Bulldogs, Jackets seeking a boost from their defense
Todd Grantham's Georgia defense ranks among leaders nationally in several categories, but struggled last year against Tech. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Two years ago, the head coaches at Georgia and Georgia Tech, both with offensive backgrounds, fired their respective defensive coordinators.
So ended the frequent lampooning of Willie Martinez in Athens and the most often heard question at Tech, “What idiot is coaching Paul Johnson’s defense?” (His name was Dave Wommack.)
As Georgia and Georgia Tech prepare to face each other again Saturday, it’s easy to see that the biggest difference between the programs is defense.
The Bulldogs rank fourth nationally in total defense, 11th in scoring, ninth in takeaways and second in third-down percentage.
The Jackets, in those respective categories, rank 43rd, 56th, 52nd and 89th.
Now, it would be an oversimplification to say Todd Grantham is succeeding in his job and Al Groh isn’t. Grantham has better players. But after seeing some progress on defense, Tech has allowed 68 points and 827 yards in the past two weeks against Virginia Tech and Duke, which doesn’t equate to a gold star on Groh’s late-season resume.
Saturday’s game could go a long way toward affirming direction for both coordinators and, it follows, both programs.
It’s easy to diminish the Bulldogs’ defensive accomplishments because of a soft schedule. That won’t be an issue against Tech. The Dogs may have won two of three against the Jackets since Johnson’s arrival, but they really haven’t stopped his option offense.
Al Groh's Tech defense has looked solid at times, but allowed 68 points to Virginia Tech and Duke in the past two weeks. (AP photo)
Consider last season. Georgia won 42-34, but the Jackets rushed for 411 yards and had 512 total. They nearly doubled the Bulldogs in first downs (32-18) and offensive plays (92-48). They held the ball for over 38 minutes. The difference in the game: Tech’s three fumbles (all leading to touchdowns) and a missed extra-point attempt (allowing Georgia to hold a 35-34 lead until Washaun Ealey’s touchdown with 1:29 left.)
When Mark Richt left the field in Athens, you could hear him exhale in Bogart.
It follows that when Richt was asked if he expected Grantham’s defense to fare better the second time around against Tech’s option, he responded, “I don’t know. I just wouldn’t predict it. If you saw that offense week after week after week after week and not just once a year, I suppose we could get pretty good at it. But to think all of a sudden that we’re going to hook it up and be good at defending it, I wouldn’t bet on that.
“Their offense is just extremely difficult to stop. It makes every possession so much more precious than normal. … The quarterback is a runner, so everybody on our defense has a very strict responsibility. If you make a mistake against this team, that’s when the really big plays happen. Against other teams, you can make a mistake and have a free safety there to clean up the mess.”
The Dogs have held seven of their past nine opponents to 16 or fewer points. But Tech’s offense has averaged nearly 37 points and has been held under 21 just once (24-7 loss at Miami).
Groh has two problems: 1) His defense has been dented in two games since an upset of Clemson; 2) Even if Georgia plays without (or with a hobbled) Isaiah Crowell, quarterback Aaron Murray is playing his best football of the season and effectively spreading the ball around.
Groh signed a two-year contract. He hasn’t yet spoken publicly about whether he plans to come back next season.
Grantham signed a three-year contract. His agent already is pushing for an extension, earlier than athletic director Greg McGarity would like, and is making noises about other opportunities.
So in a sense, the futures of both are uncertain. Maybe one is looking for a sign and the other is looking for leverage. This game could provide either.
By Jeff Schultz
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560 comments Add your comment
5150 UOAD
November 25th, 2011
10:27 pm
1eyed is your better half the one with 1eye and wakes up at attention in the morning? LOL Nite
Supersize that order, mutt
November 25th, 2011
10:28 pm
OK, guys, I am outta here. Got to get up at 6 to get to Atlanta at a reasonable time. Sure wish it were a 3 or 3:30 kickoff. GO JACKETS!!! THWG!!!
Supersize that order, mutt
November 25th, 2011
10:28 pm
Hope to see you tomorrow, UOAD.
Ol'JacketFan
November 25th, 2011
10:29 pm
I would say Mr. Scully’s girlfriend is a Damn Good Dog!
a.bishop
November 25th, 2011
10:30 pm
I’m thankful that we won’t have the refs from the WVU vs. Pitt game. They just seemed to have way too many troubles.
Dawg48
November 25th, 2011
10:30 pm
Have fun tomorrow good luck
Glory glory to ole Georgia!
Delbert D.
November 25th, 2011
10:31 pm
I’m checking out too. Good night to all, and may the best team win. On second thought….
5150 UOAD
November 25th, 2011
10:31 pm
Sully’s pic…………..he must be rich, funny, or fishing in the real deep water. LOL
http://www.ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/scully_david00.html
Delbert D.
