Tuesday is press conference day at Georgia Tech and head coach Geoff Collins and coordinators Dave Patenaude and Andrew Thacker each took their turn at the microphone ahead of the Duke game this weekend in Durham. Collins and Thacker spoke about the challenges the defense faced against Pitt and how to rebound from that while Patenaude spoke about his offense and how they adjusted to injuries on the offensive line and at the tight end position as well.
Collins said the two turnovers out of the gate really killed the momentum in the Pitt game when they watched back the tape and they had been 45 to 0 on points off turnovers in the positive before those two plays that netted a -14.
Collins said he thought Jeff Sims bounced back from the two turnovers and played really well with the 300+ yard passing game for the first time in almost 20 years.
Collins said the hallmark of the defense has been forcing turnovers and they did not do that in the Pitt game.
Collins said the penalties while still low were really costly and he thought that four had a direct result in a 21-point swing in the game.
Collins said the red zone offense has been a big topic for them and they were just 50% (actually they got to the 21 a third time just out of that with zero points) and that has to get fixed.
Jahmyr Gibbs was the internal player of the week on offense as he had the most receiving yards for a tailback since 1970.
Collins said that Nate McCollum did a great job stepping in for an injured Kyric McGowan who played no offensive snaps in the game and he also was big as the gunner on punt team. He said Nate and Malik Rutherford both really stepped up.
Collins said that Duke is another big time offense after they just played the #2 offense in the country in Pitt. He likes their QB a lot and is very big on Mataeo Durant the running back. He said defensively they are challenging using multiple fronts, looks and blitzes and they are aggressive in the back end on D as well.
Collins said the team that played in the previous three games before Pitt can play with anyone in the country, they showed their grit and toughness at Clemson and against UNC and didn't show it against Pitt. He said he thought they had a good week of prep, but the adversity early in the game they didn't respond well to which was uncharacteristic of this team and then they had busted coverages and they have got to learn from that. He said the locker room is strong and they have good leadership and they've responded the right way so far this week. He said handling adversity is something they need to be better at.
I asked Collins about the OL situation and TE situation with major injuries there in and during the game on Saturday against Pitt, he said the OL had been playing at a high-level and they knew they needed to build depth going into the season and that got really tested against Pitt. He said going against a good Pitt DL with guys that are not starters or starters who are not 100-percent was hard. He said Duke is good upfront as well, but he has full confidence in Coach Key to progress through this tough stretch and hopefully, after the bye week they will be fully healthy again on the OL.
Collins got asked about his decisions on fourth and short throughout the Pitt game and he said they have a book they lean on and he also looks at how the defense is playing. He said in the second half the D started showing some improvement so he punted in a situation that was close to play defense thinking there was plenty of time left to try to core.
Collins said the QB room and coach Patenaude have done a great job of working together and he said that Sims bounced back from the tough start as an example of that. He said on the first INT they had a play wired for Nate McCollum that would've been a score and a defender got through on a twist late and got his hand up and you have to give credit to Pitt there and that was not on Sims.
Collins said that Mataeo Durant reminds him of Jahmyr Gibbs without the top-end speed that Gibbs has but he is really dynamic with the ball in his hands and he reads it well. He said they use him in the pass game well too. He said they'll use #12 and #8 some as well to mix it up.
I asked Collins about the secondary and why they had so many busted coverages against Pitt since that is his area of expertise, "we've spoken at length with our guys and they've done a nice job of correcting their mistakes on their own and with coaching from us as well. They understand the flaws that were inherent in what happened on Saturday." Collins said that Pickett is also a really good QB and should be All-ACC as well so he doesn't want to take anything away from him, but he said the DBs did not handle things well in the game and they were pressing and guys were overlapping at times when they should've just stuck to their assignments and he said they've got great players who care and understand they can't put us in that situation again.
Collins said he challenged the team that they were really good on D for three weeks including beating a top 20 team in the Benz and they do not do that last week and he thinks they are committed to being a great defense.
Collins said that they used the passing game like a run game in the Pitt game since Pitt overloaded the box and Sims threw the ball on checks on a lot of called run plays because he read things correctly and got the ball out.
