Georgia Tech vs. NC State: Monday Quick Thoughts
by Winfield Featherston on Sep 27, 2010 8:15 AM EDT
in Georgia Tech Football
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I don't post anything on Sundays because I am working on this year being more objective in my thoughts with a little less emotion. Rants and raves feel good (a little) but they don't get you anywhere.
From a Mark Bradley article Sunday:
Tech fans already are all over Groh, but the man who worked under the Bills Parcells and Belichick didn’t forget how to draw a 3-4. There’s just no Lawrence Taylor to wreak the off-the-corner havoc that a 3-4 demands. (Jefferson, who had two of Tech’s three sacks, is a middle linebacker.) And there’s nothing Groh or Johnson can do to turn one of these Jackets into a Hall of Famer.
Groh: "There’s no supermarket we can go down to and buy new players. This is our team as constituted."
That's reality and it's what we have to expect for this season. I said last week after the North Carolina game that it was these type of sloppy and error-prone victories that we were all going to have to learn to accept and I thought it was going to happen all over again when Jerrard Tarrant had his pick-6 interception.Unfortunately it was just a tease.
We simply don't have the players who can bail us out this year in times of trouble (see especially Demaryius Thomas and Derrick Morgan) and who were able to mask any shortcomings in our game because of their obvious NFL-abilities. What we have now are replacements, talented yes, but game-changers not yet.
Defensively, we don't have the personnel. What we thought was a defense that could only improve from last year is actually a defense made up of players that just don't seem to fit the needs. The well-oiled machine that was the offense of 2009 has not arrived as we thought it would for 2010.So it's time to adjust (for this year) and keep our expectations for the program as a whole where they have been (high). It's just going to be one of those years and it could get rough.
Oh, and please, no more of those gold uniforms. Absolutely awful.
What are your thoughts?
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I agree on all counts
However, I get a little concerned that Groh might be getting too much blame from some fans and media types. What struck me Saturday was that Tech had no long time consuming drives. This kept Tech’s defense on the field far more than it should be. Also going for it on fourth and ten deep in your own territory when you have not been moving the ball struck me as setting the defense up for failure. It reminded me a little bit of the Orange Bowl last year in which the defense played about as well as they were capable of playing (including a pick 6) but the offense under performed.
I could name the culprits on offense but these are just college kids so I will lay off of that. But I saw critical missed assignments, missed blocks and poor running on the part of several players.
by Atlanta's original team on Sep 27, 2010 8:30 AM EDT reply actions
I'm with you on Groh
The defense came out fired up and gave the offense several opportunities to pull out in front. The offense just didn’t turn those opportunities into points. Later in the game, the pass defense really started to break down as NC State really hit their stride. I thought the run defense really improved this game…hopefully they’ll keep it up. Groh has done a good job, and there were several plays in which the scheme put two GT rushers against a single offensive lineman.
My thoughts on the offense
The loss of Dwyer and Thomas really hurt this team. The offensive line is missing some blocks, but overall, the guys that are replacing those two players just aren’t as good. Allen is not an inside runner. He just can’t navigate through the trash like Dwyer could. In space (as we saw on that swing pass to him), he made a pretty good play. Perhaps he would be better back at A-Back and promote Preston Lyons at B-Back. Secondly, Hill just doesn’t have the same skills as Thomas did. He cannot adjust to the jump balls as well once the ball is in the air. Hit him in stride (or as he settles into a zone) though, and he’s great. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get hit in stride much. Overall, the loss of the four guys to the NFL and the couple of seniors that graduated may be just too much to overcome with these players. Perhaps the preseason rankings were more accurate than we had initially thought/hoped.
Having our 1st and 2nd string center out didn’t help either. As for Stephen Hill, give him time, he’s only a sophomore. Bebe really didn’t come in to his own immediately either.
Adjusting to the ball in the air
…is more of an instinct thing. That’s what I haven’t seen from Hill that Thomas (and Calvin Johnson) did exceptionally well. I’m hoping that Hill will do better as time goes on, but he just doesn’t have that same skill set.
Also, I forgot about Bedford
That’s a good point.
We have young guys on the O-line, its going to be a baptism by far. One last thing about Hill. Bebe was a stick when he came to Tech too, but he had a redshirt year to bulk up. Also, he wasn’t used in CPJ’s offense until his third year on campus. I believe Stephen is going to be a stud. He’ll just have some growing pains.
Agreed
Defense came out like gang busters – but it seemed like NC State adjusted for contain by having Wilson just sit back and pick apart from the pocket rather than trying to move around, and it worked. The offense looked really, really uncomfortable without Bedford. Very good analysis on Stephen Hill – he’s not very polished, nor should he expected to be this early quite honestly. Nesbitt certainly isn’t Drew Brees but we aren’t helping him out when he has thrown good balls.
