Give Tech 66 points and 768 yards. Give Tech’s coach 5 stars
This is how it began. There'd be much more. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
The first three touchdown drives required a total of 10 plays, which by Georgia Tech standards was positively ponderous. To score its next three touchdowns, the Jackets needed only six plays, and right about then you could hear the Jackets’ demanding coach grunting to himself: “That’s more like it.”
Six touchdowns. Sixteen plays, total. Think about that.
Think about the high-school offense that will never work in big-time college football — except when it stacks 66 points and 768 yards on a team from another BCS league, a team that not incidentally beat Tech a year ago. Think about what Paul Johnson has done with no Joshua Nesbitt, no Jonathan Dwyer, no Demaryius Thomas, no Anthony Allen. In three games, here’s what his spread option has wrought:
An average of 59.3 points and 675.3 yards. Think about that.
No, Tech hasn’t played the world’s most arduous schedule, but still … those numbers against air would be impressive. These have been compiled against opponents who come equipped with scholarship players and scouting reports, and it hasn’t mattered. When Tech takes the ball, it scores. Sometimes it scores so fast you’d swear you were watching a highlight tape and not a real game in real time.
Said Tevin Washington, the quarterback: “Sometimes we amaze ourselves.”
We’ve all seen Johnson and his offense at work. Even so, these three games have been astonishing. Three weeks running Tech has arrayed itself for the first snap, and three weeks running the first snap has yielded a touchdown: A 5-yard toss sweep against Western Carolina, a 59-yard pass against Middle Tennessee and now a 95-yard counter against Kansas. (Johnson: “We knew from last year that [the Jayhawks] would cheat to the motion.”)
In three games, Tech has scored 10 touchdowns on plays from beyond midfield. This is not the triple option as Darrell Royal and Barry Switzer knew the triple option. This is the triple option as reconstructed by a shrewd man who has taken a scheme and dragged it into the 21st century.
You can say what you will about Johnson, and much of it would be correct: He’s cocky, and he doesn’t care much about conventional wisdom or recruiting rankings, and he hasn’t yet won a bowl game at Tech, but … give the man his due. He’s a great play-designer, a great play-caller, a great play-tweaker. One PJ wrinkle, and somebody’s running for miles.
What transpired Saturday wasn’t quite perfection, but it was close. Tech had the ball 12 times. It allowed the clock to expire at game’s end. Of the 11 times it tried to score, it succeeded all but once. Of those 11 drives, the shortest netted 43 yards — and that was the one that ended with a punt.
Two backs broke 100 yards rushing. (Orwin Smith, who’d gone for 95 on the game’s first play, did it on his second carry, which represents the minimum number of attempts for breaking 100.) Two more went for 70-plus yards. Yet another had 68. Washington threw only seven passes, but averaged 41 yards per pass completion.
These were crazy numbers, and in the third quarter the whole thing got certifiably insane. Tech scored on its first snap of the second half, Embry Peeples swooping 63 yards. The Jackets needed four plays to go 74 yards the next time, Smith catching a play-action pass from Washington. Next possession: One play, one pass, one Roddy Jones touchdown. Up 24-17 at the half, Tech led 45-17 with barely half the quarter gone.
“As for us being a high-school offense … we just put up 700 yards,” Washington said. “If it works on this level, it works on any level.”
The 768 total yards? A school record. The 604 yards rushing? Ditto. But the goofiest number was this: Tech had the ball for 27 minutes and 37 seconds. It lost, if that’s the proper word, the time of possession and outgained its opponent by 406 yards.
Said Johnson, coming as close to gushing as he ever has or will: “We played fairly well the whole game on offense.”
Fairly well. Apt description.
I don’t know how good this Tech team is, and you don’t, either. (We’ll learn more when North Carolina arrives next weekend.) I don’t know if Johnson will win another ACC championship, and you don’t, either. But I do know this: The guy in charge can run an offense like nobody I’ve ever seen, and there’s not a five-star recruit in this mix. Just a five-star football coach.
By Mark Bradley
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381 comments Add your comment
Alphare
September 17th, 2011
7:23 pm
Crowell would be 3rd string on Tech team.
TechGrad
September 17th, 2011
7:24 pm
Kansas Kansas Kansas…. talking all that trash all year….. they got what was coming to them.
AlabamaRamblinwreck
September 17th, 2011
7:25 pm
RR.com going to have to find a LONG song for the highlight video this week…..hoorah!!
