Tech’s spring game does nothing to change its QB rotation
Paul Johnson in a festive Friday mood. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Georgia Tech wrapped it in a nice new package — a spring football game on a Friday night in the big city — but inside was still a spring football game. There was live music (and not just the pep-band stuff) before and after, and there were postgame fireworks, and an announced crowd of 18,125 was on hand to see …
Spring football. Which meant nothing much was revealed.
If you’re a Tech fan and you were hoping for a quarterback to unseat incumbent Tevin Washington, you left disappointed. If you’re a Washington fan and you were rooting for your man to lap the field, you didn’t get your wish. The QB situation at GT remained SQ (status quo): Washington is surely the starter unless/until Synjyn Days or Vad Lee snatches the job from him, and it’s unthinkable that any such theft will occur before the Jackets open at Virginia Tech on Labor Day night.
Let’s be honest: Days, who’ll be a redshirt sophomore, has played little, and Lee, who’ll be a redshirt freshman, hasn’t played in a game — unless you count this episode of Friday Night Lights, which you shouldn’t — since high school. To start either against the Hokies would be foolish, and if there’s one thing Paul Johnson isn’t, it’s a fool.
It isn’t that Days and Lee are untalented. Days is a better runner than Washington, and Lee is a better passer. But the quarterback in Johnson’s offense doesn’t just have to play the game — he has to read it and respond accordingly. The option is predicated, duh, on having options. On familiarity alone, a quarterback who has started 17 collegiate games (winning nine) will surely trump challengers who haven’t proved they know when to keep and when to pitch.
The White led the Gold 3-0 at the half, the three points coming on a 42-yard field goal by David Scully on the final play of the second quarter. (See what happens when you hire a special teams coordinator?) The drive was led by Days, and before then there hadn’t been much driving for either hue.
The second half began with Days changing jerseys — you only get this stuff in a spring game, folks — and fumbling the ball. Corey Dennis returned it for a touchdown to give the White side a 10-0 lead. To that point, the spring game’s real winner had been defensive coordinator Al Groh, who’s no spring chicken.
Washington finally led the White to a touchdown, which was probably best for all concerned. A head coach who prides himself on offensive scheming wouldn’t have been in the mood to appreciate fireworks after a spring game that ended 10-0. And Johnson, as we’ve seen, takes an even more hands-on role on these occasions.
For spring games, PJ stations himself in the middle of the field and call plays for both squads. (On this night he wore blue shorts and a gray hoodie, making him look like Bill Belichick at the beach. Not that Bill Belichick is ever a day at the beach.) In the first half, Johnson used his prime perch to upbraid two offensive linemen who’d missed blocks.
Having migrated from Gold to White, Lee presided over two scoring drives of his own. The White, comprised mostly of the first-string offense, would win 31-7, and it scored while being led by three different quarterbacks. Which meant nothing changed.
If Tech had to play a real game tomorrow, Johnson said Washington would be the starter: “He has the most experience and the best understanding of the offense.” And Days and Lee? “They’re situational players right now. The idea is to make them not be situational players.”
It’s possible to imagine Lee, who does have a nice arm, becoming the Tech quarterback when the Jackets trail by 14 points with five minutes left. It’s also possible to envision Days as a change-of-pace guy. What’s not possible is to imagine either being the No. 1 quarterback come September. That’s still Tevin Washington’s job.
By Mark Bradley
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223 comments Add your comment
uuuhhhh
April 21st, 2012
12:15 am
At least when Chan was HC, the team was fun to watch.
uuuuhhhhh
Ol'JacketFan
April 21st, 2012
12:19 am
Chan’s teams fun to watch……………………..ACC Championship 9-6 loss……………..yeah lots of fun….
boykin
April 21st, 2012
12:29 am
Least u Jacket fans are semi-realistic..until you throw out that beat the Dawgs rhetoric!
Ol'JacketFan
April 21st, 2012
12:31 am
another of Chan’s “fun” teams 2002 51-7 loss to GA……………..tell me again just how fun Chan’s teams were
Double E
April 21st, 2012
12:42 am
Ol’Jack…-Chan n Reggie were the bomb!!!! Tied at the Nat’l Champ hip for 4 FULL YEARS!!!! Thank God that’s history!!
