5 things that could go wrong for Tech: Most involve talent
Linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu: Is he a playmaker? (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
To reiterate: I think Georgia Tech’s going to be OK this season. Not great, but OK. That said …
Tech is coming off a 6-7 season. With such a team — and Georgia is also such a team — there can be no givens. I’ve picked the Jackets to go 8-4, and with NCAA winds swirling around Miami and North Carolina it’s possible Tech could rise to second in the ACC Coastal Division. (Can’t see anybody catching Virginia Tech, though.) Things could, as things sometimes do, also go wrong. Such things include:
1. Nesbitt could prove irreplaceable. The new quarterback is redshirt junior Tevin Washington. The backup is redshirt freshman Synjyn Days. The people’s choice is freshman Vad Lee. They’re following a truly tough act.
Starting quarterback is the most important position on any team, and his value increases exponentially in Paul Johnson’s stylized offense. Johnson’s quarterback has to make choices — as opposed to simply handing the ball off — on every snap. The quarterback in the spread option also gets hit a lot, and even the indomitable Nesbitt wound up getting hurt. It was encouraging that the Jackets gained 512 yards against Georgia with Washington at quarterback, but that game might have been a red (and black) herring.
2. These B-backs could turn out to be C-minuses. Johnson believes he could deploy Wolf Blitzer at B-back and have the man gain 1,000 yards. (Although Wolf Blitzer would seem a better candidate for outside linebacker in the 3-4.) That’s the nature of this system and the faith Johnson has in his creation.
The past two feature backs have been Jonathan Dwyer and Allen, and both were NFL draftees. Preston Lyons entered camp as the No. 1 B-back, but has been supplanted by David Sims, who once was a quarterback. Sims isn’t as husky as Dwyer or Allen, which could be reason for concern: B-backs get hit a lot, too.
3. The defense could suffer more Groh-ing pains. Defensive coordinator Al Groh made a remarkable admission after Tech lost to North Carolina State 45-28 last September: His men simply hadn’t made many plays. (He counted three.) Then he said: “There’s no supermarket we can go down to and buy new players.”
This Tech defense will have had ample time to absorb Groh’s 3-4 scheme, which was new to the Flats last season, but the question lingers: Are there any playmakers in the house? If so, who? Outside linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu has that potential, and inside backer Julian Burnett does, too. And maybe end Izaan Cross. The secondary, however, is all new.
4. The Jackets could lose an early game they shouldn’t. Let’s go on record as saying Tech won’t lose to Western Carolina on Thursday night. But next week brings a dicey road assignment: Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro. That’s the kind of game that could make the Blue Raiders’ season — and imperil Tech’s.
Middle Tennessee lost to Tech 42-14 last season, but that game was here, and Nesbitt was healthy. The Blue Raiders finished 6-7 last season, same as Tech, and will have already faced a team from a BCS league — even if it is only Purdue — by the time the Jackets arrive. And let’s recall what happened when Tech traveled in Week 2 game last season: It lost to Kansas, which would finish 3-9.
5. The talent gap could prove too great even for Johnson to override. Some keen-eyed Jackets-watchers insist this is the least gifted Tech team since the inglorious days of Bill Lewis. As good a coach as Johnson is — and he’s very good — he can’t outflank everybody all the time. Last season proved as much.
We on the periphery tend to overrate recruiting rankings, but the cold truth is that the playmakers Johnson inherited from Chan Gailey — Nesbitt, Dwyer, Derrick Morgan, Demaryius Thomas, Morgan Burnett — are gone, and suitable replacements have yet to emerge. Preseason all-conference lists aren’t the most reliable indicators, either; still, it’s worth noting that Tech placed only guard Omoregie Uzzi on the 25-man all-ACC team. If Tech is to have its bounce-back season, much coaching-up must be done.
By Mark Bradley
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
127 comments Add your comment
gt4ever
August 31st, 2011
3:43 pm
I am ready for an Angus all beef patty…….
