Heading into the final three games of the regular season, Georgia Tech’s defense may have turned a corner. The Yellow Jackets’ aggressive and focused performance against Virginia limited the Cavaliers to a season-low 10 points and a 5.0 yards-per play average, Tech’s best rate of the season.
Defensive coordinator Ted Roof would like to think the No. 24 Jackets can bring that level of play to Saturday’s game at N.C. State. However, Roof has coached enough football to know he can’t trust in it.
“You practice and you try (to have) as much carry over from a call standpoint as you can,” Roof said. “You build up reps so guys can see the same pictures over and over and build some confidence. At the same time, every day’s a different day, and every week’s a different week and every opponent’s a different opponent, but that’s what you can do.”
Indeed, from a regression-to-mean perspective, it might be more likely for Tech’s defense to look more like it did against Pittsburgh minus the six takeaways (8.0 yards per play, eight-for-12 on third downs) than it did Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Wolfpack aren’t a threat to melt the Carter-Finley Stadium scoreboard, but are a quite-respectable 37th in points per possession, according to fbsdrivestats.com.
Quarterback Jacoby Brissett, with size, quickness and a 17/3 touchdown/interception ratio, has the attention of Tech’s coaches.
“He’s a playmaker now,” said defensive-line coach Mike Pelton, who faced Brissett in 2011 when Pelton was at Auburn and Brissett was a freshman at Florida. “He feels like if it’s not there (to pass), he can make it with his feet, and he’s done a good job of extending plays. He’s strong, and he throws a good ball. He’s one of those guys you don’t want to let get hot because if he gets hot, it’s trouble.”
But, in order to avoid a shootout Saturday and also to have a chance to cultivate a commendable season into a truly memorable one, continued improvement on defense is imperative for the Jackets. Following the skirmish with the Wolfpack — Tech’s final visit to N.C. State through 2024, which is as far as the ACC has scheduled — the Jackets will conclude with rivals Clemson and Georgia. A besieged defense likely will not suffice against either opponent.
N.C. State may well see more of the aggressive blitzes that the Jackets used to pressure Virginia quarterback Greyson Lambert. The Jackets, in their dedication to bottling the run, may again commit extra defenders to the box to thwart running backs Shadrach Thornton, Tony Creecy and Matt Dayes. The Jackets will be challenged to tackle and surround ball carriers as well as they did against Virginia.
“I think anytime you do well, your confidence is going to go up,” coach Paul Johnson said. “Hopefully, you can take the momentum and gain from it. You’d like for it to be a pattern and not an enigma, a one-game thing.”
That’s the idea.
“If we put our mind to it, we’re going to definitely do it,” said defensive end KeShun Freeman, becoming an impact player as a freshman. “The guys, we continue to work hard. We’re not going to settle, because we can do so much more.”
Last season, Roof’s first back at Tech, the Jackets played two of their best games of the season in a three-game stretch, stopping cold Syracuse (no points, 3.8 yards per play) and Pittsburgh (3.9 yards per play, 10 points). While it’s probably worth pointing out that neither Pittsburgh nor Syracuse were yardage monsters, Tech still held both well under their season yards-per-play averages.
However, it proved to be nothing like a corner turned, only a trap door reached. Clemson rang up 55 points and averaged 8.3 yards per play and Georgia, without quarterback Aaron Murray, scored 41 (14 in overtime) and moved 6.0 yards per play.
N.C. State’s offense resembles little the Clemson or Georgia threshers from a year ago, but the Wolfpack aren’t bad at holding onto the ball and OK at converting third downs. And this season has proved that offenses don’t need to be titanic to succeed against the Jackets.
But the Jackets have perhaps realized themselves that they each do not need to be unassailable pillars, just 11 parts of a whole.
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