3 thoughts about Georgia Tech
Greetings-
This will be brief, as I’ve got a full day ahead and am already, not at all surprisingly, behind.
1. In the loss to Virginia Tech, no passes were completed to the Georgia Tech wide receivers. By my cursory count, I had four “targets” to wide receivers that were incomplete. If memory serves, I think only one of them had much of a chance, a deep ball from Tevin Washington to Jeremy Moore in the second quarter.
It’s just the second time in Paul Johnson’s tenure that that’s happened. (vs. Iowa in the Orange Bowl) There’s a pretty simple explanation for it, that being three wide receivers (Darren Waller, Jeff Greene and Moore) playing against experienced corners (Kyle Fuller and Antone Exum) and the protection wasn’t always the best. Stephen Hill would have come in handy.
That said, Tech will need to get the wide receivers involved, even on a very limited basis, to give the running game some more room and take pressure off the offense. While there is a certain aesthetic to a 20-play, 75-yard drive, it requires the offense to be precise for a longer duration. Monday, there was a Washington run for 22 yards and a pass to Orwin Smith for 20 and another to B.J. Bostic for 19. After that, the next longest play was 13 yards.
2. I saw this a lot on comments, so I won’t delve too deeply, but the defense’s performance was improved, excepting the last two possessions. The Tech media guide has a useful stat in it for which sports information director Dean Buchan deserves my thanks – point per possession. In some ways, it is as telling a statistic as there is. Last year, the defense averaged 2.17 points per possession, not including overtime. Monday, it was 1.42, which was better than all but two games (Maryland and Western Carolina) and tied with the Clemson game.
3. This is not exactly a daring opinion, but I think only time will tell what the Virginia Tech loss ultimately means. The Hokies may end up winning the ACC and the defense, as Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster believes, may prove to be one of the best ever in school history. In that light, a three-point loss in which the Jackets had offensive malfunctions, were without three defensive starters and yet were one play from winning in a night game at Lane Stadium doesn’t look so bad.
Perhaps Tech’s defense turns out to be solid, the offense gains some traction and the Jackets roll through Virginia, Maryland and the rest of the schedule.
Or it may well be that the flaws from Monday’s game – subpar performance by the offensive line and a nosedive by the defense in the fourth quarter – were but omens for a season in which losses are many.
Personally, I think it’s way too early to tell.
More later from Johnson’s news conference.
Thanks for reading.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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371 comments Add your comment
Supersize that order, mutt
September 5th, 2012
8:07 pm
@ joke…..get back to me after your meltdown in Columbia Saturday
Supersize that order, mutt
September 5th, 2012
8:09 pm
Must be a sad, lonely life when all you have to do is go on other schools’ blogs and talk trash. I hear there is a bathhouse in downtown Atlanta where you might be able to get the kind of company you obviously need.
Tech is a joke
September 5th, 2012
8:25 pm
@Super Doofus
Never heard of bathhouse in Atlanta. Don’t know anything about that but you must. Tells me alot about you. You must think Sandusky is innocent.
Have fun watching the Maggots try to play football. I’m outta here,your kinda creepy talking about bathhouses. Weird!!! Flip them burgers BOY!!!!
Supersize that order, mutt
September 5th, 2012
8:33 pm
it’s obvious you know more than you admit, because you are the one who turned what I said into a Sandusky-type thing. I never mentioned anything other than that there was a bathhouse; you decided for yourself what I might have been referring to. What does that say about you?
Supersize that order, mutt
September 5th, 2012
8:34 pm
I think I hear your mommie calling you. It must be time to tuck you in for the night. Just be sure it’s your mommie, and not your “daddy”
DawgNole
September 5th, 2012
9:29 pm
GT Joe
September 5th, 2012
2:07 pm
Supersize and chas: Yeah, if the game ended with 44 seconds to go, then TW would have had a mistake free game. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. No game works out that way.
That OT mistake was no less boneheaded than Attaochu’s personal foul last year. NO LESS.
“made a couple of excellent throws on the last drive”? Come on guys. Those throws were NOTHING special. Hitting the receiver wide open in the flat for the TD (ball was a floater a little behind the receiver, but caught nonetheless), and hitting a receiver on the 4th (where the receiver was the star, not the QB, for getting open on a busted play)? Is this what we’ve come to? Praising these kinds of QB plays?
______________________
Have to disagree with you on that 4th-down conversion. That was a perfectly placed pass by TW–even if it was on a busted play.
Chuck Allison
September 5th, 2012
9:48 pm
“Before people start bashing Tevin yet again, consider the following stat line.”
Okay, I considered it. Now, let me say that Tech probably needs to start someone else at QB. I don’t think Tevin is going to cut it.
fuzzybee78
September 5th, 2012
10:10 pm
@super
Ive been catching up for an hour on this blog and want to say I agree with you about the “prevent” and posted so last night. My specific issue the GT Joe isnt getting is the fact we were playing 10 yards off the slot receiver who caught the slant on a 4th and 4!!! Even if the got a first down they run out of time. Yes GT Joe is right we missed the tackle but I say we should have been playing tighter. Dont know if that’s on the player or CAG.
With respect to TW vs VL:
TW plays because CPJ believes he on balance, reading the TO, ball security, leadership, decent runner, average passer although some improved, is the best chance with a limited number of possessions in a game that this O presents is the best chance for GT to win.
