ATLANTA- Georgia Tech football fresh off a win over North Carolina switched gears on Tuesday to prepare for a tough Pittsburgh team that has won two games in a row in Atlanta over Geoff Collins’ squad.
“I’m excited to be back in Bobby Dodd Stadium at noon on Saturday against a really good Pitt team,” Collins said.
The players of the week:
Offense: Jeff Sims
Defense: Quez Jackson and Charlie Thomas
Special Teams: Brent Cimaglia
True Freshman Special Teams: Josh Robinson (PAT/FG and punt)
Developmental Players of the Week: Jamal Haynes, Azende Rey, Jakiah Leftwich and Chayden Peery (who was Sam Howell for the scout team will be Kenny Pickett this week), Sirad Bryant and Nate Moon.
Collins said that Saturday was the vision he had for the MBS series when GT first announced it and he was really pleased with the crowd (especially the students who sold out their allotment) and he said the kids really enjoyed it and played hard in a great environment.
Collins said they had tons of top recruits there and he said playing in the Benz for at least five more years is a great thing for this program.
Collins said that Charlie Thomas had another monster performance for them and won ACC LB of the week and they are using him at two positions in the scheme and he loves the way that Quez, Charlie and Ace Eley leverage the ball between them on D.
Collins said they had 4 LBs over a 600 player load at Clemson including Demetrius Knight who was a monster on special teams for them, he said they had four hit 700 on Saturday against UNC.
Collins talked up Josh Robinson and his role on special teams and came up with a freshman special teams POW award for him. He plays Left TE on the PAT/FG which is very hard and he made a key adjustment on the punt unit on the rugby punt by UNC to force a tough ball.
Collins said that Jamal Haynes had a been week on the developmental team last week and got added to some special teams units but hasn’t played just yet. (Looks like he was Josh Downs for the scout team).
Collins said he was really proud of how the team handled adversity last week. He said a great example was Dontae Smith’s run that was prematurely blown dead. He said they responded to that and scored and in the past that wouldn’t have happened. He said all the silliness and the rah-rah stuff is gone because this is a focused and mature team now. He said that series was a good sign as Jeff Sims just settled the team down and said we got this and we will score and did it after the missed call. Collins said even in the past he would’ve had a hard time letting that missed call go.
Collins said he is really proud of how Jeff Sims and Jordan Yates have handled things and even Trad Beatty. He said that Sims and Yates just cheer each other on and that doesn’t happen in a lot of places in CFB these days. Collins said the way those young men have handled that situation is a blueprint for how you would do it. He said they are tremendous young men from tremendous families and that is a situation that can easily become toxic and it hasn’t because of the young men they are.
Collins said another great sign was the team scoring after Knight tripped on the way to the end zone on the fumble return, he said that Sims was good coming back in for the first time and scored on two plays and that wouldn’t have happened.
Collins said he had a ton of media, family and recruiting stuff to do after the game on Saturday so he didn’t get back to the locker room until 50 minutes after the game and he said that when he finally got back JP Mason, Ryan Johnson and Ja’Quon Griffin each had trash bags out and were helping the equipment guys clean up. He said the team is taught to leave a visiting locker room and space better than they found it and that was a great leadership example by those guys after a big win to do that.
Collins said that he thinks Pitt has a good physical OL that is well-coached, a full complement of receivers that can all hurt you and of course the QB is really good and has a knack for keeping plays alive. They are very multiple on offense as well so it will be a big challenge.
Collins said a big thing he is learning about this team is how well they handle adversity and the love and bond the team has probably is a big part of that. They just have good energy and vibes without having to get coached up for that.
Collins said that Charlie Thomas is a big time player and they put him in space, they blitz him a lot and he is a good football player with great spatial awareness. He said his development as a young man in the program over the last three years has been big. Charlie was at the career fair last night and Leah Thomas the head of the Total Person Program sent Collins a pic of him all dressed up networking and he said he was texting Charlie talking about what a great young man he has become. Charlie took the mic from Coach Lew during warm ups and gave a little pep talk to the team before practice because he wanted them to have a good practice to get ready for Pitt and that is not something that would’ve happened in 2019 or 2020 with him.
Collins said he thinks moving Patenaude to the sideline has helped with his calls and ability to read the tempo of the game and get a groove calling plays. He said he can dial it up or slow it down by huddling. He said he is getting great input from Brent Key, Kerry Dixon, Tashard Choice and Chris Wiesehan during the game and the signal callers are getting the plays in on both sides of the ball much better.
Collins said the team are buying much more into the one play at a time, one series at a time idea now than in the past where things would snowball on them. He said the Clemson game is when he thinks it finally clicked for both sides of the ball. Just focus on your assignment each play and don’t make things bigger than they have to be.
