Technical Tidbits 11/1: Justin Thomas is historically good

The accolades just keep rolling in for Justin Thomas on the heels of his 459-yard performance against Duke. That link pertains to his recognition as the ACC Player of the Week, but perhaps the highest honor received by Tech’s senior signal called is the Walter Camp National Player of the Week award, which was given to him on Sunday. Thomas absolutely earned both of those awards for his excellent performance; he probably should have brought home a couple more, but the other fantastic performances from around the nation apparently grabbed the attention of the other (totally bootleg) awards.

In other Justin Thomas news, he managed to set the 2016 record for total QBR in a game with an overall rating of 99.7. He becomes the second signal caller in Paul Johnson’s tenure to accomplish the feat, joining Tevin Washington (99.7 rating vs. UVA in 2012).

That may seem pedestrian, but only sixteen quarterbacks have EVER had a total QBR that high in a game in the history of college football. Georgia Tech now has two of those, tied for the most of any school with Arkansas. Thomas also has the thirty-third best game in terms of total QBR, a score of 99.4 against Mississippi State in the 2014 Orange Bowl. He’s a special talent who unfortunately won’t get the proper recognition until he’s gone.

For the first time in quite a while, Georgia Tech has been rewarded with a non-noon kickoff! The Jackets and Virginia Tech Hokies will now kick off at 3:30 in Blacksburg in a couple of weeks, ending Tech’s long string of 12:00 games being played in that sweltering late-October heat that’s now a thing for whatever reason. This weekend’s game against North Carolina is still a 12:30 kick from Keenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, an early start for a matchup in what should be a semi-hostile UNC environment.

Just a day after the arrest of safety Jalen Johnson was discovered, Tech’s basketball team took a sizable blow with the suspension of guard Josh Heath for the first four games of the season. I quite honestly anticipated that the Jackets would lose at least one of those first four games anyway (Tennessee Tech, Southern, Ohio, and Sam Houston State), but losing the starting point guard who really shouldn’t be starting in the first place is a pretty big blow. The scoring wasn’t going to come from Heath anyway, but his suspension will do the offense even more harm than was already incurred with the departure of most all of Tech’s scoring from a season ago. Send help.