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Vandy@G.T.

Terrific performance by the defense after that first drive. Well done. And, that's IMO a pretty good defense we shredded. Good signs. I don't think that D is anywhere in BC's world of capability, but still better than average.

Bring on the Orangenecks!! Well done, Jackets!!

GO DUKES!!

Vandy's D is pretty good. Probably in the ball park with Clemson's D. BC's D again looks like a top 5 D. Solid showing for our O today. Still not making the plays they need to when they are there - wrt mostly blocking on the edge - bu I was impressed with our effort.

Our front 7 look pretty stout. Brandon Adams! What a chunk 'o beef! I like it, though i do wish we could get more of a pass rush and not play so much soft zone. That will kill us against a great passer. We have two of those in the next two games: Watson and Kaaya. two tough games back to back and Clemson on 4 day's rest.
 
You guys gave me the idea...I called it before the snap, my section was calling me a prophet.

Man do I have them fooled, never disclosed my picks. Especially Appy. St.!


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This Tech defense is talented. I'm not overreacting though because our first legit test comes Thursday night. Hold the Kitty Cats to under 30 and I'll be very encouraged with where this D is at this point in the program as well as pretty optimistic about how good it can be this season.

Of course, Clemson has struggled to score on Grant Field over this 5-game winning streak for the Good Guys. Starting with the '05 game, they've scored 9, 3, 27, 17 and 6 (12.4 ppg).

The best part is we are VERY VERY young on the D side of the ball (as we are on the O as well) and we've got some strong talent already committed. Future is bright.

Now, if Clemson puts up 40+ Thursday night? Well, I take back everything I said. ;);););)
 
Vandy's D is pretty good. Probably in the ball park with Clemson's D. BC's D again looks like a top 5 D. Solid showing for our O today. Still not making the plays they need to when they are there - wrt mostly blocking on the edge - bu I was impressed with our effort.

Our front 7 look pretty stout. Brandon Adams! What a chunk 'o beef! I like it, though i do wish we could get more of a pass rush and not play so much soft zone. That will kill us against a great passer. We have two of those in the next two games: Watson and Kaaya. two tough games back to back and Clemson on 4 day's rest.
Well next today BC defense looks bad or we have a problem with VT
 
Random factoid...

...last time Tech has held 3 straight opponents to 14 pts or less in each game?...

2008 (CPJ's first year)... 38-7 over Mississippi State, then 27-0 over Duke, and then 10-7 over Gardner Webb. Next game wasn't bad either as we defeated Clemson in Dabo's first game as interim HC at the time over at Tractorville, 21-17.

So, I'm guessing though that during the Jon Tenuta Era as D-Coord. we had to have done that at least once or twice or more, right? Not true. It never happened during the CCG/CJT era at Tech (somewhat to my surprise).

Both 2016 and 2008 contained wins over 1 ACC team, 1 SEC team, and 1 D1AA team.

The last time prior to 2008 this happened we have to go back to O'Leary's last year as HC in 2001 when we started out the season with 3 straight wins over Syracuse 13-7, The Citadel 35-7, and Navy 70-7. Game 4 saw us lose to Clemson 47-44 in overtime when I think Woodrow Dantzler just scored again as I type this.

Last time we did this 4 games in a row? We have to go back to the 1990 national title season where we started out 4-0 with the following... 21-13 over NC State, 44-9 over Chattanooga, 27-6 over South Carolina, and 31-3 over Maryland. Game 5 was a 21-19 win over Clemson.
 
We're not holding CU under 14, but I do think we can win this game. They do not typically play well at BDS. Last game they won here was 2003 in a blowout.
 
Random thoughts...

I'm not going to get too excited about our defense given the offenses we have faced, but the gap integrity we have shown so far is better than anything we've seen around here in a long while.

I like seeing Ted Roof on the sideline. He's about as intense of a guy as you will ever meet - and that gets lost on the kids when he's upstairs.

