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
Jacket Backer
September 18th, 2011
9:30 am
Great day for Tech and a good day for the ACC…..Maybe the critics prediction of the demise of the ACC was a bit premature??
macrotech
September 18th, 2011
9:33 am
“Bulldogs Rule” is a fool…you’re going to tell us that we’ve looked pretty good against 3 other high school teams….then follows that little jab with this little gem, “Now the Dogs finally got the kinks out and rolled yesterday…now that is real college football.”….the pups played COASTAL CAROLINA!!! Wipe you chin….stupid just fell out of your thoughts!
ATL XMAN, espn has proven to be less about newsworthy and more about contractual obligation. I lost respect for them a long time ago…I could have told you they’d be talking about ANYTHING other than FSU losing to Oklahoma…what’s your point?
ATL XMAN
September 18th, 2011
9:39 am
unc defense is filled with jrs and srs with only 1 soph on the def line. so we will see how good tech really is on offense. we all know their defense is pretty bad. they have given 66 points total on defense to some lame duck teams. when your team has to play from behind it is a whole different game. you cant pass to catch up
ATL XMAN
September 18th, 2011
9:43 am
my point is that noone really cares about tech and their record setting day because unlike some of your tech fans, they know it doesnt mean jack when they do it against lame duck teams.
ATL XMAN
September 18th, 2011
9:44 am
good day for the acc? your top 5 team lost and fsu offense looked sad
Americus Jacket
September 18th, 2011
10:06 am
I heard on TV, and noticed several times, that GT didn’t have a 3rd down in the 2nd half. When they went for it on 4th and 3, did they skip 3rd down?
And since I’m writing, can I say that the only thing worse than childish remarks by UGA fans is the childish responses by the GT faithful. They write the comments so you will get upset and respond to them. Try ignoring the posts. I admit I have the traditional 2 teams: Tech and who plays UGA. But having to troll through posts trying to 1-up idiots is not the answer. As my mom says, “Argue with a jackass, and some people may not recognize which one is the jackass.”
Some people have amnesia...
September 18th, 2011
10:13 am
atl xmen
September 18th, 2011
12:51 am
the held boise st all world qb to 200 yards passing and shut down their running back. held to just 57 yards.
——
Kellen Moore went 28 of 34 for 261 yards and 3 TDs as BSU scored 35 points on UGA’s “much improved” defense.
In atl xmen’s world, UGA “held” them. I guess UGA “held” Marcus Lattimore to 176 yards on just under 7 yards per carry
stiggywiggy
September 18th, 2011
10:14 am
Actually, ATL XMAN, it’s you who had a truly bad day yesterday. You set a record for most lame comments per blog per day. All future future comments will be gravy. And who is this “noone” person who “really cares” about Tech?
Learn how to write, mutt-brearth.
Bill
September 18th, 2011
10:23 am
Do you know what you get when you cross a Ga. dawg fan with a PIG? NOTHING. THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT EVEN A PIG JUST WON’T DO.
Some people don't get irony....
September 18th, 2011
10:25 am
ATL XMAN
September 18th, 2011
9:43 am
my point is that noone really cares about tech
———
And yet you’ve been on the blog for hours. Thanks for caring so much.
REALIST
September 18th, 2011
10:26 am
Come on Techies who have you played?. Three push overs. Haven’t seen a Boise or USCe on your schedule Quit Beatting your chest until you play somebody real!!!!!
Just remeber we still run this state! Go Dawgs!!!!!!!!
stiggywiggy
September 18th, 2011
10:28 am
Message to ATL XMAN: Give it up. Knocking Tech’s opponents simply cannot be anything other than laughable coming from a guy whose team has won only one lousy game this year, and that to COASTAL CAROLINA. It’s just not going to work. What were you thinking?
It’s as stupid as some local city councilman criticizing a Presidential candidate for running against “weak opponents.” But I’ll tell you what, ATL XMAN: You go get that first win against a Division 1 team, and get back with us. It may be while, but we can wait.