Collins said with rain in the forecast at Duke, they've practiced outdoors all day on Monday, some today and will go all day tomorrow outside in the stadium if there is no lightning.
Collins said the two turnovers out of the gate really killed the momentum in the Pitt game when they watched back the tape and they had been 45 to 0 on points off turnovers in the positive before those two plays that netted a -14.
Collins said he thought Jeff Sims bounced back from the two turnovers and played really well with the 300+ yard passing game for the first time in almost 20 years.
Collins said the hallmark of the defense has been forcing turnovers and they did not do that in the Pitt game.
Collins said the penalties while still low were really costly and he thought that four had a direct result in a 21-point swing in the game.
Collins said the red zone offense has been a big topic for them and they were just 50% (actually they got to the 21 a third time just out of that with zero points) and that has to get fixed.
Jahmyr Gibbs was the internal player of the week on offense as he had the most receiving yards for a tailback since 1970.
Collins said that Nate McCollum did a great job stepping in for an injured Kyric McGowan who played no offensive snaps in the game and he also was big as the gunner on punt team. He said Nate and Malik Rutherford both really stepped up.
Collins said that Duke is another big time offense after they just played the #2 offense in the country in Pitt. He likes their QB a lot and is very big on Mataeo Durant the running back. He said defensively they are challenging using multiple fronts, looks and blitzes and they are aggressive in the back end on D as well.
Collins said the team that played in the previous three games before Pitt can play with anyone in the country, they showed their grit and toughness at Clemson and against UNC and didn't show it against Pitt. He said he thought they had a good week of prep, but the adversity early in the game they didn't respond well to which was uncharacteristic of this team and then they had busted coverages and they have got to learn from that. He said the locker room is strong and they have good leadership and they've responded the right way so far this week. He said handling adversity is something they need to be better at.
I asked Collins about the OL situation and TE situation with major injuries there in and during the game on Saturday against Pitt, he said the OL had been playing at a high-level and they knew they needed to build depth going into the season and that got really tested against Pitt. He said going against a good Pitt DL with guys that are not starters or starters who are not 100-percent was hard. He said Duke is good upfront as well, but he has full confidence in Coach Key to progress through this tough stretch and hopefully, after the bye week they will be fully healthy again on the OL.
Collins got asked about his decisions on fourth and short throughout the Pitt game and he said they have a book they lean on and he also looks at how the defense is playing. He said in the second half the D started showing some improvement so he punted in a situation that was close to play defense thinking there was plenty of time left to try to core.
Collins said the QB room and coach Patenaude have done a great job of working together and he said that Sims bounced back from the tough start as an example of that. He said on the first INT they had a play wired for Nate McCollum that would've been a score and a defender got through on a twist late and got his hand up and you have to give credit to Pitt there and that was not on Sims.
Collins said that Mataeo Durant reminds him of Jahmyr Gibbs without the top-end speed that Gibbs has but he is really dynamic with the ball in his hands and he reads it well. He said they use him in the pass game well too. He said they'll use #12 and #8 some as well to mix it up.
I asked Collins about the secondary and why they had so many busted coverages against Pitt since that is his area of expertise, "we've spoken at length with our guys and they've done a nice job of correcting their mistakes on their own and with coaching from us as well. They understand the flaws that were inherent in what happened on Saturday." Collins said that Pickett is also a really good QB and should be All-ACC as well so he doesn't want to take anything away from him, but he said the DBs did not handle things well in the game and they were pressing and guys were overlapping at times when they should've just stuck to their assignments and he said they've got great players who care and understand they can't put us in that situation again.
Collins said he challenged the team that they were really good on D for three weeks including beating a top 20 team in the Benz and they do not do that last week and he thinks they are committed to being a great defense.
Collins said that they used the passing game like a run game in the Pitt game since Pitt overloaded the box and Sims threw the ball on checks on a lot of called run plays because he read things correctly and got the ball out.
Collins said with rain in the forecast at Duke, they've practiced outdoors all day on Monday, some today and will go all day tomorrow outside in the stadium if there is no lightning.
