Georgia Tech center Jay Finch knows his place.
“I’m just a pawn in the chess game,” he said. “I just do what I’m told. ‘Take the bishop.’ Yes, sir. Whatever he asks.”
The “he,” of course, would be coach Paul Johnson. Part of this week’s imperative to Finch and his fellow pawns is to crank up the interior running game. Finch said Johnson issued a challenge by saying he couldn’t remember the last time a B-back had a 100-yard rushing game.
Said Finch, “We’ve got to block some people.”
Without much bishop-taking Saturday against Miami, the Yellow Jackets will be looking a second consecutive checkmate squarely in the face. Besides the up-the-middle running game, Tech endeavors to improve an interconnected facet of the offense, its option game.
Opening lanes for B-back David Sims is important, Finch said, “because if we can block inside, it allows us to give him the ball more. (If) we give him the ball more, it just opens up the whole offense.”
For the record, the last B-back to record a 100-yard rushing game was Zach Laskey last season against Boston College. Sims has had games of 91, 99 and 99 yards in the past six games.
Against Virginia Tech on Sept. 26, Tech managed but 129 rushing yards, less than 40 percent of its season average entering the game. The offense was stunted by missed blocks by the line, backs and receivers. The Jackets racked up missed assignments on offense, ending up with a total that Finch said he thought was “an all-time high.”
“I’m not sure what the number was, but it was high,” he said. “I was like, Whoa.”
The fourth-quarter drive against the Hokies in which Tech unsuccessfully went for it on fourth down was illustrative. On first down, right tackle Bryan Chamberlain was unable to reach linebacker Jack Tyler with a cut block, enabling Tyler to stop quarterback Vad Lee for a 4-yard gain. On second down, the play’s timing was off. Sims ran straight into left guard Will Jackson as he pulled through a hole on the right side, limiting Sims to another 4-yard carry.
On third-and-2, Tech appeared to have sufficient push on the right side of the line, but Sims was brought down by defensive tackle Derrick Hopkins, who made a superior play and beat left guard Trey Braun (who had just come in after Jackson was hobbled on the previous play) off the snap. That left fourth-and-2, where the line didn’t generate any movement and Sims was stopped short of a first down.
The Hokies deserve credit for the last two plays; they might be the best defense Georgia Tech will face this season. But flawed execution on first and second down put the Jackets in that predicament.
In a similar vein, Johnson has not been satisfied with the Jackets’ option game all season.
“We’ve got to mesh better with the quarterback, B-back,” Johnson said. “Our releases on the offensive line have got to be better. We’ve got to cut off better on the backside of the offensive line, we’ve got to block the perimeter better. We’ve got to get the ball out on the perimeter some. We’ve got to read things better. That covers about all of them.”
Johnson said he and the coaching staff share responsibility.
“It probably means paying more attention to detail, being more demanding, not accepting something that you don’t think is good enough,” he said.
To that end, Johnson has limited the game plan and has made playing without mistakes a priority. Miami, which has outscored the opposition 181-50 and boasts its standard speed and athletic ability, won’t need any gifts from the Jackets. Finch accepts the challenge.
“I like when teams have good defenses, I feel like, because I’d rather pressure be on the offense than vice versa,” Finch said.
Send in the pawns.
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