PAUL JOHNSON GEORGIA TECH
PAUL JOHNSON: Good morning. I think we're looking forward to having an opportunity to open the conference late this week against what I would say is a very good Duke football team. I think that defensively this might be the best team I think that they've had since I've been at Georgia Tech. They play really good team defense. They're well-coached, and they haven't given up a lot this year. Coming off our performance on this past Saturday, we've got a huge challenge. We've got to get a lot better in a hurry.
Q. You had just said that obviously coming off of this most recent game, the loss that you have, that you have to get better quickly and that there's a lot of areas that you want to work on. What are some of those pieces that you take from looking back at the film that you have to get better in a hurry? What are some of those areas you've really tried to key in on going into the game against Duke?
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, assignments offensively would be one thing. We had over 70 missed assignments, which is not real good. It's the most I believe I've ever seen in a coaching career. So that would be part of it that we've got to get better at. We've got to be consistent, not give up big plays defensively. Our kicking game was atrocious. There's a lot of things we've got to work on. I mean, there's so many, I can hardly remember them all.
Q. And having all those areas to work on, how are you going to break it down knowing that obviously every time you go up against Duke it's a good game? What are you going to do leading into this Duke game?
PAUL JOHNSON: We're going to do what we do. We've just got to get better at it. There's no revelation. I think that both teams understand what the other one is going to do. It's just a question of who's going to be able to execute the best and make the plays when you have a chance to make plays. But yeah, I mean, we're not going to reinvent the wheel. We've just got to get better than we played a week ago. We've played like that before in the past and we had a couple of those last year where you kind of shake your head, so hopefully we can put it behind us and move on.
Q. What's your philosophy on defending the Hail Mary?
PAUL JOHNSON: Defending the Hail Mary? I think that when you try to get enough guys back to have at least one guy behind the jumpers, and then you're trying to bat the ball down. But the best way to do it is to try to get pressure on the quarterback if you can. But certainly we want to have a guy behind and a guy in front of the jumpers. You want to have enough guys back there to do that.
Q. How often do you guys drill that in practice?
PAUL JOHNSON: Every Thursday.
Q. I know coming out of the game you talked a little bit about some of the young guys in the skill positions having to step up and get used to that environment. Looks like there's going to be a couple more of them in the spotlight this weekend. Have you seen the response early this week that you want to see from them?
PAUL JOHNSON: Yeah, I think we've got -- Brad Stewart, who's played, he'll probably start at receiver, but other than that, it's going to be mostly the guys that have played, I think. But it's not just our young guys. We've got a couple of senior tackles that got to play a lot better than they've played so far this year, too. There's a lot of guys that we have to make some improvement on.
Q. Who are you turning to at A-back with Qua Searcy out this week?
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, Qua is out but he's been in a five-man rotation. You've got Ike and Broderick Snoddy, Taquon Marshall, Clinton Lynch, all those guy. Qua has been playing about 20 plays a game. So either they'll pick up the slack, or we've also been traveling with Mikell Lands-Davis. He could play, too, if we need him to.
Q. Talk about Duke's quarterback Thomas Sirk. I know obviously you didn't face him a year ago, but talk about the things that you like when you see him on film.
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, he actually played against us a year ago. He was a short-yardage guy and did some things and played some, and he's a good athlete. He's a tall guy, big guy, good runner. You know, I think he's leading our league in total offense and has done a good job doing what they do. You know, I thought Northwestern was a really good defensive team, and they kind of kept everything in front of them, but he's a threat when he's got the ball in his hands and a good player.
Q. Talk about Duke and David Cutcliffe; what does he bring to college football because he's a very good offensive mind and he works with the quarterbacks, so what's it like playing against them each year?
PAUL JOHNSON: Yeah, well, they're always sound. They usually don't beat themselves. They always have a good plan, and it's always been a good game. We've been fortunate, we had a pretty good run going against them until last year, and they came in and kicked our tails. We've got a challenge to go up there and match them physically this go-around. But you know, they're going to be prepared. He does a good job getting his team ready to play.
Q. And coming off a loss to a tough Notre Dame team, how do you get your team to stay positive because I know that's a tough loss up there and you guys were in it until the fourth quarter, so how do you get your team ready for this weekend's game?
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, I think we'll be ready. It's the conference opener, and we realize we played very poorly up at South Bend. I think our guys are excited to have a chance to play again.
Q. I know this is an early game, your first conference game, but by the same token, these are the last two Coastal Division champions. Can you talk about the importance of the game?
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, it's a division game, and it's really important. I think that it's compounded especially the way our league is with the crossover games, because everybody doesn't play the same teams. Any time you play a division game, it's important that we try to stress to our guys it counts like two, because you want to have the tie-breakers if anything happens at the end and all those kind of deals. Even with the opening game, you're not going to win the league this week or probably not going to lose it, but it certainly puts you in a better shape if you can win the division games.
Q. You talked about you're not going to lose it. It's just an oddity, but the loser of this game the last two years has won the division title. Is that just a fluke?
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, you can say that or you can say the winner of the Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech has won the division every year but one.
Q. Against your option, how important is taking care of or avoiding Jeremy Cash? He's a guy that makes a lot of plays in space.
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, he's a really good player, but we're not going to avoid anybody. We're going to do what we do. We've got to block him when it calls to block him and be able to option him. He's a really good blitzer. I think that's the thing -- they do a great job with their blitz package when they get people behind the chains, and he's a really good football player. He's a good tackler. Their whole secondary tackles very well. They do a nice job. They're good tacklers.
