Alcorn State Postgame Discussion

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

FB vs Twitter post.

OK. I apparently have problems with FB posts, but not with Twitter posts. I don't think Chrome helps over Firefox, but for some reason, IIRC, I can read either when I use my phone; just not on my desktop.

 

[BootsCostMoney]

Johnson used a good portion of the first half and most of the 3rd quarter to practice passing. He knew that if we ran our base stuff against the Braves, it could get out of hand pretty quick. I don’t think he wanted to just run up the score like that against an inferior team. I think he knows what he have in the option game and just wanted to try some stuff out in the passing department. The team did not deliver what he expected. Looks like a number of option routes for receivers were misread by both the receivers and/or qb. Accuracy was also miserable at best.

Marshall doesn’t have the strongest arm but he’s still serviceable (just not today). He’s short for a D1 qb so his passes are gonna be overthrown a good amount. IIWII. They’ll get it shored up and fixed by next weekend or they won’t. I believe they will just because they have too much experience and seniority in all the right places not to bounce back in the right direction. But we’ve been wrong before so who knows? That’s why we play the games.

 

[ATL1]

If we have to depend on the passing game to beat a good opponent then I agree with your underlying sentiment. We don't have the QB to do that. BTW we don't have the OL, receivers or system to do it either. We are going to live or die by our running game and his #1, 2 and 3 job is to make that go. I saw quick feet and recognizing it was Alcorn I thought I saw improvement on the pitch. That is a hell of a lot more important than the bad mechanics we both saw in his initial passing attempts. I did think he got better as the second half went on.

I we have to have a 3rd and 15 completion to win a close game against a good team, I don't like our chances either. But the game would have been close because of the running game.

If we can pass on second and 6 after 3 straight first downs, then I do like our chances.

IMHO that is what this team and system is.

CPJ disagrees with you.

 

[ATL1]

This game highlights a problem with the absence of LJ. This game is going on film and other teams will scout against GT & basically abandon coverage to blitz the running lanes. This will work for good defenses like last year.

 

[jwsavhGT]

http://ramblinwreck.com/f18-alcornstate-recap/

THE FLATS — Georgia Tech football opened the 2018 season with a 41-0 shutout win over Alcorn State on Saturday afternoon at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Georgia Tech (1-0) scored on its opening possession and never looked back, to pick up its first shutout win since a 56-0 white-washing of Syracuse in 2013, a span of 57 games.

The Yellow Jackets rushed for 439 yards and surrendered just 77 yards on the ground, en route to a 543-146 advantage in total yardage. The Jackets also averaged 7.5 yards per play, compared to just 2.9 for Alcorn State (0-1).

Quarterback TaQuon Marshall accounted for two touchdowns (one rushing, one passing) and B-back KirVonte Benson came off the bench to run for two scores for Georgia Tech. Redshirt freshman B-back Jordan Mason scored in his first-career start and senior wide receiver Brad Stewart caught the second touchdown pass of his career to round out the offensive scoring.

Tech’s defense actually outscored the Braves all by itself, as junior linebacker David Curry ran a fumble back 15 yards for a touchdown in the second half of the rout.

Georgia Tech hits the road for the first time this season next Saturday when it visits USF. Kickoff is set for noon at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. The game will be televised nationally on ABC or ESPN2 (network determined regionally).