Chronos
September 17th, 2011
7:26 pm
No, outside of the internet and pay per view, it was not.
Richard Alpert
September 17th, 2011
7:26 pm
Aphare, shut up. At least your nerd buddies are sort of entertaining. IC would lead your world in rushing.
Gatorman
September 17th, 2011
7:27 pm
This is a good day, my Gators look like they will win the east and Tech is throwing the ball for touchdowns. The one I expected, but as the Tech game started too much adrenalin was pumping in Washington as he was air mailing every throw. Then they got back to run forcing Kansas to pull their defensive backs up and up the field the throws went and all right on target. If Tech’s offensive includes a potent passing attack, they will be very successful. PJohnson may not say it, but after last year someone got in his ear and said you must be able to pass, and now his team does. Fact is, sometimes today the team ran the spread offense extremely well, with the option and with the passing. This team is probably PJohnson’s most potent offensive team he’s ever coached.
Delbert D.
September 17th, 2011
7:30 pm
S. Carolina – 17 Navy 14 at the half
Gatorman
September 17th, 2011
7:34 pm
Oh yeah you interloper dawgs who like to point how superior you are to Tech. Remember boys, you are an embarrassment to the SEC with the pathetic record against the Gators. I’m sure all my Tech buddies will be laughing out loud (LOL) when we send you home from the Gator bowl with wet pants and brown spots in your underwear.
Buzz ME
September 17th, 2011
7:36 pm
It wasn’t Coastal Carolina but we’ll take it. Great article Mark. You are SOOOOOOOO right about CPJ
GT Alum
September 17th, 2011
7:39 pm
Gatorman -
No one had to get in CPJ’s ear to tell him he needs to pass. Navy passed while CPJ was there and still does. Tech threw some passes while Thomas was here. Last year, we had a QB who couldn’t throw well and a receiving corps that couldn’t catch the ball. And most of the time our QBs did drop back, they had defenders on top of them almost immediately. Not a good recipe for a successful passing game. Actually, part of the reason we lost to KS last year was CPJ kept calling passing plays, and the players on the field didn’t execute them. This year, those issues appear to be fixed. Washington is definitely a better passer than Nesbitt was, and the receivers are doing a better job of catching the ball. Next week should be a good test of how much the pass protection has improved.
230gr Full Metal Jacket
September 17th, 2011
7:44 pm
Hmm…….Auburn went down to an ACC team, the mighty South Carolina (LOL) just finally tied Navy!!! So much for SEC dominance of anything except the drive-thru! I’ve always said it’s a subpar conference riding on the coattails of 2 legitimately good teams. Take away Bama and LSU and the SEC is a complete joke and arguably the WORST BCS conference!!! And don’t you love the whole “moral victory” thing for UGA last week? I thought they were too good for that. It looks like S. Carolina is really no better than they have always been — it’s just that the SEC-Least is so pathetically BAD that they make S.Carolins look decent!!!LOL.
Went to the game today. Holy****!!!!! CPJ had the offense hitting on all cylinders. It was a beautiful thing to witness! I truly believe NOBODY could have stopped that offense today. When they are hitting the holes and making the blocks like they were today, they can’t be slowed. And kudos to the offensive line — that was an exhibition of how the blocking schemes SHOULD go. They could not have done any better. Were there ANY penalties on the O-line??? I don’t remember any. And Washington has FINALLY won me over. He made all of the correct reads and his pitch timing was amazing. Synjyn needs to learn to pitch instead of keeping it all of the time (Zenon had a straight shot at the endzone several times on the outside but Days wouldn’t pitch it out to him!), actually, Days probably needs to be moved to A-back, but that’s just my opinion.
EXCELLENT game Jackets!!!!! Now forget about Kansas and focus on N. Carolina!!!!!
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzz
September 17th, 2011
7:45 pm
It’s always gratifying when players with intelligence and class win.
Unfortunately the folks in Athens have neither.
GO YELLOW JACKETS!!!
Hubie Green
September 17th, 2011
7:47 pm
Very impressed with how Tech attacked the 2-3 zone that Kansas ran.
