Breaking down Tech o-line
Greetings
A few spring practice notes, from an interview with offensive line coach Mike Sewak:
1. I’ve noted this before, but injuries have been a negative/positive this spring. Having Omoregie Uzzi and Will Jackson out has given players like Nick McRae and J.C. Lanier more reps than they would have gotten otherwise, but it has also forced coach Mike Sewak to shuffle players more than he probably would like.
Injuries to Lanier and Shaquille Mason in Saturday’s scrimmage left the line with seven of the 12 scholarship offensive linemen in the scrimmage.
2. Tackle Morgan Bailey, until an injury last week, was shaping up as one of the most improved players on the team. Bailey, a rising redshirt sophomore, has plus athletic ability but has had injury challenges since he arrived at Tech. He was putting things together this spring. Not sure if he’ll be able to come back this week.
“He seems to be enjoying the playing time and seems to be enjoying the camaraderie and seems to be enjoying the leadership role he’s taking in that meeting room now, because I can point to him and say, ‘That’s how it’s supposed to be done,’” Sewak said.
3. Bailey’s health could be a crucial factor this fall. Sewak wants three dependable players at that position; you’ll remember there was a three-tackle rotation last season. Tech has two returning starters in Ray Beno and Tyler Kidney, but after that are rising redshirt freshmen Bryan Chamberlain and Errin Joe, who haven’t made the progress Sewak was hoping for this spring. The loss of Phil Smith was not insignificant, obviously.
4. Guard is the most secure position as spring ends, with returning starters Uzzi and Jackson and rising sophomore Mason, who ended the season splitting snaps with Jackson and acquitting himself well. Trey Braun is coming on.
5. The project to make Catlin Alford a center continues. There were more center-quarterback exchange snafus on Saturday, although it’s hard to pin on one player or position. To a degree, it’s a function of different players at both positions rotating in and out.
McRae, you may remember, was the backup last season at center and started against Clemson in place of Jay Finch.
“I’d like to see [McRae] continue to develop there, too, but Catlin Alford is too good of an athlete not to be playing,” Sewak said.
Sewak wants a little more from Finch.
“I’ve been pleased with his effort at times,” he said. “Obviously, his off-the-field willingness to put the extra time, to understand it, I think has benefited him.”
6. The Tech defense is working on some different things, which has been a benefit to the offense when th e units have gone against each other.
“We are getting a bunch of twists and blitzes, which helps us,” Sewak said. “We are getting some even front (4-4), which helps us, too, because we see a lot of even front in the fall.”
Notably, Virginia Tech is one of the teams that typically plays an even front against Tech.
In case you missed it, a couple stories I wrote for the weekend, one on Tech’s internship program for its athletes and the notebook from Saturday’s scrimmage. Both are longer than the print version. Thanks for reading.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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616 comments Add your comment
GT Lee
April 17th, 2012
7:45 pm
I went to weather.com (weather channel site) it said Fri nite 30 % chance, but that’s liable to change
GT Lee
April 17th, 2012
7:45 pm
Super you watching Bravos game?
Supersize that order, mutt
April 17th, 2012
7:47 pm
no, Lee, I’m not much into baseball
GT Lee
April 17th, 2012
7:48 pm
what are you, un-American? lol
Supersize that order, mutt
April 17th, 2012
7:49 pm
LOL
GT Lee
April 17th, 2012
7:49 pm
I guess next you’ll tell me you don’t like hotdogs apple pie or Chevrolet
Supersize that order, mutt
April 17th, 2012
7:50 pm
Actually, other than golf, I’m not really into any pro sports, and the only reason I am into golf is because I live in Augusta. I don’t play golf, but I still enjoy the tournaments
Supersize that order, mutt
April 17th, 2012
7:51 pm
love hot dogs and apple pie. nothing against chevrolet, but I never owned one.
