After Miami loss, Tech tries to regroup
With two ACC Coastal Division losses, Georgia Tech is left to take a test it had no interest in taking when the season began three weeks ago Monday. Do the Yellow Jackets have the requisite coaching and leadership to compete over the final eight games of the season with almost no chance of winning the ACC title?
Objectives remain – beating rival Clemson for the sixth time in seven tries, ending losing streaks to Georgia (three games and 10 out of the past 11) and in bowl games (seven) and winning 10 games for only the fourth time since 1956. Tech can show its defensive hemorrhage was an aberration.
The first item, though, will be picking up the pieces from their emotionally costly loss Saturday, a 42-36 overtime defeat to Miami at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Monday, Tech begins preparing for Middle Tennessee State, a game that the ACC announced Sunday will kick off at noon at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
“I feel like we have some good leaders on the team, and they’re going to keep everybody up,” A-back Tony Zenon said. “We just have to have a good week of practice and stay focused on the rest of the games.”
There will be plenty to address as the Jackets prepare for the Blue Raiders and correct errors from Saturday’s loss. The game included a series of lamentable plays for the Jackets, who valiantly returned from a 19-0 first-quarter deficit by scoring 36 consecutive points, but then gave up the game’s final 23 points.
“We made way too many errors in all three facets of the game,” coach Paul Johnson said Saturday.
The Tech offense produced, with 419 yards and 36 points. Saturday was just the sixth time since the start of the 2009 season that the Hurricanes had given up 36 or more points. However, needing to close the door at game’s end, the Jackets couldn’t. After Miami closed the margin to 36-22 with 4:25 to play in the third quarter, Tech produced four first downs over its next three possessions, one by penalty. It gave the Hurricanes more time to come back and returned the Jackets defense to the field more quickly than preferred.
Once back on the field, Miami exploited missed tackles, strong pass protection and advantageous play-calling to force overtime. Hurricanes quarterback Stephen Morris threw 52 times without being sacked once. In the fourth quarter and overtime, Tech allowed 216 yards on 23 plays, a 9.4 yards-per-play average. It called to mind come-from-ahead losses to Virginia Tech in the season opener and Utah in the Sun Bowl.
Prior to the Sun Bowl, Johnson was 31-2 in which Tech led or was tied after three quarters. Tech is 2-3 in those situations since then.
On a day full of mistakes and errors, one of Tech’s last was among the most costly. On their final offensive play of their 42-36 overtime loss to Miami Saturday, the Jackets apparently played into the Hurricanes’ hands.
On Tech’s overtime possession, Miami defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio anticipated a quarterback keeper on the 4th-and-1 play from the 2-yard line and handcuffed the Jackets accordingly. D’Onofrio had linebacker Eddie Johnson re-position himself after quarterback Tevin Washington audibled to a new play at the line of scrimmage, Hurricanes coach Al Golden said Sunday on his teleconference.
In short, Johnson lined up inside of offensive tackle Ray Beno, enticing Washington into changing the play at the line of scrimmage. When he did, Johnson re-aligned himself outside Beno, putting the Hurricanes in favorable alignment to defend Tech’s new play, a toss to A-back Orwin Smith.
“They made a check and we made a check after they made a check,” Golden said. “I guess we got [them] last on that one.”
Recognizing a toss play would likely get blown up against Miami’s new alignment, but following the team protocol permitting one “check” at the line of scrimmage, Washington chose to keep the ball and try for the first down himself. He was stopped short of the first down by Johnson, who was unblocked on the play. Miami won two plays later on a 25-yard run by running back Mike James.
“He didn’t stick with [the toss], but he’s the leader,” Smith said. “I trust his instincts.”
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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340 comments Add your comment
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
9:43 am
Time for Vad Lee. Once again, people are blaming the wrong person here. It’s not Al Groh. Its Tevin Washington. He is incapable of making plays. Period.
If you can’t get first downs, your defense bears the brunt.
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
9:45 am
Tevin makes TWO critical mistakes that cost us TWO games. The INT at VT, and the audible on 4th down Saturday. Game over. Because of one guy.
You can say anything you want about the defense, but when we needed a play from our QB, he failed. And HAS failed. miserably.
3-10 with 2 INTs against UGA should get a guy fired.
Rooty Tooty
September 24th, 2012
9:45 am
After reading the above comments, I have decided your all right. It’s a combination of a lot of things. We should have won Sat afternoon as well as the VT game. Bottom line, we don’t have a good defensive team. Haven’t had one for the past couple of years. The offense has to carry the team and when it backfires, it makes matters even worse. Offensively, some kids probably don’t want to play in the TO. Defensively, it makes no difference. Tech doesn’t get a lot of the 4-5 star thugs because they can barely get out of high school.
Freddie Blassie
September 24th, 2012
9:46 am
@ gt4ever,
You are a know little and the same bed wetter who whines until Tech hires some quitter like
Bill Curry.
