Notes: B-backs struggling to produce for Tech
1. Two weeks ago, Georgia Tech B-backs Zach Laskey and David Sims combined for 156 yards in the Yellow Jackets’ win over Boston College. It was a bit out of the ordinary.
Against BYU, Clemson and Middle Tennessee State, Tech’s three other most recent games, the two backs had 149 yards combined. The feature position in the Tech offense is having some problems.
“We need to get more production out of that position,” quarterbacks and B-backs coach Brian Bohannon said. Against BYU, “Nobody played particularly well at that position.”
Laskey is averaging 54.0 yards per game and Sims’ average is 31.0 yards per game with a 3.6 yards-per-carry rate. It’s a far cry from the numbers of 2010 B-back Anthony Allen, who averaged 101.2 yards per game and 5.5 yards per carry.
“If (the B-backs) can get, say, 100, 150 yards every game, that’ll open up the lanes for Orwin (Smith), Tevin (Washington) and the other guys,” Sims said.
It’s a layered problem. Laskey and Sims have dealt with injuries. The offensive line hasn’t met expectations. Against BYU and Middle Tennessee State, the entire offense didn’t play well. But the Laskey-Sims duo is about on pace to match the combined total of Sims and Preston Lyons from last season, when B-back play was below par.
Sims, who began the season recovering from surgery to repair a stress fracture in his shin, has been laboring.
“I feel like I’m starting to get back to that point where I was, say, last year,” he said.
Bohannon said in watching video from last year’s game against Maryland, Tech’s opponent this week, he was struck by the difference in the speed.
“He’s not moving like he was a year ago,” Bohannon said.
Maryland will be a rough go. The Terrapins are No. 4 in the country in rushing defense.
2. It was 14 years ago Wednesday that Dez White returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown for Tech against Maryland. It was the last such touchdown for the Jackets until Saturday, when Jamal Golden broke the streak with a 97-yard return for a touchdown. Reached Tuesday, White had no idea he had been the last to score on a kickoff until Golden.
“That’s very surprising,” White said. “That’s a long time. You’re talking about a lot of kickoff returns in 14 years.”
It was, in fact, tied for the fourth-longest drought in FBS. White said he remembered “running through a pretty big hole and cutting the ball all the way across the field and having a footrace with the kicker. I remember (offensive coordinator) Ralph Friedgen being really happy he didn’t have to call a series.”
White, living in Gwinnett County, is president and founder of the Body Firm Atlanta, which runs exercise boot camps in Gwinnett and Atlanta.
3. Coach Paul Johnson said that wide receiver Anthony Autry is out for Saturday’s game with an unspecified injury. Asked to confirm a Twitter message that Autry’s younger brother Myles sent out after the BYU game that the injury was a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Johnson replied, “You can confirm that with Anthony’s brother, I guess.”
Cornerback Louis Young and offensive tackle Will Jackson both were held out of practice with injuries. Both are uncertain for the Maryland game. Young was injured in the BYU game. His replacement would be Jamal Golden. Jackson missed the BYU game after getting injured one game prior against Boston College. He was replaced by Morgan Bailey.
4. ESPN will use its six-day option in determining the kickoff time for Tech’s Nov. 10 game at North Carolina. The network will have until noon Sunday to announce the start time and broadcast outlet. … Johnson said he had not been informed of any potential problems for Saturday’s game due to Hurricane Sandy. The Washington area didn’t take the brunt of the storm, but power was knocked out for hundreds of thousands in the area. Maryland school officials closed the university for Monday and Tuesday. … Georgia Tech is a 7.5-point favorite for Saturday’s game.
Thanks for reading. I’ll post more Wednesday. I didn’t clear time to do the post-Tuesday news conference summary. I’ll have something along those lines and hopefully one or two other things Wednesday.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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140 comments Add your comment
fuzzybee78
October 31st, 2012
11:52 am
5150 whats your take on my last post?
Paddy
October 31st, 2012
12:00 pm
The’B’ back in CPJ offense can make everyone around him a star, but he must be a star in his own right. Without that you are faced with the situation you have today at GT. Just getting by at ‘B’ back does not translate to mismatches that this offense lives by
5150 UOAD
October 31st, 2012
12:03 pm
FB78 mostly correct. I would like to see more of the Spread Option that has a more passing element, but We have not developed a QB to run more passes. i think VAD can do that. I think VAD can be like a Joe Hamilton. Vad can run the triple Option, Spread Option and Kill you with his legs on the QB keeper when the pass is not there.
