Georgia Tech’s spotty special-teams play continued with yet another poor snap on a punt in Saturday’s 43-24 loss at Clemson.
“If I could put my finger on it I would fix it,” Tech coach Paul Johnson said
Trailing 17-3 in the first quarter, Sean Tobin’s snap sailed over the head of punter Ryan Rodwell on fourth-and-14 at the 24-yard line.
Rodwell picked up the ball in the end zone and managed to kick it, but the low line drive slammed into Clemson’s Jadar Johnson at the 6-yard line and started to roll back toward the end zone. A Tech player tried to kick the ball again and missed as the ball rolled through the end zone for a safety to give the Tigers a 19-3 lead. Johnson was credited with the blocked punt.
It was the third consecutive game in which Tobin has misfired on a punt. Tobin was replaced by Casey Wilson on the next punt. He snapped without incident for the remainder of the game.
“We’ve … hopefully got that fixed moving forward,” Johnson said.
Tech’s special teams executed a fake in the second quarter that resulted in a first down. Wilson snapped the ball to upback Chase Alford on fourth-and-7 at Tech’s 40-yard line. Alford ran left for nine yards and the first down. Tech would later score its first touchdown.
When Tech did get a punt away, it didn’t go very far. Tech averaged 28.6 yards per punt on its first eight attempts.
In a 38-31 loss to North Carolina the previous Saturday, Rodwell dropped a low snap that allowed pressure to reach him. Rodwell was able to get off a 23-yard punt to Tech’s 44-yard line. The Tar Heels quickly drove the short field for a touchdown to cut the Jackets’ lead to 21-14 and snatch away the momentum.
In the 34-20 loss to Duke two weeks ago, Tech made several mistakes on special teams. A bad snap went over Rodwell’s head on a punt and eventually led to Duke touchdown. Poor punt coverage set up a 69-yard return to the 1-yard line. The Blue Devils scored a touchdown on the next play. Lastly, the Jackets gave up a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
