Vad's ability to improvise?

[dressedcheeseside]

One of the biggest things that Vad was supposed to bring to the table over Tevin Washington was his ability to "make something out of nothing." Has anybody actually seen any evidence of this? Against VT?

When plays broke down in our last game, he was unable to do anything. More often than not, he made crazy ball security decisions like wild pitches. Then coach got in his head about that and the ball almost never left his hand. Big gains were a pitch away and he decided to eat it instead.

Right now he's not making anything out of nothing unless it's the ball on the ground.

 

[Sean311]

Ya dude he sucks....

 

[Longestday]

Vad has made some something from nothing this year, but nothing in the VT game.

 

[johncu]

I disagree. Vad has made some pretty good runs where he dodged defenders or broke tackles that many QB's would not have. I've also seen him make some good throws off of scrambles, although VT was not his best game. Athleticism and playmaking ability are most definitely not weaknesses of his.

What you are referencing is not improvisation, it is option reads. You do NOT want a QB to improvise or try to "make something out of nothing" while running the option - you just take what the defense gives you and play within the system.

 

[GTJason]

There was nothing to be had during the VPI game. Show me the play where he could have broken one for a huge gain, or hit the open receiver for a first down. He's truly working with nothing. No one is blocking for crap. Receivers were letting their CB get right back up and cover the option, the O-line was adding 5 yards to a bunch of first downs, and receivers were running crappy routes and well covered. I get that Vad is going to get more credit for wins than he deserves and more blame for losses than he deserves, but he was the only one of the field that showed any sort of emotion and acted like he cared (fine Godhigh too.) As it is, if you expect him to run around like Michael Vick think about it this way: there were no holes or any semblance of a pocket for him to go through his progressions to see his receivers were covered and then create, AND if he was going to beat them on the end around he would have had to run 10 yards + into our backfield to get around the defense on the end likely to be blown up in the backfield. Maybe JT could have made it into a Tecmo Superbowl kind of game and out ran everyone, but I seriously doubt he could have done anything better.

Is there a way we can make threads like this viewable to members only? This is quickly becoming a Tevin Washington 2.0 argument where everyone is blaming the QB who lost a hard fought game against a defense who held the best team in the country to 2 touchdowns.

 

[GTonTop88]

We have to get some crossing routes, drags, screens, out routes, etc involved in the offense. Throwing 40 yard bombs 15 times a game isn't gonna keep the linebackers honest. Not even the safeties for that matter, unless you can hit them atleast 20% of the time. Defenses play us very aggressively. A five yard out with godhigh a step ahead of the LB could be a bigger play than a perfectly blocked toss sweep. And it also will open up that toss sweep for later.

 

[Blumpkin Souffle]

That's it, let's fire CPJ and hire GTonTop88 to run the offense. He obviously knows what he's doing, unlike our coaches.

 

[SoCal_GT_Fan]

I agree with GTJason. Vad didn't have much room or time to do any improvising. That run he had that got him to VaTech's 2 or 3 yard line was pretty good where he dodged a bunch of defenders (4:19 mark on noted video below).

 

[Sean311]

Sometimes I wonder if Johnson still thinks he's at Georgia Southern...

 

[SoCal_GT_Fan]

Watching the game over and over, I'm not sure if people realize how fast the VaTech defenders were. A lot of plays, half the team is in on the tackle and holes closed pretty quickly. You can tell they were well coached since when you watch after our O-line does their cut-blocking most of the defenders are still on their feet with their heads up looking at the ball carrier. I'm just way impressed with the way the VaTech defense handled our O. Just my opinion.

 

[Dustman]

Last drive against UNC. 3rd and 10. See reaction by their DC. Ok not so much improv, but he found a way to stay off the ground and pick up the first down.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I am just glad that Tech fans hate on our current QB a lot less than they hated on our last one. It was irrational and unjust then and would be now. Vad has looked like he is playing hard and trying to improve daily. I see no reason to compare him to any irrational fan projections of what he was going to bring or where he would be.

 

[IronJacket7]

Vad is a leader. JT is an amazing athlete and I look forward to him playing as well one day. But right now Vad is our QB. And I for one care nothing about giving JT a "shot". Again jmo. I believe in Vad.

