MIAMI — Georgia Tech’s planned rebound was more like a splat.
A week after losing their first game of the season, the Yellow Jackets stumbled again, combining ineffective offense with a helping of special-teams mistakes in a 24-7 loss to Miami. On Saturday, the Hurricanes became the only team to win three games in a row against coach Paul Johnson in his Tech tenure.
“Clearly, they had a better plan than we did because we couldn’t get any rhythm, couldn’t get much going,” said a glum Johnson after the game.
In 62 offensive plays, Tech gained 211 yards, or 72 yards fewer than the Jackets devoured in their scalding 16-play, four-touchdown third quarter in a Sept. 17 rout of Kansas. The seven-point output tied for the fewest points scored by Tech in 44 regular-season games coached by Johnson. Only two possessions reached Miami’s side of the field.
Said quarterback Tevin Washington, who was removed for one series in the fourth quarter, “I think we’ve just hit a stumbling block.”
Despite missing their top four defensive tackles because of injury or suspension, the Hurricanes forced Tech (6-2 overall, 3-2 in the ACC) to a virtual standstill by denying them plays on the perimeter and suffocating the middle. The Jackets gained 134 rushing yards on 48 attempts, a 2.8 yards-per-carry average. Its longest play traveled 17 yards.
“They were stopping the run up the middle,” A-back Orwin Smith said. “They were sending [linebackers] left and right.”
The Jackets’ special teams contributed dearly to the defeat. No Tech possession began past its 30-yard line, and eight of the 12 started at its 20 or inside.
“We can’t overcome the special-teams [play] that we had [Saturday], and that falls on me,” Johnson said.
In the second quarter, Miami’s JoJo Nicolas scored a touchdown by recovering a misplayed punt return by Zach Laskey inside Tech’s 10-yard line in the end zone that lifted the Hurricanes to a 14-0 lead.
Tech responded with its only scoring drive of the game — a 20-play, 92-yard haul in which the Jackets seemed to finally find their stride. With 62 seconds left before halftime, Tech wanted to ride out Miami’s final possession and get the ball to start the second half. However, a botched kickoff by David Scully was returned to the Tech 46-yard line and led to a touchdown three plays later for a 21-7 lead.
A vastly improved performance by the Tech defense went to waste. The Jackets, who had given up an average of 237.7 rushing yards in the previous three games, allowed 122 rushing yards. Running back Lamar Miller, who had run for 100 yards in five of Miami’s first six games, was held to 93 yards on 27 carries.
“We came in and did what we wanted to against the run,” said outside linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu, who played after missing the past two games with a leg injury.
In the loss, the Jackets all but bade farewell to their Orange Bowl hopes, which is perhaps just as well. Beginning with the 2009 season, Tech’s only three games in which they’ve rushed for less than 200 yards have occurred in Sun Life Stadium – losses to Miami in 2009 and Saturday and the Orange Bowl defeat against Iowa.
For any chance at the ACC title game, Tech would have to run the table and beat Clemson, Virginia Tech and Duke — and that may not be enough.
“From a personal standpoint, there’s no confidence lost in me, but I feel like as a team, it may go down,” Smith said. “But that’s what we have leaders for. We have to pick the teammates up and stay positive, because the season’s not over.”
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