Georgia Tech fans seeking confirmation that their team is secure with Tevin Washington at quarterback didn’t receive it, but instead may have left Bobby Dodd Stadium on Saturday afternoon with an increased measure of hope in their defense.
At Tech’s T-Day game, the Yellow Jackets’ first-string defense capitalized on mistakes by Washington in outplaying the starting offense. The Gold team, comprised of the starting defense and second-team offense, won the scrimmage 21-7 over the White team (starting offense, backup defense).
“We had a tough time getting in rhythm against the defense,” Washington said. “It’s pretty much been that way all spring.”
The Gold defense created five turnovers, allowed one score and permitted a 3.7 yards-per-play average in 10 possessions. Defensive end Jason Peters and inside linebacker Quayshawn Nealy in particular made a string of disruptive plays. After finishing ninth in the ACC in total defense and scoring defense last season, Tech looked capable of solving more problems than it did in 2010.
“We still have a lot of things we have to get right, but I think we’re in a much better position than we were last year at this point,” said Peters, who chased down Washington for a sack and a forced fumble and had two tackles for loss.
Perhaps the star of the day was Nealy, a redshirt freshman who played with the first unit because of injuries to Julian Burnett and Daniel Drummond. From the scrimmage’s first series, when he wrapped up B-back Preston Lyons on the first play, sacked Washington on the fourth and recovered a fumble on the fifth, Nealy repeatedly subjected the Tech offense to his speed and playmaking knack. He finished with 7.5 tackles, tying with White team defensive end Emmanuel Dieke for most in the game.
“I had jitters on the first snap,” said Nealy, who was playing in his first T-Day game. “After that, it was pretty much, ‘You can play with these boys. Let’s go.’”
The play of the defense, of course, leaves questions about the offense, the line in particular.
“The quarterbacks, for the most part, were running for their lives,” coach Paul Johnson said.
Washington, who largely met coaches’ expectations this spring, had a forgettable afternoon. He threw three interceptions, lost two fumbles, took three sacks and completed 10 of 26 passes.
Running the second-string offense, quarterback Synjyn Days looked vastly better than he did in a scrimmage the previous Saturday, in which he fumbled and slipped his way through the morning. Days showed off his speed and quickness with 112 rushing yards, many on broken plays. With the offensive line dinged up, Days played behind an early-enrollee freshman at right guard (Trey Braun) and a walk-on long snapper at right tackle (Cory Pritchett).
“I feel like, as a ‘two’ unit, we kind of jelled,” said Days, who ran the second-string offense all spring. “It was like, ‘We’ve got to do better than the [starters].’ That was our goal.”
For better or worse, the goal was met.
Etc.
Tech’s kickers missed from 28, 47 and 49 yards. In last week’s scrimmage, Justin Moore missed two field-goal tries as well. ... Attendance was 7,000, including former Tech players Jonathan Dwyer, Morgan Burnett, Derrick Morgan and Travares Tillman. ... With spring practice over, Johnson plans to meet individually with each player on the roster.
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