Our Secondary

Milwaukee

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Watched the replay this morning. I can't say enough about our back end yesterday.

DJ White has quietly became a PLAYMAKER. He absolutely saved the game when he had the pick in Blacksburg to give the O a final shot for the tie. Then he goes to Pittsburgh where his Sportscenter Top 10 strip of Conners was a game changer early on. Then he goes to Raleigh and jumps the out route for the pick 6. Then in Atlanta yesterday he completely baits Stoudt into trying to squeeze in the deep out; he sits on the slot receiver's quick out all the while looking at Stoudt's eyes knowing he's trying to put it right over top of him.

Chris Milton had his signature moment in my opinion. The pick 6 - that was just the type of play in just the type of game that could kickstart him for a monster Senior campaign next fall. He has been our special teams demon the last couple of years. You could see in '12 on kickoff coverage that he could be special, he was in on almost every tackle on the KO unit. Then last year he breaks out and quietly LEAD THE NATION in blocks, yes lead the nation. But even better than the pick 6 yesterday was his all around defensive play. He had a key pass breakup (maybe PI, but he's being aggressive making a play) on 3rd and long in the 2nd quarter that really took the air out of Clemson's sails even more. From that play forward, they knew they could not attack our corners. The burst of speed down the sideline on the pick 6 was SICK.

Jamal Golden is just a gamer. He's now consistently making big plays in big games. The pick 6 yesterday (we're not talking about this play enough; did you see the break on the ball??), the pick in the endzone vs Miami, he's everywhere. And I don't know what the celebration is after big plays when he waves his hand over his head but I friggin love it. If anyone knows what this means, do tell.

Isaiah Johnson could step up, I'm just being honest. He missed a lot of tackles yesterday and it's actually the first time I've noticed. I've heard others here talk about this for weeks now, but yesterday was the first time I noticed. But he still plays smart and he's in position 90% of the time, it just seems like he loses his footing or misses the tackle quite a bit.

Demond Smith was great in the run game yesterday. He's making plays as well; had the pick at Tulane and the forced fumble against Southern. Roof plays him up around the box in our scheme and he is stingy as hell with his outside containment. He takes on larger tight ends and H-Backs constantly and holds his ground on the edge to force the action inside. It's an overlooked trait but it's HUGE in the run game.

Then we have the Austin twins and Lynn Griffin still waiting to breakout and all 3 have the talent to do it.


I friggin love this team, I really do.
 

AE 87

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@Milwaukee good post. I agree. These guys have really bought in to whatever scheme change we've made. I'm especially a big fan of White, Milton, and Golden.

Another point on Milton: he's been running support on almost all of our turnover run-backs. He was right with Q last week and right with Golden yesterday.
 

collegeballfan

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Yeah, the recognition of the play by Golden was a golden moment (sorry) in the season.
He ran what?, 20 yards, to make that play? Film, film, film.
 

Buzz776g

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Unfortunately it doesn't show his read (he's out of the frame to the left at the beginning), but if you watch it multiple times you can get an idea of where he came from, how he read it and how fast he got there.
 

Boomergump

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About our secondary, I would offer this. DJ white is a budding NFL talent. Milton may be slightly behind him, but they both can fly. I hope you all noticed the burst of speed down the sideline once Milton decided what route he was taking on his return. The two of those guys are the fastest pair of corners I can ever remember on the flats. Golden is less fast, but I will tell you this, he always seems prepared mentally. Most of his plays this year have come on the heels of really good film study and great anticipation as a result. I know the announcers were all over this as a result of his last pick on that throw back, but they were absolutely correct. They are the strength of our defense and we are finally playing a scheme that will capitalize on their abilities. There have been a lot of picks this year.
 

nod

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Then we have the Austin twins and Lynn Griffin still waiting to breakout and all 3 have the talent to do it.

I would add Step Durham, to that list, he's been getting playing time of late and will se a lot of action next season
 

dhbartlett12

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Milton, White, and Golden are all Juniors who should come back next year.

everyone will come back but Johnson.
The 2015 team will be ready to succeed if the A and B backs are. Snoddy, Andrews and the Frosh, we need them to come up big.
 

dressedcheeseside

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everyone will come back but Johnson.
The 2015 team will be ready to succeed if the A and B backs are. Snoddy, Andrews and the Frosh, we need them to come up big.
In the last coach's show, coach had to hold himself back talking up CJ Leggett. I'm super psyched about that guy next year. CPJ never goes off on a guy, especially one that's never seen the field yet.
 

GlennW

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@MikeDeGeorge: Good work by my man @vbhits on this stat: Georgia Tech has an FBS-leading 10 different players record the team's 16 INTs this season.
 

jeffgt14

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Everyone is forgetting Demond Smith who has another year as well. I think he's became a pretty solid guy too.
Demond does all the little things extremely well. Could definitely step up in the coverage department though.

Our secondary can only get better next year. I've liked what I've seen from Corey Griffin when's he's been in and Step is gonna be a star.
 

JazzyD95

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Demond does all the little things extremely well. Could definitely step up in the coverage department though.

Our secondary can only get better next year. I've liked what I've seen from Corey Griffin when's he's been in and Step is gonna be a star.
the UNC game where he got burnt deep badly still haunts me when i think of him. he's a safety, you've got to learn to let NO ONE behind you
 

ilovetheoption

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You are #12 in the country in Takeaways, despite being #64 in total defense.

This seems to intuitively match the notion that Roof has the team playing a very aggressive, aattacking, high-risk/High-reward system.

You will give up plays, but you will make plays, too.
 
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