The view from the other side
After holding the Tech offense to arguably its worst performance under coach Paul Johnson, Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables gave his thoughts on what ails the Yellow Jackets. His first observation was the talent drain suffered when wide receivers DeAndre Smelter and Darren Waller, guard Shaquille Mason and running backs Zach Laskey, Synjyn Days, Charles Perkins, Deon Hill and others graduated.
“I think those receivers they had outside last year were terrific players, special players,” Venables said. “Our scheme didn’t change. They completed some of those balls (last Saturday), those are tough plays. That’s the biggest thing. But they’re a tough out every year.”
Fortified by multiple NFL-grade defenders, Clemson has given the Jackets difficulty in the three seasons that Venables has been on staff, the past two in particular. Clemson limited Tech to one offensive touchdown last season (the Jackets scored two touchdowns on interception returns) and held Tech to 71 rushing yards Saturday, the lowest total in Johnson’s tenure. Since Johnson’s hire, the Tigers are just one of two teams to hold Tech under 300 yards rushing in three consecutive seasons. (Virginia Tech, on a four-game streak, is the other.)
“I’m sure that they were frustrated with maybe some mistakes that they made and some assignments that they missed and that type of stuff,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Just kind of one of those days where it just didn’t go well for them. But we’ve got a ton of respect for Georgia Tech and what they do, and that’s the best we’ve played against them in a long time.”
More playing time for freshmen
Playing time for Tech’s freshman class will likely continue to increase. A-back Mikell Lands-Davis will get his first career start. After a career-high 11 carries against Clemson on Saturday, B-back Marcus Marshall will continue to receive chances to infuse the offense with his home-run potential. Offensive tackle Will Bryan may be given more playing time, as well, particularly with offensive tackle Errin Joe out with an undisclosed injury.
Defensively, the five freshmen who have played — defensive end Anree Saint-Amour, defensive tackle Kyle Cerge-Henderson, linebackers Brant Mitchell and Victor Alexander and safety A.J. Gray — were given more playing time against Clemson, as well.
“We want to continue to do that,” defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “But guys have to earn that. And they did.”
Against Clemson, Gray had five tackles and Mitchell had four, both career bests. Pittsburgh often uses two running backs or two tight ends, which could mean the Jackets use a 4-3 alignment in response instead of their usual 4-2-5. That would likely put Mitchell on the field with linebackers P.J. Davis and Tyler Marcordes.
Thomas ‘dialed in’ for Panthers
Tech quarterback Justin Thomas may be ready to bring back his 2014 form. Coach Paul Johnson said Wednesday that he thought that Thomas had his best practice of the year on Tuesday.
“He’s had a good week of practice,” Johnson said. “He’s dialed in, pretty focused.”
As with almost the entirety of the Yellow Jackets, Thomas has not been at his best through six games. In part because of ineffective blocking and a new group of skill players, Thomas has not matched the level of his All-ACC form from 2014. Often hounded by defenders behind the line of scrimmage, he is averaging 36.2 rushing yards per game and 2.7 yards per carry, well below his 2014 averages of 77.6 and 5.7. He has fumbled six times, one fewer than he had all last season.
Johnson has said he thought Thomas has sometimes tried too hard to make plays for the team and gone outside the structure of the offense.
“Just be consistent — play like he can play,” Johnson said, when asked what the team needed from him against Pittsburgh. “He’s capable of playing really good, at a high level. That’s what we need.”
Pitt WR poses severe challenge
The Jackets will face another possible first-round pick in Pittsburgh wide receiver Tyler Boyd. Coach Paul Johnson said that Boyd is as good or better as any receiver in the ACC. The Panthers move him around the field and have given him the ball on sweeps. He’s also the Panthers’ returner on punts and kickoffs.
“They are going to try and bracket me,” Boyd told Pittsburgh media Wednesday. “I don’t think they believe they have a player who can shadow a particular receiver.”
Against Tech last year, Boyd caught nine passes for 137 yards. It was the most receiving yards a Tech opponent had last season and tied for the most receptions.
“He’s a talented athlete,” secondary coach Joe Speed said. “He’s seen double coverage before, he’s seen triple coverage before, and they find ways to get him the ball. He’s going to make his catches. … We’ve got to make sure we do our job and limit the damage.”
Boyd has 33 catches this season for 328 yards, a 9.9 yards-per-catch average. In four games, he’s made no fewer than five catches in each. Tech’s first interaction with an elite receiver this season did not go well — Notre Dame’s Will Fuller, another possible first-rounder, caught six passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.
Bowl projections
Tech fans will be pleased to know that bowl projectors — three of them, at any rate — believe the Yellow Jackets will turn their season around. They’ve included Tech in their projections, evidently expecting the Jackets can get to six wins (or more) to gain bowl eligibility.
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports projects the Jackets to play in the Independence Bowl against Texas State. (The Independence Bowl normally matches up representatives from the ACC and SEC, but Palm slotted Texas State as a replacement team.)
Tech played in the Shreveport, La., bowl in 2010, losing to Air Force.
Sporting News sends Tech to play in the Military Bowl against an intriguing opponent — Navy. The game is held in Annapolis, Md., at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Coach Paul Johnson served as Navy’s coach for six years before his hire at Tech.
