Shotgun option play shines in scrimmage
Greetings-
Hope all are well. This is the top of the notebook that will go in the Sunday paper. Brief observations of the scrimmage: Offense played better, defense didn’t tackle well. Synjyn Days ran the ball well but had trouble throwing. Vad Lee looked pretty good but had a bad fumble. Enjoy the weekend.
Last Saturday, in its first open scrimmage of spring practice, Georgia Tech unveiled the work it had been doing in the shotgun. Saturday, the Tech offense rehearsed repeatedly what could be a productive play out of that formation.
In a scrimmage at Bobby Dodd Stadium, a read-option play with a motioning A-back routinely broke for big gains against the Tech defense. Quarterback Synjyn Days used it for several productive runs, as he led the offense to three touchdowns on possessions starting on its 30-yard line. He did have a bad giveaway, throwing an interception under heavy pressure.
“They couldn’t tackle him,” coach Paul Johnson said. “He had a good day. He made a lot of people miss. He needs to improve on his throwing, though.”
The offense has been working on the play over the course of spring practice, quarterback Tevin Washington said.
“[Saturday] was the first day we really got work with it,” he said. “It looked good. I think we did a good job of executing and doing what the coaches asked of us.”
On one touchdown drive led by Days, the offense ran it three times for 46 yards. A-backs Robert Godhigh, Tony Zenon and B.J. Bostic had runs of 27, 21 and 17 yards, respectively, off the play.
“It just worked,” Johnson said. “They blocked it correctly most of the time, and if you get the read right, it’s pretty hard to play.”
As has been the case this spring, coaches gave most of the snaps to Days and backup quarterback Vad Lee, who drove the offense to two touchdowns. Lee threw the ball accurately and mixed in a few positive runs. He did have a little trouble on center-quarterback exchanges and ended one drive in the red zone with a lost fumble.
Thanks for reading.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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329 comments Add your comment
BLT
April 14th, 2012
10:39 pm
They’ll need to get bunched up for anyone to have a chance against JJ 48. At least from wear I’m sitting. Biffle!
HighTech
April 14th, 2012
10:39 pm
Maybe if it looked like this…
http://www.pickuptrucks.com/trucks/IMAGES/history/F2-2.gif
Put Uga in the back with a Georgia Tech dog collar.
Dawg48
April 14th, 2012
10:40 pm
%|#||>{>|>€¥|€! €\#{%\*]%\>\\€
BLT
April 14th, 2012
10:40 pm
*where
5150 UOAD
April 14th, 2012
10:43 pm
JJ here is your $5 foot LONG. Hehehe
5150 UOAD
April 14th, 2012
10:44 pm
We know NASCAR and there just might be a Mystery CAUTION coming.
BLT
April 14th, 2012
10:45 pm
Debris on the track?
5150 UOAD
April 14th, 2012
10:47 pm
STOP the RACE breaking NEW the world needs to STOP EVERYTHING….
Brad and Angelina are finally engaged!
5150 UOAD
April 14th, 2012
10:48 pm
Jimmy Trying to bring out his OWN caution LOL
Dawg48
April 14th, 2012
10:48 pm
Dang it!
BLT
April 14th, 2012
10:48 pm
Bad for Jimmie!
Dawg48
April 14th, 2012
10:51 pm
I do like the Biff. I have him winning the cup this year.
5150 UOAD
April 14th, 2012
10:52 pm
Come on Mark Martin pass JJ and get a 2nd in Texas old man.
BLT
April 14th, 2012
10:53 pm
Looks like Biffle. Top ten for Martin and Edwards.
BLT
April 14th, 2012
10:54 pm
Roush Fenway
5150 UOAD
April 14th, 2012
10:55 pm
I like Biff a lil more than Edwards. It is Davey Allison(rip) Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth Greg Biffel, Carl Edwards.
Dawg48
April 14th, 2012
10:55 pm
Nothing wrong with silver.
5150 UOAD
April 14th, 2012
10:57 pm
160 mph average. DAMN
Cat in the Hat
5150 UOAD
April 14th, 2012
10:58 pm
No it was a good clean…very clean race
BLT
April 14th, 2012
10:58 pm
Yep, the history books would be different if the Allisons never had the tragedies.
