When Paul Johnson took over at Georgia Tech in 2008, the biggest question was how successful his triple option offense would be on a stage like the ACC. After four years, he's won 34 games and an ACC Championship. He's gone to a bowl every year as well, bringing the Georgia Tech bowl streak up to 15 years in a row. But despite the success, the same questions seem to linger, especially as it refers to the passing game on offense, and the rushing defense.
Offense
When you're behind center in this unique scheme, you run the ball a lot. And that's what Tevin Washington did. In fact, only one person carried the ball more than Washington last year (David Wilson). Washington finished with 986 yards and 14 touchdowns, which led the ACC. Passing wise, it was not very good. After a nice start, Washington only completed 49% of his passes, but did throw for 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Georgia Tech has not had a team completion percentage over 50% since 2003.
The most surprising stat from last season is that no one on Georgia Tech had 1000 yards rushing. Washington was the closest, but no running back ran for more than 698 yards last season. David Sims was that back as the B-Back, or primary back. Sims averaged over five yards per carry. The A-Backs tend to see a higher yards per carry average. Take Orwin Smith for example. He carried the ball 61 times and averaged over 10 yards per carry, rushing for 615 yards and 11 touchdowns. Smith caught 13 passes, and averaged over 23 yards per catch as well. He actually leads the team in terms of returners in both categories. Embry Peeples also averaged over 10 yards per carry last year. He is gone,and with guys like Robert Godhigh and B.J. Bostic also in the A-Back position, there will plenty of yardage coming from these two.
The go to receivers since Paul Johnson took over at Georgia Tech have been tall, physical, and athletic. He already had Demariyus Thomas on the roster when he got there, and turned him in to a first round draft pick. Stephen Hill stepped up, and had a big season last year, and was a second round draft pick. This year, wide receiver is a huge question mark. Not a single receiver on Georgia Tech's roster has a reception in their career. There are guys on the roster like sophomores Jeff Greene and Darren Waller who fit the bill of the tall, athletic receivers who have thrived under Paul Johnson. Junior Jeremy Moore and senior Chris Jackson are also in the mix to see time.
One big key to Georgia Tech's success in the run game is that this offensive line isn't full of the big beefy hogs that you would normally. Only one starter on this year's offensive line weighs in the 300 pound range, and that's the guy who is arguably the best offensive lineman in the ACC in Omoregie Uzzi, and he weighs in at exactly 300 pounds.This is a good offensive line that returns four of five starters. The yards per carry averaged has risen each of the last three years, up to 5.7 yards per carry last year. It's certainly possible that the yards per carry average could go up again this year. As far as pass protection goes, they were pretty good at that too. The Georgia Tech quarterbacks were only sacked 13 times
Defense
Since Al Groh took over the defense and converted it to the 3-4, it's been a little disappointing. The defense has given up over 25 points per game in Groh's two years running the defense. It's biggest issue has been stopping the run. While the per game average was down last year, the defense still gave up 161 yards per game on the ground, down from 170 the year before. The defensive line will have to be much better this year to help keep that number down. But only one starter returns in senior Izaan Cross. And his numbers indicate that he didn't have that great of a season (32 tackles, 0 sacks). The player I'm most interested to see is T.J. Barnes. He's never been a full time starter entering his senior season, but he's 6-7 and 347 pounds. How will offensive lineman handle a behemoth like him?
While the defense has not been great, its linebackers are pretty solid. The stand out of this group is Jeremiah Attaouchu. While he only had 59 tackles last year, he did lead the team with six sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. The group also gets Quayshawn Nealy back. He started seven games as a freshman, and contributed 52 tackles and two interceptions. They're the starters on the outside, but the inside linebackers are newer. Daniel Drummond did start six games, and Brandon Watts only had 15 tackles, and three of them were sacks.
While the run defense has been pretty bad, the pass defense is actually pretty good. Last year was the first time since 2008 that the defense allowed less than 200 yards passing per game. Teams completed only 56% of their passes, the lowest pass completion percentage since 2006. Those numbers could improve this year with three starters back, including both corners. Rod Sweeting was easily the team leader in pass break ups with 10. He also picked off three passes. Louis Young is a nice up and comer who has some good tools, but was suspended for last season's bowl game, and may miss the first game of this year. At safety, Isiah Johnson is an All-ACC caliber player who could be a difference maker. He was second on the team with 78 tackles last year. Jemea Thomas only started twice last year, but played a lot, finishing with 50 tackles and three interceptions.
Special Teams
Kicker Justin Moore was a very busy man last year. He attempted 56 PATs last year, and converted them all. His field goal kicking, however, was far less impressive. He was 11-17, and his season long was only 41. Sean Poole returns as punter. His punting average wasn't that great (39.7), but his net was 36.9. Kick return duties could be handled by a couple of different people. B.J. Bostic and Tony Zenon are two possibilities, while Zenon is slated for punt return duties.
Fun Fact
Georgia Tech has had a knack for getting rushing yards from quarterbacks over the last decade. Since 2003, a Georgia Tech quarterback has run for at least 300 yards in a season.
Will's Prediction
I am very intrigued but the first half of Georgia Tech's schedule. They open at Georgia Tech, and play Virginia, Miami, and at Clemson all within the first six weeks. This will really define their season. They should be able to run on all of these teams. But if they get in trouble, can they throw their way back in to it if they had to? With the difficulty of completing passes and the inexperience at the wide receiver, it could be tough. The second half of the season should be a lot smoother, with UNC and Georgia being the two toughest games. I think they will still be a good team, however. I think they'll win eight games, and get to a bowl yet again. If the passing game can improve, then they could be a sleeper team.
Twitter: @WillsWorldMN