Bob
September 18th, 2011
10:43 am
Stinger 2 – Playing second, third and fourth teams is not “running up the score.” Those guys need the opportunity to play real football, too, in case somebody gets injured down the road. Kansas could have prevented more scoring if they had played better defense. When a team sucks, it gets scored on. Sorry.
Amazing
September 18th, 2011
10:46 am
Enough Said.
Go Jackets!
Athenian
September 18th, 2011
11:11 am
Dawgs will be 8-4 even if they beat Tech. Will that give Richt another year? If Tech (upsets) UGA (wonder who will be ranked higher then), he will be gone even if they are 9-2.
Falcomania
September 18th, 2011
11:14 am
What a great win. To have been beaten by this team last year and then come back this year and totally anilate them shows how far we’ve come. Great blocking at the line of scrimmage and down field as well. This offense clicked as good as I’ve ever seen. And what about Navy. Same offense proved it can be run against anyone. Only 2 problems area’s I noticed that we have to really work on. #1 Our kickoffs have got to go further than the 10 yd. line. UGA will have a field day against us if thats the best we can do. I could only imagine Boykin running a couple back on us when we play them. Did look as if we changed kickers 1 time because the ball did actually go into the endzone. Kickoff coverage did look better than last year. #2 Pass rush has got to be better. It took Groth to long to make adjustments. Second half pass rush improved greatly. Good passing teams will pick us apart if we don’t improve in this area. Run defense played really good. Just a few missed tackles. All in all great improvement from last years team. And what about the GOON squad? Great blocking all day.CPJ has really recruited well on the O-line. Next week lets send a bunch of Heels back home Tarred and feathered. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JACKETS.
NC Dawg
September 18th, 2011
11:26 am
Good article, Mark. I agree — this is as an astonishing offensive display as I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been watching college football a long time. There are many teams out there who’ve played a similar schedule and haven’t come close to this kind of production. It’s no fluke. Yes, the competition will certainly get tougher (staring next week) but no matter. Tech probably won’t win every game (I don’t think their defense is strong enough), but they’re hitting on all cylinders right now. Johnson has the players he wants in place. I’d like to know where those that were pontificating that this offense wouldn’t work at the major college level are now. They’re either dumb or naive (or both). The question is why more teams aren’t running it. I think the answer is that they don’t have the guts that Johnson has. And he has the one key ingredient of a great coach — he’s an innovator.
I’m a Georgia alum, but my Dada went to tech. I grew up a Tech fan and became the black sheep when I went to UGA,
But I still pull for Tech every game but one. And I’m truly impressed.
CRO MAGNON
September 18th, 2011
11:27 am
PROBABLY GONNA BE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS….NOBODY CAN STOP THIS TECH TEAM…
Somewhere over the Dwayne Bowe
September 18th, 2011
11:35 am
Uh, our starting defense has given up relatively few points, atl xmen. We’ll see how good they are as the season goes along. But, if your earlier comments mean anything, then the performance of our defense last year should be cast aside as it was our first in the 3-4.
Fair post, yearofthedawg. We’ll see whether or not we can throw against better defenses. I suspect we can. I don’t think we’ll score 60 a game, but we’ll score on almost anyone we play. As to the inability to come back, the proper way to analyze it is how often anyone else with a more traditional offense or a spread-based one that throws heavily comes back from those deficits. If you have facts on that, then we can discuss how much our offense hurts us in that respect, if it does at all. I will say that I also think it prevents us from falling behind by too many points usually, too.
The question for Tech since Johnson has been here is whether we can stop anyone. We’ll see.
Somewhere over the Dwayne Bowe
September 18th, 2011
11:37 am
Correct, NC Dawg. The question has always been about our defense. It has shown no propensity for stopping anyone the first three years Johnson has been here. I’m cautiously optimistic about this year, but I’ll wait until November before announcing a conclusion.