You are pathetic.
UGA = Yawn
September 24th, 2012
9:47 am
Antoine, Brian Gregory will build our bball up to where it was. The new arena and having Bobby back to help are all steps in the right direction. Idiot Hewitt drove us into the ground. It takes us awhile to recover from that.
observer
September 24th, 2012
9:48 am
GT has some very good athletes…they lost 2 games in OT. Although they have athletes, they have settled into a mediocre program, and that is plainly and simply because they are coached by Paul Johnson. His play-calling and one dimensional offense will keep Tech in mediocrity for the future. If you are a Tech fan get used to being a middle of the pack team in the ACC, lumped in with nothing programs like, Wake, NC, NC State, VA, BC, and Duke. Expect a lot of 7-5 seasons with the “reward” of as crappy bowl game, finishing 7-6. Thanks a lot, Johnson.
UGA = Yawn
September 24th, 2012
9:49 am
GT Joe, being at the game to see it first hand, I understand what you are saying. Tevin’s instincts were all wrong. It isn’t natural. For this type of offense it needs to be natural. I have not seen Vad play so not sure he is more natural, but I did like Joshua Nesbitt when he ran it.
ramblingbuzz
September 24th, 2012
9:52 am
dawgfan……Yes we know how bad our D is. We’ve watched them blow leads in the last few minutes of 3 of the last 5 ball games we’ve played. We watched them give UM an 80% 3rd down coverson rate, many times on 3rd & long. Why do you think everyone is calling for Al Groh’s head?
UGA = Yawn
September 24th, 2012
9:54 am
observer, I always said it would be great if we were a ‘Duke’. Then losing would be expected. But, alas, we are not, we still pretend to be a better program.
Todd
September 24th, 2012
9:56 am
I cant bear to think about what the Clemson and Georgia games will look like. We might…MIGHT..hang close to Clemson…but Georgia is quite a different animal especially this year. We may be looking at another 50 something points scored on us by the mutts
buzzwax
September 24th, 2012
9:56 am
Giff Smith!!!
Vad Lee!!
ramblingbuzz
September 24th, 2012
9:59 am
Josh Nesbitt was a stud. He made many 3rd and 4th down conversions on sheer will power with no blocking in some cases. I’m not knocking Washington, he does a decent job executing the offense. But he is not a guy who is going to run through a lineman or LB to get a yard.
Brian
September 24th, 2012
10:00 am
It hasnt been lost on many that 2012 would be the 10th anniversary of the beatdown in Athens- the sad part is, UGA seems poised to be able to do it again. CPJ and Groh need to go!
GT fan sick of this
September 24th, 2012
10:00 am
Old Timer..well said. I drove 600 miles round trip to see that crap.
“He didn’t stick with [the toss]
but he’s the leader and I trust him”..what a joke! LEADER? I will not waste my time anymore. At least for a time, I can’t take this sorry a@@ game plan and no defense. How many more games like this will we have to put up with.
ramblingbuzz
September 24th, 2012
10:04 am
Pass rush, pass rush! Calling the GT pass rush. MIA. Another victim of the 3-4 defense?
UGA = Yawn
September 24th, 2012
10:06 am
Todd, I watched Clemson / FSU. We will NOT stay with them. Super, super fast. Faster than UGA. You have it reveresed. No chance vs Clemson. Slight, slight chance vs UGA.
travis
September 24th, 2012
10:06 am
where is supersize and his 11-1 predictions? lmfao!!
jj
September 24th, 2012
10:08 am
All we needed was one yard twice…all they needed was 91 yards.. Big difference as to who wanted to win the most.
Is Hewitt hiding on the sideline?
ramblingbuzz
September 24th, 2012
10:12 am
Everyone on here calling for CPJ’s & CAG’s head just settle down and be patient! Things will get better. Just as soon as CPJ learns that you can throw a forward pass inside the 10 yard line and CAG learns that 5 O linemen can always block 3 D linemen. And besides, you are are asking too much for anyone with a clue about coaching fottball to accept the GT job. The acdemics are just too tough here and we can’t recruit the 4 * atheletes. Accept the status quo and don’t expect the team to actually win football games. That’s being a little too ambitious!
Too Easy
September 24th, 2012
10:15 am
I smell dwag squeeze.
Ken D
September 24th, 2012
10:17 am
Johnson won’t play vad cause he doesn’t want to risk missing a bowl game and ending that streak. And to think Miami had what 2 studs on defense out for the game? The play calling on crucial plays is sooo predicatable by Johnson. And people call this clown a genius? Well, i see this as a 5 to 6 loss team. Byu will beat tech. And of course clem and uga. And probably someone else. Johnson isn’t what many on here thought. It’s time to move on.
old dog
September 24th, 2012
10:18 am
I pull for y’all except when you play us. I just am not sure the “criple” option will bring in the players y’all need. I know the defense was tired, but to give up as many yards aas you did should not happen even if they are on the field all day! I fear that the system, more so than the academics, could be the problem. Like it or not, in todays time I just ain’t sure you can get the hosses you need. Something is just missing………..
