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Q's Take:
A win is a win and after some of the bad losses during the Geoff Collins era nothing should be taken for granted. The team started out sluggish and WCU jumped on them. The slow turnaround, the wet conditions and the quiet crowd (though it was better than I expected) didn't really help.
All things start with Jeff Sims and he didn't play at all. He was basically average other than running the ball well at times. He still has situational awareness issues like pulling up short fo the sticks when the marker is in front of him. He regressed back to old Jeff throwing it off his back foot and being inaccurate with throws. The INT was a terrible decision with the DB over the top of Kalani Norris and he missed several wide open throws as well. Credit to Chip Long who loaded up on the run game after seeing how Sims was throwing. Dontae Smith continues to play well, if you are wondering why he is not playing more, he is not 100% (per my sources) so they had him on a pitch count (limited snaps) for the game. He didn't have a lot of room to operate but he played well. Smith did have some mistakes in pass pro.
We got to see something I haven't mentioned before but saw the team working on a lot in fall camp, Grey Carroll as the short-yardage/goal line fullback. I don't remember if they did it in the Clemson game, but it is good to see Carroll getting to help somewhere. He is a tough guy who plays really hard.
The WRs were okay, Nate McCollum in the slot remains the best weapon and Sims primary target. I was happy for McCollum to show his all-around skills with the two good punt returns and the big reverse. That was good for them to get on tape. Avery Boyd finally got some playing time and he blocked well on the outside something they've been missing. EJ Jenkins actually was really good at run blocking on the outside as well as expected at his size.
Luke Benson bounced back from a dreadful first game and played well especially with his run blocking. Peje Harris had a pretty big drop in the game and didn't play that well in an expanded role and that was disappointing. I've heard from sources they hope to have Dylan Leonard back and that should improve the production and even out the workload some in the TE room.
The OL played a lot better, but they were not exactly going up against high-level FBS DLs. It was good to see Pierce Quick make a key block as he has been limited coming off an injury per my sources and they've been working him back into the guard rotation. Corey Robinson and Joe Fusile both looked light years better. The pass pro was excellent as it should be against that level of opponent.
Defensively, it was a mess without Charlie Thomas in the first half. Thomas is the eraser and the one guy at the middle level that can track down guys on broken plays or clean up missed assignments. He played his ass off and is second on the team in tackles after two games despite only playing 4 quarters and two series so far. Ace Eley had some tackling issues in the game as did some other defensive guys, that was a major problem in the first half of the game for the D. Trenilyas Tatum actually played well and maybe that will turn into more of a rotation with Eley as the season progresses. Kyle Kennard had the roughest day upfront missing on a couple of sack opportunities and several missed tackles as well. He was visibly frustrated with himself on two of the missed tackles.
After a great game against Clemson, nickel KJ Wallace had a rough day. He was burned by Terrence Horne on the long TD pass and he had multiple mistakes in coverage. He also played every snap of the game on D which I thought was interesting. It was encouraging to see Derrik Allen and Jaylon King get their hands on some balls in the game and LaMiles Brooks played well too. Sims and Walton remain very solid CBs and both did their jobs, Walton got a bullshit PI in the game.
The DL has to cool down the over-pursuit of the QB, that was some fundamentally unsound football and they will get killed on screens to RBs and TEs by better teams later this season. Keion White was really disruptive again as I expected though he had two penalties that were not great. It was a good day for the DTs, D'Quan Douse, TK Chimedza and Akelo Stone all played well.
Special teams was okay, they missed that short field goal by running a play to the wrong hash making for a harder short kick. I actually saw guys including Texas miss a short FG just like that from the left hash earlier in the day. McCollum's punt returns were great. Gavin Stewart's kickoffs were great.
So it was an ugly win with some bright spots and a lot of things that worry me. Having covered this program since 2009 all of these short rest games are typically bad nights. In 2013 GT lost to VT and scored a season low 10 points off short rest, 2016 they scored just 7 against Clemson on short rest, and they struggled some in a game against Jax State in 2016 coming off short rest in the same situation after losing to Tenn in the Benz as examples just at GT.
