Maryland vs. Georgia Tech: A Tale of Two Halves

by BirdGT on Oct 10, 2011 7:00 AM EDT in Georgia Tech Football

The percents on the left indicate percent of carries called per quarter for each position (rgb bars). The units on the right indicate the yards per carry per quarter (orange balls).

I told Winfield that I felt like this weekend's game was a prime example of amassing a lead and sitting on it. The chart above breaks down our rushing playcalls based on ball carrier position receiving the ball. It also breaks down the yards per carry per quarter. As we progressed through the game, we gave up on the rocket sweeps, triple options, and overall slotback inclusion in our offense. Maryland was dedicated to stopping the slotbacks and CPJ focused the offense around Tevin's legs in the second half (66% of second half carries).

I don't know what CPJ saw that I didn't see but I hope my little brother's right. He thinks that the Skipper is reducing game film for our future opponents. Never forget: "We've got bigger fish to fry."

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Think it was more about the read

I think the 3rd quarter “playcalling” had more to do with Tevin’s reads then it going straight to Tevin. Maryland was playing the pitch very well and, at points, it seemed like Tevin didn’t want to pitch the ball in fear of turning it over. Some more B-Back dive plays or maybe even some counters could have helped, but ultimately, I think Tevin was just trying to do too much.

by Luke Fort on Oct 10, 2011 8:37 AM EDT reply actions

Based on what I saw during the game and Johnson’s press conference I’d agree. He essentially said there was no way that Washington should have kept the ball that much and he must have missed some reads.

by iamafirehazard on Oct 10, 2011 9:12 AM EDT up reply actions

You got it

Maryland was willing to let Washington beat them, and he couldn’t do it. They were really taking away the dive and pitch and letting Washington go one-on-one with the safety, which he can’t really do well. Also, the passing game was ineffective again, even though Maryland was giving that up too. The longer this season goes, the more it looks like 2010.

by acedarney on Oct 10, 2011 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions

Except we haven't fumbled nearly as much!

Which is a good thing!

by RamblinWreck7 on Oct 10, 2011 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Safeties

If we were more consistent with passing, we would have won by 3 TDs easily. We can’t let the safeties continue to creep up and make plays at or near the LOS. Everytime I see one of our receivers streaking down the sideline / running a deep post, it’s always man – man and they almost always have the CB beat. Safety is nowhere in site.

by 071u on Oct 10, 2011 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions

I know,

Our receivers have one on one coverage a lot. I would throw the ball a whole lot more if Hill or Melton is covered one on one. They could do a quick slant route or something like that for an easy completion.

by RamblinWreck7 on Oct 10, 2011 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Right you are!

That really killed us last season.

by acedarney on Oct 10, 2011 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions

You're right Luke,

Maryland played the outside run very well. But I think one of the reasons that they were able to do so was because we just didn’t block outside. The WR’s, A-backs and occasional pulling guards just didn’t do their damn jobs.

Go Jackets, go America.
THWG.

by JohnHeisman on Oct 10, 2011 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions

It was the reads.

CPJ commented on it in his post game. He said if the defensive tackle makes a play on the QB keep, the QB made the wrong read. Go back and watch the video. Also, the sweep was not working because the A-Backs were missing their blocks.

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Seneca
"We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal." - Tennessee Williams

by orientalnc on Oct 10, 2011 9:17 AM EDT reply actions

I didn't catch who it was

but there was one big glaring A-back miss on the near side. He dove at the guy’s legs too soon, and the defender was able to step around him and make the play.

In the press conference it was clear that Johnson wasn’t happy about Washington taking all those carries.

And then Heather Dinich gives Washington a “helmet sticker”. Think about how great it would be if ESPN’s ACC blogger actually paid attention to what was happening during the games instead of just looking at scores and stats afterword.

Then all the poll voters move Tech up a notch, because, after all, they are undefeated, never mind that they would have lost to four of the remaining teams in their schedule playing like that. Or any team in the Top 25.

But now the team can read the articles and look at the polls and think they did pretty well.

by CraigT on Oct 10, 2011 9:34 AM EDT up reply actions

The A-Back was Roddy.

