Offensive Struggles And Poor Officiating Prove Costly To Tech
The Yellow Jackets fell to the Wolfpack on the road for the first time in 20 years. Despite the score differential, this was a closer game than one would think. The article brings up some interesting points, some positive and some negative. A couple important takeaways include how Tech managed to not turn the ball over (only the second time it’s done that this year), and how it managed to have more offensive production than N.C. State. The Yellow Jackets had 412 yards to the Wolfpack’s 397. Despite missing many of its “Above the line” players, the defense did a fairly good job, in spite of some questionable calls by the officials — seriously, when the sports commentators have to go out of the way to explain pass-interference calls in defense of the referees, then it has to raise eyebrows regarding the officiating. The offense really could have done a better job, particularly in the passing game — too often it seemed like a one-man show featuring Jeff Sims scrambling for yardage. On a positive note though, it was nice to see the Yellow Jackets’ special teams score some field goals.
In this FTRS ACC power rankings, the Yellow Jackets are ranked 11th. As the article mentions, Tech did miss a chance to be ranked a little higher — honestly, while N.C. State is a much improved team, it wasn’t out of the question for the Yellow Jackets to pull off the upset. However, injuries did seem to have its effect on the team. Hopefully, the team will be healthier for its Thursday night game against Pittsburgh.
After a disappointing opening two games of the season, the Yellow Jackets men’s basketball team finally got its first win of the season. The fact that that win would come against a 20th ranked Kentucky team makes it that much sweeter. Tech won convincingly against the Wildcats with a final score of 79-62. With the loss Kentucky drops to 1-3 on the season and the Yellow Jackets, with their first win, are now 1-2. The Yellow Jackets next game will be on Wednesday as they travel to Lincoln, Nebraska to face off against the Cornhuskers.