GT Defensive Stats by Year

[Techster]

2008 team had an NFL lineup on the DLine. All of them were drafted, 3 of the 4 played 5+ years in the NFL. I believe our entire defensive backfield played in the NFL for some length as well.

Talent makes a difference on defense more than on offense (as we've seen with CPJ). I anticipate that our defense makes a +20 jump in DFEI next season considering the how deep we'll be with legit impact DEs. We just need our DTs to be average.

Our secondary has talent, but their play needs to be improved. That's the area of the defense I've been most disappointed in.

Quez Jackson REALLY came on the second half of the season, and he was ultra productive at LB. His 2 INTs shows he can play at least average in space. We'll get a length/speed/athleticism upgrade with Eley in place of Curry.

There's no reason our defense won't improve. If we go the wrong way, then questions need to be asked about the direction of our program in CGC's 3rd year.

 

[TechBurn]

I had to just re-post this comment from Namath,,,, it illustrates how good on defense we were in the past,,,,

From Joe Namath's 1969 Playboy interview:

Playboy: When was the hardest you ever got hit on a football field?

Namath: Well, I hate to give the bastards credit for anything, but when I was in college, Georgia Tech really creamed me in a game. I didn't know one of their guys was coming at me and he just about crunched every bone in my body; I mean, he really knocked the hell out of me. I was almost completely out.

 

[Coloradojacket]

I had to just re-post this comment from Namath,,,, it illustrates how good on defense we were in the past,,,,

From Joe Namath's 1969 Playboy interview:

Playboy: When was the hardest you ever got hit on a football field?

Namath: Well, I hate to give the bastards credit for anything, but when I was in college, Georgia Tech really creamed me in a game. I didn't know one of their guys was coming at me and he just about crunched every bone in my body; I mean, he really knocked the hell out of me. I was almost completely out.

Great story....but 1969 is not 2021. College football changed in the early 70's.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

Returning to this, From The Rumble Seat did a nice job on advanced analytics looking back at the season.

It’s worth a read, but across the board, the offense got better. The defense regressed. Overall, we moved up to being an average-ish team. I’m not sure if I go all-in on that power index he’s creating, but in 2019, we were pretty much the weakest team in the ACC, and now I’d put us somewhere around 9th to 11th.

We definitely have work to do on defense and special teams.

In 2019 we won 3 games. In 2020 we won 3 games. Well below average to me unless you consider how bad Duke, Syracuse, Louisville, and FSU were last year. Our 3 wins were against the bottom tier of the conference. Virginia Tech, BC, and UVA were all about .500 and would be average teams. We have a long way to go to being even average.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

I had to just re-post this comment from Namath,,,, it illustrates how good on defense we were in the past,,,,

From Joe Namath's 1969 Playboy interview:

Playboy: When was the hardest you ever got hit on a football field?

Namath: Well, I hate to give the bastards credit for anything, but when I was in college, Georgia Tech really creamed me in a game. I didn't know one of their guys was coming at me and he just about crunched every bone in my body; I mean, he really knocked the hell out of me. I was almost completely out.

Well, that was probably either Rufus Guthrie or Ted Davis both of whom had a mean streak and "creamed" lots of players besides Joe Namath.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

Great story....but 1969 is not 2021. College football changed in the early 70's.

And it changed again in the late 80s, and again in 2000 and again about 2010 or so. Almost always, it seems, the changes involve new offenses or officials continuing to figure out ways to help the offense and the defenses slowly adjusting and the cycle repeats. Now, it is all about offense. If you cannot score 35 points a game, you don't have a chance. Hyperbole perhaps, but it sure seems that way. Alabama hung 50 plus on a respectable Ohio State defense. If Georgia Tech is going to get back to competing for the Coastal title again it will be through improvements in offense with Jeff and Gibbs leading the way. No one is going to stop the offensive fireworks anytime soon.

 

[Pointer]

I'll start with Defensive FEI, going back to 2007
View attachment 9635
Here it is by rank. Nate Woody was 2017, which was a rough year. We've improved on defense in each of the last two seasons, even though it doesn't feel like that to everyone.

Our best year by rank on this chart is 2007, under Tenuta. I think 2006 was actually a better year than that, but I don't have that stat today.
Ted Roof is 2013-2017, and had the best defensive seasons since Tenuta, with one bad season in 2015 similar to the other coordinators.
Al Groh was 2010-2012, with Charles Kelley DC'ing half of the season.
By absolute score, the best year was 2008--Paul Johnson's first year, with Wommack as DC, and a lot of talented players built up and trained under the Tenuta era. The next year, still under Wommack, the numbers plunged. They stayed flat under other coordinators, but never got back to the defensive quality of the early-to-mid-2000's
View attachment 9636
And here's our winning percentage over the same time:
View attachment 9638

Season	W-L	Wins	Losses
2007	50.00%	6.00	6.00
2008	63.64%	7.00	4.00
2009	76.92%	10.00	3.00
2010	41.67%	5.00	7.00
2011	58.33%	7.00	5.00
2012	46.15%	6.00	7.00
2013	45.45%	5.00	6.00
2014	76.92%	10.00	3.00
2015	18.18%	2.00	9.00
2016	66.67%	8.00	4.00
2017	40.00%	4.00	6.00
2018	50.00%	6.00	6.00
2019	27.27%	3.00	8.00
2020	30.00%	3.00	7.00

Excellent post.

Didn't we win 11 in '14 and '09 (nevermind the dumb NCAA).

 

[jacketup]

Returning to this, From The Rumble Seat did a nice job on advanced analytics looking back at the season.

It’s worth a read, but across the board, the offense got better. The defense regressed. Overall, we moved up to being an average-ish team. I’m not sure if I go all-in on that power index he’s creating, but in 2019, we were pretty much the weakest team in the ACC, and now I’d put us somewhere around 9th to 11th.

