ATLANTA- Georgia Tech’s football team continued preparations for the trip to #6 Clemson this weekend. The Jackets are winless in Death Valley since 2008 and head coach Geoff Collins will lead his team into the stadium as heavy underdogs. However the Tech players are looking at it like another game.
The biggest question on the Tech side of things going into the game is who will play quarterback to start the game. Jeff Sims the incumbent starter was the emergency quarterback in week two against Kennesaw State after an injury knocked him out of the Northern Illinois game. Jordan Yates played at very high level in the six-plus quarters of work he got with Sims out. Sims struggled in his lone action this year as well making things a little more complicated.
Senior left tackle Devin Cochran has been impressed with both Sims and Yates since he arrived at Tech and feels confident in either leading the offense.
“It’s been great watching both of them in practice particularly with Jeff from the beginning. I just have a lot of respect for him and we knew what we were getting from last year watching. With Jordan, I came here to a practice a couple of years ago I didn’t know what talent he had, but once I got here and got to watch him practice, he is making plays left and right,” Cochran said. “(Jordan’s) extremely smart, so it is great playing with him and he came in on a whim in that first game and he handled it like a professional. He did what he needed to do and that was great to see just how he was able to progress and get comfortable on the field. So I love playing with both of them.”
Devin Cochran spoke for the first time since arriving at GT in January and he said that he was amazed at how open and receiving the team was when he got here. He said when he played against GT when he was at Vandy (2016) he had dreamed of actually playing here, but that was a different era under CPJ and then to finally get to do it the last two weeks on the home side of the field for his city was amazing. He said he has never been on a team this close.
Cochran said they maybe didn’t take the start of the season as seriously as they should and it showed in week one and that was a big wake up call for the team. He said the practices have been more intense since then and the scout team/developmental team is really challenging them in practice and the level of competition has improved a lot.
Cochran explained also why he is here now instead of last year, he said that he was unable to get his degree from Vanderbilt in time to enroll at GT, he got it one week before the season actually started. He spent the season last year working out with Jared Southers who taught him the offense, blocking schemes and they worked out all over Marietta. He said that Southers actually has the same coaching style as coach Key.
Cochran said he has had a lot of fun playing with Kenny Cooper because they are very different players, Cochran said he is more cerebral and they have a yin and yang thing because Kenny played for CPJ and just gets his hand down and goes, so straight contact and they are able to help each other out. He said Kenny is extremely physical, he is a dog and he pushes guys and cleans up the pile when he needs to.
Cochran said he spent all summer doing one-on-ones with Jordan Domineck after they had training and he has a great inside move but he can play physical too and he is just a great guy who he enjoys hanging out with.
Cochran said Kevin Harris is also another guy he likes going against a lot as iron sharpens iron
Cochran said that coach Key is the best coach he has ever worked with and he knows if he is told to work on something, he needs to do it right then and there and have it fixed by the next day. He said he spends a lot of time hanging out with coach Key in his office and watching film and just talking. He said the best thing about Key is he is just a great guy.
Cochran said he has taken Wing Green under his wing (pun non intended), he said coach Key has helped him learn how to be a mentor to guys like that and he said that Wing is starting to fill his shoes. Cochran said it is funny to him that Wing was born in 2003 and he was born in 1998 and Hoss (Ryan Johnson) was probably born in 1992, so it has been an adjustment being around guys that much younger. He said he had a bad experience as a young player at Vanderbilt as the older guys wouldn’t help the younger ones and he said that is not an issue at Tech and players try to pay it forward to the young guys.
Jordan Domineck said that DJ the Clemson QB looks like he has the tools to be a generational QB like Deshaun Watson or Trevor Lawrence were there. He said they have a lot of respect for them, but they are also focused on themselves this week and playing great football.
Domineck said that Cochran has been a great addition to the team and he attacks every day and they have a great relationship and he really likes how the OL room has developed with guys like KJ Kirby, Jordan Williams, Kenny Cooper, Mikey Minihan and Cochran because they go 110% every day. He said the relationship has helped both sides learn about tendencies and some ways to make plays because they all have the same mindset of getting better and playing cohesive football.
