Tech notes: Washington holds lead at quarterback
1. The path to playing time for Georgia Tech backup quarterback Vad Lee leads through the Rose Bowl practice fields. It sounds like Lee is in a holding pattern.
“He’s doing,” coach Paul Johnson said of Lee’s practice work, a less-than-glowing endorsement. “He’s not beating anybody out, if that’s what you’re asking.”
In the wake of the Yellow Jackets’ three-game losing streak, Lee has predictably become a fan favorite, but has not shown coaches enough in practice to merit playing time in place of starter Tevin Washington.
“Will Vad Lee get more time? That depends on Vad Lee,” Johnson said on his radio show last Wednesday. “Vad needs to earn more time. I’m not real big on giving somebody something that they don’t take just because somebody thinks he ought to have it.”
Another obstacle for Lee has been that the defense’s ineffective play has given the offense little margin for error, which has made it difficult for coaches to substitute or take other chances as much as they might like.
On the show, Johnson offered a defense of Washington, saying that younger quarterbacks such as Lee and Justin Thomas may have size or speed advantages over Washington, but that they can’t move the ball as consistently as Washington. Tech is fourth in the ACC in scoring and second in third-down efficiency. He leads the ACC in scoring at 13.0 points per game and, had he enough pass attempts to qualify for ranking, would be second in pass efficiency.
Said Johnson, “Tevin Washington is not the problem, people.”
2. Tech returned nearly all of its injured regulars to practice Monday, its first practice after the only open weekend of the season. As the Jackets prepared for Boston College, only center Jay Finch was in a gold jersey, indicating non-contact status. Catlin Alford subbed for Finch after he left the Clemson game Oct. 6 with a bruised calf.
Safety Fred Holton, who has been out the entire season with a lingering foot injury, ran Monday. Johnson said that it is “very doubtful” that he would play against the Eagles.
Tech returned to practice after working out Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of last week.
Said Johnson, “It wasn’t quite as good as last week. You could tell we’ve had a couple days off.”
3. Johnson’s assessment of Boston College, which is 1-5 after a 51-7 loss to Florida State on Saturday:
“They’ve moved the ball fairly well against most people and the last couple games, they’ve struggled a little bit defensively because they’ve given up so many big plays.”
Boston College is ranked 115th out of 120 FBS teams in total defense (499.7 yards per game) and 96th in scoring defense (32.7 points per game).
4. Tech will play its home game against BYU on Oct. 27 at 3 p.m., the same time as the Jackets’ game this week against Boston College. Both games will be broadcast on regional sports networks, including Fox Sports South in the Atlanta market.
5. Johnson said he spent his off day Saturday watching games on television, flipping back and forth.
Asked if he enjoyed the commentating on the broadcasts, Johnson replied, “Yeah. If we don’t start winning, that’ll be my next career.”
6. Safety Isaiah Johnson will be the seventh player to wear the No. 40 jersey Saturday to honor former linebacker Julian Burnett. He is the second junior to wear the number in salute of Burnett, who suffered a career-ending neck injury in last season’s Sun Bowl. Linebacker Chris Crenshaw was the first non-senior to wear it. …
The ticket office is running a “Family Four Pack” promotion for Saturday’s game. Fans can purchase four tickets, with four hot dogs and four soft drinks, for $100. Tickets are available at 1-888-832-4849. Prior to the game, McCamish Pavilion will be open to visitors from noon to 2 p.m. …
Tech is a 14-point favorite over the Eagles.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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184 comments Add your comment
GT IN
October 16th, 2012
8:15 pm
Take out the FCS schools the top schools played and their average would be even worst than what it is now. We know how they beat up on lil’ guys the first few weeks of the season.
GT Joe
October 16th, 2012
8:25 pm
total offense? I’m talking scoring. You know, points? Which matter more than yards?
Go here: http://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/stat/points-per-game
Bama is #9 in points.
Oregon #2
UGA #8
KSU #16
Clemson #7
Texas #5
Yeah, #36 is FINE. Good enough to be a top 36 team in the country!