It wasn't pretty but they won. I like what Chip Long is doing offensively and I like the aggressiveness of the D, they just need to clean up the tackling and some of the contain elements. The DL should recognize a screen pass and drop instead of chasing the QB. That can be cleaned up as well.
Some additional notes from GT post-game
Georgia Tech scored 35 points on just 51 plays, including a spurt where it scored five touchdowns in a span of eight possessions early in the game.
· The Yellow Jackets drove an average of 62 yards in just 1:54 on its five touchdown drives.
· Four of Tech’s five touchdown drives covered at least 60 yards, two covered at least 70 yards but only two took more than 90 seconds.
· Playing on just four days’ rest, Tech’s defense allowed two first-quarter touchdowns but kept WCU out of the end zone for the final 51:02 of the ballgame.
· Over WCU’s final 11 possessions, it only crossed into Tech territory three times and only got inside the Yellow Jackets’ 35 yard line once.
· Tech’s defense forced four turnovers, a turnover on downs and three punts while surrendering only a fourth-quarter field goal over WCU’s final 11 possessions.
· Tech averaged 6.7 yards per rush, 7.1 yards per play and 1.77 points per minute of possession while limiting WCU to 3.0 yards per rush, 5.2 yards per play and 0.42 points per minute of possession.
· Georgia Tech’s defense recorded 10 tackles for loss and four sacks, while the offense allowed only three TFL and zero sacks.
· Through two games, Georgia Tech has registered seven sacks while allowing only two, which puts it on pace to record 42 sacks and surrender only 12. Last season, Tech had 20 sacks and allowed 33.
· Dontae Smith is the only running back in the nation and one of just two players overall to rush for at least 100 yards and three touchdowns on 11 or fewer carries in a game this season. Florida QB Anthony Richardson also accomplished the feat vs. Utah.
Q's Take:
A win is a win and after some of the bad losses during the Geoff Collins era nothing should be taken for granted. The team started out sluggish and WCU jumped on them. The slow turnaround, the wet conditions and the quiet crowd (though it was better than I expected) didn't really help.
All things start with Jeff Sims and he didn't play at all. He was basically average other than running the ball well at times. He still has situational awareness issues like pulling up short fo the sticks when the marker is in front of him. He regressed back to old Jeff throwing it off his back foot and being inaccurate with throws. The INT was a terrible decision with the DB over the top of Kalani Norris and he missed several wide open throws as well. Credit to Chip Long who loaded up on the run game after seeing how Sims was throwing. Dontae Smith continues to play well, if you are wondering why he is not playing more, he is not 100% (per my sources) so they had him on a pitch count (limited snaps) for the game. He didn't have a lot of room to operate but he played well. Smith did have some mistakes in pass pro.
We got to see something I haven't mentioned before but saw the team working on a lot in fall camp, Grey Carroll as the short-yardage/goal line fullback. I don't remember if they did it in the Clemson game, but it is good to see Carroll getting to help somewhere. He is a tough guy who plays really hard.
The WRs were okay, Nate McCollum in the slot remains the best weapon and Sims primary target. I was happy for McCollum to show his all-around skills with the two good punt returns and the big reverse. That was good for them to get on tape. Avery Boyd finally got some playing time and he blocked well on the outside something they've been missing. EJ Jenkins actually was really good at run blocking on the outside as well as expected at his size.
Luke Benson bounced back from a dreadful first game and played well especially with his run blocking. Peje Harris had a pretty big drop in the game and didn't play that well in an expanded role and that was disappointing. I've heard from sources they hope to have Dylan Leonard back and that should improve the production and even out the workload some in the TE room.
The OL played a lot better, but they were not exactly going up against high-level FBS DLs. It was good to see Pierce Quick make a key block as he has been limited coming off an injury per my sources and they've been working him back into the guard rotation. Corey Robinson and Joe Fusile both looked light years better. The pass pro was excellent as it should be against that level of opponent.
