In the span of three hours and eight minutes on Saturday, Georgia Tech:
Held its opponent to fewer points than it allowed in any ACC game last season;
Permitted the same opponent to average 6.5 yards per play, more than a yard better than it averaged against any FBS opponent last season;
Was tackled behind the line of scrimmage nine times in 58 plays from scrimmage.
Converted a 3rd-and-11, 4th-and-19 and 3rd-and-10 in the final two drives to overcome a 14-7 deficit.
The Yellow Jackets bade Ireland farewell with memories of welcoming hosts, cars driving on the wrong side of the street and, for many, their first exposure to a country besides their own. They also left with an ACC win in their pockets, and a pile of problems to solve.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” coach Paul Johnson said, “but the bottom line is we’re 1-0, and that’s about as good as you can be right now.”
Projecting the fate of a season based on one or two games is something of a fool’s errand, and Tech’s own history has imparted that lesson repeatedly. In 2015, Tech looked the part of sleek offensive machine in routs of Alcorn State and Tulane before reality slapped the Jackets, who finished the season as the weakest team in Johnson’s tenure by far. In 2014, Tech managed a relatively paltry 226 rushing yards while laboring to a win over Wofford and turned the ball over thrice in a sloppy defeat of Tulane. The Jackets bore little resemblance to eventual Orange Bowl champions.
Going back further, coach Chan Gailey led the Jackets to a 33-3 rout of Notre Dame in the 2007 opener, offering few clues that his termination awaited in three months. The last time Tech began the season with Boston College, the Jackets were favored by 13 and lost 41-31 at Bobby Dodd Stadium. That team turned out to be coach George O’Leary’s best, the 1998 ACC co-champions.
What one saw in Aviva Stadium may say as much about the observer as the observed.
Was the 2.8 yards-per-carry average – the fifth lowest in Johnson’s tenure – hard evidence that the offensive line hasn’t improved, or that the A-backs and B-backs haven’t benefited from last year’s playing time or that Boston College’s defense is stout? Or a bad case of rust that might not have been so punitive against an FCS opponent? Johnson said that at different points, players blocked the wrong defender, didn’t block any defenders, didn’t go into motion and missed reads in the option.
“When you do that against a good team, you get behind down and distance, and it’s hard to come back,” he said.
Those hoping in Tech might note that the Eagles last season gave up 19 points to Notre Dame, 17 to Louisville and 14 to Florida State. The Seminoles, on their way to a New Year’s Six bowl, could advance the ball only 3.8 yards per play, even less than Tech did Saturday. (Those convinced the sky is falling on the Jackets would counter that the Eagles are not the same crew as last year, having lost three All-ACC players from the 2015 defense.)
“I think we’ve got a lot to learn from,” quarterback Justin Thomas said. “That’s not a bad team.”
One of the biggest notables was the Tech passing game, which benefited from improved pass protection. Throwing comfortably from the pocket, Thomas called the difference “night and day.” In the fourth quarter, he scooped up the aforementioned third and fourth downs, the sort of winning plays that slipped away from the Jackets last season. Thomas applauded his team’s fight.
“That’s what we didn’t have last year that we have this year,” he said.
Someone unconvinced in the passing-game development, particularly one who discounts sample size, might ask how much improvement has been made if Thomas’ passing efficiency rating for Saturday (119.97) was virtually identical to his rating in 2015 (119.38).
As for the defense, tackling was substandard, the pass rush didn’t unsettle Boston College quarterback Patrick Towles and the Jackets surrendered a 73-yard touchdown run that Johnson deemed “inexcusable.” On the other hand, Tech made opportune plays. Safety Corey Griffin was in the right place to catch a deflected pass, ending the Eagles’ opening possession. Defensive end Antonio Simmons snuffed a Boston College red-zone foray with a sack and forced fumble that was recovered by defensive tackle Kyle Cerge-Henderson.
Down 14-10 with 5:57 to play, the Jackets needed a three-and-out. Given that they hadn’t earned one since the Eagles’ second possession of the game and had permitted them to score 14 points and attempt a field goal (missed) in the three most recent series, it was not an outcome to wager on. But Tech stuffed running back Jon Hilliman on first and second down and then received a lucky break when Towles dropped the snap on third down, thwarting the play.
Perhaps the defense is flawed and just got lucky against a hapless Boston College team. Or, perhaps it has meet-the-moment DNA in its makeup.
“It’s 11 guys on the field – you would expect anybody to step up at any given time, or else they wouldn’t be on the field with us,” Griffin said. “We’ve been working hard since November of last year. We just gave it all we had every snap.”
It’s unlikely the Mercer game this coming Saturday will shed much more light on the Jackets’ likely trajectory Potentially the Vanderbilt game Sept. 17 will offer clues. The Commodores lost 13-10 at home to South Carolina, and good luck deciphering the meaning of that result. And then Clemson comes to Bobby Dodd Stadium Sept. 22 for a Thursday night ESPN programming provider.
Beyond the one concrete knowable from Saturday – that the Jackets’ stack of ACC wins is now one-unit tall – other implications may not be fully known until November. As the weekend’s outcomes – two top-five teams falling, Virginia losing to FCS Richmond by 17 and No. 9 Tennessee escaping Appalachian State in overtime – there is something of a glut of unpredictability. Perhaps giving Tech credit for a victory claimed under unusual circumstances and moving forward is the wisest tack.
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