Here’s another stat: we are #66 in 2nd half scoring. Yeah, offense is fine. LOL
GT Joe
October 16th, 2012
8:26 pm
That link takes out FCS teams, FYI.
GT TN
October 16th, 2012
8:28 pm
GT Joe..I think most “normal” fans would say that a lost to Kansas asfter they had lost to North Dakota State was a worse lost..the int TW threw against VT was the single play that lost the game..funny you don’t bring up the TD pass and 4th down pass in last 2 minutes of game..if Nesbitt had the defense that TW has he would have had a losing record as well..with the same DC (AG) as TW has had..Nesbitt was 4-4 in his same time with AG as DC if you take away the South Car State win..by the way Nesbitt only completed 1 pass against S Car S..what Vad stats are so great..the 6 for 9 with for 131 yards and 19 carries for 199..take away the PC like you said and his stats are 10 carries for 93 yards and 5 for 6 for 116..those numbers are worst than TW did in 1 game against Clemson..TW is playing against first string and Vad best stats coming against 3rd string..it is a good thing you don’t coach football you would never have job…under you thought process we need to fast forward to last 2 minutes and play football..when you did your numbers for 36 in scoring..did you take out everyones FCS games or just Tech..your facts are flawed..that number isn’t correct if you take everyones else FCS games away..by the way..have you ever played a down of football in your life????
GT TN
October 16th, 2012
8:36 pm
By the way..Nesbitt only finished in the top 25 1 time out of his 4 years at QB
1 4 GT
October 16th, 2012
8:38 pm
I guess the leg humpers are back….as if they don’t have enough to worry about….#2 UFl coming up for them & got embarrassed by USCe…..but bless their “widdle hearts thems worried bout us’ns”….ain’t that sweet of them to care……………………………………..LOL
GT Joe
October 16th, 2012
8:39 pm
TN: Kansas a worse loss? When did THEY join the Sun Belt? LOL.
Funny I don’t bring up the VT TD pass? Look, funny you don’t bring the fact that Tevin led us to 10 points TOTAL prior to that TD pass. Against the #65 defense in the country. thats sad.
Vad played 3rd stringers? In what game? UVA had 3rd stringers in when Vad scored a TD in the 2nd quarter? MTSU had 3rd stringers in the 1st quarter? Right.
As for scoring ranks, look at the link i posted. No FCS games. OWNED.
GT Joe
October 16th, 2012
8:42 pm
TN: Nesbitt’s 2nd year as starter: #14 in scoring offense
TW’s 2nd year as starter #28
3rd year: #35
GT IN
October 16th, 2012
8:43 pm
OK Joe, pts. Let’s hear how many points in your eyes is enough to win? Forget all the FBS BCS. No matter how you screw the numbers if the defense gives up 1 more point than the offense can score, we lose. Simply as that. So scoring on an average of 37 points per game is very good but still do not guarantee a win. Ask the dearly departed Al Groh.
GT Joe
October 16th, 2012
8:54 pm
GT IN: You are missing the point. I don’t care about points as much as WHEN the points are scored. You and CPJ and the other sheep keep pointing to the 33.6/game. What I’m saying is:
1. Doesn’t matter how much you score when you can’t score in OT. It is impossible to win a game without scoring in OT.
2. Doesn’t matter that you score 21 in the 1st half when you only score 7 in the 2nd half (MTSU).
3. Doesn’t matter that you score 36 points in a row, when you can’t score in the last 25 minutes of regulation and the OT period (Miami).
4. Doesn’t matter that you had a nice TD pass with 44 seconds to go when you throw a pick in OT (VT).
Yeah, we scored a lot on Presby and Miami. But when we NEEDED points to win a close game, this offense failed under TW.
GT Joe
October 16th, 2012
8:58 pm
meant to say presby and uva
GT IN
October 16th, 2012
9:03 pm
Got you Joe, with all of your points I didn’t see anything about the defense getting some three and outs, holding a lead, making critical stops in OT, making a tackle, etc. What about special teams. Do they count or is the game won and lost only on the offensive side of the ball
GT Joe
October 16th, 2012
9:11 pm
IN: the defense has been beaten like a dead horse. Yes, there are issues. But everyone is ignoring the offensive issues, specifically TW’s failure to lead, especially when we absolutely need it. 4th quarters, OT, close games.
