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
2:05 pm
Yes mutts, I am blaming CPJ for his only real mistake: sticking with Tevin.
TO won’t work against any proven defense? Okay, now your ignorance is showing.
JustinSyder
September 24th, 2012
2:06 pm
GT Joe: From the 20 plays that you’ve seen Vad play, what possibly makes you think he’ll be the solution against Clemson and Georgia?
GT84
September 24th, 2012
2:08 pm
I am a fan of Paul Johnsons offense. When we won with Joe, we played a different scheme because that is the athletes we can win with. A little option, some pro set, some spread.
As far as WnE’s comments about the 5 star athletes, we have never gotten them, nor will we get enough of them to win in a traditional offense.
Silly Mutts
September 24th, 2012
2:08 pm
Name one defense where the TO has beaten a good defense consistently? I thought so. Now who is ignorant?
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
2:09 pm
Justin: from the 20 starts from Tevin, what possibly makes you thing he’ll be the solution against Clemson or UGA?
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
2:10 pm
Justin: why would Vad be different? He can throw. He is faster. He can make open field moves. He can break the first tackle.
GT84
September 24th, 2012
2:11 pm
Silly Mutts, didn’t Nesbitt learn on the fly in 2008? I think that turned out pretty good and then set us up to win in 2009? By your thinking, we should have played Jaybo Shaw in 2008?
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
2:11 pm
Silly Mutts: just the fact that you consistently call this offense the “TO” shows that you have no grasp of what CPJ’s offense REALLY is.
JustinSyder
September 24th, 2012
2:11 pm
Silly Mutts: You’re the guy who cries wolf you see a stray cat.
GT84
September 24th, 2012
2:12 pm
Name one great defense that any offense has beaten consistantly?
Silly Mutts
September 24th, 2012
2:13 pm
@GT 84 then you cannot complain when GT goes 7-5 or 6-6 because that is all that GT will ever be. I don’t accept mediocrity or this garbage TO without ANY passing game whatsoever. It will not win the BIG games that matter.
Silly Mutts
September 24th, 2012
2:17 pm
@GT 84—-My answer….because nobody in the ACC or elsewhere had seen the option!!!!!!!! Nesbitt was a great athlete that couldn’t pass in this offense. By the end of the season there was plenty of tape! See LSU beatdown that made PJ and GT (and the rest of the ACC) look like fools. Also, see record since then!
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
2:17 pm
Silly Mutts: no passing game is because of TW. Vad can throw.
Your anger is misdirected. You should be on the Vad lee bus. The offense proven itself against big time defenses. Hell, we probably AVERAGE 500 yards/game against UGA.
GT84
September 24th, 2012
2:17 pm
I am just saying the offense works. It works for the type of talent we have consistantly gotten over the last 20 years. We could get lucky and get an Andrew Luck, but that hasn’t happened. I would rather see a great athlete learn on the fly, maybe Johnson has started using the Pistol for Lee?
I do agree we either need a new scheme on Defense. I do not think it is the players. Thomas, HuntDays, Attachu could play for anyone.
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
2:18 pm
Silly: your ignorance is getting comical. by the end of 2008 there was plenty of tape!?!? Then how did we win the ACC in 2009?
JustinSyder
September 24th, 2012
2:18 pm
Silly Mutts: Medicocrity was what Tech was in 5 of their 6 years under Gailey. CPJ has brought us two of our best seasons in over a decade. How do you respond to that?
Silly Mutts
September 24th, 2012
2:20 pm
@GT 84 ” Name one great defense that any offense has beaten consistantly?” Another point I am trying to make here! Offense doesn’t matter!!!!!! You can win games with any kind of offense but you can’t without a defense!!! That is why PJ is not successful because everything is focused around his darn offense and the rest is neglected either without talent or coaching. Pick your poison. PJ is not a good coach because he neglects other important issues like defense and special teams.
MyMourningJacket
September 24th, 2012
2:20 pm
As a long-time Jackets fan, I’d like to gauge the state of The Rivalry now. Disregarding all belief systems and so forth, if you had a guarantee that GT could win the next seven football games in a row and lose the last one…and then go to a relatively decent bowl OR lose the next seven and win the eighth (but no bowl, of course), what would your choice be? Thank you.
GT84
September 24th, 2012
2:20 pm
Slly Mutts, the record since 2009 has included Tevin. I don’t think Johnson has forgotten how to pass the football, he did it at southern as OC and at Hawaii. He has not had a QB to pass the ball.