Domineck said he has been trying to keep a level head since he had his viral play against KSU. He thanked coach Collins, coach Knight and coach Coleman for helping him keep a level-head as well as the rest of the staff and players. He is trying to stay humble because that was just one play early in a game. He did say seeing Lamar Jackson tweet about it and seeing the Washington Redskins tweet about it and hearing them talk about it on Monday Night Football was really amazing. He said once Monday came he tried to flush it and focus on the task at hand.
Domineck told the story again at Ken’s request about how he had a bad attitude the first year Collins was here because he wanted to play LB, he wasn’t going 100-percent etc… He has had to tell this a few times so I’m skipping over that.
Tre Swilling said that Clemson has a great DC and OC and they’ve been together for a long time now and they play very disciplined football and they have big guys up front that can move the piles.
I asked Tre about the tempo issues from NIU and signals getting in and them getting lined up properly since Clemson likes to use tempo, he said he chalks some of it up to being the first game and that you can’t simulate the speed of playcalling easily and adjusting to different alignments you were not expecting. He said they’ve just got to get aligned and communicate properly and they’ve worked on that a lot and avoiding mental lapses.
I asked Tre about the 73-7 game last year and the pride factor for the D this week. He said they’ve spoken about it as a defense and it happened on their home turf and that was unacceptable and it adds motivation this week, but the key is to not let that be a distraction either. They have to do better than that and not forget what happened.
Dontae Smith said he keeps the same mindset and is ready to play when he name gets called. He said that in his mind when they get around 40-yd line he can take to the house on any play.
Smith said it was a big honor winning special teams player of the week especially with how focused coach Collins is on special teams and he takes a lot of pride on being the gunner on punt and other special teams work. He said that also keeps him warm when he is not in the game.
Smith said that Jack Coco has been a key to his success and he just seems to be on the field whenever he scores and is always with him in the end zone and that’s cool.
Smith said that Domineck was asking this week if he can be a RB and they told him no.
The biggest question on the Tech side of things going into the game is who will play quarterback to start the game. Jeff Sims the incumbent starter was the emergency quarterback in week two against Kennesaw State after an injury knocked him out of the Northern Illinois game. Jordan Yates played at very high level in the six-plus quarters of work he got with Sims out. Sims struggled in his lone action this year as well making things a little more complicated.
Senior left tackle Devin Cochran has been impressed with both Sims and Yates since he arrived at Tech and feels confident in either leading the offense.
“It’s been great watching both of them in practice particularly with Jeff from the beginning. I just have a lot of respect for him and we knew what we were getting from last year watching. With Jordan, I came here to a practice a couple of years ago I didn’t know what talent he had, but once I got here and got to watch him practice, he is making plays left and right,” Cochran said. “(Jordan’s) extremely smart, so it is great playing with him and he came in on a whim in that first game and he handled it like a professional. He did what he needed to do and that was great to see just how he was able to progress and get comfortable on the field. So I love playing with both of them.”
Devin Cochran spoke for the first time since arriving at GT in January and he said that he was amazed at how open and receiving the team was when he got here. He said when he played against GT when he was at Vandy (2016) he had dreamed of actually playing here, but that was a different era under CPJ and then to finally get to do it the last two weeks on the home side of the field for his city was amazing. He said he has never been on a team this close.
Cochran said they maybe didn’t take the start of the season as seriously as they should and it showed in week one and that was a big wake up call for the team. He said the practices have been more intense since then and the scout team/developmental team is really challenging them in practice and the level of competition has improved a lot.
Cochran explained also why he is here now instead of last year, he said that he was unable to get his degree from Vanderbilt in time to enroll at GT, he got it one week before the season actually started. He spent the season last year working out with Jared Southers who taught him the offense, blocking schemes and they worked out all over Marietta. He said that Southers actually has the same coaching style as coach Key.
