Article Jackets Brought the Juice to Tallahassee

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Jackets Brought the Juice to Tallahassee

Courtesy of ACC Digital Network

A post-mortem following yesterday’s wild victory for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1-0, 1-0) over the Florida State Seminoles (0-1, 0-1), starting with my overall takeaway.

We are an improved team.  We are not a good team, yet.

Based on Saturday’s performance, both the national media narrative and the Vegas narrative are likely to change going forward.  That is, the ceiling for this year’s Yellow Jackets squad is higher than most expected in the preseason.  Picked last out of 15 teams in the conference by the ACC media and pegged as a 13-point underdog by Vegas in the opener, the Jackets effectively shattered those expectations one game into the season following a 16-13 win on the road in Doak Campbell Stadium.

Let’s break down some of the highlights and opportunities for improvement, of which there are more than are included here.

What Went Well

  • Quarterback Jeff Sims

What more can you say about the grit and poise out of the true freshman from Florida? Originally a Florida State commit and allegedly asked to look elsewhere by new Seminoles Head Coach Mike Norvell, Sims played up to his Elite 11 credentials and then some in a redemption game of sorts.  Connecting on 24 of 35 of his passes (68.5%) for 277 yards, along with 64 yards on the ground, Sims stat line by itself was a good one for his first collegiate game reps.

More than that, the intangibles showed up.  He showed above average awareness in the pocket, and above average ability to keep plays alive, and a selflessness to give up his body for the extra yards to extend drives.  There were absolutely freshman mistakes, some of which showed up in the stat line and others where he was more fortunate.  However the body of work as compared to that of a typical true freshman suggests the Jackets got a good one.

  • Offensive Line Improvement

Much was made of the NFL talent on the Seminoles’ defensive line.  There probably aren’t many Yellow Jackets who would start for the Seminoles defense based on recruiting rankings and next level projections.  In the end the Yellow Jackets offensive line, now in year 2 under line coach Brent Key, conceded just one sack. The Seminoles generated six tackles for loss (TFL), some of which occurred on the perimeter on failed jet sweeps and wide receiver screens.

The offensive line can lay claim to the most decisive improvement for one position group from year 1 to year 2.  Credit goes to Offensive Coordinator Dave Patenaude and Quarterback Jeff Sims as well.  The Jackets’ offensive strategy appeared designed to get the ball out quickly and exploit the short and intermediate game, rarely taking the time required for shots downfield, and Sims was masterful at avoiding pressure when plays inevitably broke down.

  • Defense Locked Down After Early Miscues

After the Seminoles’ opening possession ended in an all too familiar easy touchdown drive, there were likely few Tech fans who would have predicted that the Jackets would yield just 6 points the rest of the way.  That is exactly what Defensive Coordinator Andrew Thacker’s defense did.  The defense was disruptive and forced 4 turnovers (1 on downs).  They gave up just 3.8 yards per play and sacked Seminoles Quarterback James Blackman three times.  Yes, this was a beleaguered and much maligned Florida State offense, but how many times in recent past have we seen those same offenses move through the Jackets’ defense with ease?

  • Confidence and Swagger

At the end of the day, fair or not, wins and losses often affect perception of the components as much as anything else.  In order to win though, one team needs to be the better team for 4 quarters, and that is exactly what the Jackets proved on Saturday.  The pregame ESPN match-up predictor suggested that the Jackets had a 24% chance of winning.  The in-game predictor suggested that the Jackets were underdogs into the 4th quarter, up until Defensive End Curtis Ryans’ strip sack of Blackman. At no time did it appear that Tech lost focus.  “Competition is King” reared its beautiful face until the final whistle.

Room For Improvement

  • Special Teams

There’s not much more that needs to be said that wasn’t readily observed.  The Jackets struggled with field goal protection, field goal kicking and in the kickoff return game.  Even famed Punter Pressley Harvin had a misfire, but past performance suggests his first punt attempt late in the 2nd quarter (you read that right) was an aberration.  Nowhere to go but up from here.  Kudos to true freshman kicker Jude Kelley for delivering when it mattered most and hitting the game winner.

