Jackets penalize Duke on penalties

Penalties have plagued Georgia Tech this season, but on Saturday it was Duke drawing flags at critical moments.

Late in the first half Tech lined up to punt from its 27, leading 3-0. The Blue Devils roughed punter Chandler Anderson to keep a Tech drive alive.

“We’re not even trying to block a punt, we’re trying to return and we end up with a penalty,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. “Those kind of things, that falls on me.”

Then came the big one.

On 3rd-and-15 from the Duke 28, Jaybo Shaw threw incomplete to Demaryius Thomas on a deep sideline route. Officials called pass interference on cornerback Jabari Marshall, and Tech cashed in three plays later. Roddy Jones’ 4-yard touchdown run gave Tech a 10-0 lead with four minutes to go in the third quarter.

Tech came in averaging 61.2 yards in penalties, third-most in the ACC. The Jackets were penalized 40 yards on five penalties Saturday, and did not draw a flag on defense.

“We talked about … not beating yourself, trying to taking care of the ball and limiting the penalties,” coach Paul Johnson said.

Each of Duke’s penalties was for 15-yards: roughing the kicker, pass interference and roughing the passer.

Saturday was the first time this season Tech drew fewer penalty yards than its opponent.

Anderson replaces Blair on punts

Chandler Anderson replaced Scott Blair as the primary punter and drew a roughing the kicker penalty on his first punt. The flag extended a Tech drive late in the first half, but the Jackets stalled and took a 3-0 lead to the locker room.

Anderson, a redshirt freshman, averaged 38.3 yards on three punts.

Blair went 2-for-2 on field goals, hitting from 20 and 26 yards. The sophomore has nailed four straight after starting the season 1-for-5. …

A-back Embry Peeples left in the first quarter with a right ankle injury and did not return. With Quincy Kelly (undisclosed injury) unavailable, A-back Lucas Cox served as Jonathan Dwyer’s backup at B-back. …

Tech’s home game next Saturday against Gardner-Webb will start at 3:30 p.m. The I-AA Bulldogs came on the schedule after Army canceled. …

Tech won its first coin toss of the season and deferred until the second half. Duke has lost all five coin tosses this season. …

Seventeen of Tech’s 18 touchdowns this season have been scored by freshmen or sophomores. Freshman Jaybo Shaw, redshirt freshman Roddy Jones and sophomore Demaryius Thomas found the end zone Saturday.

Tech tackles efficiency

With no running game and little time to throw against Tech’s front four, Duke had to rely on short passing routes and screens.

The game turned into a tackling test for Tech’s linebackers and secondary. They aced it.

Duke came in averaging 233 passing yards, second-most in the ACC. Duke mustered 97 Saturday, generating 3.3 yards on 29 pass attempts.

“A lot of people can’t protect against our defensive ilne, so they keep trying to hit us with hitches and things like that,” cornerback Mario Butler said.

“We did a lot of fundamental work [in the off week], just trying to get our technique right. We wanted to come out and not be sluggish like some teams do after an off week.”

Linebacker Sedric Griffin had 2-1/2 tackles for loss and Butler two as the back seven missed very few tackles. It was a far cry from two weeks ago, when Tech allowed 299 passing yards to Mississippi State.

“Coach [Paul] Johnson was good enough to give us more time on fundamentals,” defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said. “Usually at this point in the season, you’re so much into the gameplan. But he really wanted us to stress fundamentals these last two weeks and we did.”

Redshirt freshman Alex Walker came up with the only turnover, a fourth-quarter interception he returned 30 yards. It was Tech’s seventh interception – two more than last year’s total.

Jackets find motivation in trash talk

Tech’s defense probably didn’t need the help, but the Jackets got it when defensive line coach Giff Smith pulled out one of the oldest tricks in the book – the bulletin board quote.

Smith told his players that one of Duke’s coaches dismissed the Jackets’ vaunted defensive line by pointing out that Tech only ranked seventh in the ACC in rushing defense, allowing 137.2 yards per game. Never mind that Smith never actually showed his players any evidence of the quote. “I have no idea” who made the comment, defensive tackle Vance Walker said. “But I know Coach told us somebody said it. That’s all we needed to hear.”

Duke ran 20 times for 35 yards. Eight of Duke’s rushes gained no yards or were for a loss.

“Worse than measly,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said. The Jackets’ run defense contributed to Duke converting just two of 12 third downs, Tech’s best percentage of the year.

Better play on third downs was a point of emphasis for Tech over its two-week hiatus. Credit some supposed trash talk. “I don’t know how it got there, but it got to our ears,” defensive tackle Darryl Richard said. “It got to our minds and we put it into action.”

– Ken Sugiura