GT TN
October 31st, 2012
12:13 pm
FB78..I agree with what you are saying..I do think he could open it up alittle..I would like to see us run the reverse to the WR like we have in the past..I don’t agree with putting Thomas on the field now..I wouldn’t want to lose a full year for him to play in 4 more games..I think he is going to be special as well..to get the other guys on the field you have to take someone off..the problem with not blocking is that means a DB or LB gets a free shot at pitch man or QB..to run the offense the QB has to have confidence that he or the pitch man isnt covered..the offense is shut down when they are both covered
1 4 GT
October 31st, 2012
12:15 pm
Late in the discussion I know but………………… here is a link to the ranking of the top engineering schools in the nation. grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings
GT TN
October 31st, 2012
12:17 pm
FB78..I also thing CPJ runs what he thinks his QB’s can handle..TW can’t be in the shot gun or pistol all the time..Vad can..if he can learn to read the defense he will be used in the pistol and shot gun more
fuzzybee78
October 31st, 2012
12:17 pm
5150 I completely agree. Vad in the spread or read option like others run would be killer and solve recruiting issues as well. Not going to happen under PJ but maybe enough pistol/shotgun out of the TO can work. I think Vad is the most physically gifted QB Tech has had. He needs playmakers on the field with him.
1 4 GT
October 31st, 2012
12:17 pm
http://www.grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings
Uh, fellas, about those statistics involving school rankings...
October 31st, 2012
12:18 pm
…we all know that statistics are for losers, so are you guys quantifying that GT is loser?
Johnson says it’s not time to panic | Georgia Tech
October 31st, 2012
12:19 pm
[...] Notes: B-backs struggling to produce [...]
GT may not be, but I am...
October 31st, 2012
12:20 pm
…”a” loser…
TechApp fan
October 31st, 2012
12:20 pm
A wind turbine converts wind energy to electrical energy…slow, low power wind usually
results in small amount of power no matter how efficient the turbine.
Could the same thinking be applied to the backs and QB?. Slow, light-weight, not-so-strong arm has a small potential whereas a stronger, faster B back or QB surely has more potential (in a season that seems to provide little possibility to meet established goals).
Since the backs cannot quickly get bigger/stronger, you would think different plays would be employed instead of keep “diving” and little passing.
1 4 GT
October 31st, 2012
12:21 pm
Here is a link to the rankings of the best engineering programs in the nation. http://www.colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering
Booze Hound
October 31st, 2012
12:23 pm
Virginia Tech is a ghetto school.
1 4 GT
October 31st, 2012
12:24 pm
Here is a link to the rankings of the best engineering schools in the world. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-best-engineering-schools-2012-6?op=1
fuzzybee78
October 31st, 2012
12:25 pm
@GT TN
Im talking this year for Snoddy but next year for both. No way you burn JT redshirt. My issue with playcalling is put in a package of what the kid does well and call plays that doesnt require them to block in situations that warrant. Yea the D will catch on that thats happening but like PJ says, you still have to stop it. We have to few really talented players at skill positions to waste them especially speed guys like Snoddy and JT next year if they are not good blockers. JT cannot sit as Vad’s backup like SDays has and waste his talent. And Days needs to play A back or move to safety over the winter.
Paddy
October 31st, 2012
12:26 pm
fuzzybee78…….getting the best talent on the field will only make you an average team. Skill & talent combined is what wins you games. Recruiting is not about talent it is about knowing what players you recruit have the ability to vastly improve their skills at their position. The great coaches have great teams because their skill sets have improved at every position. Coaching books by Paul Brown and Chuck Fairbanks considered skill more important than talent because every player they recruited had talent. The skilled won them championships. It always comes down to coaching, does it not?
1 4 GT
October 31st, 2012
12:27 pm
Here is a link ranking engineering schools worldwide by academics. http://www.shanghairanking.com/FieldENG2012.html
Technically Correct
October 31st, 2012
12:28 pm
There’s a reason that Dwyer and Allen are both playing in the NFL
1 4 GT
October 31st, 2012
12:29 pm
I would say Georgia Tech fairs very well with it’s standing within it’s niche. Both nationally and globally.
old dog
October 31st, 2012
12:35 pm
@5150,
Better hold up on the praise…..Vad may be good but Hamilton, whether you are a Teckie or a Dawg, was one of the best college QB’s in the nation when he played……
fuzzybee78
October 31st, 2012
12:41 pm
Paddy, you make a good point. One thing though – you cant coach a 10.7 hundred meter time and Snoddy and JT have them. Maybe Im wrong but I think if PJ would bend a little more to the limited talent he has, and as coaches say ” put them in a position to make a play” we would see more success. PJ seems a little stubborn in his insistence on perfect blocking from backs. He certainly put a package together for Vad out of necessity as Tevin struggled. VT beat us in part because they put in there fastest WR and beat us on a fly pattern for a TD. I bet he doesnt block worth a damm.
fuzzybee78
October 31st, 2012
12:42 pm
Technically Correct you are absolutely correct!