 

[Eric]

I love what both bring to the field and the team...I want whoever puts Georgia Tech in the best position to win. I don't care if we run 80 times a game and pass 0...or vice versa. Doesn't matter if its Vad, JT or Byerly...I just want the Jackets to win.

 

[daBuzz]

Vad has made some something from nothing this year, but nothing in the VT game.

Not true. He did a few times. For proof, watch this play: the linebacker comes through untouched on a blitz. Vad throws off his back foot falling backward, but completes the pass downfield to Godhigh.

(Oh yeah...this is the very same video you posted in the Awesome Godhigh link. Maybe you should re-title it to Awesome Vad on that play because the throw was pretty damned good considering that he had a guy about to level him on a blitz and no time to set his feet.)



Unfortunately for us, there were all too many times where the VT players were in the backfield before Vad could even set his feet. That's one of the things I found most frustrating. When they knew and we knew that we had to pass...we didn't put him in the shotgun. I heard CPJ's explanation of why...but I also know that being in the shotgun gives him an extra 3 steps advantage...so I would still liked to see them try it.

 

[Longestday]

I really like Vad, I repeat, I really like Vad. I still don't think I saw his signature making yards on a busted play in the VT game. I started a post to say he did have a nothing to something play in the VT game. Then I went back to find proof and I did not see anything that backed up my post.

That pass was a gamble, and sometimes you don't need safe, you need to let it ride to win when nothing else is working. I can see how you may put this in a something out of nothing.

His nothing to something normally goes like "how in the heck did he dodge that tackle and that other defender and make 5/10 yards, anyone else would have been down".

I also want to state that Vad did not do a bad job in the VT game. I also think the VT game was far from Vad's top performance.

 

[daBuzz]

I really like Vad, I repeat, I really like Vad. I still don't think I saw his signature making yards on a busted play in the VT game. I started a post to say he did have a nothing to something play in the VT game. Then I went back to find proof and I did not see anything that backed up my post.

That pass was a gamble, and sometimes you don't need safe, you need to let it ride to win when nothing else is working. I can see how you may put this in a something out of nothing.

His nothing to something normally goes like "how in the heck did he dodge that tackle and that other defender and make 5/10 yards, anyone else would have been down".

I also want to state that Vad did not do a bad job in the VT game. I also think the VT game was far from Vad's top performance.

I agree with pretty much your entire post. I don't think he played a good game but I don't think it was the dumpster fire most people do. I'm still flummoxed as to why we never adjusted our offensive line splits when they kept jumping the gap the entire game.

 

[GTonTop88]

That's it, let's fire CPJ and hire GTonTop88 to run the offense. He obviously knows what he's doing, unlike our coaches.

I'm not sayin I'm no expert by no means. Just think we need to give our QBs some easier passes to complete for positive yardage to let them get in a rythem, and to throw the defense off. Against VT from under center, Vad really didn't even stand a chance. He had a defender on his back from the time he snapped the ball. I would have liked to see the diamond some so Vad wouldn't have had to rush his reads as much. With the shorter passes, it wouldn't have taken as long for plays to develop. Getting rid of the ball with set feet to an open receiver, not running for your life and throwing the ball to a receiver hoping he beats his man.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I'm still flummoxed as to why we never adjusted our offensive line splits when they kept jumping the gap the entire game.

He did other things to disrupt the D timing the snap and jumping gaps. He varied the snap count, he varied the Aback motion. Unfortunately all that accomplished was false starts by his own players. To say CPJ did nothing to counter what VT was doing is wrong.

 

[daBuzz]

He did other things to disrupt the D timing the snap and jumping gaps. He varied the snap count, he varied the Aback motion. Unfortunately all that accomplished was false starts by his own players. To say CPJ did nothing to counter what VT was doing is wrong.

I know he did something. But what he DIDN'T do was narrow the splits. When we get to goal-line or short-yardage situations, we narrow the splits to a more usual split. Just doing this alone would have made it more difficult on obvious passing downs. But to keep the splits that wide when everyone in the stadium knew we were going to pass was almost criminal it was so silly.