Charlie Hayes
August 31st, 2011
3:51 pm
Paul Johnson is washed up. His O has worked in smaller schools where coaching changes allow him to win against the same teams over a span of multiple years. Paul Johnson should have stayed at Navy where his O would work and he could out score people. GT is now facing coaches that have already expereiened the O over the past couple of years and they can stop it. Just go watch how well LSU played against the GT O in the bowl two (2) years ago…..I hope GT keeps CPJ for several more years. This just means more UGA wins against the NERDS! GO DAWGS!
Tech '10
August 31st, 2011
3:54 pm
HT
You really want Richt to lose to Tech so he can get fired?
Don’t sit with me at that game
@Lex – I LOL’d.
Can’t wait to play some ball!! errr or watch Tech play some ball.
We Own You....
August 31st, 2011
3:54 pm
But at least Tech did a survey this summer to find out why nobody comes to their games. I could have told them without asking anybody. They ain’t worth a damn.
We Own You....
August 31st, 2011
3:57 pm
m I hope YOU’LL have the guts to come back when Georgia beats your JV team for the 10th time in 11 years…..and there is always an excuse…right? Everyone knows that m stands for moron…
BankerDawg
August 31st, 2011
3:57 pm
I guess I just still find it funny that people think that running backs and quarterbacks are in much more peril in the CPJ spread option than other offensive attacks.
He’s 26 years (or so) in overall, and three in Atlanta, yet this notion still prevails. Drop back passers and traditional I formation backs get hurt…A LOT. These points hold no water for me.
On D, if we assume (as I do) that UGA will be better in year 2 of the 34, then we must assume the same for GT. No games played means this is all we can do at this point. Traditional wisdom is that teams are faster, better, etc in year two, right?
Regarding talent, I find the notion in the article ridiculous. These keen-eyed Jacket watchers you speak of must be reading the ESPN Top 150 and the other recruiting Mags and don’t see those guys on the field at Tech. Tech has continued to recruit the same caliber kid they always have. Is this good? Bad? I don’t know. But there is no sudden talent gap there b/c a few kids graduated or went pro from a particular class.
That’s ridiculous.
I am a Dawg fan and alum, but I also have a lot of Tech buddies, being born and raised in Atlanta, and I guess I just have a different perspective than some. But a lot of the same tired arguments are just that…tired.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DAWGS! SIC ‘EM! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!
Boise going down….
My Head is Spinning
August 31st, 2011
4:01 pm
Reading these comments is mind blowing
We lost to so and so because of this and that – no no no you lost because you scored fewer points.
We lost our QB and you had yours – ours was a freshman.
We will get 21 TD’s in our first three games – well I would hope so – those three teams are pitiful.
If frogs had wings and pigs could fly………LMAO at techies.
Saban
August 31st, 2011
4:09 pm
Mark,
Just in Richt caught wearing red panties in his hair salon in Athens. Should be a great story for you to follow up on.
GT Fan
August 31st, 2011
4:13 pm
My head is spinning…redshirt freshman. AM was a redshirt freshman. He wasn’t all brand new.
My Head is Spinning
August 31st, 2011
4:24 pm
GTFan he still had zero game experience.
You guys are fired up because a converted QB (that would never play QB) beat out your top RB. I would be worried.
You guys talk about being loaded at B Back (whatever a B Back is) because you have a dozen of them. which is yet more spin – it doesn’t matter if you have a hundred of them if they are all low on talent.
One of you guys talked about the beefy OL – LOL. I could go on and on but it is pointless. The best I can do is ask who on your two deep roster could play in the SEC or even the top tier ACC teams.
I know I know CPJ can coach them up because he did it at Navy blah blah blah. For the record Navy players are tough and disciplined.
When you guys win a major bowl game I’ll reconsider. Hell I’ll reconsider when you guys win the ACC or beat UGA. Until then you are delusional spin masters.
GT45
August 31st, 2011
4:34 pm
I wonder why I even bother reading. One thing that could go right for Tech is that Bradley gets a job in Ord, Nebraska as editor of the sports page.
LawDawg
August 31st, 2011
4:44 pm
“Although Wolf Blitzer would seem a better candidate for outside linebacker in the 3-4″
That might be the best thing you have ever written
UWGJacket03
August 31st, 2011
4:44 pm
My Head is Spinning…all this coming from the most underachieving team in the SEC. Your QB was a Fr(R) and ours was a So(R). Not that big of a difference. Nesbit would have made a difference. But that’s not an excuse.