Jacket Man
September 24th, 2012
10:20 am
GA Tech scored more than enough points to win the game; the Offense wasn’t the reason the Jackets lost; bottom line, it was the Defense. One “bad” play in overtime would never had happened if the Defense would have done their job in regulation. Anyone trying to insinuate the Jacket Offense, including Tevin Washington, wasn’t effective, needs to ask themselves, how many points does ANY offense HAVE to score to win a game?
Shouldn’t 36 be enough, especially against a team that ONLY SCORED 38 against BETHUNE-COOKMAN? The Jacket Defense gave up MORE POINTS to Miami than Bethune-Cookman did. Think about it. No, GA Tech’s Offense wasn’t the problem Saturday, it was their Defense.
damngooddawg!
September 24th, 2012
10:21 am
I’ve always bashed Tech’s “high school offense”. But the offense played very well…well enough that they should have won. They showed that by coming back from a 19 point deficit. Gotta get more big time defensive players…and get your heads up, Techies…you’re my feudin’ cousins and I don’t like it when you start hangin’ your heads. It’s a long season…
MC
September 24th, 2012
10:23 am
This ain’t Navy Paul. You’re over your head.
MC
September 24th, 2012
10:28 am
Jacket Man….this offense will never beat the top tier defenses in this country. There are enough weak sisters in the ACC to get the 7, maybe 8 wins. But get real. Take it over to the SEC and PJ finishes close to the cellar in both divisions. Look what happens every time we get to a bowl. Look at that Iowa game. Grantham’s D will eat this thing alive come November. That Jones kid might even kill a QB. Get real for a change.
ramblingbuzz
September 24th, 2012
10:30 am
damngood………You’re right about the O & D. Just tough to see the team consistently snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. And we could win out like UGA did last year. But I’m not counting on it uness the coaches make a few changes.
blueridgegt
September 24th, 2012
10:35 am
Guy throws the ball 52 times—not one sack. Great day an lots of fun fot the Miami qb
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
10:36 am
Look, I find ONE fault with CPJ. Not play calling. Not the scheme. Not any of that.
Paul Johnson is too conservative in PERSONNEL DECISIONS. Vad Lee coulda won the QB job LAST YEAR. More athletic, better arm than TW, and you coulda said that in 20010 when Vad was a junior in HS. But CPJ plays it conservative, wants to redshirt lee, then won’t have a real “open” QB competition because he knows what Tevin can do.
CPJ needs to grow some nut$ and start Vad NOW. Quit being a lil girl about it.
TRUTH HURTS
September 24th, 2012
10:36 am
if GT doesn’t man up against the big boys, with all the realignment, GT will become a 1AA school . I went to a 1AA school and even when you win the national title in football, it is not the same feeling.
How did Bobby Ross do it? Just curious…
How does Tech recruit 4 and 5 stars? Well start by getting once Bachelors of Arts degree in the school. I realize the Tech alum are the ones that hand over all the money. But get off your high horses and realize this isn’t the 50’s anymore. You need a fan base that isn’t just alumni.
In fact, you need fans that are up that scream and holler the entire game and not just sitting there like lumps on a log. I was at the game and was shocked how many alumni just sit there with no emotion whatsoever while Miami fans were screaming the whole time. I was embarassed for Tech. And when I screamed, all I got was dirty looks. I wish I were kidding. The students and young people are up but it takes more. If the ticket office would have allowed me a ticket by the kids with the yellow wigs on with the painted letters on them, I would have been better off so that I could yell and cheer the entire game with them instead of getting hard stares from Tech alumni like I was disturbing them. This was the most important home game of the season if you were not going to yell and scream for your team at this game, then when were you?
I have said this many times. Sometimes GT is its own worse enemy. You need fans like me.
I am not entirely happy with some of the coaching staff either and hope changes are made but the fans have no excuse.
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
10:38 am
Again, blaming the defense is easy, but delve deeper a little bit. How can ANY defense play well when the offense gets 4 1st downs in the last 25 minutes of the game? When the defense is already getting tired, TW can’t lead the offense to anything meaningful.
This is TW. Not groh. Not CPJ. Well, it is CPJ for sticking with TW.
TW cost us the VT game and the Miami game with two dumb decisions. Period.
Ryan
September 24th, 2012
10:39 am
Gt was a 14 point favorite against Miami
The Truth
September 24th, 2012
10:39 am
If you want to improve attendance Saturday, fire Al Groh today. He should have been fired last year (heck, he never should have been hired to begin with). If he is back next season, then he and PJ are both going to be shown the door at the end of the year.