230gr Full Metal Jacket
September 17th, 2011
7:47 pm
And NO FEEDING THE TROLLS!!!!!!!!!!
slydog
September 17th, 2011
7:57 pm
I hate to be the hater here Tech fans, but Clemson’s offense “looked” better today against Auburn. Yeah, that’s right Auburn, not Kansas. Looks like there will be plenty of scoring and no defense in the ACC this year…lol
dawg shît
September 17th, 2011
7:58 pm
Great win! Maybe one of the decent coeds at tech will be excited enough about the game to sleep with you!
Buzz 2011
September 17th, 2011
8:00 pm
You are right about CPJ…We would like to see him around for a lot more seasons. I wonder how many we have put up on Coastal Carolina? Can you imagine>>
Delbert D.
September 17th, 2011
8:03 pm
Auburn’s defense is now ranked 118 out of 120 in the FBS. Clemson looks a heckuva lot better without Kyle Parker at QB.
North ave. faithful
September 17th, 2011
8:05 pm
I think our offense can score enough to play with anyone,Our defense will be key factor to our success. We must tackle better! Perhaps some of those 12 athletes who carried the ball today can play some D. if we keep scoring that quick we may need more depth on defense.GO JACKETS!!!!!!!!
GT Fan...
September 17th, 2011
8:08 pm
slydog …..
Have you missed Auburn’s first two games??? Their D sucks! Why does Clemson doing the same thing that Miss St and Utah STATE (yes, Utah STATE) did to that horrible Ted Roof D suddenly mean Clemson’s a world beater??
Open your eyes son ……
Chronos
September 17th, 2011
8:10 pm
Wow, Navy’s up on South Carolina
UGAJD
September 17th, 2011
8:10 pm
Congrats to the NATS. Impressive offensive performance. @Birmingham Jacket – Yes is the answer to your question #2. Would love to see GT in the Big Ten, but after the ‘Cuse-Pitt announcement, I can’t see that happening.
the difference between uga vs gt
September 17th, 2011
8:13 pm
is that you will never see our ad say anything like this. matter of fact you never see the ad from any school in the country EXCEPT uga say….. (and i quote)
Michael Adams, UGA President:
There was urination, there was defecation, there were 70 tons of trash. Buildings like the Law School or the library, we’ve had to close because when we left them open the destruction was too significant.
need we say any more? only thing he didnt mention was the tobacco juice stained floors n rug.
Delbert D.
September 17th, 2011
8:18 pm
UGAJD – The price to leave the ACC just went up to $20 million by unanimous vote of all the presidents.
GTRules
September 17th, 2011
8:20 pm
Alpert, The only Dungeons and Dragons game I ever saw played was in Russell Hall at UGA. Nerds!!
North ave. faithful
September 17th, 2011
8:31 pm
Hey Richard, I thought you guys had a veterinarian school there, My god yall cant keep a mascot alive around there over a year.Pathetic!
K
September 17th, 2011
8:35 pm
Great game Tech!
Great Coach Johnson!
Another dumb dawg
September 17th, 2011
8:42 pm
Mark,
I hope we can start recruiting better… No offense but UGA has been wasting talent and a lot of kids have transferred out (hopefully dont end up in the streets) At Tech these kids will be grounded and stay humble might understand afterall life is more than just football…
Proud to be a Nerd
September 17th, 2011
8:42 pm
I’d rather be a nerd than an ignorant drunk.
Blazerdawg
September 17th, 2011
8:44 pm
Good win, Jackets. Way to let Kansas know what you are.
BRW
September 17th, 2011
8:45 pm
Alpo has a man-crush on old Reggie. That makes me kind of sick…
Captain Lefty
September 17th, 2011
8:47 pm
Now I lay me down to sleep
Lord grant us a defense
And the ball we’ll keep
Cuz we can score a hundred points
before I wake
With PJ coaching TECH
the trophy we’ll take
AMEN.
Proud to be a Nerd
September 17th, 2011
8:51 pm
Bradley: Richard Alpert has overstayed his welcome with his offensive and, now, nearly pornographic posts. Please remove them. I hate to say it, but he’s an embarrassment to my friends and relatives who graduated from UGA. They deserve better than that. Maybe, he could learn about from Tech fans, who have a more class than he obviously can imagine. Sore LOSER!!
Lisa
September 17th, 2011
8:56 pm
Alpert…Get a life man.
Jason
September 17th, 2011
9:01 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a score like that where the losing team didn’t even turn the ball over a single time.
Alpert went back
September 17th, 2011
9:04 pm
to his life……….his mommie put him to bed and told him a fairy tale about how UGA is still relevant in football…………the only problem is he is going to wake up in the morning to the reality that uga still sux!
