Before Saturday’s showdown with Notre Dame, Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson offered a sobering warning that his team wasn’t as good as people thought. Particularly on offense, Johnson proved prophetic.
With difficulty blocking the Fighting Irish both on the line and in the perimeter, the Yellow Jackets were not able to move or score with any of the record-setting consistency that helped define their 2014 season.
Tech gained 216 rushing yards, its lowest total since its loss to Ole Miss in the 2013 Music City Bowl. The Jackets’ 4.6 yards-per-carry average was their lowest since the win over Virginia last season. Last season, Tech averaged 342.1 rushing yards per game, No. 1 in the country, and 6.1 yards per carry. Both set school records.
“Against good players, you can’t have missed assignments,” coach Paul Johnson said.
More remarkably, the Yellow Jackets were 3-for-15 on third downs, an almost unthinkable result for a team that set an NCAA record for third-down efficiency at 57.9 percent.
“I think it’s a function of early on getting behind the chains a little bit,” Johnson said.
Continually, Notre Dame defenders were beating blocks and thwarting runs to the perimeter, giving the A-backs nowhere to go. B-back Patrick Skov was able to move the ball, but his longest run of the game was six yards.
Even in swamping Alcorn State and Tulane by a combined 134-16 in the first two games, Johnson had noted that blocks were being missed and suggested that the Jackets’ talent superiority had enabled them to cover the mistakes. Against a defense loaded with likely future NFL draft picks, it appeared that Tech’s blocking shortcomings were being exposed.
Tech punter Ryan Rodwell was called upon seven times, which was 22 percent of his total for the entire 2014 season.
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