Ol'JacketFan
April 21st, 2012
12:46 am
Double E and who can forget……………it’s only a game dawg…………;-)
Gravy Train
April 21st, 2012
12:52 am
How many recruits committed tonight? ….. crickets
Double E
April 21st, 2012
12:53 am
Its more than a game Ol’.. After Reggie dont want 4 more yrs in The Pit!!!!
Double E
April 21st, 2012
1:03 am
Of course Josh gave us a lift for a bit.But sick of losin to the Hedgedogs!
varsity slawdog
April 21st, 2012
1:17 am
Luv my Jackets but we suck!
QB article
April 21st, 2012
1:17 am
[...] article Good article from M.Bradley summing up the post spring situation. Tech's spring game does nothing to alter its quarterback race | Mark Bradley Reply With [...]
Calvin
April 21st, 2012
2:52 am
Its so bad when do we play west Georigia
varsity slawdog
April 21st, 2012
3:33 am
We need ya bro! Can you play A, B, C or WR?
Tech Fan 1971
April 21st, 2012
6:14 am
Recruiting recruiting recruiting, and CPJ is not getting the job done, We are light years from being peers with UGA. With CPJ’s recruiting and the Hill’s strict academic rules, we might as well drop UGA and maybe go to D2.
Gorilla Biscuit
April 21st, 2012
6:49 am
“Days is a better runner than Washington, and Lee is a better passer.”
Too bad you can’t engineer a Frankenstein Monster QB.
It seems the only thing Washington has to offer is experience.
I don’t claim to be an expert on GT football but it seemed to me that at times he had problems knowing when “to read it and respond accordingly.”
With a QB who can run tough AND throw (and a decent defense), you guys could be scary.
TechMate
April 21st, 2012
7:39 am
I watched the game and wondered how it is that all three QB’s don’t seem to have a clue about how to throw off their back foot. Their footwork is atrocious.
What makes a good passing QB is accuracy. What gives a QB an accurate throw is good fundamentals (watch Tom Brady, Matt Ryan). Without good fundamental footwork, a QB ends us short arming some throws, over throwing others, and seldom putting enough zip on the ball (which comes from pushing off the back foot).
Where are the fundamentals, Coach Johnson?
bcall123169
April 21st, 2012
7:47 am
hey dog fans want a BROWNIE]
jim 70
April 21st, 2012
8:03 am
my only question (and yes, i have not read all of the comments) were there any special teams play, and if so, how did they look?
ArfArf
April 21st, 2012
8:06 am
The Bulldog Fans’ inferiority complex is getting exhausting. EXHAUSTING.
So much camo…so little time.
Gorilla Biscuit
April 21st, 2012
8:23 am
ArfArf, Bulldawgs inferiority complex? Are you kidding me? If anything we are over-confident to a fault, especially when it comes to the GnaTs.
ToeMeetsLeather
April 21st, 2012
8:29 am
Good article MB. This is Washington’s team to lead on the field in Blacksburg. If we get behind by a significant amount we will probably see Lee in a catch-up capacity. Games 2-6 should provide plenty of playing time for Lee, and possibly Days, to unseat Washington if we do lose that first game.
I went last night but did not come away with anything that that “stood out”, ecept for all of the starters standing around in shorts. CPJ was playing it pretty vanilla to get the game over and avoid any additional injuries. Mission accomplished.
I think the Friday night T-Day game is here to stay. Great crowd and the most students I have ever seen at a spring game.
How many days to Labor Day?
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
April 21st, 2012
8:30 am
The Ga Tech fans should dig up Bisher and Dodd and hang them for taking you out of the SEC! You’re still paying the price 40 years later. If you think the QB from Prattville is going to save the day passing then you’re in for a huge surprise. The kid is fast but he couldn’t hit a bull in the azz with a base fiddle. Saban recruited the kid as a DB!!!!
