Wow. What an ugly, amazing, terrible, fantastic game. Somewhere halfway through the 4th quarter I lost feeling in my feet, but it was all worth it. A rain-soaked and jet-lagged Georgia Tech squad overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to run away with a win in the final seconds of the game, winning its first game since the Miracle on Techwood Drive last year.

The offense struggled mightily against the vaunted Boston College defense, and the defense gave up some maddening plays, but the team showed that they have what it takes to win when it matters. Justin Thomas proved that he is one of the best players in this conference, and Dedrick Mills showed maturity beyond his years, winning the game after a fumble that nearly lost the game for the Jackets.

Quick Takeaways

• The wet conditions had a big effect on this one. That sounds like an excuse, but it all but eliminated the A-backs from the run game. Everyone looked slow out there, including players we know are fast. The A-backs ran for a combined 3 yards on the day. A Flexbone attack without it’s A-backs becomes 1-dimensional really quickly. CPJ noted after the game that he didn’t think an A-back caught a single pitch at full speed on the day.
• There was a distinct lack of the Inside Veer(Triple Option) today, and when it was run there were a bunch of missed assignments and reads. CPJ leaned on the B-back toss, which had a bit more success.
• It was clearly sloppy execution by the offense. A-backs forgetting to go in motion, Guards forgetting to pull, and the OL leaving the wrong man unblocked were all issues CPJ mentioned in his post-game press conference.
• Pass protection was better than last year, but that’s not really saying much.
• Marcus Marshall actually did a better job of squirting through the tiny gaps the OL were able to open up than Mills, and was a better option on the B-back tosses. Marshall and Mills look dead even and will complement each other well.
• Both return games looked good.
• Pass rush was underwhelming overall, but I was impressed by Antonio Simmons, he made plays and got more snaps as the game went on.
• Looks like the 4-man rotation at DE will be Rook-Chungong, Freeman, Simmons, and Saint-Amour. We’ll see next week if Desmond Branch can get in the rotation. You can never have too many pass rushers.
• I was pretty displeased with the management of the DT personnel. The Cerge-Henderson and 1-Tech and Gamble at 3-Tech combo seemed the most effective, but I don’t remember seeing Glanton the whole game. DTs need to be rotated to keep them fresh, and against better fronts we could see breakdowns in the run game late if this keeps up.
• Play Brandon Adams
• We still struggle with coverage over the middle.
• Secondary held up better than I expected, though BC doesn’t exactly have any great receiving threats.

Looking to next week

Fixing timing issues and shoring up assignments on offense will be paramount during next week’s tune-up game. The team will need to build confidence and rapport after slogging through a mess for the greater part of 60 minutes.

On defense, the DT rotation needs to get figured out, and the linebackers need to work on short coverage. The pass rush needs to improve, and the defense as a whole needs to work on containing the QB. Towles was by no means a true running threat, but they made him look like one on multiple occasions. The defense gets to face Deshaun Watson in less than 3 weeks.

I’ll be starting a weekly series this week called “Little Big Plays” where I’ll discuss lesser-noticed plays and performances that had a big impact on the game. I’ll also award a “Little Big Player of the Game” Look for it around Wednesday.