Monday afternoon, Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson showed his offense its mistakes from its loss to Notre Dame Saturday, corrected them and moved forward. There was a lot to correct.
“He didn’t sugarcoat anything,” A-back Isiah Willis said.
From a review of the game video of the Yellow Jackets’ 30-22 loss to Notre Dame, coaches found more than 70 missed assignments in the game out of 71 offensive plays. Johnson said the total was the highest going back to his first season as offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern in 1985 and triple the amount of a typical game.
“They played well, we played horrible,” Johnson said, referring to the Fighting Irish. “I don’t know if we could play any worse. We couldn’t offensively, that’s for sure.”
Players went the wrong direction on plays, used poor technique on the option, were “atrocious” in blocking linebackers, ran pass routes that were “horrendous,” didn’t carry the ball with awareness of defenders and blocked the wrong defenders, Johnson said.
“About anything you could do, we tried,” Johnson said.
On the opening drive of the second half, quarterback Justin Thomas had to alter his path on a run play from the designated route because two teammates blocked the wrong Notre Dame defenders. With the play broken, Thomas was met by two defenders who knocked the ball loose.
As a result of the mistakes, as well as Notre Dame’s aggressive and swift defenders, Tech converted just 3 of 15 third downs – failing on its first nine attempts. It was the Jackets’ lowest rate since their 0-for-10 game against BYU in 2012.
The Jackets gained 210 yards on their first 55 plays, 3.8 yards per play, before Notre Dame put the game out of reach. Tech gained 127 yards on 16 plays in its final two drives. Tech’s seven punts, all taken in the team’s first 12 possessions, tied for the most taken in a game in Johnson’s tenure.
It was all the more jarring considering the efficiency with which the Jackets had been playing. Last season, Tech tied an NCAA record for third-down efficiency last season (57.9 percent) and was ninth in the country in yards per play (6.72). In steamrolling Alcorn State and Tulane to start the season, Tech converted 9 of 15 third downs, averaged 9.1 yards per play and had punted three times in 25 possessions.
“I watched the tape 10 times,” Johnson said. “I don’t know that I’d do anything different other than execute a little better.”
Part of the problem, too, was the number of team members playing in their first road game and doing so in a boisterous environment.
“I think some of them thought, ‘Oh, man, I’m playing at Notre Dame,’” Johnson said. “And it doesn’t take much because they’ve got a good football team now. You’re playing a top-10 team on the road and all you have to do is go the wrong way a couple times and turn the wrong way and, next thing you know, you get to punt seven times.”
Johnson said that the defense was O.K. in spots – “I’ll emphasize ‘spots,’” he said – but gave up too many plays and third downs. In the first quarter, the Irish hit the Jackets with a 46-yard touchdown pass on a 3rd-and-20 and in the second quarter converted a 3rd-and-9 and a 3rd-and-7 in their own end to extend what turned out to be a touchdown drive.
It was part of a message that all involved – coaches and players – fell short in preparing for and playing Notre Dame, but also that the problems can be fixed.
After the corrections, No. 20 Tech began preparations for its game against Duke Saturday in Durham, N.C.
“We’ve got to play better,” Johnson said. “If we don’t, we won’t win any more games.”