You bring up the D getting some 3 and outs. How about the offenses 3 and outs putting tremendous pressure on the defense? Look at the 2nd half of the mtsu game. 7 drives, 1 score. numerous failed 3rd and 4th downs when we needed it.
Bobo
October 16th, 2012
9:58 pm
Johnson is much different than Hewitt, for those who are making comparisons. UNLIKE Paul Hewitt, Johnson seems to understand what is at stake here and to his credit he’s making abrupt and difficult changes. How many coaches in the country would fire a defensive coordinator mid-season, who also happens to be a close friend and a former NFL coach? Not many. That took some brass balls and he knows his job could be on the line. Also, he’s right about this year’s problems not really coming from Tevin Washington. A lot of the bad decisions that he has made (and they WERE bad) were directly caused or abetted by a TERRIBLE defense putting him in a pressure position. He is completing 70% of his passes, has 13 rushing TDs, and has mostly been okay. Is he who I want at QB for a GT prototype? NO. But really have we had a good QB since George Godsey or Joe Hamilton? To his credit, Johnson also relented on several other things…..special teams, mixing in passing in the offense, etc. If he will just relent and get some help recruiting, I think he can turn this around. For all of the UGA buzzards circling…this time last year, Mark Richt was dead in the water and certain to be fired….and Richt’s track record says that he is much less adaptable than Johnson. When has Richt ever changed his offensive scheme significantly, in spite of the fact that most UGA teams don’t score a ton of points, in spite of their talent level. How long did it take him to finally fire Willie Martinez when the writing was on the wall? It’s all relative…when you are going good, your stubborness is admirable. When things turn sour, it’s held against you.
Bobo
October 16th, 2012
10:04 pm
GT JOE and GT IN….Offensively, I think Washington is about 4th or 5th in line for our problems on that side of the ball. The biggest problem I see is that we have no exceptional go-to running back, closely followed by poor blocking over center and the entire side that Uzzi is not on. We can really only run the ball well on the right side this year, unless we shift the line around. So, we have a whole stable full of 2 and 3 star backs instead of 4 star guys. We put Burns, Daniels, Choice, Dwyer, and Allen all into the NFL and then the gravy train stopped. Orwin Smith is great for end-arounds, but not for an every down back. Laskey is a converted strong safety doing the best he can. I blame RECRUITING for our biggest offensive problems. The other guys limitations party make an already limited Washington look bad. I’m really sick of hearing people make the excuse about how many 5 star guys at UGA don’t pan out vs. the 2 star guy that becomes a stud….BLAH BLAH BLAH. Statistically speaking those guys are WRONG. That may be true 1 time in 10, but most of the time you play those odds against the experts and you LOSE.
GT Joe
October 16th, 2012
10:25 pm
Bobo: did you ever stop to think that an ineffective QB who is not a serious passing OR running threat actually HURTS BBACK PRODUCTION? Defenses stack up to stop the bback with at least one extra defender, because they know Tevin won’t burn them TOO bad.
BBack production is a symptom of the REAL problem: an ineffective QB.
Bobo
October 16th, 2012
10:38 pm
Look, I’m not defending Washington as being a wonderful QB. He isn’t. But trust me…if Vad Lee is bad in practice, then he will be bad on the field once opposing defenses figure him out. I guess it’s a chicken or egg question to an extent. We don’t have enough talent at ANY position right now. However, I do agree that if we lose more than one more game, we might as well pull the plug and let Lee develop. We had better recruit better O-linemen and better backs too or Johnson is on borrowed time. The high school running back in our town is a 2/3 star prospect, and seeing both him and Tech’s backs in person, I’m fairly certain we could interchange them and see no difference. I’m in favor of moving Daniel Drummond back onto offense and giving him the ball. Unlike Laskey, he was a stud RB in high school. Johnson’s early success was largely the result of Jonathan Dwyer and Anthony Allen picking up a guaranteed 5-7 yards up the middle, forcing opposing defenses to honor the dive. That set up the huge 40 yard pitches, which we are getting half as often now.