ArfArf
April 21st, 2012
8:31 am
Thanks for making my point Gorilla Boy.
bsg3003
April 21st, 2012
8:34 am
Wait we have the inferiority Complex? You may need to check your definition
Dirk Diggler
April 21st, 2012
8:37 am
Basically the same team back for UGA that stomped a mudhole in GT’s collective asses last season…..Basically the same team back for GT that got a mudhole stomped in their collective asses by UGA last season. Probably gonna end up the same way this season……especially if Washington is the starter. I love the Jackets and I enjoy watching option football, but let’s face it…….We’d be better off just dropping the UGA series.
bsg3003
April 21st, 2012
8:38 am
And what makes you jacket fans so sure that you are going to beat UGA this year? What makes it anydifferent than the last 3 years?
Haley
April 21st, 2012
9:21 am
Over the past two seasons, GT is 14-12. 6 of those wins have been over Duke(twice) Middle Tennessee (twice) SC State and W carolina. So Mark you’re basically saying gt is going to suck again this year.
msd
April 21st, 2012
9:34 am
techmate
cpj only cares about his silly triple option runs. he could care less about passing. that is witnessed by the fact stephen hill, a first round pick in the nfl draft, averaged 1.9 catches per game last season. he was the only passing target. tech qb coach obviously doesn’t have a clue about teaching passing mechanics.
Baby Ruth
April 21st, 2012
9:36 am
@David…”It was more fun watching Chan’s team?” Are you serious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
msd
April 21st, 2012
9:39 am
We should have taken George O back. He’s the only coach since Ross to make you feel things are headed in the right direction
bcall2
April 21st, 2012
9:39 am
how about a day on the lake? The beer is on you.
GT ATW
April 21st, 2012
9:42 am
Attended the game last night and had a great time. Hats off to the administration for organizing the spring game in this manner as it seemed to be very effective. I believe the team will be improved on both sides of the ball this year, now whether this equates to more wins or not remains to be seen and will depend a lot on key players avoiding injuries. I also came away with the impression that Vad will be the quarterback that eventually replaces Tevin. He can really throw for a young kid and I think his ability to run the option will improve over the course of this year as he gets more practice and experience—he’ll be a force to be reckoned with by next year.
There appeared to be a very heated argument between Grogh and an assistant coach on the sidelines during the second half. Anyone know what that was all about?
www
April 21st, 2012
9:47 am
lots of uga fans with, yes, an inferiority complex on the GT blogs. why else are you here after tech’s spring scrimmage? sad, but funny.
Old Gold
April 21st, 2012
9:50 am
CPJ = National Championship
www
April 21st, 2012
9:54 am
vad lee was solid – “Lee finished 9-of-17 through the air for 120 yards and two scores.”
www
April 21st, 2012
9:55 am
for a qb, days looked like a great b-back – “Days provided the Gold team’s only score with his legs, a touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. He had 79 yards on the ground and was 5-for-15 for 71 yards passing”
www
April 21st, 2012
9:56 am
““(Days) is a really good runner and excels in the option,” Johnson said. “(Lee) is a better passer and needs to work on the option game,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be who can improve the most between now and when we play.”
freedyg
April 21st, 2012
9:58 am
Best turn out in the last 30 years? & it was only 4000? We had over 44,000 @UGA & it was considered a bad turnout, lol-
freedyg
April 21st, 2012
10:02 am
After reading the article again, it was actually 18,000- great job…
Jacket Man
April 21st, 2012
10:06 am
A couple of “observations”. First, with so many injuries to the offensive line and the fact that our number one A-Back was out of the game (Orwin Smith), it was obvious the coaches were calling a very “vanilla” offense last evening, which our defense was able to play well against since they’ve been practicing against it all along. If you noticed, even Tevin Washington had problems moving the ball against the starting defense so I wouldn’t read too much into the fact that either Synjyn or Vad had difficulty actually reading the option or running with the ball.
On the other hand, making accurate passes under pressure is a trait we all know the GA Tech QB’s have to master to be successful in our offense, and as reported Vad Lee was heads and shoulders better than either Tevin or Vad. This tells me that if he can get enough reps working on his option reads over the summer, he’ll be our starter much sooner than later.
