ATLANTA- The weather held off on Wednesday morning as the Georgia Tech football team practiced in Bobby Dodd Stadium in preparation for the trip to Durham on Saturday to face Duke. The Jackets hope to have some of the missing pieces back on the offensive line for the game and center Mikey Minihan spoke about the process of dealing with multiple changes on the offensive line this season.
“It has been different working with different people, but that is one of the big things Coach (Brent) Key preaches a lot, it’s the next guy up when the starting guy can’t go he has to do just as good or just the same.,” Minihan said. “I think we’ve been doing a good job of preparing our second and third-string guys for playing at a high level and I think we’ve done a good job with the backups.”
Against Pitt, Minihan had two first-time starters at the guard spots with Paula Vaipulu playing his first real action on offense at left guard and Nick Pendley starting at right guard after mostly playing right tackle this season. Kenny Cooper the normal left guard was out and the Jackets have used William Lay III at left guard this year as well as four different offensive tackles as injuries have hit that group hard. Ryan Johnson was forced into action playing through his own injury at right guard on Saturday in the second half.
Minihan said despite the injuries he feels the overall offensive line operation is getting better and he has more command of the calls so he can help mitigate personnel change issues.
“I’m being more comfortable in my shoes in calming down and knowing everything that is going,” Minihan said. “Everyone who has played next to me has done a great job at hearing the calls and executing the plays that we are doing.”
Flowing the two early turnovers in the Pitt game, Minihan said he was proud of how the team and Jeff Sims settled down and got the offense going when some teams would unravel even more in that situation.
“We messed up early, we had big mistakes early and we knew we couldn’t be in the headspace where we were going to let that keep us down all game and I think we still had to go out there and play and try to win the game and I think we did a good job with kind of shrugging that off and just trying to go out there and play football.”
With the slow start in the Pitt game in the team’s mind, Minihan said he feels like the Jackets have responded this week with a good week of practice and a good game plan for the Blue Devils.
“I think we’ve responded in a big way,” Minihan said of practice this week. “The thing we have to focus on is going back to our fundamentals. I think we got to the point last week where we were just trying to kind of maybe overstep our boundaries and we have to just go back to what we are comfortable with doing and how we play football and to get too big for our britches.”
Minihan said last year he struggled to head the QB
at times and he said really the only time that has been an issue this season is at Clemson. That cadence issue can be a problem in loud environments
Minihan said part of the red zone issues is the need for the line to beat defenders one-on-one and it is harder in condensed space because the box is tighter and the coverages are tighter so they don’t have room to move the ball the same way.
Minihan said Duke has similar DL to last year but they are playing more 4-2 fronts instead of a 3-3 look last year with a floater (DE) and he said he is curious to see how they chose to defender GT this week.
Minihan said he missed the Duke game in 2019, but he was on the sideline and he remembers how eerily quiet it was and you just have to stay locked in and bring your own juice. He said it is kind of like practice.
Quez Jackson said they have to come out with a completely different mindset on Saturday. He said the good part of CFB is each week you get a chance to prove yourself again and last week was not GT’s D. Quez said it was completely frustrating how the game unfolded last week and they are a tight-knit group and they don’t want the loss to Pitt to define what this defense is.
Quez said Coach Collins does a good job each week of showing the team what they need to do to win each and every game and he truly believes in the team and they believe in him and the players need to take control of the team and motivate themselves and prove to everyone what they can do.
Quez said he feels like they’ve adjusted to the up tempo offenses now and they are locked in on what they have to do in terms of getting calls and getting lined up. He said the big thing with tempo is you have to move on real fast from the previous play and be locked in to get the signal, line up and start your progressions and that is simple to do but sounds hard.
Quez said he remembers the long way from the field to the visiting locker room at Duke (it is a full football field from the playing surface as Duke’s practice field is between the visiting lockers and the field) and that it is much quieter than most places they normally play so you have to motivate yourself and be disciplined.
Quez said the goal is to go 1-0 this week and then take the bye week to rest and heal and hopefully they will get some guys who are out now back.
