tech 627 Thomas 1290 13 99
2009 Ga. Tech 1154 Thomas 1774 14 127
2010 Ga. Tech 268 Hill 1102 13 85
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80 comments Add your comment

superDawg

October 26th, 2010
12:39 pm

urban crier will be available sunday gt pony up and get him.

Gee

October 26th, 2010
1:11 pm

These people putting this all on the defense in insane. Yes they are very small on the D-line and very young everywhere else but when the offense goes 3 and out and puts the defense on a short field time and time again. They wear down and confidence gets shot down. The offense isnt sustaining drives like that season… Thats why the defense is looking just as bad or worse. AGREED they cant stop the run very well still… But It’s not all their fault this year. Last year… different story. Give this defense some time, Al Groh ALWAYS had a pretty damn good defense at Virginia.. It was their offense that sucked so terribly bad. This year looks ugly but the future looks bright if you look at all the young talent we have redshirted and coming in on top of the young talent that are getting playing time this year too. CPJ will right the ship sooner than later.. This season was bound to be a tough one losing all the great players that we lost.

Full Metal Jacket

October 26th, 2010
1:28 pm

Georgia Tech– Passing game?

Might as well discuss the “real” Santa Claus…

treyingeorgia

October 26th, 2010
1:55 pm

Oh… the saga of running the High School Offense….pathetic!!!!

GT Sambo

October 26th, 2010
1:58 pm

We need better play on the lines, O and D. We need receivers to catch the ball. Hopefully the off week will result in some things getting corrected! Hopefully TJ Barnes will get more snaps. I am not sure why he comes out on so many passing downs. I’ve yet to see Logan Wall occupy two blockers. At least he occupies two blockers, which would help the rushing linebacker or on blitzes.

joeygt

October 26th, 2010
2:00 pm

once agains gt will be fine ! all the bandwagon tech fans you can leave now we dont need yall!!1 coach pj will get it fixed this year i fully expect us to win 3of the next 4 if….. we execute our offense right, we have yet to execute our offense even half to what its capable of due to very poor blocking and dropping passes. coach pj earned our loyalty to him for what he has done the past 2 years, i can tell you one thing gt will be a constant 8-10 wins every year, something gailey could never do… go gt if we execute against vt we win in a shootout 38-35.

GT Sambo

October 26th, 2010
2:05 pm

treyingeorgia,
Oh yes UGA’s offense was really some kind of juggernaught without A.J. Green. Three weeks ago you were probably one of the guys calling for Bobo’s head. Today, he’s a genius.
GT has issues, but we can still move the ball on the ground. You guys couldn’t do squat before A.J. Green came back. After watching UGA’s defense against UK, I am excited to see how many yards we can rack up against UGA! (And yes, UGA fans can say the same thing about our defense)

blazer

October 26th, 2010
2:17 pm

we never throw to Q. Sims and never play D. Mckayhan at receiver!!

Maybe they could catch the ball!

what?

October 26th, 2010
2:56 pm

Rockdale Jacket – with the number of bowl games these days, 6-6 record will get you in one.

GTZ

October 26th, 2010
3:19 pm

I think the reason TECH will not play other receivers is, HILL maybe the only guy who might have the moves to get open on defenders. I would have thought Earls, after his play at WAKE, would get a few sent his way. I believe he did against Clemson, didn’t he drop it? Or was it a bad pass? Seems to be a common question I keep asking myself this year… it’s okay. Let’s not give up and win a couple down the stretch, prepare our young men for next year. Later

Inside Georgia Tech's passing stats | ChuckOliver.Net

October 26th, 2010
3:23 pm

[...] was reading AJC Georgia Tech beat writer Doug Roberson’s blog today about Paul Johnson’s historical passing stats and despite the current woes, I came away [...]

MoDawg

October 26th, 2010
3:28 pm

Those touting Vad Lee should know that his completion percentage in high school is somewhere around 45%, I believe.

I’m sure he’s a great young man and I wish him the best, but if you’re looking for a better passer than Nesbitt, I’m not sure Lee is the man.

Rockdale Jacket

October 26th, 2010
3:32 pm

what?
I understand that 6-6 qualifies for a bowl game. My point is that it would be one of the lowest tier bowls and would not be meaningful (maybe to even some of the players). Also, our record in recent bowls in pitiful.
I do remember the Bobby Dodd era when GT seldom lost a bowl game.

Might Not Get Any Better

October 26th, 2010
3:42 pm

If you were a 4 or 5 star HS receiver, would you want to go to Tech? Something needs to happen—new Receivers coach?—or the talent at WR is going to go down, down, down…

GT Sambo

October 26th, 2010
3:52 pm

“Might Not Get Any Better” on the flip side, you can clearly show any potential freshmen receiver that there is a ton playing time out there for someone who can come in and CATCH THE D*MN BALL! As long as they can block, that is!