Team Notes

• Georgia Tech won its season opener for the 16th time in the last 20 seasons and the ninth time in 11 seasons under head coach Paul Johnson.
• The Yellow Jackets moved to 88-34-4 (.714) in 126 all-time season openers.
• Georgia Tech moved to 11-0 in home openers under Johnson. It was the Yellow Jackets’ 12th-straight home-opening win overall and 19thvictory in its last 20 home openers.
• The Jackets moved to 95-25-4 (.782) in 124 all-time home openers (Tech did not play any home games in 1897 or 1898)
• The shutout was Georgia Tech’s first in 57 games, dating back to a 56-0 home win over Syracuse on Oct. 19, 2013. It came in defensive coordinator Nate Woody’s first game with the Yellow Jackets.
• Georgia Tech rushed for 439 yards, surpassing the 400-yard mark on the ground for the fifth time in its last 12 games, dating back to the beginning of last season.
• Georgia Tech had three players with 75 rushing yards or more (QB TaQuon Marshall – 77; BB KirVonte Benson – 75; BB Jordan Mason – 75) for the first time since last season’s opener versus Tennessee (Marshall – 249; Benson – 124; AB Nathan Cottrell – 79).
• Georgia Tech’s 8.1 yards per carry were its most since it averaged 9.4 yards per carry in a 31-28 loss to Pitt on Oct. 17, 2015.
• Junior linebacker David Curry’s 15-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the third quarter was Georgia Tech’s first fumble return for a touchdown since P.J. Davis returned a fumble 38 yards for a score against Kentucky in the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl (Dec. 31, 2016).

Individual Notes

• Nine players made their first starts for Georgia Tech on Saturday – r-Fr. BB Jordan Mason, Jr. WR Jalen Camp, Jr. RG Brad Morgan, Jr. NT Brandon Adams, Sr. OLB Jalen Johnson, So. SS Tariq Carpenter, Sr. FS Malik Rivera*, So. CB Jaytlin Askew and r-Fr. CB Tre Swilling.

* Rivera started 18 games in three seasons at Wofford before transferring to Georgia Tech as a graduate student for this season.

• Two Yellow Jackets scored their first career touchdowns – Mason (28-yard run in first quarter) and Jr. LB David Curry (15-yard fumble return in third quarter).
• Senior QB TaQuon Marshall’s nine completions were a career high (prev.: 6 at Virginia – Nov. 4, 2017).
• Both of Georgia Tech’s starting wide receivers recorded season highs for receptions – Sr. Brad Stewart – 4 (prev. 3, three times) and Jr. Jalen Camp (prev.: 1 at Virginia – Nov. 4, 2017).

 

[Frenchise]

Johnson used a good portion of the first half and most of the 3rd quarter to practice passing. He knew that if we ran our base stuff against the Braves, it could get out of hand pretty quick. I don’t think he wanted to just run up the score like that against an inferior team. I think he knows what he have in the option game and just wanted to try some stuff out in the passing department. The team did not deliver what he expected. Looks like a number of option routes for receivers were misread by both the receivers and/or qb. Accuracy was also miserable at best.

Marshall doesn’t have the strongest arm but he’s still serviceable (just not today). He’s short for a D1 qb so his passes are gonna be overthrown a good amount. IIWII. They’ll get it shored up and fixed by next weekend or they won’t. I believe they will just because they have too much experience and seniority in all the right places not to bounce back in the right direction. But we’ve been wrong before so who knows? That’s why we play the games.

Nail on head. We could've ran up 60 points on them just running the dive. Their DE's(think Cash from Duke, he was that good) are decent but their tackles were just on skates. We could get 5-10 easy with a dive every time. I think we ran 2 passing plays total in the second half. A 7 yard curl to the boundary, and a 12 yard curl to the boundary. I'm not sure what was called on Brad's TD, it was blown. Pretty clear coach was just saying you guys have got to be able to execute a basic passing play.

 

[BootsCostMoney]

Nail on head. We could've ran up 60 points on them just running the dive. Their DE's(think Cash from Duke, he was that good) are decent but their tackles were just on skates. We could get 5-10 easy with a dive every time. I think we ran 2 passing plays total in the second half. A 7 yard curl to the boundary, and a 12 yard curl to the boundary. I'm not sure what was called on Brad's TD, it was blown. Pretty clear coach was just saying you guys have got to be able to execute a basic passing play.

Agreed. At least, that’s what I assume he was trying to accomplish.

 

[Frenchise]

Agreed. At least, that’s what I assume he was trying to accomplish.

Did we even try a field side throw?