I saw that play as well.

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Seneca
"We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal." - Tennessee Williams

by orientalnc on Oct 10, 2011 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions

You are dead on

It seemed to me like everyone (the a-backs in particular, but the receivers and tackles too) was having a hard time blocking on the perimeter.

by Joe Hamilton's Chauffeur on Oct 10, 2011 11:04 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

That's exactly what I saw.

And I think that those mistakes easily left 21 points on the field.

Go Jackets, go America.
THWG.

by JohnHeisman on Oct 10, 2011 2:22 PM EDT up reply actions

When you’re up by 21-3, you’re not in “bigger fish to fry” mode yet like we were in Raleigh.

The story of our offense the last 2 games in the 2nd half has been poor blocking. The CB to the play side is jumping the pitch/sweep and our WR can’t block it because the CB is cheating to the inside. Oh, if Tevin was able to audible to some passes this would be kept on check.

Of course, it’s not like we aren’t taking those shots downfield but we can’t make those passing plays work to keep the defense honest like we did pre-NC State.

by TBuzz on Oct 10, 2011 9:24 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

I did not count the plays where blocks were missed,

but the WR responsibility with the CB is to run him down the field. If the block comes too soon it’s not effective. The block that springs the sweep, assuming the QB reads are correct, is the A-Back block on the LB. The QB reads, the DT and either hands off to the B-Back or keeps, then reads the DE, where he keeps or pitches. The A-Back has to block the LB for the sweep to get much past the LOS. The LB can string out the play, the CB has time to recover and help. The WR block has to happen after the sweep gets past the LOS.

When we run the toss sweep w/o the option, the blocking schemes are different. In either case, the WR has to let the play get down field. If the CB does not follow the the WR, the pass plays will be wide open. That is what we saw in the Kansas game.The safety cannot recover from a bad read if the CB bites on the run early. If the safety comes and plays the run, we have to be able to block the safety with the A-Back. And, we have to catch the ball!

The D can stack the LOS and stop the option if we cannot throw effectively. That is what Iowa and Air Force did to us.

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Seneca
"We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal." - Tennessee Williams

by orientalnc on Oct 10, 2011 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree with TBuzz

The CB is greatly cheating to the inside and avoiding the WR’s block. I noticed also it looks like the safety was responsible for the quarterback a lot as he was the one creeping up to make the play several times. REALLY surprised CPJ didn’t do something to counter this…but then again TW did throw some passes to some wide open players down the field…not sure why our WR can’t catch the football…it looked to me like the passes were on target.

by 071u on Oct 10, 2011 9:32 AM EDT reply actions

Those passes

are what Johnson does to counteract that. When Kansas cheated the corners in they got burned. When Maryland did it Tech lost a down due to an incomplete pass.

by CraigT on Oct 10, 2011 9:35 AM EDT up reply actions

The WR's need to start...

making some plays as not every ball will be thrown with pin point accuracy. Catching a few of those will open up the sweeps and QB keepers as the safeties and corners will have to play honestly after getting burned downfield. Better blocking in the A abd B gaps will also help as we were able to spring David Sims only one time on Saturday.

by cuttysark on Oct 10, 2011 10:19 AM EDT reply actions

I just don't understand

what’s so hard to figure out for WR’s as far as going to get the ball. Tevin clearly has nothing close to what you would call sniper accuracy, and honestly he isn’t a whole lot more impressive than Nesbitt was in that regard. Basically, with minimal accuracy from Tevin, you can’t just run your route and expect the ball to fall into your lap. As soon as it’s in the air, your route means nothing any more and your only responsibility is to get under the ball. The past two games passing, we’re either A) not putting the ball where receivers can get it, or B) not converting catches for whatever reason.

For the record, I really believe it’s more on the QB side of things than the receivers, but that the receivers leave quite a lot to be desired too.