GT Lee
April 17th, 2012
7:52 pm
I like to TRY to play….it’s relaxing just getting out on the course (as long as there’s not a bunch of idiots running around)
GT Lee
April 17th, 2012
7:53 pm
so you’re not TOTALLY un-American, huh? lol
GT Lee
April 17th, 2012
7:58 pm
8-2 bot 7th I think I hear GSU Stud crying now
GT Lee
April 17th, 2012
7:59 pm
Braves 6-0 bot 2d
Supersize that order, mutt
April 17th, 2012
8:02 pm
OK, I’m outta here for awhile……enjoy the games. TTYL
GT Lee
April 17th, 2012
8:44 pm
Tech baseball wins 8-4
Buzz 2011
April 17th, 2012
8:46 pm
GT to win another ACC title this year and will trample the high school team in Athens..
GT Lee
April 17th, 2012
8:49 pm
keep the faith Buzz…we’re with you
Fan
April 18th, 2012
10:54 am
Cutting down on those cheap cut blocks and chop blocks would probably help on the injury front.
FL Jacket
April 18th, 2012
12:49 pm
Fan…as long as your team refrains from cutting and chopping us then we’re in agreement
Supersize that order, mutt
April 18th, 2012
1:17 pm
@ Fan, CUT blocks are neither cheap nor illegal, and Tech has only been called for maybe 5 of the illegal chop blocks in the 4 years CPJ has been at Tech
Al Bundy
April 18th, 2012
1:27 pm
Wow! I feel like WnE. I didn’t think my post would draw so much attention. The point I was trying to make is I have seen little or no positive change in the overall performance of GT football under CPJ or Al Groh. I don’t blame the team for poor performance, I blame the coaches for not preparing the team to play. There will always be games where mistakes happen that cost you a game, but poor technique is a coaching problem. CPJ is so freaking arrogant it took him more than 3 years to finally admit his special teams needed a coach. I had high hopes for both coaches when they were hired and they’ve both been a disappointment. Last but not least, filling the stands on Saturday shouldn’t be a problem if the fans believed they were going to win. Take a trip to Tuscaloosa Alabama some Saturday this fall and watch a game (If you can find a ticket). Listen to Nick Saban’s interviews and see how much he blames his players when things don’t go well.
HighTech
April 18th, 2012
1:47 pm
Al Bundy…if you had the uncontrollable urge to badger a recruit with tweets trying to convince that recruit to not sign with your school, you might feel like WnE.
GT Grad
April 18th, 2012
2:35 pm
If there isnt significant improvement then we have a chance of being 5-7 this year
Truth Teller
April 18th, 2012
2:43 pm
Why doesn’t the AJC report Tech arrests like they do UGA? Today I saw Tech ILB, Daniel Drummond plea guilty to DUI in Hall County State Court. Where’s the story? How many games will CPH suspend Drummond? We want answers!!!
Ghost
April 18th, 2012
2:56 pm
Truth teller, that’s a very good question. If it had been a UGA player it would’ve been the headline.
FL Jacket
April 18th, 2012
3:06 pm
Would love to see a link guys. If it’s true he should be punished according to the disciplinary policy that Georgia Tech has established.
It’s the headline, because it’s the predictable pattern. Nobody is ever shocked to hear it, and if you dispute that there is a discipline problem at UGA…then I have some swamp land…
Ghost
April 18th, 2012
3:13 pm
Fl Jacket , Most all of the discipline problems at Georgia wouldn’t be discipline problems elsewhere.
mostly minor things that back in the day would’ve been laughed at and handled in house.I know that I and many of those on the teams I played would’ve been suspended multiple times in todays world.
George Stein
April 18th, 2012
3:20 pm
Do you have a link, Truth Teller?
If you don’t have a link, you’re the worst kind of troll.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 18th, 2012
3:52 pm
Ghost, the problem is that even if they are “minor things,” they just keep happening over and over and over again.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 18th, 2012
3:56 pm
Truth Teller, give us some documentation. The Hall County State Court website doesn’t show anything
HighTech
April 18th, 2012
4:02 pm
George Stein…can you verify what Truth Teller wrote? I cannot find any reference to a Daniel Drummond DUI arrest in Hall County Georgia, including Gainesville and Flowery Branch. I think Truth Teller made it up.