PAUL JOHNSON: Good morning. I think we're looking forward to having an opportunity to open the conference late this week against what I would say is a very good Duke football team. I think that defensively this might be the best team I think that they've had since I've been at Georgia Tech. They play really good team defense. They're well-coached, and they haven't given up a lot this year. Coming off our performance on this past Saturday, we've got a huge challenge. We've got to get a lot better in a hurry.
Q. You had just said that obviously coming off of this most recent game, the loss that you have, that you have to get better quickly and that there's a lot of areas that you want to work on. What are some of those pieces that you take from looking back at the film that you have to get better in a hurry? What are some of those areas you've really tried to key in on going into the game against Duke?
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, assignments offensively would be one thing. We had over 70 missed assignments, which is not real good. It's the most I believe I've ever seen in a coaching career. So that would be part of it that we've got to get better at. We've got to be consistent, not give up big plays defensively. Our kicking game was atrocious. There's a lot of things we've got to work on. I mean, there's so many, I can hardly remember them all.
Q. And having all those areas to work on, how are you going to break it down knowing that obviously every time you go up against Duke it's a good game? What are you going to do leading into this Duke game?
PAUL JOHNSON: We're going to do what we do. We've just got to get better at it. There's no revelation. I think that both teams understand what the other one is going to do. It's just a question of who's going to be able to execute the best and make the plays when you have a chance to make plays. But yeah, I mean, we're not going to reinvent the wheel. We've just got to get better than we played a week ago. We've played like that before in the past and we had a couple of those last year where you kind of shake your head, so hopefully we can put it behind us and move on.
Q. What's your philosophy on defending the Hail Mary?
PAUL JOHNSON: Defending the Hail Mary? I think that when you try to get enough guys back to have at least one guy behind the jumpers, and then you're trying to bat the ball down. But the best way to do it is to try to get pressure on the quarterback if you can. But certainly we want to have a guy behind and a guy in front of the jumpers. You want to have enough guys back there to do that.
Q. How often do you guys drill that in practice?
PAUL JOHNSON: Every Thursday.
Q. I know coming out of the game you talked a little bit about some of the young guys in the skill positions having to step up and get used to that environment. Looks like there's going to be a couple more of them in the spotlight this weekend. Have you seen the response early this week that you want to see from them?
PAUL JOHNSON: Yeah, I think we've got -- Brad Stewart, who's played, he'll probably start at receiver, but other than that, it's going to be mostly the guys that have played, I think. But it's not just our young guys. We've got a couple of senior tackles that got to play a lot better than they've played so far this year, too. There's a lot of guys that we have to make some improvement on.
Q. Who are you turning to at A-back with Qua Searcy out this week?
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, Qua is out but he's been in a five-man rotation. You've got Ike and Broderick Snoddy, Taquon Marshall, Clinton Lynch, all those guy. Qua has been playing about 20 plays a game. So either they'll pick up the slack, or we've also been traveling with Mikell Lands-Davis. He could play, too, if we need him to.
Q. Talk about Duke's quarterback Thomas Sirk. I know obviously you didn't face him a year ago, but talk about the things that you like when you see him on film.
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, he actually played against us a year ago. He was a short-yardage guy and did some things and played some, and he's a good athlete. He's a tall guy, big guy, good runner. You know, I think he's leading our league in total offense and has done a good job doing what they do. You know, I thought Northwestern was a really good defensive team, and they kind of kept everything in front of them, but he's a threat when he's got the ball in his hands and a good player.
Q. Talk about Duke and David Cutcliffe; what does he bring to college football because he's a very good offensive mind and he works with the quarterbacks, so what's it like playing against them each year?
PAUL JOHNSON: Yeah, well, they're always sound. They usually don't beat themselves. They always have a good plan, and it's always been a good game. We've been fortunate, we had a pretty good run going against them until last year, and they came in and kicked our tails. We've got a challenge to go up there and match them physically this go-around. But you know, they're going to be prepared. He does a good job getting his team ready to play.
Q. And coming off a loss to a tough Notre Dame team, how do you get your team to stay positive because I know that's a tough loss up there and you guys were in it until the fourth quarter, so how do you get your team ready for this weekend's game?
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, I think we'll be ready. It's the conference opener, and we realize we played very poorly up at South Bend. I think our guys are excited to have a chance to play again.
Q. I know this is an early game, your first conference game, but by the same token, these are the last two Coastal Division champions. Can you talk about the importance of the game?
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, it's a division game, and it's really important. I think that it's compounded especially the way our league is with the crossover games, because everybody doesn't play the same teams. Any time you play a division game, it's important that we try to stress to our guys it counts like two, because you want to have the tie-breakers if anything happens at the end and all those kind of deals. Even with the opening game, you're not going to win the league this week or probably not going to lose it, but it certainly puts you in a better shape if you can win the division games.
Q. You talked about you're not going to lose it. It's just an oddity, but the loser of this game the last two years has won the division title. Is that just a fluke?
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, you can say that or you can say the winner of the Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech has won the division every year but one.
Q. Against your option, how important is taking care of or avoiding Jeremy Cash? He's a guy that makes a lot of plays in space.
PAUL JOHNSON: Well, he's a really good player, but we're not going to avoid anybody. We're going to do what we do. We've got to block him when it calls to block him and be able to option him. He's a really good blitzer. I think that's the thing -- they do a great job with their blitz package when they get people behind the chains, and he's a really good football player. He's a good tackler. Their whole secondary tackles very well. They do a nice job. They're good tacklers.