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Nail on head. We could've ran up 60 points on them just running the dive. Their DE's(think Cash from Duke, he was that good) are decent but their tackles were just on skates. We could get 5-10 easy with a dive every time. I think we ran 2 passing plays total in the second half. A 7 yard curl to the boundary, and a 12 yard curl to the boundary. I'm not sure what was called on Brad's TD, it was blown. Pretty clear coach was just saying you guys have got to be able to execute a basic passing play.

We had to have run more than 2 passing plays in the second half, or TM would not have ended up with a 50% completion rate.

 

[BootsCostMoney]

@Frenchise On that drive, I do not believe so.

 

[jgtengineer]

We had to have run more than 2 passing plays in the second half, or TM would not have ended up with a 50% completion rate.

He meant 2 route concepts

 

[Milwaukee]

Didn't he hit Searcy in the slot?

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

He meant 2 route concepts

If a QB passes the ball, isn't there always some kind of route concept? He's not just improvising.

 

[jgtengineer]

If a QB passes the ball, isn't there always some kind of route concept? He's not just improvising.

There is but if you call the route combo over and over again you might be just calling spread over 775 5 times in a row. You have ran 5 plays but only ran one type of passing play

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

There is but if you call the route combo over and over again you might be just calling spread over 775 5 times in a row. You have ran 5 plays but only ran one type of passing play

Still, with very few exceptions no QB is out there just improvising. If there is a route available, and nothing else works, then he knows, or should know, where to throw it.

 

[Frenchise]

Still, with very few exceptions no QB is out there just improvising. If there is a route available, and nothing else works, then he knows, or should know, where to throw it.

The idea is not to improvise....but it happens, especially if protection breaks down and the QB is scrambling. At the end of the route, the WR/AB may run back or try to get into space for a pass. Brad's TD was probably "improvising". There was a pass to Qua when the pocket collapsed and I'm pretty sure Qua cut off his route so that TM could dump off to him. There is executing a play and there is reacting to breakdowns.

One thing that i've noticed is CPJ doesn't call as many designed rollouts with TM like he did with JT. Maybe he did last year but I don't think we tried it much.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

The idea is not to improvise....but it happens, especially if protection breaks down and the QB is scrambling. At the end of the route, the WR/AB may run back or try to get into space for a pass. Brad's TD was probably "improvising". There was a pass to Qua when the pocket collapsed and I'm pretty sure Qua cut off his route so that TM could dump off to him. There is executing a play and there is reacting to breakdowns.

One thing that i've noticed is CPJ doesn't call as many designed rollouts with TM like he did with JT. Maybe he did last year but I don't think we tried it much.

I doubt that TM can throw on a rollout the way JT did.

 

[tech_wreck47]

This game highlights a problem with the absence of LJ. This game is going on film and other teams will scout against GT & basically abandon coverage to blitz the running lanes. This will work for good defenses like last year.

And TM will tear them up this year. He didn’t look great in the first half but way better in the second. And for those who want to complain and say he’s the same as last year, you weren’t paying close enough attention or you don’t know what to look for, but there was two things I saw that he improved on from last year.

 

[Frenchise]

And TM will tear them up this year. He didn’t look great in the first half but way better in the second. And for those who want to complain and say he’s the same as last year, you weren’t paying close enough attention or you don’t know what to look for, but there was two things I saw that he improved on from last year.

I truly hope so - but as I said earlier - Paul only called really easy passes in the second half. Boundary-only. Shortests possible. It wasn't that he settled down as much as the degree of difficulty was reduced. Maybe he got better - but the passes were certainly easier.

 

[tech_wreck47]

I truly hope so - but as I said earlier - Paul only called really easy passes in the second half. Boundary-only. Shortests possible. It wasn't that he settled down as much as the degree of difficulty was reduced. Maybe he got better - but the passes were certainly easier.

Almost all passes were easy to be honest. In the first half there was a dropped ball on a short out route and Brad slipped on a curl route which the throw looked like it would have be on the money. He could have easily ended up 11 for 18. How many deep balls did he even throw? 2 maybe? I get he wasn’t perfect and it needs to be better but we can also look on the bright side that we looked pretty good on the short stuff the 2nd half, we usually don’t use those much but it wouldn’t bother me if we did.