Paul Johnson was not enjoying this Saturday afternoon re-run.
After Georgia Tech’s offense had given Vanderbilt a knee-buckling roundhouse with an 81-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage, the Yellow Jackets defense turned back the clock to last Saturday and turned the green light on again for third down.
After FCS Mercer converted 10 of 18 third downs against the Jackets last week, Vanderbilt converted its first three third downs, measuring nine, four and three yards. The last produced a game-tying touchdown. Johnson was not smiling.
“We had just scored on one play and had all the momentum and then let ’em convert,” Johnson said.
However, the Jackets sharpened. Vanderbilt ran 10 more third-down plays in the game and picked up a first down just once. The Commodores finished 4-for-13 (31 percent), vast improvement for a Tech defense that entered the game having allowed its first two opponents to convert half of its third-down plays.
Linebacker Brant Mitchell said that the improvement lay in keeping composure and sticking to assignments. Also, defensive coordinator Ted Roof made adjustments in the first half, Mitchell said, that were solidified at halftime.
The Jackets improved on third down by improving on first and second down. Of Vanderbilt’s 13 third-down plays, five were 3rd-and-5 or less. By comparison, Mercer was in that spot 10 times, picking up seven of them.
Johnson was hardly satisfied, saying that the defense “sometimes is hard to watch” and made clear that the Jackets will face better offenses with better skill players. He may have noticed that Vanderbilt quarterback Kyle Shurmur appeared to be in position to convert a 3rd-and-7 on a scramble on the Commodores’ second possession of the game, but cut back and was tackled short of the sticks. In the second quarter, Shurmur had tight end Jared Pinkney open for a potential conversion on a 3rd-and-11, but Pinkney couldn’t secure Shurmur’s slightly off-target pass.
Still, the Jackets were better Saturday against a better team. They set up 3rd-and-longs by limiting preseason All-SEC running back Ralph Webb to 69 yards on 18 carries, his lowest total since the sixth game of last season. They made Vanderbilt play a game it didn’t want to, having to rely on Shurmur in obvious passing situations. They forced four three-and-outs. It was just the fourth time in the past seven seasons that Tech held a power-conference opponent under 10 points.
“Everybody’s on the same page on their defense and they did a great job (Saturday),” Shurmur said. “I know we didn’t capitalize on opportunities, but they had a great game and I’ve got to give credit to them. They did an awesome job.”
Defensive tackle Patrick Gamble said there wasn’t much different in the Jackets’ third-down approach.
“Everybody did their job, and I think that’s what shows up on the stat sheet, is everybody did their job, and we made the plays we were supposed to make,” he said.
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