Georgia Tech will travel to South Bend, Ind., on Saturday to play their first ranked opponent of the season and face Notre Dame’s latest offensive weapon, DeShone Kizer.
Johnson said because of Notre Dame’s powerful offense, he does not expect that Kizer’s first start at quarterback for the Fighting Irish will create major changes in Notre Dame’s offensive scheme.
“They’re not going to totally wholesale change anything they do because they lost a quarterback,” Johnson said. “I’ll probably expect them to maybe cut back a little, and (Notre Dame has) a lot of (offensive) weapons.”
Kizer will start for Notre Dame (2-0) after replacing Malik Zaire against Virginia last week. Kizer entered the game in the third quarter when Zaire suffered a season-ending ankle injury.
Defensive end KeShun Freeman said with little film of Kizer from previous games, the Tech (2-0) defense will have to adjust as the game progresses.
“The things we see, we have to take them (into account) and do the best we can,” Freeman said. “They have a great group of athletes and we know we have to play hard, so we can stop their (offense).”
Defensive coordinator Ted Roof said Notre Dame’s offensive line will be a “huge challenge” Saturday. Roof said the linemen are experienced, powerful and are very well coached.
“We’re certainly playing against a better offensive line (than against Tulane on Saturday), so there’ll be more of a challenge this week and (as a team) we have to answer the challenge,” Roof said.
“Every quarterback we play, if you let him sit back there and pat the ball, he will complete passes and gain yards and score points. Whether we (rush) with four or whether we do it with five or six or however many, we’ve got to (pressure him).”
Defensive end Rod Rook-Chungong said he saw improvement in the defense putting pressure on the passer against Tulane that he hopes will translate to fighting the Irish’s physical defense.
“Last week, we focused on pushing the pocket, and I feel like we definitely did that in the Tulane game,” Rook-Chungong said. “With (our) four-man rush this week with their big offensive line, they’re doing really well with their passing game, so we have a huge task ahead of us.”
Roof said coaches are preparing the defense to affect the passer in any way they can.
“As far as affecting the quarterback, moving him off his spot, whether it’s stripping the ball, making him throw the ball on time or hopefully before time or sacking him,” Roof said. “(Kizer has) done a good job, and we have our work cut out for us. But, once again, it’s an opportunity we’re excited about and looking forward to the challenge.”
Defensive lineman Jabari Hunt said that although the first away game against the No. 8 Irish will be a change of pace from their first two games against Alcorn State and Tulane, the Yellow Jackets will be focused when they enter Notre Dame Stadium.
“(Notre Dame) being a top-10 team, we have to keep executing what we’re learning in practice and keep getting better everyday until it’s time to play a game,” Hunt said. “The last thing that we’re worried about as a team, and for me personally, is the atmosphere.”
Rook-Chungong said Saturday will be a type of trial that the Jackets have been through before.
“It’s just another game. It’s a great experience, and we’re ready to play in a great atmosphere,” he said. “I want to go hard and get a (win).”
