Nick Petrus
Saturday, Sep 26th 2015 at 07:29pm EDT
DURHAM, NC - For the second week in a row Georgia Tech's offense sputtered, and for the second week in a row it sealed their fate, this time in their ACC opener today at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Duke Blue Devils (3-1, 1-0) were the benefactor, and largely the instigator, running out to an early lead and holding on to defeat the Yellow Jackets 34-20.
Georgia Tech (2-2, 0-1) is likely to fall out of the top 25 as a result, but the issues for the Yellow Jackets are far greater than national recognition. Said Head Coach Paul Johnson, "It's like I told our team. You're not going to win a game where you snap it over your punter's head, give up a kickoff for a touchdown, give up a punt return for a touchdown, and then are anemic on offense... We're just not a very good offensive football team right now."
The offense, long considered the one reliable staple of the team, has shown it's anything but at this point in the season. Quarterback Justin Thomas was often forced into making reads under duress in both the running and passing game. After starting the game 4 for 6 passing for 92 yards and 1 touchdown, Thomas finished just 6 of 21 for 143 yards and tossed one interception.
The Jackets were similarly thwarted on the ground, rushing for just 2.9 yards per carry. Their 173 total yards on 60 carries ended a streak of 17 consecutive games of 200 rushing yards or more.
Issues on offense may not have impacted the games' outcome if not for a similarly disheartening performance on special teams. Duke took advantage of breakdowns in the Jackets' kick and punt coverages, converting one kickoff for a touchdown and returning another to the Georgia Tech 1-yard line. Another snap over punter Ryan Rodwell's head prevented Tech from flipping the field in the first half. Duke's subsequent drive covered 48 yards and ended in a touchdown.
The saving grace today was the performance of Georgia Tech's defense, albeit after a slow start. Said Johnson, "I thought they played really well in the second half. That's probably as good as a defense has played in the second half." The defense held Duke to 75 total yards in the second half and forced two turnovers.
Defensive back Lawrence Austin's interception with 6:57 remaining in the game had the potential to be a game-changer. With Georgia Tech down 26-20, the turnover gave the Jackets momentum and an opportunity to drive just 35 yards for a go-ahead touchdown and extra point. It was not meant to be.
Attempting to reassert its will on the ground, the Jackets turned the ball over on downs when running back Patrick Skov was stuffed in the backfield on 4th and 1. Hindsight is 20-20 and that’s no different for Paul Johnson. Reflecting on the 4th down call, “You want to play to the strength of your football team. When you’ve got seniors [on the offensive line] and a guy who’s hard to tackle, that’s where we were trying to go. Wish I’d thrown it on 3rd down in play action.”
Running through the plethora of “what-if’s” unfortunately will not change the outcome for Georgia Tech. Instead it’s back to the drawing board and time to figure out a way to beat the North Carolina Tar Heels one week from today.
It’s not lost with the players that they faced similar circumstances last year en route to an Orange Bowl trophy. “Last year we lost two games back-to-back,” said defensive end KeShun Freeman. “We responded to that, and we can do the same thing this year. You can’t just look back and say ‘hey, I wish I would have done this’. You just have to look forward to the many goals and the many things you can do in the next few games.”
Forgetting the last two games, looking forward, and a return to Bobby Dodd Stadium may be just what the Jackets need.
