Loading ...UNC Recap
GT absolutely dominated the game statistically. They racked up 317 yards rushing compared to 17 yards by UNC and 406 total yards compared to 154 yards by UNC. They possessed the ball for 42 minutes, while UNC only had it for 18 minutes. GT had 24 first downs compared to 8 first downs by UNC and Tech did not commit a turnover while UNC had 3. The only problem was that Tech was not very efficient in the red zone and as a result they did not put the Tarheels away early when they had a chance. GT had 6 trips into the red zone and they did manage to score 3 touchdowns, but kicker Scott Blair also missed two field goals.
Dwyer had a great day with 158 rushing yards. He became the tenth Georgia Tech player to break the 2,000 yard mark for his career on his first carry of the game. CPJ did a great job to get him the ball out on the edge in space at the beginning of the game. In previous games, Dwyer had taken a lot of handoffs up the middle early and the defense was keying on him. Today, however, Dwyer did not run up the gut on the triple option until the second half, after the UNC defense had softened. CPJ also involved Dwyer on some delayed handoffs up the middle that looked more like draw plays. One of those plays went for a big 39 yard gain, where Dwyer showed outstanding vision to bounce the ball outside. He then turned on the after burner down the sideline and nearly scored a touchdown. Dwyer also had some tough runs up the middle late in the game where he carried defenders for extra yards. It was refreshing to see Dwyer look like the unstoppable force of old. This was his first 100 yard game of the season after a four game drought from cracking the century mark dating back to last season.
Nesbitt has yet to put a complete game together. He looked good during the first and fourth quarters, but made some mistakes throughout the game. He made a bad read to hand the ball of to Dwyer, realized it at the last second, and almost tried to pull the ball away from the running back. It didn’t matter because Dwyer was hit immediately and fumbled. Tech was lucky to get the ball back inside the 10 yard line after they were driving towards the end zone. Nesbitt was solely responsible for the second fumble of the day after he tried to extend for extra yards and had the ball stripped. He also went the wrong direction on a couple plays and made a couple of reads that resulted in a loss of yards. However, he did come up huge on third down and on several mid-line option plays late in the game. Nesbitt also scored two touchdowns on the day and seemed to be able to move the ball with ease when his number was specifically called. Still, this offense revolves around the quarterback making quick decisions. Today the blocking was great on the outside by the A-backs and wide receivers, especially by Bay-Bay, but the decision making by Nesbitt was sub-par. As a result there weren’t any huge touchdown runs on the day.
Stephen Hill made his first start of the season and had a solid game. He did a decent job blocking on the outside and did a great job on a long run by Dwyer to not block the cornerback in the back. Preston Lyons also got some playing time and looked good running the ball up the middle. He is a solid player that has impressed me throughout fall practice and I look for him to gradually play more as the season progresses.
GT was plagued by penalties against Miami, but that was not the case on Saturday. Instead, they had to deal with incompetent officiating. Hill made a nice deep catch along the sideline as the clock expired to end the first half. This put GT in range for a field goal, but the first half ended after the line judge failed to stop the clock on a previous play. On the previous play in question, Bay-Bay caught a pass for the first down and then clearly got out of bounds. The referee, however, thought that his momentum had been stopped and signaled for the clock to wind. Regardless of whether or not Bay-Bay had ended his forward motion, he still got the first down and the clock should have been stopped. Tech lost at least 15 seconds and a chance to score more points before the half. CPJ let the refs have it on the way to the locker room and Mike Hogwood from Raycom interviewed an angry Coach Johnson. CPJ yelled, “The officials blew it, they didn’t stop the clock!” The refs also missed a face mask penalty and they incorrectly spotted a ball 2 yards forward for a first down (which was reviewed and corrected). Stopping the clock and spotting the football are fundamental responsibilities that ACC officials should not screw up.
CPJ finally got someone to jump offside after he pretended to go for it on fourth down in a spot where Tech could not afford to turn the ball over on downs. However, the UNC defensive lineman was able to get back onside before the ball was snapped! The offensive lineman across from the player that moved has got to jump himself in order to draw the penalty. The same situation came up again later in the game and this time Cord Howard alertly jumped in order to draw the penalty and get an easy first down.
UNC did not play a very smart football game. Their defense, despite giving up so many yards, did well to contain Georgia Tech in the red zone. After the first touchdown, they got their act together and held GT to only one field goal in the next three trips inside of the 20. On their fifth trip, Tech drove it to the nine yard line and got stopped for a short gain on first down. However, a UNC lineman came barreling into the play recklessly and drew a late hit penalty that gave GT a fresh set of down from the three yard line. Nesbitt eventually scored to give Tech a comfortable 17 point lead with only 13 minutes to go in the game.
That drive was set up by an intelligent interception by Morgan Burnett. On the play, UNC sent receiver Erik Highsmith on a crossing route and another receiver on a post. Highsmith had already burned GT on a crossing route earlier in the game and he also has been Yates’ favorite receiver so far this season. The Predator anticipated the quarterback’s next move and completely left the deep receiver to duck under the crossing route for the interception. It was a thing of beauty.
The defense overall played an excellent game. They were all over the field on Saturday and flew to the ball. Everybody on the defense showed the energy level that we have come to expect with Georgia Tech football after looking so flat against Miami. Injuries from that game forced GT to go with a more basic 4-3 package on defense and it turned out to be a recipe for success. “Keep it simple” should be a slogan that the defense clings to this season. There were four new starters against UNC: Logan Walls at defensive tackle, Anothony Egbuniwe at defensive end, Rashaad Reid at safety, and Julian Burnett at linebacker. Tech also went further down on the depth chart with their substitutions and it worked out well to keep the starters fresh.
The run defense was special on Saturday. Tech made its only big mistake on defense on a play where they were probably expecting run on third down and one yard to go. With only 12 minutes to go in the game, however, UNC was desperate and threw the ball deep. Highsmith put a nice move on Burnett, who was the only defender within range to stop the play, and then made a spectacular diving catch in the end zone. This put UNC back within ten points, but The Predator would get his revenge later in the game to seal the victory.
On the next possession, GT football showed what it was all about by marching down the field for the back breaking touchdown. In a game that GT dominated statically, they were only up ten points late in the fourth quarter. Nesbitt then led the Jackets on an eight minute drive in which they converted on five third down attempts. Nesbitt absorbed some big hits on the drive and was visibly worn out as Tech prepared for a third down play from the nine yard line. He would not be denied, however, and scored on a ten yard run, his eighth rushing attempt of the drive.
UNC got the ball back one last time and drove it down the field with under two minutes to go in the game. They tried to go deep on Mario Butler, who was beaten by the receiver on the play, but Butler took a rare “smart” penalty to prevent a touchdown. Butler played an outstanding game and he was outshined only by teammate Morgan Burnett, who made his second interception of the game at the goal line to wrap it up for the Jackets. Burnett was rewarded with the ACC defensive back of the week award for his game changing performance against the Tarheels.
The score should have been much worse than it was, but Scott Blair missed two easy field goals; including one that wasn’t much longer than an extra point. Blair also kicked two balls out of bounds on kickoffs to give UNC great field position. Tech does not have any better options at kicker, so Blair needs to get his act together fast. The offense did well against UNC, but Nesbitt still needs to protect the ball better and make the correct reads. Jaybo has been cleared for full contact this week and if Nesbitt struggles, he will get some playing time against Mississippi State. The defense looked great against UNC, but they still have some big tests looming against the next three opponents.