To be quite honest, after Saturday night’s loss, I just didn’t feel like writing up the Tidbits for Tuesday, or today for that matter. But the band-aid had to be ripped off, and life goes on. Admitting defeat isn’t easy, but it’s necessary. And I’m afraid it just may be far too necessary this football season. I really hope I’m wrong. With that said, let’s get into today’s Tidbits with an AJC article that discusses Saturday’s demoralizing loss.
This article does a good job breaking down some of the important takeaways from Georgia Tech’s disappointing loss to Northern Illinois last week. It wasn’t quite the way Yellow Jacket fans were hoping to open up the season. The Yellow Jackets ended up losing 22-21 after a contentious game that included a second half rally by Tech.
When your team comes that close to winning but then loses the way they did (on a two-point conversion that likely should have been reversed) it has to be infuriating, especially after seeing a Tech touchdown call be reversed earlier in the game. To break down what Tech beat writer Ken Sugiura discusses in the article, I’ll include a list of the takeaways below, plus my own commentary:
- Trouble in the back end - When it counted the most the secondary gave up two big plays that assisted the Huskies in securing the game winning touchdown. The team will have to address the miscommunications that the article brings up — especially for a unit that features solid talent at the safety and cornerback positions.
- Kicking-game shortcomings again - This was perhaps the biggest surprise/disappointment for me. What surprised me even more was head coach Geoff Collins’ decision not to go with Brent Cimaglia for the game-winning kick. Even if he had attempted it and it had come out the same way, I don’t think it would have been as hurtful for the team as not letting him at least attempt the kick. Maybe I’m mistaken and Collins hoped to preserve Cimaglia’s confidence, but to me, pulling him when he did may have done worse.
- Too many mistakes - Why am I not surprised by this one? The timeouts in the second half still baffle me. At least (it felt like it during the game) the penalties weren’t as bad as I expected.
- Strong play in defeat - We saw this last year and we saw it again in their first game. The Yellow Jackets looked weak in one half but stronger in the other. For a while, I felt really confident that they would wrap up the W and that would be that. But that last drive by the Huskies was just too much. And like we have seen before, the team regressed and gave up the big plays when it counted the most.
- Doubts surface - Amen, Ken. Amen.
Georgia Tech’s starting quarterback Jeff Sims status for the Kennesaw State game is still up in the air according to this article. Sims suffered an injury to his left, non-throwing arm in Saturday night’s loss to Northern Illinois. He was attempting to recover a fumble when he appeared to land on his arm awkwardly as he also collided with another player.
From what the coaches have said, according to the article, it seems there’s a good chance Sims will return. Hopefully he’ll be well enough to play and the injury was only a minor one.