Ball security still challenges Synjyn Days
Greetings-
Have a couple notes from a few interviews Tuesday.
1. Both Paul Johnson and assistant coach Brian Bohannon took questions about backup quarterback Synjyn Days and their answers provided enough evidence to conclude that his ball security problems still require considerable improvement.
“Synjyn has to take care of the football,” Bohannon said. “It has to be of the utmost urgency when he is in the game, to take care of the football.”
I think I included some of this answer in the post Tuesday following Johnson’s news conference, but Johnson said he put Days in late in the loss to Miami to see if he could provide a spark. He got a first down on a pass to wide receiver Tyler Melton and had a quarterback draw that could have been a gainer had it been blocked better and then fumbled.
“That’s been his thing,” Johnson said. “If he takes care of the ball, he’s going to play more. Synjyn, he’s a talented kid. He can do some things, but you’ve got to take care of the ball.”
2. Quote from Johnson about the offense: “You could say execution, you can say whatever you want. It doesn’t matter what you do on offense, if you’re not moving the ball and scoring, it usually comes back to (the fact that) you’ve got to do that better. We need to help ‘em, maybe, with a better plan. Maybe some of the stuff that we’re trying to ask them to do, they can’t do.”
Roddy Jones thinks the offense isn’t too far from re-gaining its form.
“When we go back and watch the film, it’s not like everything’s going wrong and we’re all falling apart,” he said. “You see a stop in the backfield or a play by [an opponent], what you don’t see is everyone else did their job. If we get that one guy, we’re out of the gate. It’s just the little things we need to correct, and I think we’ll do that.”
I imagine you get tired of the “we just need to execute better” answer as I do, but I’ve seen the offense work enough times to great effect (and you have done so even more, I suppose) to think that the problem isn’t that opponents have figured out the offense. It’s poor decision making, missed blocks, bad throws, dropped passes and faulty play calls. That leaves room to say that those failures are a result of a talent shortage and that the Jackets wouldn’t have those problems with better coaching. Perhaps the remainder of the season will determine that if you haven’t already drawn your own conclusion. But consider that as poorly as last season went, the offense, with a lot of the same pieces as this year’s team, led the nation in rushing. (Which is a different thing than leading the nation in scoring, or wins, for that matter, but is not an accomplishment to be taken lightly.)
Take Washington as an example. He’s shown the ability make the right reads, both this year and last, and has enough speed to make plays. I don’t know how you’ll receive this, but I’ve included a clip of the second half of last year’s Virginia Tech game. Watch from about the 4:30 point on. Washington has some clunker plays, but he hits downfield passes, makes a first-down run out of nothing, manages the clock and leads Tech nearly the length of the field in two late-game drives. The very last play, you’ll remember, was not one to remember, but everything to that point would indicate that when he’s right, he’s more than capable.
I think right now a lot of it’s between his ears. Perhaps the same might be said of his teammates. How do they escape this predicament? That’s for them and the coaching staff to figure out.
3. A few people asked me about the offsetting penalties that wiped out Jones’ long first-quarter run against Miami, specifically if Tech could have declined Miami’s penalty and taken the facemask penalty against Jones as a spot foul. I asked Doug Rhoads, the ACC officiating coordinator, and he said no, that they were automatically offsetting because both were live- ball fouls. So, there’s your answer.
4. This is sort of random, but I’m wondering if someone out there can do a former Tech player a favor. You might remember I wrote a story prior to the Virginia game about the 1990 team’s comeback win at Virginia. Anyway, Calvin Tiggle was one of the former players I talked to, and I asked him about watching replays, and he said he’d lost his copy of the game. (He was one of Tech’s biggest stars that day.) He asked me if I had any idea how to get a copy of the game and I said I’d look into it. My first step failed. You are the second step. Would any of you have a copy of that game you’d be willing to make a copy of? E-mail me if so. I imagine Calvin would be grateful. ksugiura@ajc.com.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech beat
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407 comments Add your comment
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:11 pm
Does anybody here need a ticket for the Clemson game? I may end up with an extra one
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:13 pm
George, again, they don’t listen to facts or actual stats. They live in a world that the rest of us don’t even recognize…..sort of like an alternate universe.
