I've seen some comments elsewhere that I am not sure are true. So I'll ask this question here.
Was Coach Johnson outcoached on Saturday?
Head Coach Paul Johnson was not out-coached. We won the game.
Offensive Coordinator Paul Johnson was not out-coached. Our offense put up 38 points and 605 yards of offense.
Defensive Coordinator Ted Roof? Different story. While the D gave up over 300 yards of offense in the first half, that poor performance was masked due to 2 forced turnovers (D deserves credit for that though) and 2 4th down stops. The 2nd half, we did not make the normal good adjustments that we've seen this season and Duke turned those dominant yards into points.
The D is taking a beating this week by Tech fans and rightfully so. However, it is the first and only terrible outing of the season when you dissect it properly. We gave up a lot of yards (407) and points (37) to Pitt. But, Pitt does that to everybody. Even the Hokies and Bud Foster. What made Duke "terrible" is that their offense is not good. That is what is so alarming.
The D gave up 21 pts to Miami, 24 to Clemson (throwing out the fluke safety) - while allowing 1 TD to Miami in the 2nd half and only a FG to Clemson in the 2nd half. Back in Week 4 before we played Clemson, I warned that the REALLY GOOD offenses are still on the horizon at that time. I specifically mentioned Pitt, the Cheaters, and Hokies. Never mentioned Duke because their offense stinks. Because of that, it is BY FAR the worst defensive performance of the season by Tech and yes, CTR got out-coached. Play that same way this week and the Cheaters will put up 50+ and it will be repeated in Blacksburg. Truthfully, the D could play really good games these next 2 weekends and still give up 28+ pts. That's how potent these next 2 offenses are or can be.
If folks want to bash our D because of the performance this past Saturday, go at it. It is warranted. However, extrapolating that out to characterize the entire season is just wrong. Our D hasn't played *THAT* bad. We've won the games we were supposed to win. We've lost the games we were supposed to lose. If this continues, we will lose the next 2 and win vs Virginia. The last game is a toss-up. Hopefully, our D can hold the Dwags to 13 pts again. If so, I like our chances.