O-Line youth
We’re really young on the offensive line. That’s certainly not helping, but it is cause for some optimism I believe. They’ll get better.
Are...you...ready...to...fumbllllleee!!!!!
My dear little fumble how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
1. The snap
2. The mesh
3. The fake handoff
4. The dive
5. The pitch, and like ice cream this one comes in flavors: with or without the A-back.
6. And I’m sure the reverse will show up here in time.
If we are readjusting goals and expectations, I’d like to set a goal of no more fumbles. It’s maddening to see the offense start to show some rhythm and signs of life only to fumble the ball away for no good reason.
by Dive Keep and Pitch on Sep 27, 2010 9:43 AM EDT reply actions
You got that right
Fumbles are just killer…especially when they’re at the end of a promising drive. We’ve had a few of those this season thus far.
How many mis-communicated routes did yall see?
I saw backs stopping on their routes
I saw bad throws / routes wrong the wrong way…
…all multiple times.
Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John HeismanFromTheRumbleSeat
by Winfield Featherston on Sep 27, 2010 10:05 AM EDT reply actions
Most all of the routes have a read by the receiver. Typically if the corner sits down in cover 2, the A-back is supposed to run by him. If the corner bails in cover 3 or man, the A-back is supposed to sit at 12-15 yards on the sideline. The only instance I saw this was on the throw to Roddy on our sideline (I think in the 3rd quarter). He did the right thing to sit down but the ball was thrown too far up field and would’ve been a pretty tough catch to make…never know what calls were made or who ran the wrong route…
Are you a LION or a GAZELLE?
Al Groh is a very good defensive coach
In time he will get it taken care of
This team will improve in '10... on its 16-16 conference record over the last 4 years.... after losing 20 games in the last 4 years... after having the 7th worst major-conference defense... after not even winning its own division in the ACC in the last 4.
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I agree
A couple of things to remember with this defense is that A) it’s the first year switching to the 3-4, B) these guys weren’t recruited for the 3-4, and C) Groh hasn’t even begun to recruit for the 3-4. All of these things should take care of themselves with time.
Of course no one likes to lose and I’d be lying if I said I’m okay with the performance against Kansas and NC St, but the truth of the matter is that we lost a load of talent from last year and it’s easy to see that it hasn’t been replaced just yet. It’s going to take some time and if the first half of the NC St game was any indication, the defense should continue to improve as the year moves along. What can’t happen is a regression in the offense this year. If we are struggling to score, the defense will get over-woked each game.
"Everybody talks about SEC speed. The 27 fastest guys at the (NFL) combine, how many of them were from the SEC? Three. But if you say it enough, everybody will believe it."
-CPJ
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
start BJ Bostic
he should be touching the ball 5+ times per game.
by twojackets on Sep 27, 2010 10:55 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Check back
around 1:00. I’m on board with this.
Bostic + Orwin on reverse to gain speed out of backfield
Calvin eaque chance to build speed before blitzing around end. Bostic has jets. Peeples needs more “draw something in the dirt” to confuse D. Did I see that screens were useful! I’d hate to be in practice this week vis-a-vis post Furman when I was a Sophmore. A scolly doesn’t make up for the sheer hell of an Old Skool coach who is making a point after a less than stellar game. Shed a team for the Student Athletes in 1982 when CBC was pissed.
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Sep 27, 2010 11:38 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
We'll get better, just not soon enough
I’ve grown as a human being. A loss like Saturday’s would have kept me in a funk for a few days. I went running and shook it off within a few hours. I only watched it on TV, so I didn’t see everything that many of you saw.
Is it fair to say that the biggest difference on offense this year is the lack of BeBe Thomas? He had the power to bail us out last year, especially in third-and-long, in a way that Stephen Hill can’t (yet). Nesbitt is a beast, but I’m incredibly disappointed that his passing hasn’t improved… at all. How is that possible? How many times did he just air it out, especially in the first half—just throwing up jump balls and watermelons? Maybe Thomas would have come down with a couple of those, at least. As it is, there’s just no threat in the air at all.
I don’t believe that we have to pass a lot in this offense. When critics of this offense say we need more balance, what they really mean is that we need to complete a much higher percentage of the passes that we attempt (which we should do, since it’s usually one-on-one). We’re not doing that.
When Bedford went out, things went downhill fast. That was potentially a killer.
by Brent L. White on Sep 27, 2010 12:52 PM EDT reply actions
what's the word on Bedford?
Any injury / status update on our beloved center?
by twojackets on Sep 27, 2010 3:30 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
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