On Jordan touchdown run, Tulane had 9 defenders on field
Georgia Tech's option game often puts defenses in a position of feeling out-numbered. Saturday in its 65-10 loss to the Yellow Jackets, Tulane didn't help matters, literally allowing itself to be out-manned on one play by two players before the ball was even snapped.
With 8:25 to play in the fourth quarter and Tech ahead 51-10, the Yellow Jackets took the field for a 1st-and-10 from their 35 with their customary 11-man alignment. Tulane countered with nine.
It would appear that the Green Wave were without their middle linebacker and a safety. Quarterback Matthew Jordan played it flawlessly, keeping the ball on a triple-option play. Judging from the way the play unfolded, Tulane had defenders for the B-back dive and to play a possible pitch to the A-back, but there was no defender on the field assigned to track with Jordan.
As a result, when he turned upfield, there was no one to stop him until he reached the south end zone with a 65-yard touchdown. You can watch a clip of it here at the 1:10 mark.
"The (play-side linebacker) took the B-back and (the safety) took the pitch and I just saw the hole and tried to hit it," Jordan said.
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