November 25th, 2011
10:33 pm
51 – Look at his major. His girlfriend is probably thinking “Dr. and Mrs. Scully.”
Ol'JacketFan
November 25th, 2011
10:34 pm
Good night all, looking forward to tomorrow!
GO JACKETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
smart dawg
November 25th, 2011
10:36 pm
Calvin Johnson’s high school, Sandy Creek, lost to Gainesville tonight in the playoffs.
kral
November 25th, 2011
10:37 pm
kinesiology is one hell of a course …it is the processes the body goes through chemically and physically during exercise…took it a GSU…it is a bitch
5150 UOAD
November 25th, 2011
10:37 pm
Delbert she is biology too
5150 UOAD
November 25th, 2011
10:41 pm
kral didn’t say it wasn’t. it is easier for the player to get in that program and play football for 1 more semester to get to the NFL. I am not sure if the players want to finish their grad programs even the Tech players. It just lets then finish football.
kral
November 25th, 2011
10:42 pm
that is GA. Southern….Poad 51/2 you prove again intellect does not equal to quality..but provides a opportunity for a kind of objective stupidity
5150 UOAD
November 25th, 2011
10:50 pm
kral…………..I posted the degrees of the Sr players and a few UGA players have graduated and are in grad school taking kinesiology. that is what I was saying in response to you saying it was a hard degree.
Since you are being a butt…….intellect does not equal to quality……that should…..does not Equate to
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
November 25th, 2011
10:50 pm
5150 uoad, you are such a pansy. seriously?? throw in stats on graduates/jan kemp/bs statistics etc….what a puss. face the facts, give out gt/uga football stats then start coming on here. over hyped P.O.S…..you are the reason GT fans suck. Your persona, your comments, everything…sums up gt in a nutshell.
kral
November 25th, 2011
10:55 pm
I doubt you get a degree in kinese…is usully connected to phys. ed. and after your comments you want to call me a butte…lean down and smell poad
5150 UOAD
November 25th, 2011
11:12 pm
kral………..the UGA players already have a degree. They are in a Grad school taking Kinesiology.
Hell you can’t even spell it. do you even try to proofread before you hit submit?
usully…………usually
butte……….butt
Mutt abuse
November 25th, 2011
11:18 pm
uga’s soft schedule will bite them tech wins 30-24
fsu beats fla
clem beats sc and wake beats vandy for a clean sweep. then the pitiful sec fans of those schools can brag about alabama and lsu and the players they wish they had.
Crash
November 25th, 2011
11:30 pm
Ga fans say tech will never play for a nat champ but had we or any other acc team gone undefeated this year, it most definitely would happen.
oldfart
November 25th, 2011
11:39 pm
Looking forward to the game tomorrow but had a real LOL moment watching Petrino pop a cork at the end of the Tigers/Pigs game today. He thought Miles tried for some style points there at the end and likely he did but it still couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Then he chumped out on the end-of-game handshake just to further display his lack of character. Best exhibition of his lack of class since he went back from the pros to the semi-pros.
corey
November 26th, 2011
12:04 am
A magazines major at UGA is actually one of the most prestigious journalism degrees available. Grady is easily one of the most esteemed colleges the country. Who makes fun of a major before looking it up? How about looking up UGA grads that are in the publishing industry? TIME magazine ring a bell? And not only that, they’re at the forefront of new media publishing. Just because “magazines” sounds like a fun major to bash…it’s actually more difficult to get into than many programs at Tech…and only admits a few a year. A Housing major is just as beneficial to a college grad heading to the NFL…it focuses on consumer economics and demographic trends. Georgia’s housing demographer is quoted in every news article who needs an expert. If you spout off about something, maybe look it up before you go off on it. Speaking without knowledge means you’re stupid, right?
dawg555
November 26th, 2011
1:03 am
My daughter is a student at UGA and can’t go to the game tomorrow. Anybody need a ticket? Below face value
Andy
November 26th, 2011
3:21 am
Tech fans drop it,we own you.
superDawg
November 26th, 2011
4:09 am
I will be looking for a bus with a bunch of nerds standing around it.
Pierce County DAWG
November 26th, 2011
4:36 am
Techies you had better stick to baseball you wussies. Dawgs will pound that tail you yellow flies. Dawgs are physical. You techies on this blog have never played football,maybe cheer leaders. I would have loved to smashed your head on the football field.GO DAWGS,WE WILL BEAT YOU IN YOUR BACKYARD. WE OWN YOU TECHIES AND THE STATE OF GEORGIA. TECH IS A FOOTBALL JOKE.
