Saturday brought Georgia Tech one game closer to its start of ACC play, now two weeks away. It also brought to relief the considerable improvement the Yellow Jackets will need to undergo by the time they play Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Sept. 20.
The Jackets demonstrated some grittiness in coming from behind to defeat Tulane 38-21 on a sweltering New Orleans afternoon, but also made enough mistakes to make the comeback necessary. That evening, the Hokies pull off one of their biggest wins in recent memory, a 35-21 upset of then-No. 8 Ohio State in front of almost 108,000 at Ohio Stadium.
Tech may not need to play a perfect game to beat the Hokies, who will now be ranked when they play East Carolina this coming Saturday. But the Jackets, who are 0-8 against ranked teams since their 31-17 upset of then-No. 5 Clemson (BCS ranking) in 2011, almost certainly will need to play significantly better than they did against the Green Wave.
Coach Paul Johnson’s unease with Tech’s form against Tulane would indicate as much. The Jackets will have a final tuneup against Georgia Southern on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium before the Hokies.
“We’ve got to grow up,” he said in post-game comments.
Starting better is one critical area where maturation is required. Against Wofford, the Jackets scored seven points in their first four possessions against an FCS opponent before starting to click. Saturday in New Orleans, Tech fumbled the ball away in its red zone on the opening play of two of its first three possessions. The defense permitted touchdowns on three of Tulane’s first five possessions, one only an 8-yard drive but the other two measuring 75 yards.
The Jackets corrected their course, particularly defensively. Tulane was shut out over its final six possessions, two of which ended in interceptions. The Green Wave had averaged 8.4 yards per play on their first five times with the ball. The rate was 3.9 yards per play on their final six possessions.
Ball security was a related issue. After no turnovers and one fumble against Wofford, Tech fumbled three times, losing two, and quarterback Justin Thomas threw his first interception of the season. Thomas had a hand in two of the fumbles, getting the ball knocked loose on a rollout and failing to execute a pitch to A-back Tony Zenon on a play in which both players took responsibility. The third was a center-quarterback exchange between freshman center Andrew Marshall and quarterback Tim Byerly.
“Got to value the ball more,” Johnson said of Thomas’ interception. “Can’t do that, especially when they’re having a hard time stopping you running the ball.”
Another troublesome spot has been kicker Harrison Butker’s field-goal attempts. He missed Saturday from 33 yards a week after not making a 31-yard try. He is 2-for-4 this season, with makes from 30 and 46 yards. Butker has been phenomenal on kickoffs, with 10 touchbacks in 12 kickoffs. But giving away points will eventually be costly.
The Jackets do rate as something considerably better than a gold-helmeted disaster. Tech ran virtually at will against Tulane. The defense bolted down the Green Wave over the final 39-plus minutes. The Jackets are also giving several players their first extended playing time, including Thomas. A certain degree of uneven play should not rate as a surprise.
But a failure to keep developing will come at a cost, if not against Virginia Tech, then against Georgia Southern on Saturday. The Eagles hammered Savannah State 83-9 Saturday, a week after coming within a late touchdown of beating N.C. State on the road.
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