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:13 pm
Nah, he’s probably too lazy to try that, Supersize. He’ll come back with something creative, like high school offense or something.
19
October 26th, 2011
8:13 pm
@atlxmen, “might”? Well there’s a bunch of things that “might” happen Saturday night. We’ll have to wait until the “might” is no longer part of the equation.
Go Jackets!!!
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:14 pm
72 hours, Supersize. Get jacked up!
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:15 pm
yeah, George, the old standby’s…..high school offense, gimmicky offense, trick plays, 1 out of 10, calling us cheaters (they still haven’t said what cheating occurred), chop blocks (instead of the legal cut blocks)…….the list goes on and on. There’s never anything new or original or fact-based.
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:16 pm
atlxmen MIGHT learn how to use proper grammar!
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:16 pm
George, I AM jacked up, but I got a big disappointment today when macrotech, who was scheduled to come with me Saturday, had to cancel because of a last minute obligation that arose
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:17 pm
Funny thing about the cut blocks is that EVERYONE uses them! That one drives me nuts.
Russ
October 26th, 2011
8:17 pm
No takers on that ticket? No wonder, who would want to go to a high school stadium and risk a mugging to see a loser?
atlxmen
October 26th, 2011
8:18 pm
actually vandy was even lucky to have a chance..uga let up a bit and let vandy chop blocking get to them. if baccarri runs that int at the end into vandys endzone instead of downing it vandy has no chance to block a punt.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:18 pm
George, did you notice that the mutts accused Vandy of using chop blocks? SHEESH
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:18 pm
That sucks! I hope everything’s ok w/ him.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:19 pm
oh, here we go with another standby (a relatively new one)…..the mutts “let up”. xmen, GOOD teams do not ever let up. And there’s the old chop block lie too. WOW, two excuses (EXCUSES) in one post. Can’t beat that.
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:20 pm
atlxmen is as predictable as Bobo’s offense!
UGA actually made a smart play in taking a knee on that pick but in atlxmen’s world that’s letting up? Vandy having a chance at the end had to do with UGA not being able to run out the clock or punt block, not to mention the other 59 minutes of the game.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:21 pm
George, yeah, everything is ok with him. He just had something come up that he had to do and had to cancel. Perfectly understandable……just bad timing. He really WANTED to come.
atlxmen
October 26th, 2011
8:22 pm
and winning the clem game is not one them…tech is awful and you know this. their div 1aa players are not matching up to well against the better players in college football. your defense has more div 1a players but barely and that is why they look better than your offense but your defense still hasnt stopped anyone worth a dang…uga has nfl players all over the field and why they are ranked 8th in the country in defense
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:22 pm
OK, cool.
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:24 pm
It might have something to do with the fact that the teams they have played are terrible offensively, atlxmen. We saw opening night what happens when UGA goes up against a bunch of 1-AA players.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:28 pm
UGA’s defensive ranking is deceiving and totally meaningless, because they haven’t faced a team with any kind of an offense since USC. If Vandy could run up so many yards against the mutts, what do you think a good team is going to do. Boy, if you guys make it to the SEC chumpionship game, either Bama or LSU is liable to score 60 points on you. That’s how bad “choke’s” defense is.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:31 pm
George, did you notice the complete contradiction in what xmen just said? All along he’s been saying that Tech hasn’t faced any good teams (including Miami), and now he’s saying that our players are not matching up with the better players in college football. So which is it, xmen? You can’t have it both ways.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:32 pm
And also, “UGA has NFL players all over the field.” Hmmm, and yet they stunk it up against Boise State and lost to a mediocre USC team. Yeah, I’m sure the NFL was impressed by both those games, as well as the Vandy game.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:34 pm
I LOVE this post that was made on another of Ken’s blogs earlier —- “I was planning on going to the game dressed up as a uga dawg but unfortunately for me i couldnt get my head up my a zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.” That’s a perfect description of xmen.
