In football’s cat-and-mouse game, opponents were able to handle Georgia Tech’s four-man pass rush and occasional blitz pressure. So the Yellow Jackets ramped up the frequency and manpower of their blitzes.
And, in response to that, opposing quarterbacks often threw off quick dropbacks, releasing passes before the pass rush could reach them and delivering the ball to receivers against a depleted backfield.
“If you evaluate last year, the pass rush wasn’t great, but we got killed with the quick game,” coach Paul Johnson said. “We’ve got to have answers for that. You can’t expect guys to get there when they’re throwing on three steps, and they’re throwing quick game the whole time.”
Tech didn’t lack for problems last year in its 3-9 season, the worst mark since 1994. But an inability to harass the quarterback with a four-man rush was up the list, as adding help to the pass rush created the aforementioned vulnerabilities.
Tech opponents completed 59.9 percent of their passes, which tied for 85th in FBS. The Jackets also averaged 1.17 sacks per game, tied for 120th in FBS. It partly reflected teams exploiting the Jackets by getting rid of the ball quickly, making sacks more difficult.
“It wasn’t like people were throwing a lot of five- and seven-step drop and holding the ball,” Johnson said. “I bet you 70 percent of the throws against us were quick game because we were blitzing.”
The season averages don’t quite do justice to the struggles Tech had. The Jackets had five of their sacks in the first two games of the season, against overmatched teams from Alcorn State and Tulane. Over the final 10 games of the season, Jackets opponents were sacked nine times despite 276 pass attempts. In January, Johnson termed the pass rush “abysmal” and said blitzes weren’t effective.
“Maybe we need to man up and, when we blitz, blitz,” he said. “Bring seven. Look at some of that.”
For Tech’s spring practice, which will continue with its fourth practice Saturday morning, defensive coordinator Ted Roof and defensive-line coach Mike Pelton will devote time to improving the four-man rush. The Jackets will have to try to improve despite losing the best defensive player on last season’s team, defensive tackle Adam Gotsis.
A more effective pass rush will be necessary, particularly with Tech’s starting cornerbacks from 2015 (D.J. White and Chris Milton) and safeties (Jamal Golden and Demond Smith) having graduated. Bringing extra pressure on the quarterback and leaving the secondary vulnerable is a more tolerable choice with inexperienced defensive backs.
“We’ve just got to keep pursuing and keep working and making sure that we’re doing everything possible to get to that quarterback and each person is doing their job to his best potential,’ defensive end KeShun Freeman said.
A rising junior, Freeman has put on about 10 pounds since last summer to 250 pounds, up from about 219 when he was a freshman. He’ll be counted on to improve into a consistent edge threat. Backup end Anree Saint-Amour will have his first spring practice with Pelton, giving him extended learning time from the coach who helped Jeremiah Attaochu develop into an All-American.
Saint-Amour finished well last season, collecting five of his eight total tackles in the final three games of the season.
One significant addition is defensive end Desmond Branch, a January enrollee after transferring from a Texas junior college. He redshirted one semester at New Mexico in 2014.
“He’s really learning, and he has a lot to learn, but he’s going to be pretty good once he starts really getting with us,” Freeman said.
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