The Church of Paul Johnson - There's not much to it outside of whooping ass and giving haters the finger. To HELL With georgie!

by LilBroey700 on Oct 10, 2011 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Not sure I agree. The only glaringly bad pass I saw Tevin make was the floater to McKayhan. The ball to Stephen Hill over his shoulder needed to be caught. Just as that wide open pass he missed against UNC.

by TBuzz on Oct 10, 2011 1:13 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

We need our passing game back

Plain and simple. What’s happened the last two games? Run, run, run some more. Wait for defense to start cheating, then pass. Incomplete, for whatever reason. Keep trying to run, but the defense has no reason to play the pass if we can hardly do it anyways. Tevin’s accuracy has been awful in my opinion….he’s missed a number of receivers who were ready to gain 40-50 yards, if not score. The receivers have dropped some passes, but I think Tevin is missing a lot of them, and that’s what’s killing our passing game, and therefore our offense. Maryland was ready for the pass for the first quarter or so, and that was how we ran the ball better. Then they figured out that we weren’t much for passing, and started loading the box more. They started playing the run much better, Tevin was making poor reads, and we still weren’t a passing threat, and therefore we became much easier to defend.

The Church of Paul Johnson - There's not much to it outside of whooping ass and giving haters the finger. To HELL With georgie!

by LilBroey700 on Oct 10, 2011 10:37 AM EDT reply actions

Who has two thumbs and is now a bit worried?

This guy!

#badblocking
#badcatching
#pressureofthespotlight

by GT_Jason on Oct 10, 2011 12:07 PM EDT reply actions

The 12 PM ESPNU spotlight? :)

by TBuzz on Oct 10, 2011 12:59 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Well...

…the #12 ranking. And all the talk like “go 8-0 and we’ll get College Gameday in here for the Clemson game” or worse “first 6-0 start since 1966!” Players are talking about the Orange Bowl already and stuff.

I think it’s time to realize they have earned next to nothing. What this team has done so far only amounts to what they accomplished last season. They have got to get the glittering offensive performance back in the next two games in order to have any believable chance of winning against CU, VPI or Georgie.

by GT_Jason on Oct 10, 2011 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I was disgusted by Paul Johnson's play calling performance against Maryland.

Mainly in the second half. Tevin should not have to carry the ball 30+ times in a game. He is a quarterback, not a runningback. It was mainly the option play to the outside. Almost everytime, Maryland would have a defender on the quarterback and on the A-back. That play was shut down numerous times for a loss, no gain, or a short gain. There were a couple of times that Tevin could have pitched the ball, but the play was defended very well overall by the Maryland defense.

I would have thought that a counter play would have worked well to combat the agressive defenders attacking the option play. We need to get the ball in the hands of the A-backs more often. Maybe we need another play where Tevin just hands off the ball to them like the counter play. Our offense is much more effective when we spread the ball around to all of our playmakers, not just one of them.

Tevin was off throwing the ball today, so hopefully he can fix that with some practice. If he is having trouble making the longer throws, give him some more easy completions like short passes and those quick out routes. And as always, I would love to see a slant route passing play!!!

by RamblinWreck7 on Oct 10, 2011 1:47 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah I forgot to change the title.

New Title!!! I didn’t like Paul Johnson’s play calling against Maryland.

by RamblinWreck7 on Oct 10, 2011 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Johnson referred to Tevin carrying the ball 30 times in the press conference

bad reads = no pitches = QB keeps ball

Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John Heisman FromTheRumbleSeat

Twitter, twitter, twitter

by Winfield Featherston on Oct 10, 2011 1:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah I'm in a hurry so I haven't read all of the article or the comments yet.

I noticed that everyone else has said that too haha.

by RamblinWreck7 on Oct 10, 2011 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions

You should listen to the press conference in its entirety

None of the articles based on it have captured exactly how pissed Johnson was about Washington missing those reads. Usually he’s grumpy, but he doesn’t call out players like that. He pretty much said he didn’t call those plays as keepers and they shouldn’t have been.

Washington said the defender he was supposed to read on the dive was fooling him into thinking he was going to the B-back, then hitting Washington.

Johnson said, on the dive, that if he didn’t tackle the B-back then Washington shouldn’t have kept it.

I highly recommend getting the podcast feed with all Johnson’s press conferences (and his show). I love it.

by CraigT on Oct 10, 2011 8:04 PM EDT up reply actions