Collins hinted we may finally see a jumbo red zone package with some defensive players crossing over to offense. He said they have wanted to put that in and it was part of the DNA at Temple and something he wants to do here. I asked if we will see Zeek Biggers at fullback and he shot me a big grin. Lol
“I’m excited to be back in Bobby Dodd Stadium at noon on Saturday against a really good Pitt team,” Collins said.
The players of the week:
Offense: Jeff Sims
Defense: Quez Jackson and Charlie Thomas
Special Teams: Brent Cimaglia
True Freshman Special Teams: Josh Robinson (PAT/FG and punt)
Developmental Players of the Week: Jamal Haynes, Azende Rey, Jakiah Leftwich and Chayden Peery (who was Sam Howell for the scout team will be Kenny Pickett this week), Sirad Bryant and Nate Moon.
Collins said that Saturday was the vision he had for the MBS series when GT first announced it and he was really pleased with the crowd (especially the students who sold out their allotment) and he said the kids really enjoyed it and played hard in a great environment.
Collins said they had tons of top recruits there and he said playing in the Benz for at least five more years is a great thing for this program.
Collins said that Charlie Thomas had another monster performance for them and won ACC LB of the week and they are using him at two positions in the scheme and he loves the way that Quez, Charlie and Ace Eley leverage the ball between them on D.
Collins said they had 4 LBs over a 600 player load at Clemson including Demetrius Knight who was a monster on special teams for them, he said they had four hit 700 on Saturday against UNC.
Collins talked up Josh Robinson and his role on special teams and came up with a freshman special teams POW award for him. He plays Left TE on the PAT/FG which is very hard and he made a key adjustment on the punt unit on the rugby punt by UNC to force a tough ball.
Collins said that Jamal Haynes had a been week on the developmental team last week and got added to some special teams units but hasn’t played just yet. (Looks like he was Josh Downs for the scout team).
Collins said he was really proud of how the team handled adversity last week. He said a great example was Dontae Smith’s run that was prematurely blown dead. He said they responded to that and scored and in the past that wouldn’t have happened. He said all the silliness and the rah-rah stuff is gone because this is a focused and mature team now. He said that series was a good sign as Jeff Sims just settled the team down and said we got this and we will score and did it after the missed call. Collins said even in the past he would’ve had a hard time letting that missed call go.
Collins said he is really proud of how Jeff Sims and Jordan Yates have handled things and even Trad Beatty. He said that Sims and Yates just cheer each other on and that doesn’t happen in a lot of places in CFB these days. Collins said the way those young men have handled that situation is a blueprint for how you would do it. He said they are tremendous young men from tremendous families and that is a situation that can easily become toxic and it hasn’t because of the young men they are.
Collins said another great sign was the team scoring after Knight tripped on the way to the end zone on the fumble return, he said that Sims was good coming back in for the first time and scored on two plays and that wouldn’t have happened.
Collins said he had a ton of media, family and recruiting stuff to do after the game on Saturday so he didn’t get back to the locker room until 50 minutes after the game and he said that when he finally got back JP Mason, Ryan Johnson and Ja’Quon Griffin each had trash bags out and were helping the equipment guys clean up. He said the team is taught to leave a visiting locker room and space better than they found it and that was a great leadership example by those guys after a big win to do that.
Collins said that he thinks Pitt has a good physical OL that is well-coached, a full complement of receivers that can all hurt you and of course the QB is really good and has a knack for keeping plays alive. They are very multiple on offense as well so it will be a big challenge.
Collins said a big thing he is learning about this team is how well they handle adversity and the love and bond the team has probably is a big part of that. They just have good energy and vibes without having to get coached up for that.
Collins said that Charlie Thomas is a big time player and they put him in space, they blitz him a lot and he is a good football player with great spatial awareness. He said his development as a young man in the program over the last three years has been big. Charlie was at the career fair last night and Leah Thomas the head of the Total Person Program sent Collins a pic of him all dressed up networking and he said he was texting Charlie talking about what a great young man he has become. Charlie took the mic from Coach Lew during warm ups and gave a little pep talk to the team before practice because he wanted them to have a good practice to get ready for Pitt and that is not something that would’ve happened in 2019 or 2020 with him.
Collins said he thinks moving Patenaude to the sideline has helped with his calls and ability to read the tempo of the game and get a groove calling plays. He said he can dial it up or slow it down by huddling. He said he is getting great input from Brent Key, Kerry Dixon, Tashard Choice and Chris Wiesehan during the game and the signal callers are getting the plays in on both sides of the ball much better.
Collins said the team are buying much more into the one play at a time, one series at a time idea now than in the past where things would snowball on them. He said the Clemson game is when he thinks it finally clicked for both sides of the ball. Just focus on your assignment each play and don’t make things bigger than they have to be.
Collins hinted we may finally see a jumbo red zone package with some defensive players crossing over to offense. He said they have wanted to put that in and it was part of the DNA at Temple and something he wants to do here. I asked if we will see Zeek Biggers at fullback and he shot me a big grin. Lol