Cold Hard Truth
September 18th, 2011
11:52 am
Great win for Tech. Great season — so far. Great opportunity to rack up another W next week against an NC squad decimated by two consecutive years of falling under the NCAA hammer.
Great to have two new members sign on to the ACC. That means we can still keep our conference championship playoff game even if FSU and VA Tech both bolt for the SEC.
we at uga can only dream
September 18th, 2011
12:00 pm
about the day when we get a real football coach like Paul Johnson…..
Supersize that order, mutt
September 18th, 2011
12:29 pm
ATL XMAN, I don’t know what ESPN you are watching, but on the 8AM highlights show this morning, they were gushing over Tech’s performance yesterday, saying Tech definitely deserves a top 25 ranking now. They showed highlights and commented on the record-setting performance last night at halftime of the Stanford game to. Don’t talk about things about which you know nothing.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 18th, 2011
12:31 pm
I don’t know what ESPN XMAN is talking about. Holtz and his compatriots were gushing over Tech’s performance on the 8AM highlights show this morning. And highlights were shown last night at halftime of the Stanford game
Supersize that order, mutt
September 18th, 2011
12:32 pm
DAMN FILTERS !!!
ESPN DID show highlights and make VERY FAVORABLE comments on Tech’s record-setting performance, both last night and again this morning.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 18th, 2011
12:32 pm
What the h*ll is going on with the blog filters?
Supersize that order, mutt
September 18th, 2011
12:33 pm
Sports Center both late last night and at 8 this morning both showed highlights and bragged about Tech’s record-setting offensive performance yesterday
Supersize that order, mutt
September 18th, 2011
12:34 pm
LOTS of PR by ESPN on the Tech game both late last night and again early this morning.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 18th, 2011
12:34 pm
Plenty of ESPN gushing over the Tech game both late last night and again early this morning. Good highlight videos too.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 18th, 2011
12:35 pm
At 8AM today on Sports Center, they were definitely talking about what Tech did yesterday….ALL the records that were set in the game
Supersize that order, mutt
September 18th, 2011
12:36 pm
FINALLY went throughh…..So ATL XMAN obviously doesn’t know what the heck he’s talking about
Buzzman
September 18th, 2011
12:48 pm
It isn’t all about blowing away div. ii teams or a weak div. i team. It is all about playing other ACC schools. How well will our offense do against, N.C., Clemson, Miami, Va. Tech. At this point we should do well, but our defense has struggled. I will not give Al a big pat on the back until he proves he can run the defense. It is a 60 minute game, not a 30 minute. Al, prove me wrong……….. Hats off to PJ on his offense scheme. Keep it up during these next few weeks.
wreckmaniac
September 18th, 2011
1:00 pm
Good win by Tech but check out Miami over Ohio State and Clemson’s embarrassment of Auburn.
The ACC can compete. Pitt and Syracuse will be good additions. Personally, I oppose all of this
ridiculous mega-conference concept because it allows now only 1 ACC team out of 14 to get to a BCS
bowl. But if you have to do this to keep your conference intact it must be done. The ACC must stay strong. The PAC 10, Big 10 and SEC may think they can gobble up everybody but the ACC is saying no you can’t.
wreckmaniac
September 18th, 2011
1:02 pm
Richard Alpert: If I were stupid I would want to be you. Your dawgs are in the basement but you still think they’re relevant. Have some more Koolaid.
wreckmaniac
September 18th, 2011
1:04 pm
Bring on some more high school !
wreckmaniac
September 18th, 2011
1:06 pm
Good day for the ACC. Miami over Ohio State and Clemson embarrassed Auburn.
wreckmaniac
September 18th, 2011
1:07 pm
When you look at it, other than MAYBE Florida and Tech, UGA is playing nobody for the rest of the year.