Bobo
October 16th, 2012
10:40 pm
And if Johnson does finally crash and burn…..Bring in Mike Leach and change it up 100% to a mad bomber offense…..
GT Joe
October 16th, 2012
10:56 pm
Bobo: I simply don’t believe CPJ when he says Vad isn’t doing well in practice. I think CPJ is covering his own butt for sticking with Tevin for so long.
Vad has been stellar in every game appearance, the spring game and the fall scrimmage. If he IS doing bad in practice, there is something else going on. Vad thought he should have been starter last year, let alone this year, and now his PT is so little, and now CPJ is saying Vad isn’t performing in practice. Is Vad in the doghouse? I can see Vad with some motivation problems because of the situation he is in.
.
It’s a shame, CPJ has Vad by the nuts, and Vad can’t transfer without losing yet another year of PT (in addition to the redshirt last year). He picked the wrong school.
Wal-Mart Retards
October 17th, 2012
1:01 am
Why call yourself GT Joe? You should be Vad joe – seems like you care much more about a floundering back-up than GT football… Weak.
GT TN
October 17th, 2012
1:22 am
GT Joe..you are an idiot when it comes to football..bad did so well in scrimmages that he was dropped to 3rd string before days switched spots..you keep saying TW can’t pass..he has better passing stats than Nesbit did..if you knew anything about football then you would know scoring stats aren’t all about the offense..the defense plays a part to on where they get the ball back..if defense forces turnovers then o doesn’t have to go the length of the field every time..but you don’t know that the offense is only 1 of 3 parts of game..was it TW fault that we got a fg blocked that ended our chance at cutting to a 1score..the run on 4th down against UM in OT was all tW fault..it had nothing to do with the line not even chipping the DE more less blocking him..by the way I think real Tech fan would tell you the lost to Kansas was worst than MTSU..Tech was in top 20 and Kansas won only 3 games
MC
October 17th, 2012
7:19 am
What the……..now we get 4 dogs instead of 2?
MC
October 17th, 2012
7:21 am
Yeah GT Joe. And UGA should pull the shirt off Hutson Mason and bench Aaron Murray. lol
GT Joe
October 17th, 2012
9:26 am
If Aaron Murray was 8-13 as a starter, yeah, play Hutson mason.
... Take The Wheel
October 17th, 2012
11:47 am
Joe if Lavaedeay Monlique Lee had played in every game this season, with the same D and same ST the outcome would be 0-6! No matter what manipulated numbers you dig up, the fact is until we figure out our defensive woes, the team will continue to struggle. Your kid is not going to fix that on his own. So there is no sense trying to demonize another kid for the sake of improving Lavaedeay’s chances of playing.
If somehow, he wins the starting spot over Justin next year, which is not guaranteed
, he will have a chance to live up to all this hype you’ve created for him. Until then, have a seat! Your rants are not going to pressure CPJ.
... Take The Wheel
October 17th, 2012
12:15 pm
Joe Lee – the problem is you’ve filled your kids head with all this same foolishness you post on here and its affecting his performance in practice. It all makes sense now…. you already said “Vad thought he should start last year and most definitely this year” . First of all thats foolish to think he was going to just walk on the field not knowing the offense and start last year… but let me stay on point. If you and your kid are so pissed that he’s not starting, why doesn’t he back up all YOUR talk on here and kick some butt in practice and EARN the spot!! I assure you if he is THAT GOOD PJ will use him to win games.
But he’s not performing up to your hype in practice. You know why… your negativity is toxic! If you keep pumping in his head that he’s wasting talent, blah, blah, blah then of course its showing in practice!
…have a seat Joe Lee.
TTW – out
... Take The Wheel
October 17th, 2012
12:48 pm
….. “It’s a shame, CPJ has Vad by the nuts, and Vad can’t transfer without losing yet another year of PT (in addition to the redshirt last year). He picked the wrong school.