Francis Kallon has shown slow but steady improvement throughout his career here, and he's transformed himself into a good football player. Kudos to him.

We have a pair of legit run stuffing 1-techniques in Cerge-Henderson and Adams. Watching those two blow up the A-gaps on 4th&1 today was (to me) the most exciting thing I've seen all season.

Saint-Amour is already our best pass rusher. He's hard to deal with on the edge. I think he's eventually going to play on Sundays.

AJ Gray is really really good. We could lose him after his junior year.

Parker Braun is the most impressive true freshman on the O-line that CPJ has ever recruited, and yes that includes Shaq.

Jalen Camp looks like he could be the next big thing at the WR spot here at GT. It's obvious why his shirt was burned from the get-go.
 
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We have to get better in a few areas:
1. Perimeter blocking. Abacks and WR's still need work here. Too many defenders still standing when we get to the edge. This leads to too many negative plays. MLD is a beast blocking, though, and has pretty fair hands. Wish we could get him the ball more, as it would make Jeune and Searcy that much more effective, but I'm not sure he's getting too many open looks.
2. OL blocking. Still playing too much at the LOS, not 3-4 yards downfield. This leads to too many 2nd and 8's/9's. I don't see the "road grading" we had a couple of years ago.
3. Dumb plays. We have taken ourselves out of 3 TD's now in 3 games by dumb plays - TO's and penalties. This will cause us L's in tougher games.
4. Pass rush penetration. It is almost non-existent from our front 7. However, we are not playing a gambling style. I'm not seeing blitzes often at all. ASA has good speed and mobility, but I don't see him in the backfield much. Where has Freeman gone? We have a pretty solid DL against the run, but we better get a rush real soon, or Watson and Kaaya willl eat us alive in the next two games.
5. LB coverage. This is probably our biggest weakness. Our LB's struggle in zone coverage. Several times either beaten today or making the wrong read. This also has to get better real soon.
 
Searcy impresses me each time I see him live. He runs, blocks, catches for a young player. It is yet to be seen if he will be a player at the next level as Jonathan Dwyer, but he gives us the same breakaway threat.
 
I was a little surprised Vandy LB Cunningham (#41) was only credited with 7 tackles. I was expecting it closer to 15. Seemed like he was in on almost every tackle at times.
 
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't it 2011 when we seemed to have a first play of the game on offense designed for that opponent? At least the early season games?

I remember sitting at MTSU and asking BFL, Jr. which AB is getting the wheel route ball today?

Why did we abandon this targeting? If we haven't, why not more games after film study?
 
Great to see Tre' Jackson make a couple of nice plays in the 2nd half.
 
We burned two more shirts on the offensive line with Kenny Cooper and Jahaziel Lee getting snaps against Vanderbilt. The decision to play Cooper might mean that the move from center to tackle might be permanent for Andrew Marshall. He has looked good out there. The coaching staff has been saying good things about Jahaziel since camp opened and that apparently wasn't lip service.

This brings the number of true freshman who have seen action this season to 6, half of that number is on the offensive line.
 
Btw, saw the replay of the 2nd chop block call. Looked like a good call. Mills cut when the DL was engaged by on OL. I just wrote that one off to a freshman-mistake trying to make a play. Effort penalty. Just needs to learn from that and not make it again because it was rather obvious.

What about the first one? Didn't see it on TV. No replay provided. Don't Know


(edit note: I didn't see CPJ going ape schlitz on the refs on either one so I assumed the first one was a legit call as well...SEC refs > ACC refs generally speaking)
 
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't it 2011 when we seemed to have a first play of the game on offense designed for that opponent? At least the early season games?

I remember sitting at MTSU and asking BFL, Jr. which AB is getting the wheel route ball today?

Why did we abandon this targeting? If we haven't, why not more games after film study?
I think Johnson will do this if he is certain of a tendency in the defense. He was certain that the LBs would follow the play action of the Abacks. Maybe something he observed against S.Carolina.
 
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