  • Penalties

Eight (8) flags for 80 yards just isn’t going to get the job done against most ACC teams, especially on the road.  While penalties rarely come at good times, one could argue that the timing of yesterday’s hiccups nearly handed the game to the Seminoles.  The Jackets moved the ball with relative ease between the 20’s, however ill-timed personal fouls created headwinds for an offense that is still trying to find and confirm its identity.  The missed field goals might not have been attempted at all if not for the Jackets’ miscues.  The good news is the penalties can be learning opportunities, which are much easier to swallow when complemented with a win.

  • Quality of Opponent

Simply put, Florida State is not a great team.  Despite their talent and program history, the ‘Noles were average last year, finishing 6-7 (4-4) under since-fired Head Coach Willie Taggart.  Now they’re going through a transition of their own and we caught them during their first live game reps under new Head Coach Mike Norvell.  Their quarterback, Blackman, has struggled through a handful of different offensive coordinators to the point where any quarterback’s head would be spinning.  Then the program went through an offseason without a full install of their new offensive and defensive schemes due to Covid-19, along with off-field drama among the coaches and players.  Putting it mildly, it was a great time for the Jackets to catch the Seminoles.

Closing Thoughts

Restating my post in the game 1 preview thread:

My hypothesis is that Week 1 will be sloppy in CFB. Whether that’s due to new practice schedules, revised team protocols (e.g., less contact), or off-field distractions/priorities, there are a variety of reasons this season and especially week 1 may not match expectations when compared to other years, regardless of roster talent and coaching. It might also mean some teams inadvertently appear to “click” more than they otherwise will, whether that’s due to random chance or an under-prepared opponent.

What does that mean for my week 1 expectations? I’m mentally prepared that anything can happen. And the results may not be indicative of future performance. I just hope we’re the benefactors of the unpredictability.”

May I emphasize “the results may not be indicative of future performance”?  Tech won and Tech improved.  It is hard to demand much more than that.  But as the areas for improvement suggest, we have a long way to go before we can say Tech has arrived.  The good news is there are many signs of hope and potential for continued improvement.  The speed at which the Jackets realize that improvement will go a long way toward determining their record in the 2020 season.

 
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yrp

Jolly Good Fellow
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I actually thought we got more pressure on the quarterback than they did. Blackman looked shaky and I think it was because he was constantly having to throw off his back foot and was under duress so much. Could be wrong about that. The end whose last name is "Ryans"? He is from North Cobb and had a great game. I don't think he was heavily recruited coming out of high school but he was in their back field a good bit.

Former walk on Curtis Ryans

They kept talking about how we took advantage that an FSU RT was injured and Ryans beat the backup RT to get a strip sack but failed to mention that Ryans was a former walk on as well, so it wasn't a mismatch but a great effort by him!
 

BilldGopher

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Congrats Tech on a great win. Wasn't pretty at times but really who thought it wouldn't have challenges before it was over.

Key is that Coach Collins has the kids playing hard and not giving up. Very important going forward.

Really liked the offense and the young QB. Defense did what needed to be done and then some. FG and PAT units need some work...but you won't face that No. 11 again this season.

Coach Fleck preaches that it is a 1 game championship season each week. This week it's GT 1 and FSU 0. Enjoy each win and move on after each loss.

Really enjoyed it. Like watching the Gophers a couple of years ago. Big 10 voting tomorrow to see if the season can open in October. We'll see. Good luck from here. Billd.
 

BuzzDraft

Jolly Good Fellow
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227
Not to derail the thread but we need to patch the left side of that field goal line lol.
Collins proved he loves and believes in his players by sending the kicker out to get the game winning points. He was willing to risk a huge blowback on the yong man and i'm so happy for both of them that the faith was rewarded!

This season is already a huge success in my book no matter what happens.
 

Pointer

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Game ball goes to Sims & the defense but Brent Key deserves 5. Our OL looked great vs the Iauded DL if FSU. I’m not sure they got a sack rush 4 today. Great work!!!
My thoughts exactly, have to eat crow here, very impressed with Key's work, that stood out most to me tonight especially since this could be the most nfl talent we see on a d-line. Held their own and also helped by Sims roll-outs.
 

