Georgia Tech’s defense undone by poor tackling in loss to MTSU
Georgia Tech was overrun by Middle Tennessee in Saturday’s 49-28 defeat because the Yellow Jackets could neither tackle nor get off the field on third downs.
Both are trends that came to the front in last week’s 42-36 overtime loss to Miami, in which the Hurricanes converted 11 of their 16 third-down attempts and frequently broke tackles after receptions.
The Blue Raiders were almost as successful on third downs, picking up first downs on seven of their 11 attempts. They totaled 510 yards and seemingly broke as many tackles.
“That’s probably as bad a tackling game as I have ever seen,” coach Paul Johnson said.
Middle Tennessee didn’t do anything fancy on offense. The one time they tried it backfired. They used their sideline-to-sideline play-calling to spread Tech’s defense before burning it between the hashmarks with draws and slants, or going back outside for quick, highly accurate passes. The defense played the entire game without outside linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu, arguably their best playmaker, and fellow outside linebacker Brandon Watts missed most of the first half with an injury. But the players weren’t using their absences as an excuse.
In the past two weeks, Tech’s defense has given up more than 1,100 yards. Defensive coordinator Al Groh, like all the assistant coaches for at least the past two years, was not made available to the media after the game. He coached from the box for the first time since Johnson hired him three years ago because they believed it might help quicken the play-calling. The players said that did help.
But there was so much left unanswered.
Groh’s players tried to explain what happened after Saturday’s loss, but often their answers ended with variations of “I don’t know what to say about that.”
“That’s a hard question to answer,” linebacker Jabari Hunt-Days said when asked what has happened to the defense in the past two weeks. “I’m really not sure.”
Linebacker Quayshawn Nealy estimated the Yellow Jackets missed at least 25 tackles in the first half.
No play exemplified the poor tackling like Benny Cunningham’s 23-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that gave the Blue Raiders a 28-21 lead. He broke two head-on tackles and ran through arm tackles.
“We have so many tackling drills in practice and emphasize it so much…the guys were just missing tackles,” Nealy said.
On some plays the Jackets couldn’t get close enough to make the tackle.
There was a 75-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter that gave the Blue Raiders a 35-21 lead in which Marcus Henry caught a pass in the seam and outran everyone. Before that was a 60-yard touchdown run by Cunningham in which he ran right up the middle of the Jackets’ defense, practically untouched.
“We really haven’t tackled very well for two weeks now,” Johnson said. “It looks like we’re running in mud.”
– Doug Roberson, AJC.
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74 comments Add your comment
BigDaddyC
September 30th, 2012
8:26 am
Coaching has everything to do with it…. If their are internal Then problems and the team is showing less than a 100% effort…Then the problem is team leadership. This was is really disappointing
, because we don’t expect this…. Under PJ we expect to to win 7 or 8 and not get beat by an inferior team… Beat a ranked team and be satisfied. I say it’s time we raise our expectations…. Clean
house…. and get some coaches and recruits who can at least give hope of a national championship.
spider
September 30th, 2012
8:29 am
please please dont fire your coach..i love going to college football games and paying 10.00 too watch a div 1 football game for 10.00 off a scalper is great for my wallet, gosh i cant find scalpers at gat state games and have to pay the 20.00 ticket window price for div 11 games.
Key
September 30th, 2012
9:28 am
The best year PJ. Has had here was with coach chan gailey players . All down hill from there
TRUTH HURTS
September 30th, 2012
10:08 am
How did Bobby Ross do it? O’Leary with Friedgen? All defensive coaches need to be let go at the end of the season not just Groh and the recruiter coordinator who cannot recruit his way out of a paper bag.
greta
September 30th, 2012
11:21 am
How empty will the stands need to be before a change is made?
If winning fills seats, guess what losing miserably does pj –
Rotting from the top – Radacovich needs to go just for the ncaa violations (talking to pj against ncaa instructions) costing acc championship and scholarships – and not held responsible at all – he would have been let go in the private sector, good example of how bureaucracy works – has he ever taken responsibility or apologized? haven’t read it here. Does not represent Tech.
And the football coach speaks for himself – punch someone, check, go hang myself- very motivating. Everyone wants to play for a coach who is suicidal and violent after losing. Not head coach material – remember the Walmart remarks (CEO of walmart is Tech grad) and the “r” word.
Does not represent Tech at all. Never will.
So: Bobby Cremins as AD, Mark Price Assistant AD,
Start the process now, hold someone accountable please.
Time to apply some management skills and hold someone responsible! I does not take an engineer to determine that this is broken.