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:36 pm
atlxmen lost me a long time ago, Supersize.
I actually think UGA has a lot of good players, but they are often deployed poorly. For example, Murray is actually a good player, but a pro offense (which it actually isn’t, but let’s not go there now) is not the best fit for him. Orson Charles is a terrific player but their coaches won’t get him the ball.
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:36 pm
HA!
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
8:39 pm
OK, it seems to have quieted down a bit now; maybe xmen’s mommie caught him on the computer. I need to log off for awhile. Have fun, George. TTYL
Delbert D.
October 26th, 2011
8:41 pm
atlxmen – “im sure delbert can pull up the post where i said when tech loses dwyer and the rest of chans players that offense will look like div 1aa players”
No, you said that so often I didn’t save the posts:) It still remains to be seen for the longer run, since only a handful of Gailey’s players remain. Johnson’s better recruits are still developing, hence the youth of the OL and key spots on defense. A few have left the program; Shaw, Luallen, and Wright. A few freshmen and rs freshmen are making some impact; Attaochu at LB and Nealy, who has started 4 games at LB, Mason at LG, Alford at OT. 4 sophs start on defense and 4 on offense. Roddy Jones and Tyler Melton will be the only losses on offense this year. Reid (S), Sylvester(LB), Peters (DE) and Walls (NT) are the defensive losses.
dorks
October 26th, 2011
8:41 pm
Hey GT Joe! Uga may not own the SEC but we own GT! What’s the matter? You can’t handle a Uga blogger coming on a GT blog like you do on Uga blogs all day? The reason you guys are catching hell over this is bc all y’all do is preach about how smart your guys are after Uga whips your butts every year. Doesn’t appear you’re so smart considering the graduation rate! Bottom of the ACC? Wow! Bunch of Einsteins!!!! For those who domt think your offense is gimmicky! How many teams run it? Other than high schools? The only reason y’all don’t go 0-12 is bc some teams don’t want to devote the time it takes to prepare for it correctly bc they won’t see it again for a year at least! Its like running trick plays every down. Its a sign of weakness! You can’t compete straight up! CPJ is no genius! He’s a hack/puss who can’t compete with a modern offense!
atlxmen
October 26th, 2011
8:42 pm
it was smart to knee it their..would have been smarter to run it down closer to the endzone.
uga letting up is running the ball 3 plays and passing on 3rd down to run the clock down. int in the endzone also helped vandy stay close.
Delbert D.
October 26th, 2011
8:45 pm
As my last comment on this blog, the D1aa players that Tech has been left with post-Chan have beaten 5 BCS teams so far this year; it’s a start.
dorks
October 26th, 2011
8:46 pm
GT Joe, wtf do SAT scores have to do with football? I can assure you CPJ wasn’t looking at SAT scores when he recruited these guys! You’re a moron!
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:47 pm
“it was smart to knee it their”
WTF. Do you know ANY grammar?
George Stein
October 26th, 2011
8:48 pm
Wouldn’t the low graduation rate actually CONFIRM that it’s an actual school?
atlxmen
October 26th, 2011
9:00 pm
yea..an impact against div 1aa teams that you played…tech will end up 6-7 again with no hope of getting better since tech is left with pj players to run that high school / armed forces offense.
again..no hope of getting decent players to play for that offense.
Russ
October 26th, 2011
9:07 pm
The reason CPJ runs the Triple Option is because that is the only offense his high school team ran when he played. Since he is one of only 4 D1 coaches that never played college ball, he goes with what he knows. He has no background past high school, therefore, a high school offense is what you get. And is not even a well exectued TO. The QB makes the wrong read too often.
