Five things we learned from Georgia Tech's spring football practice, which ended on Saturday:

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Coach Paul Johnson has his players believing in his offense. 'Once everything gets together, everything gets rolling,' says B-back Jonathan Dwyer (21).

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• Accountability reigns; no loafing: New coach Paul Johnson sets standards and insists his players live up to them, or else. If pushups and up-downs make better football teams, it shouldn't be long before the Yellow Jackets win an ACC title. (Up-downs are just what they sound like; players jog in place and, at the blow of a whistle, drop face down on the ground, then get up and do it again until the coach is satisfied he has made his point.)

"We had to do up-downs for every loaf we had from the practice before," safety Dominique Reese said. "One time we had 198 loafs. That [discipline] was good because it kept us hustling and running to the ball. Nobody wanted to do up-downs the next day."

A "loaf" on defense could be as simple as allowing a blocker to knock you to the ground. Position coaches pointed out each "loaf" in film sessions, and the whole offense or defense would pay the price at the following practice.

• Johnson will pass, at least some: Want to get on Johnson's nerves? Ask him if Tech is ever going to pass, or call his offense the triple option. His Navy team passed just 10 times a game last season, and Tech does run the triple option quite a bit, though it also runs other things. But from the first practice through Saturday's spring game, there was evidence the pass will be more than an afterthought.

The spring game was about 75-25 run-pass, more pass-oriented than the Midshipmen though more run-heavy than the 60-40 ratio the Yellow Jackets used last season.

• Players believe in the offense: Fans might find it hard to imagine after a spring game in which the team fumbled nine times and the starting offense managed just seven points, but the players saw enough positives in the 14 preceding practices that they're convinced it can work. The offense that averaged less than 3 yards per carry on Saturday produced much better results on the practice field.

"Once everything gets together, everything gets rolling," B-back Jonathan Dwyer said. "Once everybody has their keys and everything straight, everybody executes and we do what we're supposed to do."

Running a play mostly right isn't good enough. Tech has to get to where all 11 players on offense do what they're supposed to do down after down. And they're still a long way from that point.

"If you miss one block in this offense, the whole play is shot," A-back Andrew Smith said.

This isn't a 3-yards-in-a-cloud-of-dust system. It's capable of a lot more variety, and a lot more big plays, than some players first thought. Count Dwyer among the pleasantly surprised after he learned more about his move from tailback, which doesn't exist in this offense, to a position that can be called fullback but is a lot more varied than that.

"I didn't know I was going to have some outside plays," Dwyer said. "It made me feel a whole lot better about the whole thing."

He still spends most of his time running up the middle, and because of the fake handoffs he gets hit even when he isn't the ball carrier.

"This is the hardest I've ever gotten hit in my whole life," Dwyer said. "But it's worth it. It's making me tougher. It's making me a better player."

• Melton can play, and probably will: The only scholarship player added to the Tech roster this spring was receiver Tyler Melton, who enrolled late after tearing a knee ligament as a high school senior. He took community college classes and cleaned golf carts at a course in Houston last fall.

With receivers Greg Smith and Andrew Smith moving to A-back and receiver James Johnson leaving the team, Melton held the third spot in the receiver rotation, behind starters Demaryius Thomas and Correy Earls. Melton did little in the spring game other than fumble away a punt, but he had a productive spring.

"I think he's made some good plays," Johnson said. "For a young guy, his first spring on this level, he hasn't been intimidated. It will be a huge help for him [to have gone through spring]. At least he'll have a background."

"I've pretty much got it all down now," Melton said.

That's not true of his golf game, despite the free rounds that were a perk of his job.

"I'm probably right at [a score of] 100," Melton said.

• They buy in, together: Change isn't easy, and not everybody who could have played for Tech this fall will be on the field when the season opens Aug. 28 against Jacksonville State. But the players who did stick around appear to have bought into the new paradigm. It was the first thing defensive tackle Darryl Richard mentioned when asked what Tech has learned.

"The team concept has really come together," he said, and he cited an example from pre-spring conditioning drills, which started with players grouped by position but ended with random combinations of offense and defense, freshmen through seniors, linemen and skill position players.

"You learned you had to depend on other people," Richard said, "even those who you had no control of their performance.

"We have a good core of people on this team who are willing to do what it takes to win games. I think the whole team is really buying in."

"I think there's an excitement and a willingness to learn," Johnson said. "Is there 100 percent? No, but I don't know that I've ever been on a team where