On April 7, in its first open scrimmage of spring practice, Georgia Tech unveiled the work it had been doing in the shotgun. On Saturday, the Tech offense rehearsed repeatedly what could be a productive play out of that formation.
In a scrimmage at Bobby Dodd Stadium, a read-option play with a motioning A-back routinely broke for big gains against the Tech defense. Quarterback Synjyn Days used it for several productive runs, as he led the offense to three touchdowns on possessions starting on its 30-yard line. He did have a bad giveaway, throwing an interception under heavy pressure.
“They couldn’t tackle him,” coach Paul Johnson said. “He had a good day. He made a lot of people miss. He needs to improve on his throwing, though.”
The offense has been working on the play over the course of spring practice, quarterback Tevin Washington said.
“[Saturday] was the first day we really got work with it,” he said. “It looked good. I think we did a good job of executing and doing what the coaches asked of us.”
On one touchdown drive led by Days, the offense ran the play three times and gained 46 yards. A-backs Robert Godhigh, Tony Zenon and B.J. Bostic had runs of 27, 21 and 17 yards, respectively, off the play.
“It just worked,” Johnson said. “They blocked it correctly most of the time, and if you get the read right, it’s pretty hard to play.”
As has been the case this spring, coaches gave most of the snaps to Days and backup quarterback Vad Lee, who drove the offense to two touchdowns. Lee threw the ball accurately and mixed in a few positive runs. He did have a little trouble on center-quarterback exchanges and ended one drive in the red zone with a lost fumble.
Scrimmage report
Johnson liked that fumbles were down for the offense compared with last the previous scrimmage, but was critical of the defense for allowing the long scoring drives.
The offensive line protected fairly well, particularly given the shuffling because of injuries. Guard Omoregie Uzzi has been out all of spring practice recovering from surgery, and guard Will Jackson has missed almost all of it with a high ankle sprain. Tackle Morgan Bailey did not participate Saturday because of an injury, and guards Shaquille Mason and J.C. Lanier had to leave the scrimmage with injuries, neither of which Johnson believed to be serious.
Backup B-backs Charles Perkins and Zach Laskey both produced big plays, including a 59-yard run by Perkins on a dive play. Laskey caught a pass out of the backfield that he turned into a 25-yard play.
Outside linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu, cornerback Jamal Golden and defensive end Anthony Williams stood out on defense.
As was the case last week, the offense used many of the roughly 100 plays in the scrimmage to work on the shotgun, in which the quarterback set up about five yards behind the center with the B-back two yards behind him. The formation has been getting more work this spring than usual.
“It’s definitely good,” Perkins said. “I love it.”
Staying basic
One focus for the offense has been drilling the base plays of the spread-option offense. In a review of the 2011 season, coaches determined that poor execution or insufficient knowledge of the wrinkles on those plays played a direct role in three of the five losses. The offense has worked those plays against a variety of different defensive looks to teach players the various assignments depending on how the defense aligns and reacts.
“If you can’t run the basic triple option, you’re not going to be able to run anything,” center Jay Finch said.
Etc.
The athletic department received orders for 19,000 season tickets by its March 30 renewal deadline. The season-ticket base last season was 23,265. The renewal percentage is typical, associate athletic director Wayne Hogan said. The department dropped the cost of the seven-game season ticket to $249 from $350 in 2011, when the home schedule included Virginia Tech, Clemson and Georgia. At the renewal deadline, Tech had also sold 735 new season tickets. ... Tech will complete spring practice with its spring scrimmage at 7:45 p.m. Friday. The scrimmage is free to the public and will include concerts and a fireworks show.
