When a Paul Johnson-coached Georgia Tech team passes for more than twice as many yards as it runs, something is way off. That was Saturday in Clemson for you.
The Yellow Jackets finished with 71 yards rushing, an all-time low under Johnson. His previous low came when Tech rushed for only 79 yards against Gardner-Webb, his sixth game at the helm at Georgia Tech in 2008.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this in my coaching career, being as inept as we are on offense,” Johnson said afterward.
Quarterback Justin Thomas passed for 159 yards, by the way, on 6-for-14 attempts, but he had two busted coverages by Clemson to thank for a pair of long touchdowns (50 and 49 yards).
The Yellow Jackets’ best running play – regardless of the down and distance – was the B-back dive. That actually gained positive yardage. And that was a rarity.
Clemson had 11 tackles for loss in the game, and only two of those were sacks. The rest came when the Tigers had defenders coming in from the edge to invade Tech’s backfield – linebacker Dorian O’Daniel and safety Jayron Kearse each had three tackles for loss.
“We had so many negative yardage plays,” Johnson said. “For us, we need to get something established running the football and we couldn’t do it. They were kicking our tail inside. And that’s older guys. And some of that is not just the offensive line. Some of it is the B-backs not cutting back inside when the 2 (technique tackle) goes to the 3. I got tired of watching that too.”
By the fourth quarter, quarterback Justin Thomas actually had to run in a circle looking for some space in the backfield and he found only five orange jerseys caving in around him.
Clemson’s defensive front is talented and it showed. A team that held offenses to only 3.03 yards per rushing carry coming in, ranked 18th best in the nation, did the job. Tech averaged just 1.7 yards per carry.
“It’s one thing to be physically dominated,” Johnson said. “It’s another thing to not even give yourself a chance by doing the right things. That’s the thing that’s frustrating. There’s nothing you can do about somebody physically kicking your tail. But you ought to be able to fix the stuff that you do to yourself.”
B-back Marcus Marshall alluded to much of the problem being self-inflicted.
“Everybody needs to be on the same page blocking-wise and knowing their assignments, getting the small things done,” he said.
On Saturday, and for the better part of the past four games, they haven’t.
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