Also, the record since 2009 has been on par with the record since I started following GT in the early 70’s with a couple of exceptions.
GT84
September 24th, 2012
2:21 pm
Mine would be lose the next 7 with Lee and win the last one if that was an option.
GT84
September 24th, 2012
2:24 pm
I agree with the defense. They stink. That is ultimately up to PJ. There will be a change next year after Saturdays showing. We can gripe an complain all we want, but Groh is here for the rest of the season and I am sure we will see some of the same. But the offense has to keep the defense off the field?
Silly Mutts
September 24th, 2012
2:24 pm
@GT Joe – because Clemson’s defense sucks too! Look at WVU last year! How about our bowl games in 2008 and 2009? If our offense was so good to win the ACC then why did we lose those games? The only thing comical is your stupidity! It doesn’t matter if Joe Montana was our QB Johnson isn’t going to throw the darn ball! God man please quit showing your ignorance!
GT84
September 24th, 2012
2:24 pm
Good day to all, nice discussions. Off to work now, lunch hour is over.
Born2Buzz
September 24th, 2012
2:25 pm
CPJ better realize the future is now. Sticking with TW from here on out will produce the same results we’ve seen on the past 21 games…wins against the weak teams and losses to better teams, with no wins in tight games. The future is now…we must see Vad. Just the possibility of him passing the ball is a bonus.
As for the D, Groh is done. He was completely unprepared for the hurry up O and all the passing. That is lame.
Silly Mutts
September 24th, 2012
2:28 pm
@GT 84 he didn’t run a spread option at Hawaii and they were successful right up until they actually played someone! GS is a better example but again the teams they were playing were not the caliber in the ACC. I don’t mind the Spread Option (TO) we just need to run it sparingly and not at the end of games or when you are trying to play conservatively.
NBTTruth
September 24th, 2012
2:32 pm
WNE:
Academics certainly is the issue!
Qualifying is NOT the problem…even GT laxes it’s standards for athletes so that most with half a brain will qualify. The problem is that GT is a VERY difficult school, which does very little to cater specifically to student athletes. GT’s “easy” major for football players is the business program, which is ranked in the top 25 nationally and is no walk in the park.
Every other teams recruiters are telling the 5-star, NFL-on-the-mind kids that they will get them in an easy “basket weaving” program and take care of them…we have to try to sell these kids on a quality education, which most clearly do not care about. Even the Stanfords of the world are lib arts schools with tons of cake walk majors for athletes (see UNC).
Combine tough classes with the fact that as an engineering school, GT is terrible at offering a great social life/girls, and we are fighting an uphill battle all day long.
GT has no interest in catering to athletes, which while great for it’s academic integrity, is going to leave us with a mostly average football program until things change.
AntoineFord
September 24th, 2012
2:35 pm
If you think think the MTSU game will be sparsely attended just wait until the basketball team hands in a few more 30-something point efforts. The athletic department in big trouble.
Silly Mutts
September 24th, 2012
2:37 pm
@NBTTruth – At least its “underwater basket weaving” so that is a challenge.
pj experiment should be over
September 24th, 2012
2:41 pm
Gt Joe, people should refer to offense by its proper name SAO Service Academy Option.
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
2:43 pm
I’d prefer to call it “#12 offense in the country”
Silly Mutts
September 24th, 2012
2:43 pm
@PJ experiment – more like VCO – “Vertically Challenged Offense”
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
2:51 pm
Question: I’m curious to know if GT has EVER had a #10 or #12 ranking in total offense, outside of the CPJ years?
This should end all debate about whether CPJ should keep his job.
Silly Mutts
September 24th, 2012
2:57 pm
@GT Joe – PJ is the HC not just the offensive coordinator. He should be fired because as the HC he makes the other decisions too (ie hiring the DC, ST coach and recruiting). BTW Navy’s rushing offense has been pretty darn good over the last couple of years. Where has that gotten them?
pj experiment should be over
September 24th, 2012
2:59 pm
GT Joe, LOL #12 offense against the # 78 Virginia #98 Miami in FBS and #112 in FCS Presbyterian , Tech offense didn’t do much against #32 VT , Furman (1-3) had 452 yards offense vs Presbyterian.