Dawg211
November 26th, 2011
5:17 am
You Tech fans are so cute. Acting like you are our real rival. Everyone knows it’s Florida….24-20!!! Go Dawgs…oh yea…beat the JV tomorrow.
P B Orr
November 26th, 2011
5:51 am
This is going to be fun. The Dawgs will be so fretting about LSU that we pesky bees will sting them good. Bzzzz.
Joey
November 26th, 2011
7:17 am
Thanks for that, uoad (2:55 pm). Didn’t know we had a debate scheduled for noon today.
I bet when you didn’t get picked on playground games, you would walk off saying, “well, I have the best GPA!”
Leave it to a techie to bring up majors before a football game.
lo
November 26th, 2011
7:34 am
jackets win running away
true
November 26th, 2011
7:34 am
“Tech Men” run atlanta business
Techwood Residents
November 26th, 2011
7:47 am
Please come to the game unarmed,,,,,,,,,it makes it easier
Super Committee
November 26th, 2011
7:59 am
True…. name one, that runs a law firm, a bank, etc…
Super Committee
November 26th, 2011
8:00 am
well in just a few hours we will put a cork in the mouth 5150 and his obnoxious friends….beatdown coming in atlanta…. the bugs get squashed
Joey
November 26th, 2011
8:19 am
Nick Saban on todd Grantham:
““He’s done a fantastic job there because they were kind of hurting on defense when he went there,” Saban said. “They’ve really developed into a stellar group.”
“I’ve always thought he’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had on any staff,” Saban said. “He certainly has a lot of very positive experience in the NFL and some other places. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him.”
So Saban respects Grantham, and a certain sports writer doesn’t.
I think I’ll vote with Saban . . .
Go Dawgs!
Keep the streak going!
GT
November 26th, 2011
8:27 am
Refs will be big in this game. They let em play the aggressiveness of Georgia will be too much. Also the marking of first downs, Tech has a lot of inches make the difference series, with that offense. I noticed in that Kentucky game the refs in Athens gave homer marks. One drive in the first half was kept alive by a friendly mark, even the announcers who are trained to keep out of such comments remarked on it. They let the Georgia defense take those shots to the head of the quarterback several times, with both hands. The same thing cost Tech the Va. Tech game. Johnson needs to be on the refs when they come out of the tunnel, this is truly a little man fighting a giant we need all the help we can get. The reason Georgia can play three down is because they are huge, we have such a little team. Also they may have the best linebackers in the SEC. The weakness is discipline and if the refs refuse to give that edge to Tech we lose maybe even big time.
GT, soon to be SEC least champs
November 26th, 2011
9:07 am
Unlike a thanksgiving turkey, Tech fans love Johnson for things other than breasts.
Joey
November 26th, 2011
9:20 am
Dang, GT, your poormouthing is almost Munson-like with, “suck a little team.”
If size mattered so much, UGA woulda beat Boise’s butt, but we know how that turned out.
If Tech doesn’t put the ball on the ground, they will get their yards, as always. If UGA can defend the red-zone, maybe limit limit the Jackets to 50-50 (FGs vs TDs), and Murray and Co limits our own turnovers, we have a chance to win.
But If our O-line run-blocks, and pass-protects like last week, we will be in trouble.
Joey
November 26th, 2011
9:21 am
“such a little team”
JiveTurkey
November 26th, 2011
9:27 am
Wonder if the SEC will secure the ACC today
JiveTurkey
November 26th, 2011
9:28 am
They did last year
JiveTurkey
November 26th, 2011
9:29 am
Paul Johnson is a buffoon.
Georgia Gurl
November 26th, 2011
9:31 am
There ain’t many things I know for certain but these three things I do:
Booby Petrino is an ass!
Todd Grantham is an immature punk (who I’d fire if I was in charge)!
Dogs will beat Tech today (and it won’t be close)!
5150 UOAD
November 26th, 2011
9:42 am
What is the good word?
To HELL with Georgia!
How bout them Dawgs?
Pi$$ on them!
Junkyard Dogs
November 26th, 2011
9:50 am
Dogs will rumble today. Tech will get some yards, but by the late 3rd early 4th their small O and D lines will begin to yield to the big GA boys in the trenches. Georgia by 14. Mark it down.
5150 UOAD
November 26th, 2011
9:53 am
Are the Dawg fans Drunk already?
1eyedJack
November 26th, 2011
10:05 am
For me personally, losing to the GnaTs would hurt a whole hell of a lot more than losing to LSU.
Georgia 38 Tech 28
Homepage | MrSEC.com
November 26th, 2011
11:02 am
[...] 1. Biggest difference between the two teams is defense. [...]
Delbert D.
November 26th, 2011
11:15 am
Jack – I think some of the posters aren’t being exactly truthful. If the score is what you predict, that means Tech might have had a chance sometime during the game.