Let’s move on NOW!
Stuart Slippen
September 30th, 2012
11:51 am
Is it time for “Groh must go”?
J'boroJacket
September 30th, 2012
11:55 am
I saw failures on all levels- TW not making right reads, very little protection(was he too deep and not in the pocket?), lineman not getting a push or putting defense on their knees. Defense pretty much playing 2 hand touch- someone should have informed them this was a tackling game. With his better visibility, I expected better read and communication to adjust accordingly.
The team needs to focus and play more inspired.
TImeUp
September 30th, 2012
2:11 pm
Time for PJ and AG to take their type of playing to the next level…..Div III.
Papa Doc
September 30th, 2012
3:12 pm
PJ will soon fire AG for cover; but ultimately, will need to hire a real estate agent.
Bobby Rodriguez - #3
September 30th, 2012
5:10 pm
Where is St. Simons????? Don’t worry about MTSU…..a non-conference game…..Coach Fish Fry has bigger fish to fry.
Papa Doc
September 30th, 2012
5:11 pm
PJ may fire AG for cover, but needs to hire a real estate agent
Grinch
September 30th, 2012
6:15 pm
we really are the joke by coke….to a sunbelt conference team…. can’t say I’ve seen a beat down like that in my time….well, I was at the Duke loss in Raleigh but it wasn’t this bad. This was just a lack of heart.
GTman
September 30th, 2012
7:33 pm
#1 – Get rid of Al Groh. Big mistake to hire him. If you were an 18 year old would you want to come play for him??? No way!
#2 – Get rid of the 3 – 4 defense. To play the 3-4 you must have a dominant NT. GT can not recruit the typical NT required to play the 3-4.
The offensive scheme is fine and finally CPJ is adding some new looks to the offense. However, there is no offense that can be run consistently by TW. I like TW and I think he does the absolute best he can and he is a man of great character – he is just not a D1 QB.
Play Vad Lee now. The heck with the rest of this season. Let’s get him ready for next year.
THWG!
1 4 GT
September 30th, 2012
8:16 pm
I think you hit the nail on the head GTman….Tevin is just what you said & there in “NO” offense he could run with any kind of consistency. He can play almost brilliantly for stretches & then revert to a very pedestrian not quite bumbling QB. But he is to be respected for his determination & dedication. I can see him doing well in life with the good qualities he has.
1 4 GT
September 30th, 2012
8:52 pm
Ken has a new blog up.
TRibman
September 30th, 2012
10:27 pm
Groh has lost the team on defense. No control. Time to go. Sounds like ,sour grapes. my first game was 1952 against Duke. I have been a Jacket sice. WE need help.
GTBob
October 1st, 2012
8:37 am
GT players and coaches are sissy quitters.
Bum
October 1st, 2012
9:05 am
Al Groh hasn’t had a successful coached game as a defensive coordinator since he has been on the flats. Year 1 with Groh everyone said given time his defense would learn the Groh scheme and be awesome. Things have only gotten worse. Worst 3rd. down coached team in the ACC. Worst 2 minuate defensive coaching in the league.
Same Old
October 1st, 2012
9:29 am
I was wrong. I said 6-6, lose to UGA and lose in bowl.
Now it’s maybe 4-8, lose to UGA, no bowl.
Same Old
October 1st, 2012
9:35 am
George Godsey, George Godsey, George Godsey, George Godsey, George Godsey, George Godsey, George Godsey, George Godsey… we need a Tech man that hates UGA.
PJ thinks it’s just another game, and he’s not a motivator. There’s only one game that means anything. Beat UGA!
Same Old
October 1st, 2012
9:36 am
What does Paul Johnson and Davis Love have in common?
LOSERS!
matt broom GT '77
October 1st, 2012
2:43 pm
I don’t buy the recruiting excuse. I think it is the recruiter that’s the problem. We’ve got plenty of avenues to get the necessary players through school, but nobody wants to come play in the triple option. All the athletes Chan recruited are gone. Time to make a change before PJ leads us into Div II.
Stumpknocker
October 1st, 2012
6:19 pm
Jeeze , I hate the thought of starting over and rebuilding for 2 years……….but that may very well be looming on the horizon. A new Def coordinator is a must. Johnsons’ inability to develop a better passing game, or maybe his “hard-headedness” not to play the RS Fresh Lee might also spell the end for him…….. at any rate this past game was an absolute embarressment.
icons pack
October 4th, 2012
11:50 am
In it something is. Now all is clear, thanks for the help in this question.