BLT
April 18th, 2012
4:08 pm
CPH does not coach football. He also does not coach at Tech anymore. Make up what you want Truth Teller. Here’s one for you, the earth is flat. Don’t fall off…
George Stein
April 18th, 2012
4:09 pm
I checked Lexis and Westlaw and came up with nothing, HighTech, but I don’t know how often their public records database is updated.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 18th, 2012
4:14 pm
Where the heck is Ken today? We haven’t had anything new in 2 days
BLT
April 18th, 2012
4:15 pm
A high school kid named Daniel Drummond got a DUI. He plays for Flowery Branch. You most certainly are a truth teller. It should be front page news. I’d say truth teller is grasping for anything he can. Same for you Ghost.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 18th, 2012
4:17 pm
BLT, where did you find that? Would be nice to have the link or whatever if he comes back on here again
BLT
April 18th, 2012
4:21 pm
Sorry, my info is not correct. I saw a 2 year old story about the kid and DUI was included in the header.
HighTech
April 18th, 2012
4:22 pm
George Stein…thanks for searching. Sometimes small town newspapers will print names and pictures of arrests. If someone was entering a plea in court, there would have to be an arrest record somewhere.
HighTech
April 18th, 2012
4:24 pm
Good catch, BLT. I didn’t even pay attention to the CPH part of it. Nice.
BigTimeTechFan
April 18th, 2012
4:29 pm
Where the heck is Ken today? We haven’t had anything new in 2 days
I’ll be covering for Ken today, but my style is more like Chip:
Todays report
Spring practice notes.
Defense looks awesome
J H Days knocked the slobber out of a RB,
Starting LB Neally in battle with Days for starting job
DB’s best in ACC with Young, Sweeting, Thomas, and Bolton playing at All-American level
TJ Barnes can’t be blocked
Offense looks awesome
V Lee, Days pushing Washington for starting job
Only thing hold Lee back is progress of WR, if they show they can get open more Lee will start, if not TW and S Day will battle for starting job as they look better running the ball
Special teams look Better
Team worked on letting ball bounce when inside the 5 yard line, no more fumbled scoops
Worked on Fake FG’s, Tech’s kicker has better arm then RGIII
BLT
April 18th, 2012
4:31 pm
It is a nice story about Drummond. It’s the same kid that plays for Tech. Ghost and truth seller, you won’t like it. How much does truth sell for these days?
HighTech
April 18th, 2012
4:31 pm
lol @ BTTF. Now, if you only had the power to ban some posters here it would be the same as Chip’s blog.
BLT
April 18th, 2012
4:32 pm
LOL BTTF! I like it! Keep it coming…
HighTech
April 18th, 2012
4:34 pm
We need a fan blog like the Junkyard Blawg. I nominate Big Time Tech Blog.
BigTimeTechFan
April 18th, 2012
4:35 pm
@HighTech
I hereby ban WnE
did that work?
BigTimeTechFan
April 18th, 2012
4:36 pm
WnE
Did that work?
BigTimeTechFan
April 18th, 2012
4:38 pm
Call Object.Ban(WnE)
did that work?
HighTech
April 18th, 2012
4:38 pm
I’m afraid not. When the AJC gives you the Big Time Tech Blog, you can be a blog Nazi like Chip Towers. lol.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 18th, 2012
4:42 pm
The Big Time Tech Blog has a nice ring to it
HighTech
April 18th, 2012
4:48 pm
Supersize…will the Augusta tv station let you announce the Spring Game? “This broadcast of Yellow Jacket Football has been brought to you by Supersize that order, mutt.” lol.
Supersize that order, mutt
April 18th, 2012
4:50 pm
@ HT….you remember me telling you about the local August TV station I watch not covering T-Night. They told me that they only had one sports guy on duty this Friday, and he had to be there for the 11PM telecast. Now why would only one sports guy be working on ANY Friday night? That’s just absurd