Techster

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Jeff Sims is a star in the making. Now GT fans see why he was picked as an Elite 11 QB. Made some mistakes, but you can forgive them when it's a true freshmen, first game, and on the road. Scary thing for the ACC: Sims is only going to get better with every snap. Almost 300 yards passing his first start, and almost 68% completion percentage! Oh, and he was also our leading rusher.

The offense wasn't as bad as a lot of you kept complaining about. It makes a difference when you have a decent OL, and a QB that can see the windows and make the throws. I kept saying our guys are open, the QB just needs to get it to them. You can see the difference between an 4 star athlete playing QB, and a 4 star QB playing QB.

OL didn't play stellar, but they played well enough. Not too many teams are going to trot out a DL full of NFL players like FSU.

We had TEN players make a catch. Quite a difference experience, huh? Malachi Carter is looking like the WRs we all hoped he would be when he signed. Also, kudos to Jalen Camp coming back from injury making some nice catches.

RBs didn't really get going, but that's more because of FSU. Not too many other teams on our schedule with the DL lineup like FSU's. Clemson, UNC, and ND are probably the teams that have DLs on the same level as FSU.

We're starting to see a little of the Mayhem in the Master of Mayhem moniker. Guys are in the backfield, and some of them seemed to be suprised by it LOL. That will also get better as guys get their assignments down.

LB speed is still an issue. Not much we can do about it for now except scheme to disguise, but we're still getting exposed. Just have to keep recruiting.

Looks like CGC is going to rotate a LOT of bodies across that DL. Really no choice right now. As undermanned as we were, we still held FSU to under 100 yards of rushing.

Secondary played well considering we didn't have our best player back there in Swilling. It also helped that this was FSU's first game in a new offense. Next game against UCF will test us more than FSU did.

Overall, we left quite a few points off the scoreboard that we could have easily had. Compared to the first game last year, we look so much better, and you can see the potential of what this team can be. We have a "franchise" QB...and those are not easy to come by. I promise you, there are a bunch of elite offensive recruits that watched the game thinking "Oh, that GT offense is nice..."
 

awbuzz

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Congrats Tech on a great win. Wasn't pretty at times but really who thought it wouldn't have challenges before it was over.

Key is that Coach Collins has the kids playing hard and not giving up. Very important going forward.

Really liked the offense and the young QB. Defense did what needed to be done and then some. FG and PAT units need some work...but you won't face that No. 11 again this season.

Coach Fleck preaches that it is a 1 game championship season each week. This week it's GT 1 and FSU 0. Enjoy each win and move on after each loss.

Really enjoyed it. Like watching the Gophers a couple of years ago. Big 10 voting tomorrow to see if the season can open in October. We'll see. Good luck from here. Billd.
Hope the Big 10 starts playing in 2-3 weeks.
 

Heisman's Ghost

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Jeff Sims with a great interview just now. Briefly mentioned sticking it to FSU but everything else was about the team win and focusing on fixing his mistakes. This dude is special

He will be a great one IF he continues to work to get better. Remarkably poised for a freshman. Still cannot get over completing 24 passes to 10 count em' different receivers.
 

lv20gt

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Some things that stand out to me.

1. Cudos to both lines of play. OL played great and really gave a freshman time to make the plays. Defense really calmed down, and the DL started to get more consistent pressure. I'm not convinced that the is completely where we want it to be yet but I have no doubt it'll get there.

2. Secondary was real good tonight. There were a ton of plays where the coverage allowed pressure to finally get to the QB. It didn't always end up in our favor but that is huge.

3. Shout out to Jamious Griffin. I think a lot of the hype he had was lost when we added Gibbs but dude stepped up big. Mason ground it out, but FSU was pretty obviously taking away the run and daring us to beat us with....

4. Jeff Sims. And boy did he ever. Had a couple of mistakes to learn from but overall to complete 2/3rd of your passes, pass for 270 yards and rush for 65 on the road against an ACC team. I thought before the game that whoever started would be the slight leader, but after that performance it's certainly his for the losing at this point.

5. Really happy for Kelley hitting what turned out to be the game winner. We need him to have confidence and a rough start doesn't doom somebody.
 
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