ESPN’s ACC blog projects Tech to play in the St. Petersburg Bowl, but does not assign an opponent.
The Military and Independence bowls are “Tier Two” bowls in the ACC’s bowl lineup and have final pick among ACC-affiliated bowls, along with the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. The St. Petersburg Bowl will take an ACC team if the slot designated for a team from Conference USA or the American Athletic Conference isn’t filled.
Former Tech assistant retires
Forgotten or unknown to most, Tech was the second stop in the coaching career of former South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who resigned Tuesday. Spurrier was Tech’s quarterbacks coach in 1979, which was coach Pepper Rodgers’ final season at his alma mater.
“Steve made significant contributions to what we were doing, or trying to do,” Rodgers said this week from his home in Reston, Va. “He made an impact on me in the year that he worked with us at Georgia Tech.”
“It was obvious he was just a great coach in the making,” said Jack Thompson, Tech’s senior associate athletic director who at the time was an assistant AD.
Spurrier moved on to Duke after Rodgers was fired at the end of the 1979 season.
Rodgers hired Spurrier after he had coached one year as quarterbacks coach at Florida and didn’t survive a coaching change. Rodgers was Spurrier’s quarterbacks coach at Florida and remain friends to this day. Spurrier, in fact, called Rodgers last week to wish him a happy 84th birthday.
“I love Steve as a person and as a coach,” Rodgers said.
Tech greats honored
Tech will honor its nine newest inductees into its sports Hall of Fame at halftime of Saturday’s game. The class: All-ACC running back Joe Burns, All-American softball pitcher Jessica (Sallinger) Cole, longtime Tech radio voice Wes Durham, four-time academic All-American punter Dan Dyke, football manager Charlie Germany, All-American baseball shortstop Tyler Greene, two-time Olympic high jumper Chaunte (Howard) Lowe, All-American golfer Kris Mikkelsen and Jakie Rudolph, a two-sport star in football and golf who was a starter for the 1952 national champion football team.
The weekend schedule includes the induction dinner Friday night and then an on-field presentation at halftime of Saturday’s game.
When they last met
Last game: Oct. 25, 2014, at Heinz Field
Score: Tech 56, Pittsburgh 28
Star of the game: A-back Broderick Snoddy set career highs for rushing yards (82) and touchdowns (three) in a breathtaking show of power and speed. Snoddy scored from 4, 34 and 28 yards as the Yellow Jackets overran the Panthers with 612 yards of offense, Tech's high for the season.
Stats that matter: Tech forced and recovered four fumbles in Pitt's first six plays from scrimmage and added a fifth later in the first quarter, tying an NCAA record for most fumbles recovered in a quarter. … In his first start at B-back after a shoulder injury to Zach Laskey, Synjyn Days gained 110 yards on 22 carries. … In the loss, Pitt gained 526 yards of total offense
Play of the game: With his team down 7-0, Pittsburgh running back James Conner broke through the Tech defense and appeared headed for a 75-yard touchdown run, but cornerback D.J. White chased Conner down and poked the ball loose at the goal line. The fumble went out of the end zone for a touchback for the Jackets, perhaps the most unlikely play in a season full of them for the Jackets in 2014.
Quote of the game: "Definitely a wild, crazy thing. I'm thinking in my head, like, Wow, this just happened again. Really? At the same time, I wanted to keep doing it over and over and over." — Tech linebacker Quayshawn Nealy of the fumble spree
By the numbers
11, 14
Number of fumbles by Pittsburgh and Tech, respectively, tied for second to last and last in the ACC.
44-9
Pittsburgh’s scoring in the first quarter of its five games. In its four losses, Tech has been outscored 45-13 in the first quarter.
Bouncing back with force
On Saturday, Tech gained 71 rushing yards, the lowest total in coach Paul Johnson’s tenure. The Yellow Jackets have usually rebounded well after struggling to run the ball. They are 5-2 following the 10 games with the least rushing yardage under Johnson. Three were bowl games.
Opponent; Season; Yards; Next opponent; Result; Yards
Gardner-Webb; 2008; 79; Clemson; W, 21-17; 207
Miami; 2009; 95; North Carolina; W, 24-7; 317
BYU; 2012; 117; Maryland; W, 33-13; 370
Virginia Tech; 2013; 129; Miami; L, 45-30; 335
Miami; 2011; 134; Clemson; W, 31-17; 383
Iowa; 2009; 143; End of season
Ole Miss; 2013; 151; End of season
Virginia; 2008; 156; Florida State; W, 31-28; 288
Boston College; 2008; 162; Virginia Tech; L, 20-17; 278
LSU; 2008; 164; End of season
Big plays limited
Tech’s ability to spring big run plays this season has been thwarted by a variety of factors, including the blocking, the ball carriers and the defenses that the Yellow Jackets have faced. Tech has averaged one run play of 20 yards or more for every 37.8 run plays in its five games against FBS competition, more than double the rate from last year.
Season; plus-20 run plays; run plays; rate
2015; 7; 264; 37.7
2014; 41; 747; 18.2
2013; 23; 611; 26.6
2012; 36; 750; 20.8
2011; 43; 669; 15.6
2010; 42; 697; 16.6
2009; 35; 742; 21.2
2008; 39; 547; 14.0
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