Wary of a ‘rocket’
Miami wide receiver Stacy Coley presents a matchup problem for the Yellow Jackets, bringing speed and a big-play threat into the Hurricanes offense. After Notre Dame’s Will Fuller and Pittsburgh’s Tyler Boyd, he’s one more elite-level wideout Tech will have to try to limit.
“Rocket,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said of Coley. “He makes big plays. He breaks people’s cushion down really, really quick and gets on top of guys.”
Coley averages 68 yards per game, third in the ACC. He peeled off 139 receiving yards against Florida State. The CBS Sports website ranks Coley as the No. 14 NFL prospect among non-senior wide receivers. Fuller is No. 4, and Boyd is No. 5.
A challenge again for Tech will be to try to pressure the passer without overcommitting to the pass rush. Quarterback Brad Kaaya can rip apart Tech’s secondary if he has sufficient protection.
“Clearly, we’re going to have to mix it up and get some pressure, but we’re going to have to play some coverage, too,” coach Paul Johnson said. “The quarterback’s talented and the receivers are really good, so it’s going to be a challenge for those guys.”
One thing Tech’s defense has done reasonably well is avoid big pass plays. The Jackets rank tied for 39th in pass plays of 30 yards or more (12) and tied for first in pass plays of 50 yards or more (none).
Who is Larry Scott?
In 2004, Miami coach Larry Scott was a high school offensive coordinator in Sebring, Fla. As the Hurricanes’ interim coach following the firing of Al Golden, he is a head coach for the first time at any level and trying to guide Miami through a rocky season.
This is Scott’s third season at Miami; he was the team’s tight ends coach before getting the interim job. Before that, he had been at South Florida since 2005, first in a recruiting position, then a grad assistant before becoming an assistant coach. He is 38 years old.
Miami has held its own since the 58-0 loss to Clemson on Oct. 24, the day before Golden’s dismissal. The Hurricanes are 2-1, with wins over Duke and Virginia, both of whom beat Tech. The Hurricanes’ last game was a 59-21 defeat against North Carolina, a defeat fueled by three turnovers.
“It’ll be senior (day), their last home game,” offensive line coach Mike Sewak said. “There’ll be every reason for them to play hard. I doubt it if they’ll sack the bats.”
Scott is the first interim head coach that Tech has faced since North Carolina’s Everett Withers in 2011. Withers replaced Butch Davis, who was fired before the season in the wake of an NCAA investigation.
Learning in the middle
With Jabari Hunt’s departure from the team earlier this week, freshman defensive tackle Kyle Cerge-Henderson likely will take on much of the load. An early enrollee, coaches planned to redshirt him, and he didn’t play until the fifth game of the season when Adam Gotsis’ disqualification from the North Carolina game forced their hand.
Against Virginia Tech in his first career start, he had five tackles.
“To me, that’s the toughest position to play as a true freshman because your reaction time is the quickest,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “If you’re playing in the secondary, you’ve got seven or eight yards of cushion to be able to react. You play (tackle), you might have a foot of reaction time and things happen so much quicker.”
Cerge-Henderson’s father, Kevin, played linebacker for Tech in the mid-1980s and was a teammate of Roof’s.
Closing in on a record
Tech kicker Harrison Butker needs three successful point-after tries to break the school career rcord. He has 158, behind only Luke Manget’s 160. Manget made all of his point-after tries in his career, from 1999-2002.
Butker is 7-for-10 on field-goal tries this season, including missing his first two. He is 2-for-3 from 50 yards and longer and is 3-for-4 from 30 to 39 yards, which was a weak point last season.
He has also recorded touchbacks on 37 of his 57 kickoffs, 64.91 percent. That rate is 12th in the country, according to cfbstats.com.
“With what we’ve asked him to do from a field-goal standpoint, he’s done good,” coach Paul Johnson said. “I think he’s played well down the stretch. He was shaky a little bit when we started, but as we’ve gotten down the stretch, he’s been really good.”
Playing to win
It speaks to the state of the season that clarification may be necessary, but Tech will play to win the game and not only to get freshmen, redshirt freshmen and sophomores playing time. Coach Paul Johnson’s message to the team this week has been that the Jackets have the chance to break a three-game road losing streak against the Hurricanes and to start to lay a foundation for next season.
“We’re going to try to play some guys and rotate and do some of that with the idea that we’re going to try to win the game, for sure,” Johnson said.
Perhaps the most likely is backup quarterback Matthew Jordan, a redshirt freshman who has played two snaps in the past eight games. Johnson said he intended to play Jordan in the most-recent game, against Virginia Tech, but the opportunity didn’t present itself. Others include guard Gary Brown, linebacker Victor Alexander and defensive backs such as Lance Austin, Step Durham and Shaun Kagawa.
