Sticking to the plan
Following the litany of errors made by the offense in losses to Notre Dame and Duke, the Tech coaching staff issued a simple directive for players. It stemmed from players straying from their assignment on a play because of what teammates were or weren’t doing.
“Just do your job,” coach Paul Johnson said. “Now, sometimes you can get frustrated when you’re doing your job and the other guys aren’t doing theirs, and it clouds things for you, and that’s when you start pressing.”
The quandary that players may face in adhering to that message is that coaches also want them to draw from their experience to make adjustments before or during a play. As offensive line coach Mike Sewak noted, players should be assessing before the snap where defensive players are positioned before the snap. Based on study of the opponent’s tendencies, that can offer clues to what the defense is planning, and offensive players can adjust accordingly.
If a blitzing defender has a free path at the quarterback, “you know, ‘I’ve got to take that,’” offensive tackle Errin Joe said. “So you know you just have to be able to think on the run.”
But at the same time, Joe said, players can’t overthink “and get caught up in two different things.” A critical piece is clear communication before the snap to ensure the offense is on the same page and seeing the defense the same way.
Gray: ‘A lot of great potential’
On Saturday, in the fourth game of his career, Tech freshman safety A.J. Gray came through for the Yellow Jackets with his first career interception in the loss to Duke. The third-quarter play helped keep Tech’s comeback hopes alive.
His first theft arrived faster than other recent Tech safeties of note, including Jamal Golden (13 games), Jemea Thomas (23) and Isaiah Johnson (seventh). Morgan Burnett, now a Green Bay Packer, also recorded his first interception in the fourth game of his career. Defensive coordinator Ted Roof said that Gray, who was a Parade All-American last year at Washington County and the AJC state player of the year, has an unmistakable knack for seeing the game.
Said Roof, “He’s one of those guys that’s got ‘it.’”
Gray is behind free safety Demond Smith on the depth chart, but coaches have been trying to give him enough practice time to speed up his development.
“A.J.’s got a lot of great potential to come in as a true freshman and make the plays he’s made,” cornerback D.J. White said. “He’s a guy who just has a nose for the football. That’s something that you can’t really coach and he’s come in with naturally.”
Fast-breaking Tar Heels
The North Carolina offense, under the direction of coach Larry Fedora, will again challenge the Yellow Jackets with its incendiary tempo. According to the website cfbmatrix.com, North Carolina was the fastest power-conference team in the country last season, with 3.28 plays per minute.
“They take pride in how fast they should go,” Tech linebackers coach Andy McCollum said.
Tech was the slowest power-conference team in the country, at 2.18 plays per minute.
To prepare, the Jackets’ defense practiced against two different scout teams, one hurrying to the line after the other finished its own play. Defensive coordinator Ted Roof said that the Jackets will have to be braced for it at the start, expecting that North Carolina’s first 10 or 15 plays will be scripted, enabling the Tar Heels to go even faster.
The biggest key for Tech, McCollum said, is to quickly receive the play call from the sideline, process the information and get lined up in the right spot.
McCollum, incidentally, knows Fedora’s offense far better than most. When McCollum became head coach at Middle Tennessee State after the 1998 season, he hired Fedora, a friend, to implement an up-tempo, no-huddle offense, which at the time was rare, but has since gained widespread popularity.
With North Carolina playing in a spread, it will be incumbent upon the Jackets to shed blocks and tackle well on the perimeter.
“It’s just something we’ve been emphasizing in the meeting room, just being more physical on the perimeter,” cornerback D.J. White said. “I think last year, they were more physical than us when it came to blocking on the perimeter. That’s why a lot of those screens and bubble plays broke loose on us.”
North Carolina has a 56/44 run/pass ratio; the Tar Heels were 49/51 last season.
Defensive coordinators have history
North Carolina defensive coordinator Gene Chizik made his feelings clear about the Tech offense during his tenure as an analyst with the SEC Network before his hire at UNC. Last October, Chizik said that, during his time as coach at Auburn, he turned down an opportunity to play a series with its longtime rival.
“I said, ‘No, no, no. We don’t want to play Georgia Tech. Completely different offense,’” Chizik said. “You talk to any coach out there, they do not want to play the Georgia Techs of the world.”
Chizik, whose hire was part of an overhaul of the North Carolina defensive staff, has created “a different mentality,” North Carolina coach Larry Fedora said.
Chizik has two colleagues on the staff at Tech — defensive coordinator Ted Roof and defensive line coach Mike Pelton. Both worked with Chizik at Auburn, while Pelton also was on Chizik’s staff at Iowa State. Chizik and Roof won the 2010 BCS championship together.
