A year ago, Georgia Tech’s balloon was fully inflated, its elasticity stretched to near maximum. The Yellow Jackets had routed Alcorn State and Tulane. The defense appeared improved, plucking turnovers like ripened fruit. No. 14 Tech headed to No. 8 Notre Dame, a rare road favorite in South Bend, Ind., ready to seize destiny.
That week, at least one participant was not as certain that glory awaited the Jackets.
“I don’t think we’re as good as people think we are right now,” coach Paul Johnson said.
Balloon met needle, Tech met 3-9.
This week, the Jackets are 2-0 again. They face another nonconference opponent again in their third game, this time Vanderbilt at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday. At least externally, though, similarities with the 2015 season at the same juncture mostly halt there.
Not a single voter put the Jackets on a top-25 ballot after last weekend’s games. Three well-regarded computer rankings placed Tech between 42nd and 56th. At least one thing remains comfortingly familiar – Johnson has hand-fed conventional wisdom into his personal shredder.
“We came out of the gate last year and killed everybody and everybody was talking about how great we were, and we weren’t,” Johnson said. “And now the first two games this year, and people want to talk about how bad we are, and we’re not. So it’s kind of somewhere in between.”
Saturday’s game may not turn out to be as revelatory as the third game of the Jackets’ season last year – injuries, third-down inefficiency and an inability to make big plays contributed to defeat against Notre Dame and throughout the season. But three hours against Vanderbilt promise to shed more light on Tech’s identity.
Questions abound. The Jackets have shown signs of defending the run well thus far, giving up an average of 4.0 yards per carry. That said, Tech’s rate last year after two games was 3.3 yards per carry before ending at 4.7.
The offense flailed against Boston College before getting on track against Mercer. Is that growth or beating up an outmanned team? Last year, Tech was generating 9.1 yards per play after two games last season, but the 12-game average, after injury depletion and the offensive line’s underperformance were accounted for, was 5.9, the second lowest rate of Johnson’s tenure.
“I think we have a chance to be better offensively,” Johnson said. “We’ll see defensively. I think we have a chance. I think until you play several games, it’s futile trying to guess because the one thing about 18- to 21-, 22-year-old kids, they get better sometimes.”
Vanderbilt will test Tech’s run defense, powered by running back Ralph Webb, a preseason All-SEC pick who mashed Middle Tennessee State last week for 211 rushing yards. Tech’s offensive linemen will have to get in the way of Commodores linebacker Brent Cunningham, a potential first-round draft pick, or he could foul up the run game in the way that Boston College’s Connor Strachan did in the opener (eight tackles, four for loss).
“I think this will be the start of telling us exactly what type of team we are,” A-backs coach Lamar Owens said. “You really don’t know till you get to about week four or five.”
As the fabled 2014 season unfurled, quarterback Justin Thomas’ clutch playmaking revealed itself in the third game, the last-minute win over Georgia Southern. The defense set the stage for Thomas by securing one of the many well-timed takeaways that came to define the season.
Beyond victory, what coaches are hoping to see is improvement – more negative-yardage plays by the defense, increased production from the B-back position from the offense, better ball security, any sort of stabilization from the punt team.
“I have a good feeling,” Thomas said. “Like I said, we’ve put ourselves in a good spot. The locker room’s confident in where we’re at, and I’m liking what I’m seeing.”
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