Nate McCollum said his success this year has in part come from him really learning the playbook and understanding the concepts and plays better and having the repetition in practice with it. He said that Kyric McGowan has been a good mentor for him and he talks to him every time he comes off the field between plays to learn more about what he can do better or how to attack a certain look.
McCollum said he wanted to be a gunner on the punt team to open his role up on the team and because special teams are such a priority for the program.
McCollum said he approaches every game like he is going to start.
McCollum said when he caught the TD pass his whole body just went numb because he was so excited. He said playing centerfield in baseball really helped him with making that over-the-shoulder type catch and with tracking the ball in the air.
McCollum said that coach Patenaude loves to throw the ball around and that is something that excited him about playing in this offense and now folks are starting to see some of that.
McCollum said that Jeff Sims is starting to get more comfortable and go through his progressions more and reads and you can see the game slowing down for him.
McCollum said he has spoken to Danny Hall about playing baseball this year and he has gone to the batting cages and hit some balls and he would like to play in the outfield, but he will do whatever he can to help if coach Hall wants him to play.
David Shanahan said that Pro Kick Australia really did a nice job preparing him for college football and they simulated what it is like at LSU or Clemson punting out of the end zone so when he had to do it in a game at Clemson it was not a big deal. He said the hardest part has actually been off the field juggling schools and football because of the time constraints.
Shanahan said the rugby punts with either foot comes really naturally, he said every kid in Ireland can rugby kick with either foot (lol).
Shanahan said the first punt was really interesting, he said he closed his eyes when he hit it and he was shocked it went 40 yards so after that he was pretty confident moving forward. He said he treated Clemson the same way as NIU or KSU, but he did have a moment looking around the stadium in pre-game warmups.
Shanahan said the toughest thing about practice is all the downtime for the specialists especially when they go in the stadium because they just kind of stand around on those days until it is time to practice special teams whereas at the Rose Bowl Field they can hit the track field or whatever field is open and get some work in.
Shanahan said he rooms with Brent Cimaglia on the road and he has been a really calming influence for him because he is so chill and professional each game. He said Cade Long his snapper who is a senior has also been a good mentor.
Shanahan said his family are excited about the 12:30 kickoff at Duke because of the time change. He said the 7:30 game kicks off after midnight back home and they have to stay up until 4am to watch those.
“It has been different working with different people, but that is one of the big things Coach (Brent) Key preaches a lot, it’s the next guy up when the starting guy can’t go he has to do just as good or just the same.,” Minihan said. “I think we’ve been doing a good job of preparing our second and third-string guys for playing at a high level and I think we’ve done a good job with the backups.”
Against Pitt, Minihan had two first-time starters at the guard spots with Paula Vaipulu playing his first real action on offense at left guard and Nick Pendley starting at right guard after mostly playing right tackle this season. Kenny Cooper the normal left guard was out and the Jackets have used William Lay III at left guard this year as well as four different offensive tackles as injuries have hit that group hard. Ryan Johnson was forced into action playing through his own injury at right guard on Saturday in the second half.
Minihan said despite the injuries he feels the overall offensive line operation is getting better and he has more command of the calls so he can help mitigate personnel change issues.
“I’m being more comfortable in my shoes in calming down and knowing everything that is going,” Minihan said. “Everyone who has played next to me has done a great job at hearing the calls and executing the plays that we are doing.”
Flowing the two early turnovers in the Pitt game, Minihan said he was proud of how the team and Jeff Sims settled down and got the offense going when some teams would unravel even more in that situation.
“We messed up early, we had big mistakes early and we knew we couldn’t be in the headspace where we were going to let that keep us down all game and I think we still had to go out there and play and try to win the game and I think we did a good job with kind of shrugging that off and just trying to go out there and play football.”
With the slow start in the Pitt game in the team’s mind, Minihan said he feels like the Jackets have responded this week with a good week of practice and a good game plan for the Blue Devils.
“I think we’ve responded in a big way,” Minihan said of practice this week. “The thing we have to focus on is going back to our fundamentals. I think we got to the point last week where we were just trying to kind of maybe overstep our boundaries and we have to just go back to what we are comfortable with doing and how we play football and to get too big for our britches.”
