Tech powers up in second half

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It isn't easy to impress Georgia Tech co-offensive line coach Mike Sewak.

Apparently, though, running for 272 yards in one half against the No. 4 team in the country will do the trick.

Said Sewak of the Tech offensive players, "That's an amazing total for those guys."

After arguably its least effective half of the season, the Georgia Tech offense turned in one of its best Saturday night after halftime against Virginia Tech. Getting out of its own way helped.

"I think more than anything, we kept self-destructing [in] the first half," center Sean  Bedford said. "It's hard to win when you're moving yourself backwards. We stopped doing that and we turned things around."

The numbers spell it out. In the first half, Tech went 88 yards on 26 snaps, a 3.4 yards-per-play average, and were bailed out by the one play of the half that traveled more than 9 yards, a 51-yard catch by wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. The Yellow Jackets ran the ball 21 times for 37 yards. Five penalties helped killed three different drives.

It was a far cry from Tech's performance last Saturday, when the Jackets scored touchdowns on their first four possessions of the game, and most unbecoming of a team that led the ACC in total offense going into the game.

Virginia Tech attacked the Jackets in a completely different alignment than how they anticipated. The Hokies played a 4-3 alignment where last year they played an eight-man defensive front.

"In the first half, we were running where they had players, right into the teeth of their unit," coach Paul Johnson said.

Tech's problems weren't solely tactical.

Before an energized home crowd, in a nationally-televised game  with conference title hopes on the line, the Jackets revved a little too hot.

"Sometimes I think you get a little bit too caught up in the moment and you don’t do your job," Bedford said. "When you don't do your job is when you get in trouble."

Quarterback Josh Nesbitt said he calmed down in the second half and tried to slow the game down for him and his teammates. It worked.

Tech scored touchdowns on the first and third drives after halftime, two possessions that totaled 18 plays – all runs – that covered 146 yards. The Jackets, in fact, gained all 272 of their second-half yards on the ground on 42 rushes, a 6.5 yards-per-carry average. Nesbitt finished the game with 122 rushing yards, three touchdowns and, notably, five rushes that converted third downs.

It generated a 21-10 edge that the Jackets held to upset the Hokies.

Further, Nesbitt missed might have missed just two reads in executing option plays in the second half, Johnson said.

In totaling 309 rushing yards, Tech became the first team to surpass the 300-yard mark against Virginia Tech since 1996.