Georgia Tech conducted its 13th practice of the spring Tuesday morning, a session held in ideal conditions. The Yellow Jackets have one more practice (Thursday morning) before their spring game Friday night at 7:29 p.m. at Bobby Dodd Stadium to conclude coach Geoff Collins’ first spring with the team. Three observations from the portion of practice opened to media.
1. Quarterback Lucas Johnson was on his game on multiple throws to wide receiver Jalen Camp. He found Camp on a well-covered back-shoulder throw for a touchdown, him him again on a throw that turned into a gain of perhaps 50 yards and then looped a throw down the right sideline that Camp caught over his shoulder for a touchdown reception of about 25 yards. From inside the 20, Johnson also threw across the field with a precise scoring pass to wide receiver Stephen Dolphus in the back of the end zone.
On Saturday, Collins said that Johnson has thrown “really good” in spring practice and that “I’ve been pleased with him.”
2. The centers continued to handle shotgun snaps well. Rolled or off-target snaps have been highly infrequent, a notable accomplishment given that the offense of former coach Paul Johnson was run from under center. Scott Morgan, Kenny Cooper and Chet Lagod have handled center duties. Offensive-line coach Brent Key said that the center-quarterback exchange at the first day of spring practice was probably his biggest concern coming to Tech.
“Credit to all the centers and the quarterbacks for the effort and the time they’ve put into this thing – it’s been almost flawless,” Key said.
3. Hip-hop star Jeezy paid a visit near the end of practice. Soon after he arrived, the DJ cued up "Put On," his 2008 Grammy-nominated hit that became a de facto anthem for the Yellow Jackets. The team huddled up at the end of practice, with the losers of the daily team competition (the team is split into two groups) having to run while Jeezy broke down the huddle for the winning group and took pictures with players and coaches.
A tweet from former center Freddie Burden responding to Jeezy’s presence encapsulated it quite well: “Tech acting TOTALLY DIFFERENT” with emojis of a crying-while-laughing face and hands raised in celebration.
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