Minihan said last year he struggled to head the QB
at times and he said really the only time that has been an issue this season is at Clemson. That cadence issue can be a problem in loud environmentsMinihan said part of the red zone issues is the need for the line to beat defenders one-on-one and it is harder in condensed space because the box is tighter and the coverages are tighter so they don’t have room to move the ball the same way.
Minihan said Duke has similar DL to last year but they are playing more 4-2 fronts instead of a 3-3 look last year with a floater (DE) and he said he is curious to see how they chose to defender GT this week.
Minihan said he missed the Duke game in 2019, but he was on the sideline and he remembers how eerily quiet it was and you just have to stay locked in and bring your own juice. He said it is kind of like practice.
Quez Jackson said they have to come out with a completely different mindset on Saturday. He said the good part of CFB is each week you get a chance to prove yourself again and last week was not GT’s D. Quez said it was completely frustrating how the game unfolded last week and they are a tight-knit group and they don’t want the loss to Pitt to define what this defense is.
Quez said Coach Collins does a good job each week of showing the team what they need to do to win each and every game and he truly believes in the team and they believe in him and the players need to take control of the team and motivate themselves and prove to everyone what they can do.
Quez said he feels like they’ve adjusted to the up tempo offenses now and they are locked in on what they have to do in terms of getting calls and getting lined up. He said the big thing with tempo is you have to move on real fast from the previous play and be locked in to get the signal, line up and start your progressions and that is simple to do but sounds hard.
Quez said he remembers the long way from the field to the visiting locker room at Duke (it is a full football field from the playing surface as Duke’s practice field is between the visiting lockers and the field) and that it is much quieter than most places they normally play so you have to motivate yourself and be disciplined.
Quez said the goal is to go 1-0 this week and then take the bye week to rest and heal and hopefully they will get some guys who are out now back.
Nate McCollum said his success this year has in part come from him really learning the playbook and understanding the concepts and plays better and having the repetition in practice with it. He said that Kyric McGowan has been a good mentor for him and he talks to him every time he comes off the field between plays to learn more about what he can do better or how to attack a certain look.
McCollum said he wanted to be a gunner on the punt team to open his role up on the team and because special teams are such a priority for the program.
McCollum said he approaches every game like he is going to start.
McCollum said when he caught the TD pass his whole body just went numb because he was so excited. He said playing centerfield in baseball really helped him with making that over-the-shoulder type catch and with tracking the ball in the air.
McCollum said that coach Patenaude loves to throw the ball around and that is something that excited him about playing in this offense and now folks are starting to see some of that.
McCollum said that Jeff Sims is starting to get more comfortable and go through his progressions more and reads and you can see the game slowing down for him.
McCollum said he has spoken to Danny Hall about playing baseball this year and he has gone to the batting cages and hit some balls and he would like to play in the outfield, but he will do whatever he can to help if coach Hall wants him to play.
David Shanahan said that Pro Kick Australia really did a nice job preparing him for college football and they simulated what it is like at LSU or Clemson punting out of the end zone so when he had to do it in a game at Clemson it was not a big deal. He said the hardest part has actually been off the field juggling schools and football because of the time constraints.
Shanahan said the rugby punts with either foot comes really naturally, he said every kid in Ireland can rugby kick with either foot (lol).
Shanahan said the first punt was really interesting, he said he closed his eyes when he hit it and he was shocked it went 40 yards so after that he was pretty confident moving forward. He said he treated Clemson the same way as NIU or KSU, but he did have a moment looking around the stadium in pre-game warmups.
Shanahan said the toughest thing about practice is all the downtime for the specialists especially when they go in the stadium because they just kind of stand around on those days until it is time to practice special teams whereas at the Rose Bowl Field they can hit the track field or whatever field is open and get some work in.
Shanahan said he rooms with Brent Cimaglia on the road and he has been a really calming influence for him because he is so chill and professional each game. He said Cade Long his snapper who is a senior has also been a good mentor.
Shanahan said his family are excited about the 12:30 kickoff at Duke because of the time change. He said the 7:30 game kicks off after midnight back home and they have to stay up until 4am to watch those.