Silly Mutts
September 24th, 2012
3:02 pm
“Miami was the first team this season to have an offensive play longer than 46 yards against the Yellow Jackets, and the first team to score a rushing touchdown on this defense. Georgia Tech allowed more than 20 points for the first time this season. The Yellow Jackets allowed more than 500 yards in total offense for just the fourth time in Paul Johnson’s five seasons and for the first time since 2010. And Miami’s 609 yards of total offense is the third-highest total Georgia Tech has allowed all time and the second-highest total in an ACC game. Miami’s 30 first downs are the most allowed under Johnson.”
DOC 51
September 24th, 2012
3:03 pm
I can’t believe GT doesn’t get the ball to DAYS,BOSTIC,AND SNODDY IN THE OPEN FIELD.CPJ,give our so called playmakers a fair shot.That is more than 2-3 touches per game.Great backs need the ball 15-20 times per game.Our gameplan never includes 8-10 yd.possession type passes.GT would be 4-0 with 2 or 3 key passes,and a couple of sacks.And yes CPJ,freshmen can have a game-changing impact.
gt4ever
September 24th, 2012
3:07 pm
@GT Joe
Who the HELL cares…. He can’t recruit, and he can’t beat anybody worth a DAMN! This experiment is OVER! Period.
DOC 51
September 24th, 2012
3:11 pm
Our defense is fundamentally lousy.GT defenders can’t even do basic techniques.They must waste a lot of good practice time.
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
3:12 pm
experiment: note that the current #12 ranking is against 3 conference opponents, when most teams are just getting done with their 1st or 2nd.
UGA for example has played TWO “presbyterians”, as has most BCS conference teams.
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
3:13 pm
gt4ever: can’t recruit? His rankings are on par with Gailey’s. Look it up.
gt4ever
September 24th, 2012
3:17 pm
@GT Joe
I don’t give a cuss about ratings…. 2 star 5 star, who cares! The bottom line is CPJ’s teams are NOT competitive against D1 teams… You look it up! These players are rated when they hit the field, not by some recruiting service that has NO clue, and is in it for the money…
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
3:17 pm
Mutt boy: make up your mind. You first wanted to fire CPJ because his “TO” can’t win. Now when I show you offensive rankings, you want to fire him for other decisions (ST, DC etc.).
What will be your reasoning next time?
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
3:19 pm
gt4ever: if you don’t look at recruiting rankings, then don’t say anything about his recruiting.
If you are only look at on-field performance, then blame him for coaching “down” players, not recruiting.
And if you think he is coaching “down” vs. coaching “up”, you are WAY in the minority.
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
3:20 pm
gt4ever: by your logic, if a 7th grade team loses to an 8th grade team, the 7th grade team’s coach should be fired. LOL.
DOC 51
September 24th, 2012
3:21 pm
I still can’t believe GT gave away 2 bowl games to AIR FORCE AND UTAH.FIRE CAG and CPJ.Good coaches don’t blow fourth quarter leads over and over.Watch for a fourth quarter meltdown against MTSU.
WnE
September 24th, 2012
3:21 pm
re:
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
1:45 pm
Yeah, let’s get rid of CPJ. #12 in total yards this year. #18 last year. #36 in 2010. #10 in 2009.
Yeah, that offense is awful. LOL. Get real folks.
___________
You still have your head up your @$$!
CPJ is NOT a glorified OC, he’s a friggin’ HEAD COACH!
The entire FB Program is his responsibility, starting with RECRUITING, and then Defense & STs, but apologists like you only want to connect CPJ to the Offensive performance of GT’s FB program and not hold him accountable for the RECRUITING or the Defense.
You can’t have it both ways, if you want to treat him like an OC only, then CUT his salary to about $500K per yr, and then I’d have no problem with him, but if we are going to pay him $2.6MM per year then he needs to be treated like a HEAD COACH and be held accountable for EVERYTHING.
You are not treating CPJ like a HC, you are treating him like an OC.
gt4ever
September 24th, 2012
3:21 pm
@GT Joe
I can draw you a picture… Good grief…
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
3:22 pm
I guess it is CPJ’s fault that Tevin threw that INT in OT against VT, a la reggie ball.
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
3:23 pm
WnE: blame him for recruiting? His rankings are consistent with Gailey’s. Next.
GT Joe
September 24th, 2012
3:25 pm
gt4ever: please, no picture. just facts. for once. facts. not bloviating.