On a typical Saturday gameday, coach Brent Key would have coaches’ meetings in the morning. That alarm rolled over to the Sunday after the Miami game, going off at 9:15 a.m. after he’d gotten home at 5 a.m.
Key, his players and staff eventually got their rest, however.
“(We got) three days of practice in, conditioning work and then a few days for those guys to get off and decompress and refresh their minds as well as the physical part of it,” Key said.
Tech had “back to basics” practices from Tuesday through Thursday, Key said, then took Friday and Saturday off. This more relaxed schedule not only gave players time to recover, but also allowed them to evaluate aspects of their game that might fly under the radar during a normal week.
Wide receiver Abdul Janneh said he’s been trying to focus on smaller aspects of his play throughout the season. A transfer from Duquesne, Janneh said he’s realized that focusing on technique and said the “little details” are what sets players apart in the Power Five conferences.
The bye week gave him time to focus on these parts of his game, Janneh said, working on things like watching film and keeping an eye on defensive backs’ tendencies.
When tight end Dylan Leonard looked back at plays against Miami, he noticed that mistakes weren’t widespread.
“It’d be one guy here, one guy there,” Leonard said. “(We needed) to put that all together and also communicate up front.”
He said the offense missed some calls up front against Miami that they shouldn’t have, in part because of communication issues. Improving communication was a focus during the bye week, he said, and now the offense is starting to implement schemes for the Boston College matchup.
There wasn’t much talk of Boston College last week aside from preliminary scouting Thursday. Now, Tech is back in the swing of things and looking toward their ACC foe Saturday (noon, ACC Network). The Jackets are using lessons learned throughout the season, including during the bye week, as they prepare for the Eagles.
Tackling has been an emphasis from Week 1, linebacker Paul Moala said. What changes their approach this week: Boston College’s dual-threat quarterback Thomas Castellanos.
“They’ve got some really hard runners, that shifty runner at quarterback,” Moala said. “(We’re) making sure that we tackle, stick to the fundamentals of the game.”
Another focus coming out of the bye week: playing physically. Leonard said the Jackets did so last week and are building on it as they ready for Boston College.
He views playing with physicality as one way to solve Tech’s inconsistent performances, which have been a concern this season. Although the Jackets went scoreless in the first half against Miami on Oct. 7, the upset victory marked one of their more complete showings all season.
Last week’s practices were “extremely physical,” Leonard said. The Jackets just need to do the same Saturday, he said.
“It’s something we’ve flashed throughout the year,” Leonard said. “It’s a tough thing to do and that’s what winning football teams do.”
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