VL from what I saw at the spring game clearly has a lot of upside, most athletic QB since Shawn Jones, maybe ever and I go back to Lothridge. His run/pass skills look really good with size to boot. Moves like a jaguar with the ball. His RS year is done. CPJ says he will bring him along and I expect we will see a lot of VL this weekend. We have to get him to not have game killing turnovers running th TO that he would have to make up for with spectacular plays. When CPJ thinks that scale is tipped in VL favor he will see the field more and more.
All is not lost:
VT has to play at Clemson and home FSU and I think they loose both. Sorry to say there O was missing a lot of playmakers and to some degree made our D look maybe a little better than we were. Our D is better, but VT O isnt close to Clemson’s especially with Watkins. If we can somehow sneek by at Clemson and run the rest we get the last laugh in Charlotte. I know TALL ORDER!
Recruiting:
Class of 07 was nationally ranked #14— two years later we win ACC with Gaileys guys. Class of 12 and 13 is clearly better than 10-11 but not top 20. VL or maybe JT at QB may make up the difference in 13-14.
Passionate comments by alum are welcome, rest of you BUZZ off!
FORMATION 4 SUCCESS
September 5th, 2012
10:11 pm
Here are my concerns. I posted several posts telling our guys what they needed to do to be successful this season. And everything I mentioned that they didn’t do was to their demise. That said. It means one of two things. Our talent is not smart enough to take coaching the will help them win or our coaches are just not what and who we expect them to be. It’s elementary. 44 seconds. Keep the receivers in front of you and make the tackle. (Didn’t do it, nor were they in position to do it). Is that ignorance or lack of coaching. We need to figure it out today.
FORMATION 4 SUCCESS
September 5th, 2012
10:16 pm
Coach always has answers after the game and season. Never before the game or season. Its always a wait and see. I would think that this if you plan to win a game, conference or season you need to know something before instead of after.
FORMATION 4 SUCCESS
September 5th, 2012
10:24 pm
Question: If Tevin Washington is still struggling with this offense and the others behind him are too. And our D1 FCS lineman and A backs can’t block as well as our service cadets week in and out. What future success can we count on. I for one loves this offense and believes that when executed it is unstoppable. But in all of the offseason work outs and claims of doing the work to get better. We still miss blocks, open receivers, holes in the line and opportunities. Seriously, what is truly going on here?
fuzzybee78
September 5th, 2012
10:33 pm
Formation-
VT has a really good D and Bud Foster had a really good scheme with weeks to prepare, we still almost won. If we dont see WINS after UVA and Miami — lets talk then.
Im out for the night–
bobby dodd
September 5th, 2012
10:52 pm
I can’t believe I’ve read over 300 posts abou this game and nobody has mentioned who REALLY LOST this game….#6 Hot Rod Sweeting….loafing his butt all night, pass interference, many others that could have been, then inexcusably loafing his butt off on the most crucial series of the night…go back and watch the video, he absolutely was not ready for the snap on the 2 biggest plays of the game and got beat BADLY by #7 both times. If they didn’t chew his butt out after that pitiful sequence, then they’ve lost him. Sweeting running around after plays in his “airplane mode”. Made me want to go thru the TV. 50 guys had busted it all nght and he loafs his butt because he’d been getting beat all night. PITIFUL!!!!
TECHIE
September 6th, 2012
2:24 am
I think one big problem Monday was un-included rec’s. did not block well nor did blocking back. Those last year did well. How do we get 2 good DB’s. How do we get rid of the prevent defense.?
How do we get our Tech uni’s back.? Who do we fire first for them?
Gary Barfield from Russell called it the “new GT gold”, looks just like Boston College gold, crap?
TECHIE
September 6th, 2012
2:31 am
Sweeting did hurt us but VT coaching staff won last 44 seconds and our coaching staff let it happen. Almost same ol same ol, can’t finish.
Love my Jackets esp. in traditional helmets and ‘forms.
fire the designer.
TECHIE
September 6th, 2012
2:34 am
someone tell me please , what would happen if AD and Russell’s designer made similar changes to unis at AUB or ALA or OKLA or UCLA or USC or MICH or TX.???
TECHIE
September 6th, 2012
2:57 am
@dirt road———really, “never looked this good” you gotta be sniffin too much of your own name sake—-old gold and white—–gold hats, white shirts, shoulder #’s and old gold pants. look so good, black or navy shirts good once in a while……….GO TECH, thwga.
TECHIE
September 6th, 2012
3:11 am
COLLEGE BALL——-is it really a case that GT doesn’t recruit the great players as well as georgy or like Bobby Dodd said they’d just rather go to an easier BIG STATE school, like FL, georgy, ALA and TX for instance. I do realize that non U. of “STATE” schools like FSU, CLUMPSON and AUB are getting the lions share so I just don’t know why. We have a helluva football history from beginning to now but the kids just don’t come. Coaching and recruiting at Tech must be oh so trying.
I love the Yellow Jackets, how bout you.?
TECHIE
September 6th, 2012
3:13 am
I respect TW so much but how bad must the other QB’s be.? Fair question or maybe not.
List Mama » ‘T’ stolen from Virginia Tech’s Lane S adium – Yahoo! Sports (blog)
September 6th, 2012
10:01 am
[...] "T." It added the caption: "Lane S adium. Only a ech." Several other …3 thoughts about Georgia TechAtlanta Journal Constitution (blog)Austin Peay (0-1) at (15) Virginia Tech (1-0) (ET)Kansas City [...]
tired from all the frustrations of being a yellow jacket
September 7th, 2012
8:10 am
It is disgusting that tech scheduled Prebsyterian to begin with but to schedule it for a night game really riles me. Even though i have tickets i won’t be going. But still will be pulling for the jackets to get their blocking and offense clicking. I believe that a nine win season is more than possible.