Prior to the Duke game, Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson told his team that if it didn’t take care of business against the Blue Devils, all the work they had done to get into the top-25 rankings would be undone in a week. He was right, as the Jackets dropped out following a miscue-laden defeat.
Last week, Johnson offered the Yellow Jackets the message that, having given up a home loss to a division opponent, they now had the chance to get one back with their road game at North Carolina. Team members pledged more focus and a desire to get rid of the bad taste of the loss to Duke.
Tech did appear to play with more attention to detail, but still lost an agonizing 48-43 decision to the Tar Heels, allowing the winning touchdown with 11 seconds left in the game. Being sobered up by one loss after the 5-0 joyride is one thing. Coming back from a second loss in a row, one that has staggered the Jackets’ pursuit of the ACC Coastal Division title, will be a test of the team’s leadership and resolve.
“We just can’t let it get to us,” safety Demond Smith said. “It’s a long season. We’ve got plenty more games. We’ve just got to keep playing. You never know what happens in a football game.”
The team’s deficiencies, particularly its play on the defensive line, will have to be fixed somehow.
“You don’t quit coaching,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to keep working, trying to get better.”
North Carolina piled up 579 yards of total offense, the most accumulated by a Tech opponent since the Oct. 2012 loss to Clemson (601), the final game of then-defensive coordinator Al Groh’s tenure.
“Especially on defense, we’ve got to do something,” defensive tackle Adam Gotsis said. “We can’t be relying on our offense to score every time. We’ve got to get stops when we’ve got to get stops.”
In recent seasons, Tech has shown the capacity to get off the mat. In 2011, the Jackets started 6-0, then dropped consecutive games to division opponents Virginia and Miami. They were home underdogs for the next game, against then-No. 5 Clemson, and responded with a 31-17 win, the Jackets’ last win over a ranked team. In 2012, Tech ended the first half of the season with three consecutive losses, giving up more than 40 points in each, the last one the aforementioned Clemson loss.
Tech responded by playing the second half of the season 4-2, improbably reaching the ACC title game and coming within one touchdown of beating Florida State for the championship. Last year, the Jackets again dropped the fourth, fifth and sixth consecutive games of the season to drop their record to 3-3. Tech broke the losing streak with one of its cleanest games of the season, a 56-0 win over Syracuse, which led to a 4-2 second half.
“We started out 5-0, but it’s all about how your respond,” A-back Charles Perkins said.
Notes: B-back Zach Laskey underwent an x-ray on his shoulder, according to a post on his Twitter account Sunday. Laskey has played the vast majority of snaps at the position this season and Saturday ran 15 times for 74 yards and two touchdowns. For the season, he has 595 yards and a 5.0 yards-per-carry average.
If Laskey can’t play, Johnson’s options are running back Synjyn Days, who had been backing up Laskey but moved back last week to A-back, Matt Connors, whom Days supplanted as Laskey’s backup, or possibly C.J. Leggett. Johnson said last week he wanted to take a look at him in practice as coaches weighed the value of removing his redshirt. He chose against it, saying it wasn’t worth it to give him eight snaps a game. An injury to Laskey, particularly if it’s long-term, could change matters.
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