“I think that game was a microcosm of our season.”
– Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson
“I wish I could explain it. I guess it’s being young. I guess that’s what it is. And we still had a chance.”
– Johnson, on the team’s propensity for mistakes
“It’s all stuff I think we can fix. I’m bent on getting it fixed. I can tell you that I’m not going to go through this again.”
– Johnson, on his desire to fix those mistakes
“It’s like I said, third downs were atrocious as they have been all year. The pass protection was bad like it has been all year. The kid didn’t have a chance to set his feet. I think we had some guys open.”
– Johnson, on the offense’s problems
“I think a lot of it is youth. A lot of is guys who will not probably be playing next year when we get everybody back, and we’ve got to coach better, so it’s all of the above. We’ve got to pay more attention to detail, and we’ve got to do a better job coaching.”
– Johnson, on the mistakes and what could occur next year
“I asked him. He said he was throwing it to Clinton (Lynch), and it sailed on him is what he told me.”
– Johnson, on Justin Thomas’ interception on the 1-yard line
“You guys have got to get a better expectation. It’s like for whatever reason it’s like if the offense doesn’t score every time they suck, and if we can make them punt four times it’s great. We’ve got to have an expectation for both sides. I wouldn’t say your run defense is good when you give up 194 yards rushing.”
– Johnson, on Georgia Tech’s run defense
“I don’t think it was disappointing because he’s a really tough kid. I don’t think he played as well as he played a year ago, but I’m not sure that’s all his fault. I think a year ago he was surrounded by senior players, and this year he was surrounded by a bunch of young players.”
– Johnson, on Thomas this season
“That’s a simple question with a loaded answer. It’s a combination of things, it’s never just one or two things. We had a lot of young guys in a lot of key positions this year just getting experience. Definitely we were always trying to push to get better, but maybe we didn’t get to where we wanted to either. As a matter of fact, I know we didn’t.”
– Cornerback D.J. White on how the team went from 11-3 to 3-9
“I think to answer your question, it’s just not winning your close games. Last year we won our close games, and this year we didn’t and the seasons were totally opposite.”
– Safety Jamal Golden on how the team went from 11-3 to 3-9
“We always thought we were going to win no matter who went down. Last year we had injuries, too. We had injuries this year. You’ve got to step up. It’s next man up. Effort was never a problem. Everyone that came in played hard. Nobody went out there thinking, ‘Oh we’re not going to win or anything.’ Sometimes ball bounces your way, sometimes it doesn’t.”
– Golden on the injuries
About the Author