Neither Joshua Nesbitt nor Tevin Washington had any experience in Paul Johnson’s offense when they took over as QB for the first time. The only way to get experience is to play. I think Vad will get several snaps against VA Tech if he doesn’t start and then a lot of snaps in the next several games before he becomes the everyday starter by mid season.
Ted Striker
April 21st, 2012
10:07 am
excellent article
pw12
April 21st, 2012
10:23 am
I love how uga fans love to get on our blogs and become a comedian.i guess after spending their house payment on their season tickets and beating their wifes they were bored.
atlxman
April 21st, 2012
10:36 am
http://espn.go.com/colleges/georgia/football/story/_/id/7838461/brice-ramsey-rises-elite-level
too bad your coach cant land qbs that are actually true qbs like coach richt keeps landing. instead you have converted corner backs and running backs.
and when you say that tech ran vanilla plays on offense, well that is tech offense. its always been vanilla plays with PJ Triple option. again….this offesne wil not win championships with the players coach johnson is bringing in. gailys players ran it just fine there first and 2nd year and these guys can get with 3 years under their belt.
Rocketman
April 21st, 2012
10:39 am
Wow!! You techies have got the college football world trembling in their boots with your show of talent. I’ve seen many, many more at a Friday night High School game. With deference-Big Time–NOT!!–4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 cokes.
atlxman
April 21st, 2012
10:43 am
jacket man…your offensive line cant block well enough to throw the type of passes your wanting your team to complete. if he is having trouble against tech weak defense he will crap in his pants when the really good defensive start running at him. washington is the best option right now…now maybe half way through the year and tech is like 3-4 then i will expect lee and days to start more games. but right now its tevins to lose.
Steve
April 21st, 2012
10:48 am
Georgia Tech still has a football team???
GTBob
April 21st, 2012
10:50 am
Ignore the naysayers-nothing more than trolling, nattering nay-bobs with nothing better to do than to hang out on an opponent’s blog. I went to the game with a few friends and had the opportunity to meet some of our student athletes (yes, mutts, our athletes take their educations seriously) in person.
Not only is this a group of impressive young men from an educational and social perspective, but when you get to see them in person you get a better idea of just how big and how fit they are from a physical standpoint. These guys are the total package and I for one am proud to have them on my campus.
I repeat what I posted after we got home last night: We WILL beat uga this year.
just the truth
April 21st, 2012
11:09 am
3 starting OL, didn’t suit up for the game! Will be a big difference when they come back in the summer.
Ghost
April 21st, 2012
11:10 am
PJ having the same problem as Chan, he can’t recruit a QB to supplant Tevin.Just like Chan couldn’t replace Reggie. For Techs sake Lee or days needs to vastly improve before the season starts.Tevin is a good kid and gives it everything he has, but isn’t a D1 caliber QB.
GT fan
April 21st, 2012
11:28 am
Haley
April 21st, 2012
9:21 am
Over the past two seasons, GT is 14-12. 6 of those wins have been over Duke(twice) Middle Tennessee (twice) SC State and W carolina. So Mark you’re basically saying gt is going to suck again this year.
————————————————————————–
Nice try Haley. And in the same span your bulldawgs have won just 2 more games than the “high school team” on N. Ave. You know, the one who can’t recruit, can’t develop talent, struggles to keep the football program going, etc, etc.
Yep, in the past 2 seasons UGA is 16-11. With a 12-1 record vs: UK, Coastal Carolina, Ole Miss, Vandy, New Mex St, LA Lafayette, Idaho St, UT (have they done anything since Phulmer left?), and Miss St (1-1). And the big dawgs, of the SEC, are 0-2 vs. the likes of Colorado, and UCF. Really?? An upper eschelon SEC team lost to Colorado & UCF???
So that means the mighty bulldawgs have 4 Wins vs. the rest of their competition in the past 2 seasons (2-0 vs. GT). Since you claim GT is a high shcool team, running a high school offense, with D-II or less talent, GT would have to be put into the “cupcake” section of UGA’s schedule.
That leaves five (5) teams for UGA to prove they’re amongst the big boys (even though Arky & Boise St are no big boys of NCAA football). 2-7, that’s what the dawgs have proved in “big boy football” as you like to call it. And I didn’t even included the 0-1 record vs. Michigan St.