Joe Lee- Why are you trying to start some kind of conspiracy theory. As if PJ has anything to gain from wasting your kids talent?? Whats a shame is that you expect someone to break the rules and GIVE your kid the starting position. Its not going to happen. AND if you dont refocus on helping Lavaedeay earn the spot in practice instead of trying to demonize the other QBs – I’ll have no problem watching Justin burn him for the spot next year
Einstein
October 17th, 2012
1:52 pm
PJ needs to play Vad Lee A LOT MORE at a minimum. He’s taken steps to try to improve and energize the Defense and now it’s time for Vad to get a whole lot more playing time and be given the chance to show what he can do on game day. Not only would this energize the Offense, but it will put people in the seats and will give him the experience he needs to begin the 2013 season.
My guess is that Vad has a lot to learn about how to fully run the option; however, how the heck do you think people best learn their job? It’s called on the job training – just do it. And quite frankly, we don’t want to be starting the season next year with a QB with virtually no game experience. Giving Vad Lee more and more playing time will not only provide him needed experience running PJ’s offense but I think it will help the team win now, too!
My take on Tevin is that he has played much better this year than expected. He’s pretty good at running the offense (when he actually pitches the ball instead of holding onto it for 1 yard gains) and occasionally throws a good pass. Far too often, however, he under-throws the receivers, keeps the ball when he should pitch and does not lead the team when we need a spark, a leader to drive the ball down the other team’s throats. Although I like and respect him, he’s really just a basic, mediocre QB (which is certainly better than a bad QB). If we hadn’t gone conservative against Miami, if Tevin had played with more energy the last couple of possessions instead of being content to run keepers for no gain, if if if …..)
It’s time to put the ball in Vad Lee’s hands, maybe time to really roll out the shotgun passing game, time to experiment with the guy who will be the team leader and possibly its star for the next several years. He’s got the arm, the speed and the talent; now all he needs is the game day experience. Who knows, when this happens, amid the expected learning mistakes, maybe we will see the QB that can take over a game and pull out those important wins! And maybe it will open up the offense to the point of where we actually will outscore the opponents!
... Take The Wheel
October 17th, 2012
2:14 pm
Einstein Joe…
I dont disagree with rotating the QBs situationally. But according to PJ Lavaedeay hasn’t shown enough in practice for him to use him in high pressure situations. I dont think that anyone should hand over anything to Lavaedeay. He needs to earn it. And whose to say that Vad is the man of the future?? You’re talking about preparing for next year…. Justin Thomas or Synjyn could be the man next year!! So that notion that we should just GIVE Vad more playing time just for the sake of preparing him for next year is MALARKY!!! (lol cracking myself up)!
Until he proves that he should start, he should continue to get clean up duty if and when that is reasonable. If if if??? Everything you all say about Vad
Einstein
October 17th, 2012
2:29 pm
Can you imagine next year: Tandem Vad & Justin!!! Talk about keeping the defenses on their toes. Hmmmm ……….. something to think about ……………..
... Take The Wheel
October 17th, 2012
2:31 pm
…is based on what… highschool?? Oh I get it, because he was a stand out in highschool GT is supposed to roll over for him???!! Noooooooo he need to prove himself against other players who were also stand-outs in highschool.
When Tevin played behind Nesbitt, he didn’t get “prep time” for the next year. He got thrown in there when Nesbitt and ran with it.
... Take The Wheel
October 17th, 2012
2:38 pm
@ Einstein – Yep, if the other elements come together, Justin and Vad could really put on a show next year. It’ll be nice to see that showdown for the top spot!
rj
October 18th, 2012
6:13 am
fire CPJ today. salvage some of the season
4 Tickets
October 18th, 2012
11:48 am
The ticket office is running a “Family Four Pack” promotion for Saturday’s game. Fans can purchase four tickets, with four hot dogs and four soft drinks, for $100. Tickets are available at 1-888-832-4849. Prior to the game, McCamish Pavilion will be open to visitors from noon to 2 p.m. …