Thanks to our new sponsor Inteleca for helping bring back Q's Take my weekly look at things around GT and college sports from my vantage.
It was a little better than I expected and I set the bar and no one would listen to me. I thought GT overperformed relative to my expectations until the D let go of the rope at the end of the 4th quarter as the infamous GC3 liked to say.
First off, I thought the defense played well in the first half and Lane Kiffin made a few adjustments and they hit on some big plays.
I thought the chain thing was the biggest crock of shit I've ever seen in my life. It amazes me that the chain could break only on GT explosive plays... That was shockingly bad.
There were some non-hold calls on the fake punt, and then some by the Ole Miss OL that led to a couple of explosive plays but you aren't going to get those calls on the road in a SEC stadium.
The secondary remains a big problem with LaMiles Brooks clearly not himself and not playing well or covering well. I wonder if they need to shut him down and let him get healthy. His shoulder looks to be really bothering him. I'm not usually going to call someone out but Kenan Johnson had a rough day in particular and has maybe the worst tackling PFF I've ever seen over three games to start a season at 26.2 through 121 snaps. They need to try Kenyatta Watson or Rod Shelley or someone else if he can't tackle in space.
Kyle Efford probably needs to play a little bit more. Tren Tatum had a very rough day as well and the defense was better when they flipped Moala to WLB and had Efford in IMO.
Judkins was held to 38 yards on 13 carries or something like that. QB scrambles are still an issue and that is a leftover from losing a dynamic guy like Charlie Thomas and not having a Sylvain Yondjouen or Keion White at end right now either.
I don't get all the hate for Thacker as the defensive issues are as much as jimmies and joes issue and guys they expected to be key guys not playing up to their expected levels than anything else.
On the offensive side, Haynes King played pretty well and made some plays, he missed a couple of check downs forcing the ball downfield a few times that hurt them, but he played well again.
Eric Singleton Jr. is going to be very good and is living up to the hype from the preseason. If they can get him and Chase Lane on the field together and both are healthy I really like that with the slots.
I thought Jamal Haynes was great again, he made a lot out of a little. Trey Cooley continues to run well, but he has to hold on to the football.
It was good to see Dylan Leonard (probably his best game since 2021) and Brett Seither get involved in the passing game and the fake punt was a play for Seither.
I'm concerned about David Shanahan. People are dogging Joshua Taylor, but he is a walk-on punter who is a college freshman paying his way to Georgia Tech keep that in mind.
I thought overall it was not a game GT fans should be mad about, they nearly stole a game that they should've lost. A blocked kick and missing 10 points early really cost them the game.
I haven't thought as much about the punt late as others. I still need to marinate on that play a little more.
Overall they are exactly where I thought GT would be through three games, 1-2. They need to beat Wake Forest next week. If they struggle in that game then bowl dreams will become less of a reality.
Ole Miss and LSU will probably end up deciding the SEC West. Despite what my friend @ibeeballin says, Ole Miss is very good on D and they have a pretty good offense.
At one point yesterday Georgia Tech had the projected starting RB, X and Z receivers (Leo and Lane), RT or RG (Williams), punter and starting DE out. That would've been a killer in the past and yet they were very functional, especially on offense and your best CB was acquired by the team you were playing and started against you.
It is a bitter pill to swallow when you also lose the Louisville game, but Ole Miss is way better than the Cards too. It was a 7-point game with 10 minutes left. Perspective is important as Brent Key tries to right the ship.
I think Brent has them on the right track and people need to chill out once again and stop expecting them to suddenly win 9 games or something with a team that is still missing huge pieces, especially on defense. There are better days ahead.
It was a little better than I expected and I set the bar and no one would listen to me. I thought GT overperformed relative to my expectations until the D let go of the rope at the end of the 4th quarter as the infamous GC3 liked to say.
First off, I thought the defense played well in the first half and Lane Kiffin made a few adjustments and they hit on some big plays.
I thought the chain thing was the biggest crock of shit I've ever seen in my life. It amazes me that the chain could break only on GT explosive plays... That was shockingly bad.
There were some non-hold calls on the fake punt, and then some by the Ole Miss OL that led to a couple of explosive plays but you aren't going to get those calls on the road in a SEC stadium.
The secondary remains a big problem with LaMiles Brooks clearly not himself and not playing well or covering well. I wonder if they need to shut him down and let him get healthy. His shoulder looks to be really bothering him. I'm not usually going to call someone out but Kenan Johnson had a rough day in particular and has maybe the worst tackling PFF I've ever seen over three games to start a season at 26.2 through 121 snaps. They need to try Kenyatta Watson or Rod Shelley or someone else if he can't tackle in space.
Kyle Efford probably needs to play a little bit more. Tren Tatum had a very rough day as well and the defense was better when they flipped Moala to WLB and had Efford in IMO.
Judkins was held to 38 yards on 13 carries or something like that. QB scrambles are still an issue and that is a leftover from losing a dynamic guy like Charlie Thomas and not having a Sylvain Yondjouen or Keion White at end right now either.
I don't get all the hate for Thacker as the defensive issues are as much as jimmies and joes issue and guys they expected to be key guys not playing up to their expected levels than anything else.
On the offensive side, Haynes King played pretty well and made some plays, he missed a couple of check downs forcing the ball downfield a few times that hurt them, but he played well again.
Eric Singleton Jr. is going to be very good and is living up to the hype from the preseason. If they can get him and Chase Lane on the field together and both are healthy I really like that with the slots.
I thought Jamal Haynes was great again, he made a lot out of a little. Trey Cooley continues to run well, but he has to hold on to the football.
It was good to see Dylan Leonard (probably his best game since 2021) and Brett Seither get involved in the passing game and the fake punt was a play for Seither.
I'm concerned about David Shanahan. People are dogging Joshua Taylor, but he is a walk-on punter who is a college freshman paying his way to Georgia Tech keep that in mind.
I thought overall it was not a game GT fans should be mad about, they nearly stole a game that they should've lost. A blocked kick and missing 10 points early really cost them the game.
I haven't thought as much about the punt late as others. I still need to marinate on that play a little more.
Overall they are exactly where I thought GT would be through three games, 1-2. They need to beat Wake Forest next week. If they struggle in that game then bowl dreams will become less of a reality.
Ole Miss and LSU will probably end up deciding the SEC West. Despite what my friend @ibeeballin says, Ole Miss is very good on D and they have a pretty good offense.
At one point yesterday Georgia Tech had the projected starting RB, X and Z receivers (Leo and Lane), RT or RG (Williams), punter and starting DE out. That would've been a killer in the past and yet they were very functional, especially on offense and your best CB was acquired by the team you were playing and started against you.
It is a bitter pill to swallow when you also lose the Louisville game, but Ole Miss is way better than the Cards too. It was a 7-point game with 10 minutes left. Perspective is important as Brent Key tries to right the ship.
I think Brent has them on the right track and people need to chill out once again and stop expecting them to suddenly win 9 games or something with a team that is still missing huge pieces, especially on defense. There are better days ahead.
