The reviewS on Georgia Tech quarterback Matthew Jordan’s first extended playing time were short on surprises: a tough runner, made good reads on the dive, but has to do a much better job of taking care of the ball.
“He rated out probably like a first-time quarterback would,” position coach Bryan Cook said.
Jordan, a redshirt freshman, played most of the Yellow Jackets' 38-21 loss at Miami after Justin Thomas left with an upper-body injury in the first quarter. His status for Saturday's season-ending game against Georgia is uncertain, which means Jordan may again get the call. He said he is preparing as if he will be needed, which is normal for every week.
Jordan led Tech to two touchdowns in 11 possessions against the Hurricanes. He rushed 28 times for 60 yards and a touchdown and completed 4-of-8 passes for 59 yards with an interception.
But his fumbling — six, with one lost — is the first thing that needs to get cleaned up if Tech is to have a chance of beating the Bulldogs for the second consecutive year.
“We killed ourselves out there,” Jordan said. “We have to execute better.”
Cook wasn’t sure how Jordan would handle emergency duty against the Hurricanes. He had played almost exclusively in mop-up time in the blowout win over Tulane and the blowout loss to Clemson. Otherwise, Thomas has dominated the playing time, leaving Jordan just eight carries and one pass attempt before playing in the monsoon in Miami.
“I knew he was a tough kid who was going to go out here and give you everything he had,” Cook said.
Thomas and Jordan are not only different quarterbacks, but vastly different people.
Thomas is 5 foot 11, stocky and letting his hair grow out. Jordan is 6-2, lean and wears his hair closely cropped. Though Thomas is also from central Alabama (Prattville, near Montgomery), his accent isn’t nearly as noticeable as the mix of Cajun and South Alabama that belongs to Jordan, who is from Jackson, Ala.
Thomas’ confidence, born from so much playing time, shows in some of the hold-your-breath pitches he make on option plays, the ball released just as a defender slams into him.
Jordan didn’t make many pitches on Saturday, something that Cook said is the next step in his development.
They are both tough finishers when running the ball. Cook said Jordan may even have been over-aggressive on some runs against Miami. Tech doesn’t need another injury at quarterback.
Paul Johnson took some of the blame for Jordan’s performance, saying he may have been too hard on him Saturday after one of his pitches hit the ground. Jordan didn’t pitch the ball again for a number of plays.
Later in the game, Johnson again barked at Jordan after he missed a chance to hit wide receiver Ricky Jeune, who was wide open off a play-action fake. Jordan scrambled away from the pass rush and threw the ball away .
“I yell at him, ‘The guy’s wide open, you’ve got to turn it loose,’” Johnson said.
On the following play, another play-action pass play, Jeune was covered and even fell down, but Jordan stepped up in the pocket, threw to him and was intercepted.
“When you’re dealing with young guys, you’ve got to be careful what you ask for, because you’ll get it the time you don’t need to get it,” Johnson said.
Jordan said Johnson’s critique didn’t frustrate him.
“I’ve always had hard coaches,” he said. “I was just trying to do what the defense gave me.”
About the Author