Dawg48
April 14th, 2012
11:00 pm
Night guys I’m out.
5150 UOAD
April 14th, 2012
11:02 pm
Nite 48 hug and kiss the wife and daughter.
BLT
April 14th, 2012
11:06 pm
Keep us posted on the big cat Dawg48!
GT ATW
April 14th, 2012
11:11 pm
Chan Glailey—you’re delusional. CPJ can coach the passing game every bit as well as the running game. Just watch.
What up
April 14th, 2012
11:20 pm
Same old story line the bee’s look awesome going against their substandard defense too funny. I see losses piling up early next year (actually all year) so enjoy the scrimmage bee’s.
Hayseed Dixie
April 15th, 2012
12:44 am
Rambling Recluse Road posted, huh? Nice.
Yes, I’d like to see white helmets and gold logos. I’m of the mind that the navy blue sucks (Peach Bowl?), but memories of 1990 get in my way.
I love that CPJ is doing several things that the radio call in folks asked him to do but he publicly balked at, namely: special teams coach, and shotgun plays.
Next up? More than one QB a game.
Tokyo jacket
April 15th, 2012
8:12 am
@whatup, kind of like the UGA defense looking tough until they play someone with a top50 offense? In UGA’s 4 losses, they gave up 39 points per game. Right, tough Defense between the hedges!
Jon Koncak
April 15th, 2012
8:29 am
Same old story, QB’s can’t throw and the defense stinks.
5150 UOAD
April 15th, 2012
8:49 am
So what if I do have a vagina. Supersize loves it. He/ she and I are true “Georgee Yech Yeller Jokettes” weeeheee!!!
George Stein
April 15th, 2012
10:19 am
I hate reading too much into a scrimmage, but the poor tackling combined with the report earlier in the week about trying to strip the ball has me concerned. I’d be much happier if they allowed the fumbles to happen organically and focused on getting the ball carrier to the ground.
WnE
April 15th, 2012
11:00 am
re:
The Georgia Tech offense prepared Stephen Hill for the NFL. Read this article and save the link to post later.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-tech/ga-tech-offense-prepared-1417145.html
_____________
Don’t be so naive High Tech.
That’s called a fluff piece.
The local do that to throw the local CFB program a bone, its just a “feel good” filler piece about a local Athlete and the school he went to.
Since Hill is bigger & faster than Blackmon from Okie St, IF the GT did prepare hi so well, then WHY isn’t he more highly rated that the guy that caught 80-90 passes in a different system than GT’s?
The local media doesn’t want to crap on GT for taking a 6-4 215lb WR that runs a 4.36 forty and him only have 26 catches in a 12 game season, so they do a fluff piece that only naive folks like you fall for.
The better article would have been how can OKIE ST.’s System get a smaller ,slower WR to be more highly regarded by the NFL scouts than the system that GT’s genius HC created that had the bigger, faster WR (Hill)?
That’s the article that I want to read!
WnE
April 15th, 2012
11:00 am
re:
The Georgia Tech offense prepared Stephen Hill for the NFL. Read this article and save the link to post later.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-tech/ga-tech-offense-prepared-1417145.html
_____________
Don’t be so naive High Tech.
That’s called a fluff piece.
The local do that to throw the local CFB program a bone, its just a “feel good” filler piece about a local Athlete and the school he went to.
Since Hill is bigger & faster than Blackmon from Okie St, IF the GT did prepare hi so well, then WHY isn’t he more highly rated that the guy that caught 80-90 passes in a different system than GT’s?
The local media doesn’t want to crap on GT for taking a 6-4 215lb WR that runs a 4.36 forty and him only have 26 catches in a 12 game season, so they do a fluff piece that only naive folks like you fall for.
The better article would have been how can OKIE ST.’s System get a smaller ,slower WR to be more highly regarded by the NFL scouts than the system that GT’s genius HC created that had the bigger, faster WR (Hill)?
That’s the article that I want to read!
Ghost
April 15th, 2012
11:06 am
Tokyo Jacket , You’re letting you lack of knowledge about how teams scored on Georgia in 2011 make you look foolish. The defense was not responsible for many of those points. Keep thinking like that Georgias defense won’t be one of the nations best again.How many points did the PJ offense have against them?