Douglas
September 18th, 2011
1:11 pm
Good grief guys…I graduated from UGA but let GT celebrate a little bit. I wish Richt was just as demanding as GT’s coach….he tells it like it is.
Chuck
September 18th, 2011
1:15 pm
Unfortunately, defense requires big, strong and fast, all of which come with a 5-star pedigree. You can just coach up so far when you are at a physical disadvantage.The offense, however is a function of the system and the coaching. All that being said, I thought that the coaches really helped the defense in the second half and so long as they can be merely good Tech will have a chance against almost anybody. Kudo’s to the Tech defense…hard hitting and committed. That was the first time I can remember laughing during a football game at the absurdity of what I was watching. I don’t now how they will fare against a good physical defense with speed on the outside, but I look forward to watching those games. In fact I look forward to watching all Tech games and although living on the left coast will be there for at least one. I hope that the local Tech fans realize that the good athletes Tech hopes to recruit will respond to a great game day atmosphere and fill the stands to support this amazing group of athletes and their extraordinary coach. Oh, and BTW, from an old grad…trash talk is just that.
bamaguy
September 18th, 2011
1:42 pm
Tech in the AP Poll at #25. Congrats!
GT Fan...
September 18th, 2011
1:46 pm
People … IGNORE “atl xmen”!! He is one of the most ignorant “know-it-alls” I ever seen on these blogs!
The guy has been posting every week this season how GT is going to lose …. b/c they have 1aa talent. He posted that WCU & MTSU had the same talent level that GT does. And that PJ beats out teams like WCU, MTSU, GA Southern, etc. for his recruits.
He posts last week how GT is going up again FBS (BCS Conf KU), with D-1 athletes and how the Jackets will lose.
Now he’s posting that GT has played “nobody” and that the Jackets are playing AGAINST “inferior talent”
Just ignore the idiot from now on ……….. and his friend “WnE”
Flowery Branch Yellow Jacket
September 18th, 2011
3:17 pm
Consider these statistics …
Category Rank Amount
Total Offense 1 675 per game
Scoring Offense 1 59 per game
Rushing Offense 1 428 per game
Passing Offense 47 248 per game
Passing Efficiency Offense 1 316
Red Zone Offense 1 100%
3rd Down Conversion Efficiency 1 71%
Fewest Penalties Per Game 19 4.33
AP ranking 25
USA Today ranking 24
Regardless of the level of competition, Tech’s offense is clearly performing well. While we haven’t yet faced our toughest challeges of the season, we HAVE faced Division 1 scholarship athletes, and we’ve done it better than anyone else in the country in many ways. If nothing else, it’s a lot of fun to watch!
Buzz 2011
September 18th, 2011
4:03 pm
GT may have the best ” high school” offense in the country..
The coach is a genius… Coach Paul Johnson…
Buzz 2011
September 18th, 2011
4:08 pm
Tech may be ready to add to our 2009 ACC trophy case…………..Yes , we won and it can’t be removed……………..
G5
September 18th, 2011
5:23 pm
Hey Tech haters, puppy fans, GT is on the climb UGA is on the decline PERIOD
R2-Bee2
September 18th, 2011
5:26 pm
To “Jack” – FYI – the GT vs Cumberland game Tech had only 501 yards rushing – no passing yards. So yesterday’s game was a record even compared to the Cumberland game. Go Jackets!
Don
September 18th, 2011
5:34 pm
Anyone see Navy nearly beat South Carolina? We will crush uga this year. 45-17
Funny
September 18th, 2011
5:41 pm
Uga losers call it a high school offense and it’s the #1 offense in the country.
Same delusional crap from them.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/stats/byteam?cat1=offense&cat2=Total&conference=I-A_all
romebuzz
September 18th, 2011
5:51 pm
love it but tech plays unc and they are tough and faster on def.still tech should not be ranked yet. we have a loooooooong way to go. THWG
Bob LaBah
September 18th, 2011
6:51 pm
First!