In Georgia Tech’s losses to Central Florida and Syracuse, the Yellow Jackets defense was exploited by big plays and its shortcomings in pressuring the quarterback. The end result was 86 points and 1,017 yards allowed in two games.
Underlying those issues may have been a shortfall of consistent effort and player-to-player accountability. That was the finding of defensive end Jordan Domineck, who said that the Yellow Jackets were “slacking” on defense in the past two games. Domineck said that, as the Jackets went through their open date last week and prepare this week for their Friday-night home game against Louisville, there has been an increase in players challenging one another to play with more effort.
“Now, everybody’s just being able to be held accountable,” Domineck said. “Everybody’s holding each other accountable, knowing that we can get that effort up. I’m pretty sure that when we play Louisville, you guys are going to see a whole different Black Watch.”
In invoking the nickname of Tech’s feared defenses from the 1984 and ’85 seasons, led by Ted Roof, Pat Swilling and Cleve Pounds, Domineck sets a lofty standard. Since coach Geoff Collins' hire, he and others have spoken frequently of establishing a culture in which players can and do call one another out for the sake of improving the team as a whole. That element evidently needed to be reinforced in recent weeks.
“I’ve seen leaders become even more vocal, players stepping out of their comfort zone to make sure everybody does what they need to do to get things done,” Domineck said. “I’ve seen offensive linemen run across the field to talk to a defensive lineman or another offensive lineman that they saw was slacking, so that just shows me that the culture around here is definitely changing for the better.”
It hardly is the only area that needs improvement for Tech’s defense. Opponents have converted 43.8% of third downs, which ranks 45th in FBS, and hit 13 pass plays of 20 yards or more, tied for 57th in FBS. Defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker acknowledged Monday that he can do a better job at putting his players, such as nickel backs Kaleb Oliver, Charlie Thomas and Wesley Walker, in positions where they can play to their strengths.
Against UCF, Knights wide receiver Marlon Williams repeatedly got open against one-on-one coverage from Tech safeties and nickels and finished with 10 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Against Syracuse, after closing the score to 23-20 in the third quarter, the Jackets gave up a 43-yard touchdown pass when Orange wide receiver Nykeim Johnson (5-foot-8, 170 pounds) got behind Thomas (6-2, 210) for a deep ball with safety help arriving late.
“They’ve all made positive plays,” Thacker said of the nickel backs. “Certainly there’s things that we can improve as a staff and put those guys in better situations.”
Domineck understood the defensive line’s complicity in such plays. If the pass rush can’t reach the quarterback (as it often didn’t against UCF and also on the long pass play to Johnson) and makes the secondary cover receivers for more than three seconds, “that’s on us,” he said.
“And last year we were one of the worst pass-rushing defenses,” he said. “I can’t even sugarcoat it. We were one of the worst pass-rushing defenses in all of college football. So basically, that’s just been a point of emphasis for us, make sure we can get to the ball.”
On Monday, in praising Domineck for his hustle, Thacker gave an assessment on the effort level of the defense as a whole. Thacker said that there have been instances when plays have gone away from Domineck’s side, but he ran past teammates in trying to get to the ball.
“If we’re talking about our defense being an effort-based defense, there’s multiple times where we all need to play to his effort standard,” Thacker said.
Thacker called it a challenge to the rest of the defense and the biggest compliment that he could pay Domineck. Last week, Pro Football Focus rated him as having the most positively graded plays among all power-conference defensive linemen.
“I think Dom’s production has come from him working within the confines of the defense, doing his job and he just plays ridiculously hard,” Thacker said.
The heightened accountability has been expressed on offense, as well.
“I’ve seen a lot of that over the past two weeks, a lot of people stepping up, a lot of people are trying to motivate other players, hold them accountable,” right guard Ryan Johnson said. “We’ve all been trying to make sure that we’re all doing our part, and making sure the buddy next to us is doing his part.”
To whatever degree that effort and accountability were culprits against UCF and Syracuse, it’s not a desired response from a team that was 3-9 last season and picked to finish last in the ACC, but perhaps one that isn’t entirely surprising for a young team that is lacking depth at many spots.
Louisville will present its own problems to solve. The Cardinals are a run-heavy offense that has generated 17 plays of 20 yards, tied for fifth in the ACC. Running back Javian Hawkins is averaging 104.3 yards per game on the ground, second in the conference.
But if he and his defensive teammates play like they are capable, Domineck said that the Jackets shouldn’t have a problem.
“Because I’ve seen what our defense can do, and I have full confidence in my boys,” he said.
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