Here is a clue that your trip to sunny south Florida may not be a carefree vacation: You’re a football team, and you lose one of your starters during warm-ups.
Georgia Tech right tackle Morgan Bailey suffered an undisclosed injury during the pregame, coach Paul Johnson said.
On the other side, tackle Ray Beno was injured in the first quarter and missed the rest of the day.
For all that to happen to Tech’s experienced offensive line, replacements Chase Roberts and Trey Braun performed well enough that the Yellow Jackets finished with 335 yards rushing, more than 40 above their per-game average.
“That did stink losing two guys,” center Jay Finch said. “But everyone is held up to the same standards. You got to be ready to come in on any given play.”
Another casualty on offense was backup quarterback Justin Thomas, who was knocked dizzy late in the game. He was hit hard as he released a pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.
Canes go deep: Entering Saturday, Tech's defense was one of two in the FBS that had given up only one play of 30 yards or more.
It yielded four Saturday (the longest a 69-yard touchdown pass from Stephen Morris to Allen Hurns).
“We came out and we weren’t at our best, and teams like this will expose you,” Yellow Jackets defensive end Jeremiah Attaochu said.
“We weren’t getting off blocks, weren’t making the one-on-one plays, the one-on-one tackles. They have a lot of skilled athletes who can move, so that were some tough matchup one-on-one battles on the perimeter,” he said.
Tech also had allowed only 12 plays of 20 yards or more entering the game. It gave up eight (six passing, two running) Saturday.
Miami’s average of 10.4 yards per play was a record for an ACC game.
QB review: Johnson deployed three quarterbacks Saturday, not necessarily by choice.
The coach was pleased with the improvement he saw in Vad Lee as far as running the option more efficiently Saturday (Tech ran for 335 yards). But he would have liked to see more production passing. Lee was 5-for-13 for 63 yards and an interception.
“We don’t throw it much, but when we do, we got to hit some of them, especially when we get them open,” Johnson said. “(Lee’s) getting a lot of pressure; we don’t protect him very well either. But we had a chance to hit guys a couple times.”
After his backup, Thomas, was shaken up late in the game, enter sophomore Tim Byerly of Alpharetta. In mop-up duty, he took the Jackets on a 54-yard touchdown drive, running the last 15 himself for his first career touchdown.
At least they have this going for them, which is something: When on its opening drive Tech took it 75 yards for a touchdown, it was the first time Miami trailed since its 10th game of last season. The Hurricanes played with the lead for 368 minutes before that Tech score.
Second-half slowdown: Tech B-back David Sims had two touchdown runs, but was noticeably less effective in the second half. He gained 59 yards rushing in the first half, only 16 in the second.
“Miami made a few adjustments, but wasn’t doing that much different. We just didn’t get in a rhythm running the ball like we did in the first half,” Sims said.
Mooning over Miami: Johnson has now lost five consecutive to Miami. The average margin of defeat has been 16.4 points, and that was with a mere six-point overtime loss last season. But who's counting?
Was this the most disappointing of the streak, Johnson was asked.
“They’re all disappointing when you lose,” he said. “I don’t know that this would be more disappointing than last year. Last year, I thought we gave that game away.
“It’s disappointing anytime you lose. Nobody wants to lose. It’s not why you work 80 hours a week and the kids bust their butts in practice.”
