Contrary to what you guys thought, no, I am not suffering from a debilitating hangover right now, though by the third quarter of last night's game I was rather dehydrated and quite hungry. So I still got mine. Anyways, my phone died shortly into the game last night (2+ years old, battery sucks, time for an upgrade) so I wasn't able to take notes, but I'll try my best to do this from memory.
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Vad Lee looked REALLY good. Kid made some great throws and runs. If anything his biggest struggle was making the right reads on the triple option. But the things he can do with the ball in his hands are really impressive. (Fun fact: His 79-yard run was the longest in Georgia Tech history that didn't go for a touchdown. Also, his 82-yard TD pass to Jeff Greene was the sixth-longest pass in Tech history.) I'm really excited to see him grow into an incredible player for this team.
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The defense was good....for the most part. They kept the PC offense under wraps for most of the game, though at times we showed a potency for giving up a big play. For instance -- the only reason they scored at the end of the game was a 46-yard rush that made it down to the 10 yard line. Maybe we were getting complacent at times or weren't entirely focused, which isn't a big deal because we still won by 8 touchdowns, but is still concerning knowing the better teams we have to face in the near future.
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The Big Play appears to have made its return. Georgia Tech scored 8 touchdowns, 4 of which were runs or passes that went for 45+ yards. What does this mean, keeping in mind who we were playing? Well, not much, seeing as I don't think Laskey or Tevin would have pulled off 50+ yard TD runs against better competition. However, it's nice seeing what we've come to expect from our offense in the way of big plays -- especially in the passing game (TD's were 45 yards to Godhigh, 82 yards to Greene), where it'll be needed very soon.
The play calling was about as vanilla as it comes. Aside from a little more passing than we're used to, I remember only one or two plays being run from the pistol, and nothing special out of the base set being called. For those looking for bells and whistles from our offense this year, you've yet to see it. Here's to hoping we see some more creativity.
Synjyn Days' role in the offense is still unclear. He saw time at both Quarterback and A-Back, and still didn't impress in either role. He fumbled (debatable, I know) on the goal line to a) cost Georgia Tech a touchdown, and b) reaffirm his ball security issues. He had a total of 5 carries, so I don't think he got more than 2-3 at A-Back.
Speaking of carries, we had a lot of people carrying the ball. 14, actually. Johnson did a great job spreading the ball around and giving a lot of players an opportunity to show what they could do. Some impressed more than others, which brings me to my next thought.
If our other B-Backs go on strike for the rest of the season, we'll be alright playing Zach Laskey. He's shown more explosiveness than David Sims or Charles Perkins have from the position, and is a refreshing breath of breakaway speed we haven't had since The Diesel. Broderick Snoddy got a few carries at B-Back, and seemed to struggle with running the ball inside given his size. We'll see if they try to adjust to account for that when he's in the game.
We left the first string in for a LONG time. Particularly the defense, who was still on the field late in the third quarter. For a throwaway game like this, with a big lead (OK, 24 points at halftime isn't that much), I'd rather see more guys get a shot and avoid injuries to our starters. Tevin also made a few appearances much later than I would have expected -- glad that didn't end poorly.
Francis Kallon was wearing a jersey with street clothes, indicating a redshirt, and was having a TON of fun. I'm cool and high-five the players after the game, and Kallon in particular looked like a one-man party. Ear-to-ear grin on his face, jumping and dancing around, high-fiving people -- it made me happy to see the kid having a great time even though he's not able to make it onto the field.
Finally, for my fellow students -- when an alumnus offers you a beer, do not turn it down. Free beer is the tastiest beer, as any college kid can tell you.
Let's hear your thoughts, readers. Enjoy watching that game yesterday? How was your bourbon? Disappointed we gave up the shutout with 10 seconds to go?
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