Several freshmen or redshirt freshmen already are starting or receiving considerable playing time, including A-backs Clinton Lynch and Mikell Lands-Davis, B-back Marcus Marshall, wide receiver Brad Stewart, offensive tackles Will Bryan and Trey Klock and linebacker Brant Mitchell. Lands-Davis, however, is out for Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury.
Another freshman who has played a lot, safety A.J. Gray, is listed as probable after missing the past two games with an undisclosed injury.
Returning … for spring practice
Looking ahead to spring practice, Tech should return four players who missed the entire season with injuries suffered before the season — running backs C.J. Leggett, Quaide Weimerskirch and KirVonte Benson and offensive tackle Chris Griffin.
Leggett (knee) and Weimerskirch (foot) injured themselves in the spring. They had been expected to make strong bids for the starting B-back job. Weimerskirch missed the preseason, but was cleared to play early on. He was an emergency option this season, but has redshirted. Benson, a freshman from Marietta High, tore his ACL in late in his senior season and originally planned to enroll in January 2016, but decided to start school in August. Griffin suffered a knee injury playing basketball after the 2014 season. He started seven games last season as a redshirt freshman.
Freshman A-back Nate Cottrell, who suffered a knee injury in preseason camp, likely will miss spring practice.
“They’re all doing well with their rehab,” coach Paul Johnson said. “I think all that’s going well.”
Needing a road win
There’s no shortage of motivations for Tech to beat Miami, but among them is that a win would prevent the first season without a road win since 1994, coach Bill Lewis’ final season. Should the Jackets fail at Sun Life Stadium, it would be Tech’s eighth season without a road win since the end of World War II.
For better or worse, coach Paul Johnson wouldn’t have the worst company in failing to win a road game in a given season. Besides Lewis, Bobby Ross, Bill Curry, Pepper Rodgers, Bill Fulcher and Bud Carson all endured at least one winless season on the road. That’s every Tech coach after Bobby Dodd, with the exception of George O’Leary and Chan Gailey.
Before this season, Johnson was 22-16 on the road with the Jackets. In their tenures, Gailey was 17-15, and O’Leary was 20-18. To this point, Tech is 0-4 with losses to Notre Dame, Duke, Clemson and Virginia.
Stop the run
Coach Paul Johnson’s defensive priority has invariably been to stop the run. The numbers bear it out: When the Jackets stop the run, their chances improve dramatically.
Yards; Record
120-under; 29-2
121-150; 13-6
151-180; 8-11
181-210; 5-11
211-up; 5-12
Youth movements
Because of injuries, thin depth and the strength of the past two recruiting classes, Tech has played 23 freshmen this season (10 freshmen, 13 redshirt freshmen). It ranks among the most among power-conference teams.
Team; No.; Record
TCU; 30; 9-1
BYU; 28; 7-3
Clemson; 28; 10-0
Florida State; 28; 8-2
Boston College; 26; 3-7
N.C. State; 26; 6-4
Texas; 26; 4-6
USC; 26; 7-3
Georgia; 24; 7-3
Georgia Tech; 23; 3-7
Mississippi State; 23; 7-3
Wake Forest; 23; 3-7
The last time they met
Last game: Oct. 4, 2014 at Bobby Dodd Stadium
Score: Tech 28, Miami 17
Star of the game: B-back Zach Laskey ran a career-high 29 times for 133 yards, tying his then-career high, as the Yellow Jackets' offense overpowered Miami. It was the most yards that a B-back had run for in a game since Preston Lyons' 138-yard game in the 2011 Sun Bowl.
Stats that matter: Tech held the ball for 40:45, its highest time of possession of the season. … Miami averaged eight yards per play, but quarterback Brad Kaaya threw two interceptions, including a fourth-quarter pick in the end zone by safety Jamal Golden. … The Jackets did not fumble in 72 offensive snaps. … The win broke a five-game losing streak to the Hurricanes.
Play of the game: Tech led 21-17 a little more than three minutes into the fourth quarter and faced a fourth-and-2 from the Miami 8-yard line. Going for it, coach Paul Johnson called a triple-option play, and the staple produced an 8-yard touchdown run for A-back Deon Hill to expand the lead to two possessions.
Quote of the game: "I told our team we're going to run the triple, and it's what we do. We do it every day." — Johnson of the fourth-down call
By the numbers
7
Number of names that the South Florida stadium originally named Joe Robbie Stadium has had since its opening in 1987 — Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Land Shark Stadium, Dolphin Stadium (again) and since January 2010, Sun Life Stadium. Sun Life is a Canadian financial-services company.
$6.35
Least expensive ticket available for Saturday's game, on StubHub, as of late Thursday afternoon. Local interest is not keen.
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