We definitely have work to do on defense and special teams.

Defensive regression in 2020?
1. Injuries. We started 4 freshmen on the DL against NC State
2. Now you understand why most of the transfers are on the defensive side of the ball--the staff understands the need for immediate help on that side.
3. We also played one of, if not the toughest schedule in the ACC--indexes like this aren't apples to apples comparisons.

 

[cthenrys]

Defensive regression in 2020?
1. Injuries. We started 4 freshmen on the DL against NC State
2. Now you understand why most of the transfers are on the defensive side of the ball--the staff understands the need for immediate help on that side.
3. We also played one of, if not the toughest schedule in the ACC--indexes like this aren't apples to apples comparisons.

Got torched by BC. Syracuse had a pretty easy time against our D as well. The defense was terrible even when healthy

 

[stech81]

Defensive regression in 2020?
1. Injuries. We started 4 freshmen on the DL against NC State
2. Now you understand why most of the transfers are on the defensive side of the ball--the staff understands the need for immediate help on that side.
3. We also played one of, if not the toughest schedule in the ACC--indexes like this aren't apples to apples comparisons.

I guess I could buy 1 and 2 but 3 is a cop out, I get sick of hearing EVERY year how hard our schedule is hard it's hard if you don't win but 3 games

 

[augustabuzz]

Well, that was probably either Rufus Guthrie or Ted Davis both of whom had a mean streak and "creamed" lots of players besides Joe Namath.

It was Billy Martin and Ted Davis that sandwiched Joe and gave him a concussion.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

2008 team had an NFL lineup on the DLine. All of them were drafted, 3 of the 4 played 5+ years in the NFL. I believe our entire defensive backfield played in the NFL for some length as well.

Talent makes a difference on defense more than on offense (as we've seen with CPJ). I anticipate that our defense makes a +20 jump in DFEI next season considering the how deep we'll be with legit impact DEs. We just need our DTs to be average.

Our secondary has talent, but their play needs to be improved. That's the area of the defense I've been most disappointed in.

Quez Jackson REALLY came on the second half of the season, and he was ultra productive at LB. His 2 INTs shows he can play at least average in space. We'll get a length/speed/athleticism upgrade with Eley in place of Curry.

There's no reason our defense won't improve. If we go the wrong way, then questions need to be asked about the direction of our program in CGC's 3rd year.

I agree with almost all of this. I still think we need to see 2022 results before getting overly nervous about CGC.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

I guess I could buy 1 and 2 but 3 is a cop out, I get sick of hearing EVERY year how hard our schedule is hard it's hard if you don't win but 3 games

I understand that. But the reality is we do have a mammoth schedule because we get to play UGA and Clemson every year. Then add in ND. Then add in a coaching change and a bare cupboard at QB until last year with a freshmen starting the last 2 years. While that excuse won’t last long, it definitely is valid for this 3 year stretch. For this year, Miami mixed in a QB that will be drafted. UCF is loaded with skilled players. Yes, the Syracuse loss was ugly as was the Pitt loss. Next year, we will face at minimum 5 teams ranked in the top 15 (UGA, ND, Clemson, UNC, and Miami). Then the Pitt, BC, UVA, and VT games are toss ups. I see us turning a corner soon but 3-5 wins is about where we’ll be next year. After that I can see GT becoming the next version of what UNC is right now because Collins is recruiting big time players across the board. But as we all know in college football it all depends on the QB position.

 

[slugboy]

Excellent post.

Didn't we win 11 in '14 and '09 (nevermind the dumb NCAA).

I’ll have to go look. One point that makes that chart weird is that it doesn’t count what we used to call FCS games

 

[yeti92]

Defensive regression in 2020?
1. Injuries. We started 4 freshmen on the DL against NC State
2. Now you understand why most of the transfers are on the defensive side of the ball--the staff understands the need for immediate help on that side.
3. We also played one of, if not the toughest schedule in the ACC--indexes like this aren't apples to apples comparisons.

Regression is regression, none of these 3 points are relevant to that. The defense, as a whole, performed worse in 2020 than in 2019. And I agree with stech on schedule toughness - since we suck so much, every team we play gets an extra win and suddenly looks tougher. Under the past 2 coaches, we were beating most of our opponents and they racked up an extra loss instead, so our schedule wasn't so tough.

 

[Pointer]

I’ll have to go look. One point that makes that chart weird is that it doesn’t count what we used to call FCS games

That may explain it then!
Thanks again for doing this, very interesting post.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

It was Billy Martin and Ted Davis that sandwiched Joe and gave him a concussion.

I am pretty sure he was already hampered with knee problems even before Tech played them in 1962. I don't know how he managed to have a pro career as long as he did. If he was sandwiched between Davis and Martin who was huge for an end at that time and could run, the wonder is Broadway Joe ever made it to "Off Broadway".

 

[augustabuzz]

I am pretty sure he was already hampered with knee problems even before Tech played them in 1962. I don't know how he managed to have a pro career as long as he did. If he was sandwiched between Davis and Martin who was huge for an end at that time and could run, the wonder is Broadway Joe ever made it to "Off Broadway".

His knee injuries were later. 1962, was Joe's sophomore year and thus his first year of eligibility.

 

[SteamWhistle]

I’m just tired of seeing the same guys get burnt and miss tackles.
In my opinion the only 5 guys who should be guaranteed to start in 2021 are :
J. Domineck
Q. Jackson
T. Swilling
Z. Walton
K. Oliver
Everywhere else should be open season for playing time.

 

[IM79]

His knee injuries were later. 1962, was Joe's sophomore year and thus his first year of eligibility.

Joe was a hell of an all around athlete before his knee injuries.