A Rob
October 26th, 2011
9:21 pm
wow lots of comments but not much about Days. Ken, you said coaches were afraid to put him in. seems to be a cop out to me. he brings much more upside than TW with much more big play ability. if we are behind and not moving the ball anyway, why not insert him? pulling him just hurts confidence. surely they know TW does not have the ability to compete against the big boys and make the plays needed. worth a shot at least, because we will lose to clem, va tech, and uga anyway
ole yeller
October 26th, 2011
9:47 pm
To Russ and atlxmen, whatever that is supposed to be. It appears that you two guys know more about offensive football than anyone else out there. Seems to me that UGA had its chances to stop the H.S. offense, not so much yet. Remember “run Roddy run”? Name me a high school in Ga that runs this offense. The closest I can come to is Statesboro, home of Ga. Southern. Who I might add is undefeated. Here’s the point they do not run this offense but run a pure wishbone, and never pitch the ball. The offense you mutts have not really controlled so far is a spread option. I see a variation of it every week in college its more and more common than you geniuses think. It,s very possible that both Ga. teams could end up with three losses by this weekend. Don’t get your hopes up that your vaunted offense will win against U.F. As long as Boo Boo is play calling I would not be so critical.
19
October 26th, 2011
10:15 pm
@dorks, two people have “owned” me. They were my mother and father and they “owned” me up to the age of eighteen. After that I was on my “own”.
Go Jackets!!!
Russ
October 26th, 2011
10:34 pm
Ole Yeller you asked for one high school that runs the triple option so I’ll give you one, Flowery Branch. As you pointed out, there are several variations of the triple option. The one you mentioned, the wishbone, was perfected over time by Barry Switzer. There is also the veer and the more common triple option run out of the traditional I-formation. CPJ runs a variation using a fullback and two slot backs. Also, Urban Meyer along with Dan Mullen, perfected the spread option which you have also referred to.
UGA is better equipped than ever to handle the triple/spread option. The biggest deterrent to the option style offense is a corp of fast linebackers. And Georgia has the fastest LB’s in the league. New this year are Jarvis Jones and Alec Olgeltree. Mike Gillard has also come on strong due to his sensational speed. C. Washington came out of high school 6′4/225 and ran a 4.51 40. So I do believe we are well positioned to stop an antiquated high shcool offense that does not succeed in a fast league.
WTF?
October 26th, 2011
10:35 pm
Being a Tech fan I consider them done for the year. They’ll be lucky to win a 7th game. Started out with a passing game and just went back to the old pop warner crap that an opposing team made up of monkeys could figure out how to stop. CPJ must go and take his little kiddy offense with him.
ole yeller
October 26th, 2011
10:51 pm
Hey Russ, they still have to play the game, don’t they. Flowery Branch does not run this offense. Triple options as you point out comes in a lot of different forms. Seems to me that discipline has more to do with stopping this offense than speed. Your team has no discipline. Also for someone so smart you need to learn how to spell school. As I stated you need to play the game before you can claim a win. You guys need to win against Fl. before pounding on your chest as world beaters.
Russ
October 26th, 2011
10:56 pm
ole yeller, I should learn to spell school. I pull for Ga. Tech, several nephews are grads. I do get frustrated by both GT and UGA. Sounds like you are a solid fan, good luck this w/e. Both teams are going to need a litttle luck.
ole yeller
October 26th, 2011
11:02 pm
Thanks Russ, a difference of opinion is healthy as long as it does not get into name calling.
Stumpknocker
October 26th, 2011
11:22 pm
I never post on a UGA blog…..have no desire to, but I do occasionally read some of them. My reason is to see if the average blogger on theirs’ is any more intelligent than the pin-head dawg homers that post here…to my surprise some are. “Atlxmen&Dorks” are basic outcasts of their own blog and are often belittled and chastised by their own (so-called) comrades.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
11:35 pm
19, are you still here?
19
October 26th, 2011
11:47 pm
Super,are you still here? If not then I’m at the latest blog. Go Jackets!!!
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
11:49 pm
yes, I am here, 19. Did you read my post to you in the other blog?
19
October 26th, 2011
11:52 pm
Let me switch blogs Super…
Supersize that order, mutt
October 26th, 2011
11:52 pm
ok
19
October 26th, 2011
11:58 pm
Super, I went to Ken’s latest