Georgia Tech’s defense faces a quandary this week against Clemson and mobile quarterback Deshaun Watson.
If the Yellow Jackets rush just four men in an attempt to pressure Watson on pass plays, the odds aren’t good that anyone will get to him in time. Coach Paul Johnson has said twice in the past week that four may not be enough.
“We haven’t been a really good four-man rush team in a long time, probably since Derrick Morgan and those guys,” he said. “They were pretty good at rushing the passer.”
Give Watson time and Clemson’s offense will be even harder to stop.
If defensive coordinator Ted Roof decides to blitz, it will likely require Tech’s linebackers and safeties to play man-to-man coverage. One mistake could result in a big play, which Roof said happened a few times in last week’s loss to North Carolina.
“We blitzed a lot this past Saturday,” Roof said. “When we blitz, guys have to stay in their lanes. At times, a guy would get out of his lane and go the wrong way, times when if he had stayed in his lane, it would have closed out a big scramble.”
It’s comforting for a coach to know that he can pressure the quarterback when he needs to with just four rushers and it’s something the Jackets haven’t been able to do, as Johnson said.
The Yellow Jackets have nine sacks this season, six by the defensive line. But only two of those five have come during the three-game losing streak that Tech (2-3, 0-2 ACC) will try to snap against the No. 6 Tigers (4-0, 1-0).
“We have to figure out our way out of it and work our way out of it,” Roof said.
The group should get a boost with the return of defensive tackle Patrick Gamble, who missed the past two games with a head injury, and the return of Adam Gotsis, who missed most of the loss to the Tar Heels after being ejected for targeting. He has two sacks this season. Gamble has none.
“(Gamble) could have a big impact,” Roof said. “He was starting to play really well. … We lost him and then we lost Gotsis and that put us in a precarious position. It’s the next man up. It wasn’t one person or one position group. We win or lose as a team.”
Clemson has given up six sacks this season and just four of those have been involved the fleet-footed Watson. He is the team’s second-leading rusher at 46.5 yards per game, including a career-high 93 yards in last week’s win over Notre Dame. He is also completing 69 percent of his passes for 738 yards and nine touchdowns.
If Tech doesn’t have what Roof terms “rush lane integrity” on Saturday, Watson could burn the Jackets just like Marquise Williams, who led the Tar Heels last Saturday with 148 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“It’s a group that is working together,” Roof said. “We work hard on (rushing lanes) all the time. We will continue to work on that and get better at it.
“We have to get better quick.”