Cochran said he has had a lot of fun playing with Kenny Cooper because they are very different players, Cochran said he is more cerebral and they have a yin and yang thing because Kenny played for CPJ and just gets his hand down and goes, so straight contact and they are able to help each other out. He said Kenny is extremely physical, he is a dog and he pushes guys and cleans up the pile when he needs to.
Cochran said he spent all summer doing one-on-ones with Jordan Domineck after they had training and he has a great inside move but he can play physical too and he is just a great guy who he enjoys hanging out with.
Cochran said Kevin Harris is also another guy he likes going against a lot as iron sharpens iron
Cochran said that coach Key is the best coach he has ever worked with and he knows if he is told to work on something, he needs to do it right then and there and have it fixed by the next day. He said he spends a lot of time hanging out with coach Key in his office and watching film and just talking. He said the best thing about Key is he is just a great guy.
Cochran said he has taken Wing Green under his wing (pun non intended), he said coach Key has helped him learn how to be a mentor to guys like that and he said that Wing is starting to fill his shoes. Cochran said it is funny to him that Wing was born in 2003 and he was born in 1998 and Hoss (Ryan Johnson) was probably born in 1992, so it has been an adjustment being around guys that much younger. He said he had a bad experience as a young player at Vanderbilt as the older guys wouldn’t help the younger ones and he said that is not an issue at Tech and players try to pay it forward to the young guys.
Jordan Domineck said that DJ the Clemson QB looks like he has the tools to be a generational QB like Deshaun Watson or Trevor Lawrence were there. He said they have a lot of respect for them, but they are also focused on themselves this week and playing great football.
Domineck said that Cochran has been a great addition to the team and he attacks every day and they have a great relationship and he really likes how the OL room has developed with guys like KJ Kirby, Jordan Williams, Kenny Cooper, Mikey Minihan and Cochran because they go 110% every day. He said the relationship has helped both sides learn about tendencies and some ways to make plays because they all have the same mindset of getting better and playing cohesive football.
Domineck said he has been trying to keep a level head since he had his viral play against KSU. He thanked coach Collins, coach Knight and coach Coleman for helping him keep a level-head as well as the rest of the staff and players. He is trying to stay humble because that was just one play early in a game. He did say seeing Lamar Jackson tweet about it and seeing the Washington Redskins tweet about it and hearing them talk about it on Monday Night Football was really amazing. He said once Monday came he tried to flush it and focus on the task at hand.
Domineck told the story again at Ken’s request about how he had a bad attitude the first year Collins was here because he wanted to play LB, he wasn’t going 100-percent etc… He has had to tell this a few times so I’m skipping over that.
Tre Swilling said that Clemson has a great DC and OC and they’ve been together for a long time now and they play very disciplined football and they have big guys up front that can move the piles.
I asked Tre about the tempo issues from NIU and signals getting in and them getting lined up properly since Clemson likes to use tempo, he said he chalks some of it up to being the first game and that you can’t simulate the speed of playcalling easily and adjusting to different alignments you were not expecting. He said they’ve just got to get aligned and communicate properly and they’ve worked on that a lot and avoiding mental lapses.
I asked Tre about the 73-7 game last year and the pride factor for the D this week. He said they’ve spoken about it as a defense and it happened on their home turf and that was unacceptable and it adds motivation this week, but the key is to not let that be a distraction either. They have to do better than that and not forget what happened.
Dontae Smith said he keeps the same mindset and is ready to play when he name gets called. He said that in his mind when they get around 40-yd line he can take to the house on any play.
Smith said it was a big honor winning special teams player of the week especially with how focused coach Collins is on special teams and he takes a lot of pride on being the gunner on punt and other special teams work. He said that also keeps him warm when he is not in the game.
Smith said that Jack Coco has been a key to his success and he just seems to be on the field whenever he scores and is always with him in the end zone and that’s cool.
Smith said that Domineck was asking this week if he can be a RB and they told him no.