Players on our 2 Deep that could play in the SEC? I’ll give you two on each side of the ball that would start: Offense: Omoregie Uzzi and Stephen Hill. Defense: Jeremiah Attaochu and Isaiah Johnson.
You’ll reconsider when we win the ACC? Done that already. Beat UGA? Will do that again this year. The “Dream Team” will remain just that, a fantasy drummed up in the imagination of a 5 Star laden, underachieving, middle of the pack team that will lose it’s head coach in the next 2 yrs.
beebee
August 31st, 2011
4:44 pm
Jackets need to win those first two games. Anything less would be disastrous.
bee
gt4ever
August 31st, 2011
4:48 pm
Anything can happen Bee, but the probability is very slim that we lose the first two games….. We had better blow these teams out… Anything less than that would be embarrassing….
GT GRAD
August 31st, 2011
5:07 pm
Mark Bradley should be banned by the AJC brass from writing ANY stories/blogs/pieces about GT.
Could it be that most of the decision-makers at the AJC laugh and like it when one of their “reporters” (yeah right) skews everything is such a negative light with regard to GT??????
Mark Bradley
August 31st, 2011
5:20 pm
Thanks, LawDawg.
Mark Bradley
August 31st, 2011
5:24 pm
Far be it from me to rain on anyone’s high dudgeon, but …
I wrote a very similar little something about Georgia two days ago.
Make Me Happy
August 31st, 2011
5:43 pm
Washington and Sims lead the scorers, and Groh’s defense grohs up, and wraps ‘em up, in Tech’s 11-1 honey of a season (including the win over the Dogs on Grant Field).
Meanwhile, Dan Radakovich finds a way to fill Bobby Dodd stadium with hi-tech grads brought back from the ends of the earth. UGA continues to party, and burst Sanford with student-simulators, and holiday rednecks.
UGA goes 9-3, and Mark Richt lives to fight another day.
THE DUDE
August 31st, 2011
5:43 pm
DO NOT BE SURPRISED IF THOSE CAROLINA GUYS WHUP UP ON THOSE BEES. I LL SAY WC 27 ga tech 3.
Gorilla Biscuit
August 31st, 2011
5:46 pm
Mark, could you only think of five things? Shoot me an email. I can give you a follow up column.
The Dude
August 31st, 2011
5:46 pm
Is on Crack!
GT71
August 31st, 2011
6:08 pm
Can’t wait till Thursday night – for one reason. All this talk-talk will stop and the games will begin.
No one has a clue about either Tech or UGA – just observations newspaper filler. Both teams are questions until toe meets leather (sorry, Al).
Been around a long time – saw Tech beat Bama stopping the 2-point try (thank God Bear – curse him and Darwin Holt forever – put in Hurl-butt and sat Broadway Joe in the 7-6 classic) and grad-geated in 71, so the good, bad and ugly is old hat by now.
Just play, guys and fer crissakes RUN THE OFFENSE!
AMG
August 31st, 2011
6:29 pm
I follow recruiting and have for years and this is one of the more talented groups of guys to hit the flats in quite a while, they are young though. I look for them to be a VERY good D by the end of the year and overall a great team. The Offense is the real question this year, there are questions with the line and that can destroy a team, but we have three warm up games so hopefully that will shore up early. 10-2 is a realistic look at this year. 8-4 is a pessimist trying to sell news papers dream.
NYJacket
August 31st, 2011
9:43 pm
SO?
lee
September 1st, 2011
11:35 am
You lost me in the first paragraph when you said Nesbitt got hurt, as if he was hurt running the option. He threw a pick and broke his arm trying to tackle someone, didn’t Christian Ponder running a pro-style dislocate his shoulder once upon a time, HAD TO BE THE OFFENSE he was running!
Robert Barron
September 1st, 2011
12:02 pm
I’m not “the people” as my choice is whoever the head coach, who watches the competition all day, puts in the starting lineup at every position.
Tevin deserves his short.
It was not his fault that our un-special team missed an extra point when he had quarterbacked us to what should have been a tie 35 all game vs the arch rival.
Tevin did his part in that game and others did not.