George Stein
April 15th, 2012
11:17 am
Because there is more than height, weight, & speed to a WR, WnE. Your point also assumes the best players are drafted higher. But I guess in your mind Alex Smith’s draft slot makes him better than Aaron Rodgers.
Plus, if a team drafts for collegiate stats, then the front office of that team will be looking for new jobs.
Again, your point was heavy on trolling and devoid of analysis.
Stumpknocker
April 15th, 2012
11:24 am
Too bad “WeeNie”, you can’t stand it cause GT is putting more wr in the NFL than your beloved dogs. …… That happening in spite of the “out dated high school offense”. ……..and these wr are relevant, unlike the over rated AJ Green. Seems the GT wr are well schooled in the basics…….especially blocking skills…….something the “flash in the pan” UGA products don’t seem too concerned with.
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
April 15th, 2012
11:29 am
GT should have a better passing game than they do while running the bone. Bama was able to do well passing and we didn’t have Joe Willie running the Bone. You get single coverage on every play. The TE was huge in our passing scheme but PJ doesn’t have a purpose for that position. Sending a decoy split wide with the defense knowing full darn well the current QB couldn’t even throw it that far doesn’t scare most folks!! Just saying.
14 GT
April 15th, 2012
11:46 am
HT….I guess he told you. You’re just such a naive boot licking toadie to fall for that fluff piece from the AJC beat writer for the Falcons. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Paul in NH
April 15th, 2012
12:01 pm
I thought the only thing that mattered for a WR in the NF was height, weight, 40 time, standing jump, shuttle time. That’s why Wes Welker has been such a bad player and why Roy Williams was such a great success for the Lions and the Cowboys.
FL Jacket
April 15th, 2012
12:14 pm
Paul…too bad about the Toffies
Ghost
April 15th, 2012
12:15 pm
The biggest question about hill is can he learn to read defenses? That wasn’t asked much if at all in the service academy option. It’s a large contributing factor to Welkers success and someone like Roy Williams not living up to expectations. @ stumpknocker, to call a rookie that was selected to pro bowl over rated is somewhat naive. The NFL pays big money for receiver to catch the ball and score TD’s ,blocking ability for the position is vastly over rated.
Paul in NH
April 15th, 2012
12:17 pm
FLJ
Yes – would have been good to beat the Reds but we just can’t seem to beat them at Wembley. We still have a good chance of finishing above them in the EPL though
FL Jacket
April 15th, 2012
12:19 pm
They were the better side though…Everton needs to find a reliable striker
Paul in NH
April 15th, 2012
12:21 pm
Ghost,
Reacting to the D is an issue for every rookie WR in the NFL no matter where you played. Even the best WRs take time to adjust to the league.
Paul in NH
April 15th, 2012
12:23 pm
I couldn’t get the game on Direct TV. I read the reports on the Guardian and the Independent and it sounds as if Everton blew it in the 2nd half. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep Moyes but I have the feeling Old Trafford might be in his future.
FL Jacket
April 15th, 2012
12:39 pm
I thought Fergie is staying 3 more years?
FL Jacket
April 15th, 2012
12:41 pm
And I would figure MUFC would hire internally?
FL Jacket
April 15th, 2012
12:42 pm
Besides, Spurs will likely open up once they tap Redknapp to be England boss. And well, Chelsea will be open every year haha. Not sure where Moyes is open to…
Ghost
April 15th, 2012
12:51 pm
Paul, A WR player playing in a pro style offense or offense that has a passing attack and not a throwing attack is better prepared for the next level , the learning curve isn’t as steep.
FL Jacket
April 15th, 2012
12:55 pm
So Ghost…a Tech WR does get any reps catching the ball in practice against live competition? I swear, if it doesn’t fit the narrative…written record of NFL coaches be darned…if you weren’t going to believe it before you never will.
1990FormerPlayer
April 15th, 2012
12:59 pm
I think the only hope for us this year is the development of the passing game. I really do hope that we have been working on the shotgun because I truly think CPJ job depends on it. Without it, we will just be a decent team that may upset someone everyone once in while. Can’t wait to see the spring game to see how our passing game looks.