Coach Z
October 31st, 2012
12:56 pm
There is much talk on this blog about QB passing accuracy or which QB, TW or VL, is better at throwing the ball around. However, has anyone considered the ability of the WRs to run good route to get open? I’ll give you that TW can’t get the ball out 20 yards to a WR, nor hit an open guy running down the middle. To be fair, I wonder if our receivers know how to get open when the play is obviously a pass play. Maybe the answer to this is shorter passes. Regardless, GT is a work in progress… For my enjoyment I just relive the highs like the scott scisson kick to beat #1 Virginia. Or the great throw and catch from Godsey to Watkins to beat Clemson in Death Valley, or most recently the defeat of the dogs where Roddy Jones should all of us what this TO can do when you have determination and heart.
old dog
October 31st, 2012
1:09 pm
Coach Z,
It is a gimmick offense most teams have not played against…..and the year ya’ll won you DID have better athletes. Now, folks have figured it out and you have less talent….better go back to the board; you, sir, are off on that asssessment.
old dog
October 31st, 2012
1:14 pm
p.s. Coach Z,
No disrespect intended…….I just think you are WAY off.
Paddy
October 31st, 2012
1:46 pm
fuzzybee78……you are right, you can’t teach speed. But it is the skill combined w/ that speed that wins games. There have been fast guys that have played college football that spent all 4 years watching their teammates from the sidelines. There is a reason for that!
Coach Z
October 31st, 2012
1:47 pm
None taken old dog. I’m just a whistle in the field of coaches out here. But to me, TW drops back to pass and he looks as though he can’t find an open man, or can’t pull the trigger. The former is indeed the WRs issue.
Paddy
October 31st, 2012
1:51 pm
Coach Z…..I believe that determination and heart can get you on the team, but can it get you on the field? A team full of Rudy’s would get a coach fired!
old dog
October 31st, 2012
2:00 pm
Coach Z,
I think you may be right…..but I still do not see a good QB; the system at Tech requires a “sacrificial lamb” to a degree, and no top-tier QB will play in it. I think Tech had a little luck the first year and suprised folks with something new and different. It soon was figured out, and to boot the athletic talent became less and less. Tech has a long and proud history, and can be there again. However, I am convinced that under the current staff it just ain’t gonna happen. UGA has tough years, too. But the year ya’ll are having is the culmination of bad (sub-par) talent, bad coaching (D, for example.trying to run a 3-4 w/o nearly enough talent there) and a big loss of fan support, too. Y’all have a difficult time bringing in fans, even when things are a little better. I think you need to wipe the slate clean and start over. It would be good for Tech and good for the state of Georgia. There are some good coaches out there…..Kirby Smart or somebody….who could get you going.
BigTimeTECHFan
October 31st, 2012
2:15 pm
Perkins would be dominating, If he wasn’t hurt Tech would be undefeated
BigTimeTECHFan
October 31st, 2012
2:16 pm
Marcus Allen is awesome
On Tech ending the kickoff return drought | Georgia Tech
October 31st, 2012
3:41 pm
[...] may be interested to know, as I wrote in notes posted Tuesday night, that it was tied for the fourth-longest non-scoring kickoff-return streak in FBS. Remarkably, [...]
...Take The Wheel
October 31st, 2012
5:54 pm
So… does blogging essentially amount to B&M?? Cause all I ever hear is bricking and moaning! For every half positive post theres 10 complaints. Is that your idea of being a fan? You want the players to lift themselves up, lift you up , lift the school up and win EVERY TIME?? Why dont you all (those few who actually attend the games) start showing more unity, camaraderie and team support. Real fans are supportive ALL THE TIME not just during wins!
This infighting is toxic all around. It works against everything you say you want. Recruits see it, younger players, other teams see it and the list goes on and on…
Paddy
October 31st, 2012
6:15 pm
…..Take the Wheel…..I hear you, son!
Go Dawgs
unajacket
October 31st, 2012
9:36 pm
I really believe a huge part of our offensive problems revolve around the blocking of our oline & backs. If passing is gonna happen lets go with Lee, he has a rifle for an arm.
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Vett
November 2nd, 2012
8:39 am
Current GT student perspective on GT Athletics: http://www.rcsoatl.com/2012/11/hopeful-for-change-in-gt-athletics.html