OK, enough of this. We’ve established that Georgia Tech is a good-looking squad – 63 points better than Alcorn State in the opener, 55 points better than Tulane here Saturday. Having said that, we’ve really said nothing. Had the Yellow Jackets played their absolute worst in either game, they’d still be 2-0.
Tech needs a test. As luck (of the Irish?) would have it, the Jackets’ next opponent represents the most famed program – sorry, Alabama – in the sport’s history. If beating Alcorn and Tulane like ketttledrums didn’t stir the senses, the notion of stealing into South Bend and hushing the echoes surely would.
Granted, Notre Dame was 13 seconds from losing Saturday to Virginia, among the ACC’s worst teams, and Irish quarterback Malik Zaire broke his ankle. No matter. The Irish remain a Brand Name, and it was a Georgia Tech visit to South Bend in 1975 that spawned the film, “Rudy.” The Irish walk-on Rudy Ruettiger sacked Tech’s Rudy Allen – two Rudys; go figure — on the game’s final snap.
(Had the Jackets run the ball into the line, there’d have been no movie. Me, I blame Pepper Rodgers.)
Sorry. I digress. That can happen when you watch Tech score three touchdowns before Tulane makes it third first down. After the Alcorn game, Paul Johnson said, “You could tell who was going to win after three series.” Nine days later, you could do the same.
The only difference was that Tech let Justin Thomas work into the second half against the Green Wave, who arrived having been trashed 37-7 by Duke in New Orleans. He’d been excused from further duty after one quarter against Alcorn, and if not for a first-quarter Tech turnover – Broderick Snoddy took his eye off Thomas’ high pitch – the Jackets’ No. 1 quarterback might have been excused at halftime.
Tulane offered a bit more competition than Alcorn – it would have been hard to offer less – but only a bit. The visitors went three-and-out on their first two possessions and yielded touchdowns on three of Tech’s first four series. In the first 18:10, the Green Wave allowed a 44-yard Jamal Golden punt return, missed a 47-yard field goal and had a punt blocked. Can’t play offense. Can’t play defense. Can’t kick or cover. (A second-half punt became a Tech safety.) Be advised that nobody will make a movie about this game.
As for the Jackets: Again, they looked potent. But again we stress: Comparatively, how could they not? Their defense held Tulane to 141 first-half yards, 44 of those coming on a touchdown pass that D.J. White should have batted away. (White would have a second-half interception to balance the scales, but really: If White never made another big play, he’s still in Tech’s Hall of Fame for the one he made in overtime at Sanford Stadium.)
Against Alcorn, the story was Tech’s B-backs: Stanford transfer Patrick Skov and freshman Marcus Marshall scored five touchdowns and rushed for 256 yards on 20 carries, averaging an obscene 12.8 yards per attempt. The up-the-gut stuff didn’t work as well against Tulane – that’s the difference between an FCS opponent and an FBS one – but everything else clicked.
Thomas rushed for 71 yards. Matthew Jordan, the transplanted A-back bumped to No. 2 quarterback because Tim Byerly is hurt, scored on a 65-yard keeper to make it 58-10. (Indeed, Jordan led the Jackets in rushing — 72 yards, two carries. He also threw a touchdown pass.)
But you had to be paying attention inside the final nine minutes to catch Jordan’s long ramble, and that’s the trouble with playing such opponents: It’s easy to zone out. (Or to leave early, as many Bobby Dodd Stadium patrons did.) We can’t fault Tech for its excellence. Neither can we know how excellent it truly is.
As much fun as it is to outscore two scholarship-granting opponents 134-16, it would be 100 times more rewarding to win at Notre Dame. After this one, someone asked Johnson if he was ready for his team to step up in class. His response: “I’d rather win 65-10.”
Duly noted. But I’m pretty sure he’d cherish a 7-3 win in South Bend … oh, like forever.
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