Wild statistical generalizations based on Game 1!
by BirdGT on Sep 8, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
in Georgia Tech Football
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We saw a ton of A-Back carries compared to normal this weekend. In 2009, we only averaged 14 A-Back carries/game. Saturday saw us pitch to the slot backs 22 times while we reduced our B-Back carry load by about 40% from 2009's standard. Nesbitt and the QB's got their normal carry load.
I know this is only South Carolina State so it's kinda unfair to compare two full seasons to one game against one of the weakest teams on our schedule but that's what we've gotta do. And in week 1, we saw the QB's take over unlike in 2008 and 2009 where the fullback and slot backs were the game breakers:
Passing was basically nonexistant on Saturday so comparing it to 2008-2009 is almost useless. From 2008-2009, we averaged about 12.3 passing attempts per game while on Saturday we only threw 8 passes. We've only passed for fewer attempts three times since CPJ's been coach (2008 FSU/uga and 2009 VT).
When we compare this week's effort to Groh's normal defensive performance, we see a lot of tackles out of the safety position and pretty low number of tackles from the nose tackle.
Hopefully, we can get some increased production from our nose tackle to cut down on these runs up the gut. SC State picked up 7 yards per carry from their feature back Asheton Jordon against our starting defense. There were only three feature backs that rushed for 7 or more yards per carry in 2009 against Tech: C.J. Spiller, Washaun Ealey, and Ryan Williams. This does not bode well for our rush defense in the larval stages of the 2010 season.
I'd say our secondary played fairly well. It's the first time in 11 games that the secondary has held a quarterback to below 50% pass completions. It was also the 5th time since 2008 that Tech held a team to less than 100 passing yards. Look for Tech's secondary to lead the defense in 2010.
Any thoughts out there?
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The thing is...
You can’t compare the previous seasons’ stats to the current game. The SC State defense was obviously concentrating on the BB, so the QB’s and AB’s took control. That’s the beauty of the triple option: you take what the defense gives you. When the defense focuses on one aspect and leaves the other two one-on-one, you get a performance as you did last weekend. I didn’t see anything dramatically different on offense that what they’ve normally done in previous seasons.
On defense
I thought the nose tackle play was atrocious. Paul Johnson and Al Groh have to do something because Logan Walls just isn’t cutting it. What little I saw of T.J. Barnes looked good, but the coaches have seen more and they didn’t start him, so I trust them. If they fix that, then they’ll drastically improve in run defense.
Also, did anyone else notice how far off the ball the defense was aligned? They were a good yard and a half off the line of scrimmage on each play. I wonder if it was to counteract the SC State offense linemen from cutting them…any other ideas?
How do you account for the low percentage of tackles
by inside linebackers? CPJ said he was pleased by their play yet the ball was run up the middle fairly effectively forcing the safeties to make lots of tackles. I am sure there is a logical explanation for this, I am just missing it at the moment.
by Atlanta's original team on Sep 8, 2010 1:53 PM EDT reply actions
a few reasons
I think we ran a lot of nickel (minus one ILB) against SC State and I think we’re still looking to struggling against stretch and off tackle plays because of a weak DL. The linebackers are getting picked up by OL at the second level leaving the secondary the only guys free to make tackles.
I write stuff From the Rumble Seat.
I'm going to nit-pick now
CPJ singled out the inside linebackers for exceptional play so your first explanation makes sense. If we ran a lot of nickel then the inside linebackers “were playing their position” which did not call for them to make as many tackles given the formation. That makes sense.
However, if they were getting beaten by offensive linemen and thus missing tackles that the secondary had to pick up then that is not something CPJ should be bragging about. The most he could say would be something like, “Well, given the fact that our defensive line got creamed it is understandable that our inside linebackers weren’t able to make as many tackles as we would normally like.”
by Atlanta's original team on Sep 9, 2010 8:00 AM EDT up reply actions
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