GT Sambo

October 26th, 2010
3:57 pm

MoDawg,
That’s only because Vad Lee doesn’t have our WR to throw to yet!

gdawginkalamazoo

October 26th, 2010
4:16 pm

Nothing wrong with CPJ staying loyal to Nesbitt. He has earned every bit of it. Besides Thomas and Hill had stellar seasons. Thomas well enough to go in the first round then tank on my fantasy team. Somebody isn’t catching the ball.

From a fan who hopes his team can win the 6 to get to a bowl game you better hope you can make it no matter what the record. That extra month of practice pays tons of dividends. I used to think that eh, 6-6 is not a bowl worthy team but you gotta have that extra month especially if you have a young team that can use it.

GTZ

October 26th, 2010
4:28 pm

Vad Lee, out of Durham NC Hillside High School, has a tremendous OL I think that contributes to his success. Although Lee is considered a star athlete.

what?

October 26th, 2010
4:34 pm

Rocketdale Jacket – You said “Sadly, I see a 6-6 record and a possibility of no bowl game.” So your point was that 6-6 could possibly leave GT out of a bowl game. This year it is very possible that 5-7 could qualify for a bowl game. There are 35 games and currently only 69 teams with a .500 or better record (according to my rough count).

Oh and you need to stop living in the Bobby Dodd era, and start supporting the current coach and team.

GDBurdell

October 26th, 2010
5:16 pm

teck will be ABSOLUTELTLY FINE, we have no passing game (who needs that) no defensive line whatsoever and our vaunted triple option has been somehow leaked to the press. PSSST teck fans, the wheels have fallen off of the bandwagen this year, you can get off now. Coach Johnson will right the ship by not making adjustments, not involving passing in any meaningful way and not changing a single dam thing.

UGA VIII

October 26th, 2010
5:17 pm

WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF !!!!!!!!

smitty

October 26th, 2010
5:48 pm

check out bradley’s article re passing……he nails it as to the deficiencies in passing……its not the D although there’s tremendous room for improvement on the defensive side……a couple more stats comparing this years offense to last years…….GT’s offense has a 38% third down conversion rate compared to last year’s 52%…….and tech has lost almost as many fumbles this year (10) as all of last year (12)…….surprisingly, red zone TD’s (success rate) and time of possession are not that different……..just get the damn ball to orwin in space more……ie how about some short passes, screens, etc…….the man is underutilized……spread the field and then maybe the middle opens up for allen, et al…….and finally, come up with some different ideas for third down plays…..go jackets…..thwg

Stinger Boy

October 26th, 2010
5:54 pm

Jackets should try to recruit Perry Carter or James Farmer. Both prospects can throw the ball. Perry and James both are accurate in throwing beer bottles at signs. BAHAHAHAHAHAHABAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

JW

October 26th, 2010
6:15 pm

Has Vad Lee officially committed to GT?

reality

October 26th, 2010
6:25 pm

Unfortunately, the only remaining games GT wins is Duke and UGA. VAtech and Miami are probably losses. An 7-5 record probably puts them in Shreveport?

JW

October 26th, 2010
6:32 pm

CPJ will not lose two in a row, so I think GT beats VPI. Duke is a given. Miami has proved that they don’t play well in the cold so we shall see if that trend holds true. CMR will lose control over his team after they get embarrassed by Florida and Auburn (Idaho state college for women’s typewriter lessons might catch them looking forward to Auburn….) at best uga will be 5-6 heading into the GT-UGA game and GT will deliver the coup de grace

GDBurdell

October 26th, 2010
6:55 pm

Just remember teck fans, it could be worse… you could be a Dawg fan!

I like coach Johnson

October 26th, 2010
8:01 pm

Sure our defense sucks, our O-line, and D-line struggle right now , and our WR’s can’t catch, but look how young they are. Most of are only sopth. Did you know that our O-line has a combined 37 starts compared to UGA’s 155, and UGA’s O-line was touted as one of the best in the country? Most UGA fans will tell you their line has truly been a huge disappointment thus far. Our team is real young and is going through a growth spurt. 2 yrs. from now if things are this bad then time for a coaching change. I guarantee all you fair weather fans will have eaten crow by then. CPJ will turn it around with his players. You can’t expect to win with red shirt fresh. and sopth. In 2yrs. they will be jr.s and sen.s . That’s when the proof’s in the pudding. Look at all these idiot UGA fans wanting CMR fired. He’s got one of the best win loss records of any coach in college fball in the last 10 yrs. They’re to blind to see that in 2012 A. Murray will lead them to a national championship. Oh and by the way why did he go to UGA ? Yeah thats right you bunch of inbred redneck jerk offs, coach M. Richt . Lets not be as they are so hasty to get rid of the best thing thats happened to our Fball program in yrs. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TECH

GDBurdell

October 26th, 2010
9:21 pm

teck alums are the worst possible fans hands down. You’ll still get the ACC title though, right flies?

GDBurdell

October 26th, 2010
9:31 pm

If you really can’t see that the option scheme is basically ‘unsustainable’ at the d1 level then you should also question the validity of your shiny teck diploma. They are both worth their weight in S%^&. Leave the athletes alone, they are doing a fantastic job – it is the coaching, PJ caught the ACC with their pants down last year and it won’t be happening again.

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