UGAJD
September 17th, 2011
9:05 pm
@ Delbert D. – Well, I guess Birmingham Jacket’s Big Ten dreams have been dashed. I like the ACC’s aggressiveness. In the coming conference realignment, if you snooze, you’ll lose.
SEC Hater
September 17th, 2011
9:09 pm
Perhaps Richard Alpert has eaten the brown acid….. Navy could very well have beaten the Cocks today. And guess what?? They run the option… Just not as well as Tech!! And congrats on that huge win over South Central Coastal Carolina Trade School of Arts and Crafts. You talk smack about our fans but guess what you and the rest of your flunky, sweaty inbred fans can call us from monday to friday?? BOSS!! If you think UGA is gonna win more than 4 games you have truly drank the Kool Aid!! Ram Dass!!
stiggywiggy
September 17th, 2011
9:13 pm
Richard Alpert is calling us nerds. That’s some real original material he’s using, and I’m just not sure how to counter it. I know. I’ll call him a redneck. That should work. Or how about a nose-picker? That should make for some good in-depth football analysis. What if I discuss how the color of his RedMan pouch matches his neck as well as his ill-fated team’s power ranger uniforms, which worked out so well. Nah. That would be immature. Instead, let’s talk about that HUGE victory over Intercoastal Carolina A&M International, or whatever it was. Way to go, dawgs. Woof, woof. Maybe that will slow your slide into Tulane-ville.
threetrone
September 17th, 2011
9:14 pm
I see no reason why these jerseys needed to replace the WC game ones. This article’s photo is the first I’ve seen of the “new” unis. As promised, I boycotted watching the game. To me the new jerseys are nothing but a glorification of NCAA athletics at my alma mater. This is not what Tech wants. They want players to graduate, not for them to go to the pros. “New” home game unis provide more of an advertisement, more visibility, to pro scouts. Those who came up with outrageous complaints about the O’Leary years jerseys that were never complained about back then compile a new Tech at home fan base, for sure. It’s too bad they could not accept what Tech had to entertain them with. They seem spoiled with modern entertainment such as HD tv, and now 3D tv. Also, they want to see how much they can take over at Tech w/o being PhD’s employed there to profess to them.
Joe
September 17th, 2011
9:14 pm
Yawn.
Delbert D.
September 17th, 2011
9:14 pm
UGAJD – Well, they were in the discussion last year. The ACC’s action was timely, and apparently they had solidarity. I don’t see Texas and Kansas, though. Unless the Big East decertifies or whatever the equivalent is, there is that 27 month notice to leave the conference, so nothing may change until 2014.
William Casey
September 17th, 2011
9:28 pm
@Geo: GT was not running up the score. What should CPJ do? Tell Days not to run hard? I was at the game and it is much more obvious live just how well GT blocks down field. The only negative about being there live is inconsiderate people who bock the view of others while not even paying attention to the game.
TechFan
September 17th, 2011
9:30 pm
Richard A. Exactly what year did you graduate from UGA and with what degree? Apparently not literature.
E.O. Wheeler
September 17th, 2011
9:30 pm
alpert – ” we run this state”
What year did you graduate?
threetrone
September 17th, 2011
9:33 pm
those pants on this article’s photo are not the same as the WC game pants; they are vegas gold, and the jersey trim is vegas gold; the home games were only going to have a change of the interior of the numbers; for the WC game, the gold color of the pants was darker; look, I’m sick of this glorification of athlete’s unis as a dandy would do; only dandies would want Tech to change the jerseys worn for the WC game; Tech should have kept the unis from the WC game to proceed in the plan for the home games this year, thus avoiding dandy contamination
threetrone
September 17th, 2011
9:34 pm
only a dandy would want Tech to change the jerseys from the ones worn for the WC game
GTAlum
September 17th, 2011
9:34 pm
Mr. Bradley – excellent article. I also don’t know how the season will turn out for Tech, but today’s game was the best offensive clinic I have seen in a long, long time. This team is fun to watch.
As to the “Lost” fan, go back to your blog and revel in your team’s victory over Myrtle Beach High.
PS UGA fan’s definition of “nerd” – someone who has all their teeth
cattle dawg
September 17th, 2011
9:57 pm
Congrats on the win jackets.
GT FAN
September 17th, 2011
10:13 pm
nice read! If this team continues to improve the acc better watch out