“We won 30 games in three years and won a national championship and enjoyed some good times together,” Roof said.
Roof said Tech’s offensive coaches picked his brain about Chizik as they prepared the game plan this week, but it was of limited value.
“We never really discussed stopping the triple option, so I have no clue,” Roof said.
More freshmen on field
Tech coaches plan to play their ninth member of the 2015 signing class Saturday. Coach Paul Johnson has said that A-back Mikell Lands-Davis will play, bolstering a position group that has been hit hard by injuries.
It’s possible a 10th member, either wide receiver Christian Philpott or Harland Howell, could also play Saturday. Both will dress and be ready. Johnson is looking for a dependable third wide receiver behind starters Ricky Jeune and Brad Stewart.
Among Johnson’s eight freshman classes, the 2011 class had the most members play in their first season with 10, many of whom were drivers for last year’s Orange Bowl championship season — safety Jamal Golden, B-back Zach Laskey, guard Shaquille Mason and wide receiver Darren Waller.
Last year’s class put nine members on the field in 2014. A lack of depth at certain positions has been a factor in many members of the 2015 class burning their redshirts, but coaches have liked what they’ve seen. The class, with 27 members, is the largest of Johnson’s tenure.
Hunt improving
After mounds of high praise from coaches and teammates, defensive tackle Jabari Hunt entered the season with considerable expectations. Hunt has not been a standout, but has eight tackles in four games.
Hunt is adjusting to playing a new position (he was previously a linebacker) and knocking rust off after missing the 2014 season because of academic ineligibility. Last season, too, when he impressed teammates on the scout team, he simply followed the directions on a play card designed to portray Tech’s opponent. It is a different matter to read, react and play as part of a scheme.
“Now, he’s got to play defense,” defensive line coach Mike Pelton said. “Every game, he’s getting better. Last game, that second half was pretty good for him.”
A goal for Hunt will be start off better than he did against Duke, when he was often controlled at the line of scrimmage in the first quarter before his play improved.
With defensive tackle Patrick Gamble out with a head injury, Pelton said that he wants to give Francis Kallon playing time as part of a rotation with Hunt and Adam Gotsis.
The last time they met
When: Oct. 18, 2014 at Kenan Stadium
Score: North Carolina 48, Georgia Tech 43
Star of the game: North Carolina quarterback Marquise Williams was unstoppable, putting on one of the greatest quarterback performances ever by a Tech opponent. Williams completed 38 of 47 passes for 390 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. His 463 yards of total offense were the second most ever by a Tech opponent.
Stats that matter: There were 10 plays of 25 yards or more, eight by Tech. … North Carolina converted 10 of 15 third downs. … With 19 points in the fourth quarter, Tech took a 43-42 lead with 3:07 to play, but gave up a 2-yard touchdown run with 11 seconds remaining.
Quote of the game: "I felt like the play was there, but I almost wish somebody had tackled him." — coach Paul Johnson on DeAndre Smelter's 75-yard touchdown run off a reverse for Tech's go-ahead score with 3:07 left.
By the numbers
1997
The last time North Carolina won at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Tar Heels have lost the past eight games to Tech in Atlanta.
74.8
Average number of combined points per game in the past five Tech-UNC games, including the 68-50 Tech win in 2012, the highest-scoring game in ACC history.
Comparing points
Tech has struggled in the past two games, scoring 42 combined points in losses to Notre Dame and Duke. Presuming even modest production against North Carolina, it wouldn’t be the least productive three-game run in coach Paul Johnson’s tenure. The least productive stretch in each previous season since Johnson arrived:
Team; Points; Opponents; Record
2008; 48; Gardner-Webb, Clemson, Virginia; 2-1
2009; 71; Clemson, Miami, North Carolina; 2-1
2010; 44; Clemson, Virginia Tech, Miami; 0-3
2011; 49; Maryland, Virginia, Miami; 1-2
2012; 46; Georgia, Florida State, USC; 1-2
2013; 60; Virginia Tech, Miami, BYU; 0-3
2014; 80; Virginia Tech, Miami, Duke; 2-1
Big tackle day
With 13 tackles last week against Duke, Tech linebacker P.J. Davis nearly matched his career high (14). From a tackles standpoint, it was still one of the best games in recent Tech history.
Season; Tackles; Player (opponent)
2014; 14; P.J. Davis (North Carolina), Isaiah Johnson (Pittsburgh)
2013; 15; Jemea Thomas (Virginia, Ole Miss)
2012; 14; Isaiah Johnson (Clemson)
2011; 13; Julian Burnett (Virginia Tech)
2010; 13; Julian Burnett (Virginia Tech, Air Force)
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