Defensively, it was a mess without Charlie Thomas in the first half. Thomas is the eraser and the one guy at the middle level that can track down guys on broken plays or clean up missed assignments. He played his ass off and is second on the team in tackles after two games despite only playing 4 quarters and two series so far. Ace Eley had some tackling issues in the game as did some other defensive guys, that was a major problem in the first half of the game for the D. Trenilyas Tatum actually played well and maybe that will turn into more of a rotation with Eley as the season progresses. Kyle Kennard had the roughest day upfront missing on a couple of sack opportunities and several missed tackles as well. He was visibly frustrated with himself on two of the missed tackles.
After a great game against Clemson, nickel KJ Wallace had a rough day. He was burned by Terrence Horne on the long TD pass and he had multiple mistakes in coverage. He also played every snap of the game on D which I thought was interesting. It was encouraging to see Derrik Allen and Jaylon King get their hands on some balls in the game and LaMiles Brooks played well too. Sims and Walton remain very solid CBs and both did their jobs, Walton got a bullshit PI in the game.
The DL has to cool down the over-pursuit of the QB, that was some fundamentally unsound football and they will get killed on screens to RBs and TEs by better teams later this season. Keion White was really disruptive again as I expected though he had two penalties that were not great. It was a good day for the DTs, D'Quan Douse, TK Chimedza and Akelo Stone all played well.
Special teams was okay, they missed that short field goal by running a play to the wrong hash making for a harder short kick. I actually saw guys including Texas miss a short FG just like that from the left hash earlier in the day. McCollum's punt returns were great. Gavin Stewart's kickoffs were great.
So it was an ugly win with some bright spots and a lot of things that worry me. Having covered this program since 2009 all of these short rest games are typically bad nights. In 2013 GT lost to VT and scored a season low 10 points off short rest, 2016 they scored just 7 against Clemson on short rest, and they struggled some in a game against Jax State in 2016 coming off short rest in the same situation after losing to Tenn in the Benz as examples just at GT.
It wasn't pretty but they won. I like what Chip Long is doing offensively and I like the aggressiveness of the D, they just need to clean up the tackling and some of the contain elements. The DL should recognize a screen pass and drop instead of chasing the QB. That can be cleaned up as well.
Some additional notes from GT post-game
Georgia Tech scored 35 points on just 51 plays, including a spurt where it scored five touchdowns in a span of eight possessions early in the game.
· The Yellow Jackets drove an average of 62 yards in just 1:54 on its five touchdown drives.
· Four of Tech’s five touchdown drives covered at least 60 yards, two covered at least 70 yards but only two took more than 90 seconds.
· Playing on just four days’ rest, Tech’s defense allowed two first-quarter touchdowns but kept WCU out of the end zone for the final 51:02 of the ballgame.
· Over WCU’s final 11 possessions, it only crossed into Tech territory three times and only got inside the Yellow Jackets’ 35 yard line once.
· Tech’s defense forced four turnovers, a turnover on downs and three punts while surrendering only a fourth-quarter field goal over WCU’s final 11 possessions.
· Tech averaged 6.7 yards per rush, 7.1 yards per play and 1.77 points per minute of possession while limiting WCU to 3.0 yards per rush, 5.2 yards per play and 0.42 points per minute of possession.
· Georgia Tech’s defense recorded 10 tackles for loss and four sacks, while the offense allowed only three TFL and zero sacks.
· Through two games, Georgia Tech has registered seven sacks while allowing only two, which puts it on pace to record 42 sacks and surrender only 12. Last season, Tech had 20 sacks and allowed 33.
· Dontae Smith is the only running back in the nation and one of just two players overall to rush for at least 100 yards and three touchdowns on 11 or fewer carries in a game this season. Florida QB Anthony Richardson also accomplished the feat vs. Utah.