The remaining home games are all not just ‘must wins’, they are ‘must dominates’
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
10:41 am
Can’t blame al groh for injuries in the defensive backfield.
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
10:42 am
Can’t blame al groh for missed tackles.
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
10:42 am
can’t blame al groh for the offensive doing nothing to keep the defense off the field the last 25 minutes of the game.
MC
September 24th, 2012
10:43 am
Win out ramblingbuzz? UGA and Clemson are on the schedule. What are you smoking?
Ryan
September 24th, 2012
10:43 am
Agreed Joe. The offense and special teams and pj’s play calls set up miami with good field position many times.
calvin
September 24th, 2012
10:44 am
When it appears the gods are against you, what do you do?
In the 2010 Virgina Tech game when Washington had to take over,
Tech was right on the verge of winning, but wait, a bad call robbed
them. In the 2009 Georgia game, a perfect pass deep into Georgia
territory was setting up a likely Tech win, but wait, a great receiver
who never dropped the ball, dropped the ball. In the 2010 Georgia
game, Tech’s great come from behind effort was tying the game
late, but wait, they missed the extra point. And now these two
big overtime losses, sealed by the mental errors of a smart and
poised quarterback. It’s looking more and more like Greek tragedy
than football.
AntoineFord
September 24th, 2012
10:47 am
Say what you want, but Tech’s always gotten good athletes before. In fact, over a dozen of Gailey’s recruits are now in the NFL. The fact that he never did anything while they were at Tech is a testament to his incompetence, but he did get some real superstars in and through school (Calvin, Dwyer, Burnett, Derrik Morgan, D. Thomas, etc …)
ramblingbuzz
September 24th, 2012
10:48 am
MC…………..I did say “could” not “will”. I certainly won’t bet the house on it. Not as long as CPJ is calling the shots.
GIVE ME A BREAK
September 24th, 2012
10:50 am
The 4th down play to try to get the D to jump offside is also time for our D to get some extra rest. It can be like an extra time out.
Too Easy
September 24th, 2012
10:57 am
If he’s going to run the stupid 4th down pull them offside play three or four times a game, why doesn’t he at least change the motion? Pulling the two A backs to the QB has been seen a thousand times by anyone who cares to look.
ramblingbuzz
September 24th, 2012
10:58 am
Excuse: Academics too tough to recruit top talent.
Excuse: Don’t have the liberal arts degrees to recruit.
Excuse: No proven head coach wants to coach at GT.
Excuse: CPJ has 3 years remaining on his contract.
Excuse: Fans don’t support the team.
Excuse: Fans don’t yell and cheer at the games.
Excuse: Don’t have enough 4 & 5 star athletes.
Let’s quit making excuses and tell it like it is: This team is underperforming. They do not appear to be well coached. The coaches are ho-hum on the sidelines. So are the players. Winning is contagious. So is losing. Right now we are losing against teams who are well coached and have a stronger desire to win. Just fix it.
www
September 24th, 2012
10:59 am
tech will be fine. 2012 can still be a special year.
a little pressure on the opposing QB would make a world of difference.
UGA = Yawn
September 24th, 2012
11:04 am
Enough with the ‘36 points should be enough to win the game’. It’s all relative. In the Boise St vs BYU game, 7 points was enough to win it. The point total is not issue – the play and coaching is. But seriously, the safety was the end and sealed our doom. It was fitting – as we are habitual underachievers. Even up 17 points, I never felt we would win. Why did the coaches and team not feel the same and play lights out for the entire 60 minutes!?
UGA = Yawn
September 24th, 2012
11:06 am
calvin you are so correct!
Too Easy
September 24th, 2012
11:07 am
Why does everyone keep saying we “took our foot off the pedal”, “didn’t play lights out”, “play like their hair is on fire”?
What makes you think this wasn’t this groups best effort? I think they did all they knew how to do.
Sad, but true.
Besides
September 24th, 2012
11:08 am
I love GT football, if they win or not. I believe in CPJ and what he does with the offense. I have to the point that I don’t think CAG’s defense is will get the job done. I do agree that the O play calling should be more agressive in throwing the ball, not just down field but slants and outs. I really like TW as a QB as he probably does understand what CPJ is trying to accomplish. However, it’s TIME for VL. He is more athletic and for sure a much better passer. This season is not ALL LOST but it’s time with what I’ve seen so far that CPJ start to build for the future by playing VL and some of the other RS OL and D players.
AntoineFord
September 24th, 2012
11:09 am
Say what you want, but Tech’s always gotten good athletes before. In fact, over a dozen of Gailey’s recruits are now in the NFL. The fact that he never did anything while they were at Tech is a testament to his incompetence, but he did get some real superstars in and through school (Calvin, Dwyer, Burnett, Derrik Morgan, D. Thomas, etc …)