A win is a win - period. I know that, however, we have to be careful about our expectations. While GT beat FSU, the Seminoles are a shadow of their former self - witness the shellacking FSU got from Miami (51-10). Although GT has some excellent athletes, GT is not a good team - yet.
Still, the Yellow Jackets racked up 23 first downs compared to our 14 on their way to 453 total yards to our 357 - almost 100 yards more. They outrushed us 275-163 and kept pace in the passing game 178-194. The Ramblin Wrecks kept the ball for 34:08 to our 25:52. We won this game on turnover 5-1.
Two of the four interceptions were clearly the result of pressure on the GT QB Simms. One was fortuitous bouncing off of Nunn's helmet and the other a miscue by Sims.
The defense played a good game of bend but don't break. They created turnovers when needed and were key to the win.
However, the turning point came in the 3rd Quarter on offense. After GT scored to make it 23-20, we answered immediately on 3 plays capped by TD's beautiful 43-yard bomb to Nykeim Johnson to go back up by 10 points.
Some thoughts
Defense
As everyone knows, the defense is very young. How young? Of the 22 players on the 2-Deep, 5 are true freshmen, 4 RS Freshmen, 3 Sophomores and 2 RS Sophomores. That's 14 of the 22 not yet Juniors.
Even considering a weak opponent, we showed some maturity and prowess, especially without the leadership of Cisco. We had 8 QB hurries and 1 sack. Also, 55 solo tackles. I also thought that we had some good in-game adjustments, holding them to only one score in the Q3 and none in Q4. Considering we were on the field nine minutes longer - the same as the Pitt game - that's a pretty good effort.
Now that tape is piling up we can expect opposing coaches to zero in on our weaknesses. Most in the ACC, especially the former BE teams (WVA played the 3-3-5), are familiar with the style. That should be offset by game experience for our guys.
Duke, NC State, Georgia Tech, FSU and Wake Forest are 11-15 in total defense in the ACC (in that order). Pitt and North Carolina are 1 and 2). Except for Clemson and ND perhaps we have played the toughest part of our schedule.
Offense
While this was a considerable improvement over our first two outings, we did face a poor defense so we should have expected a better result. It is always hard to tell how much is a better play versus a weaker opponent.
That said, the line play was much improved. There were some big holes clearly visible on replays and TD was only sacked once. While I might quarrel with the scorekeeper, GT was credited with only 2 QB hurries.
Tommy
Good things happen when you keep your QB upright. If you look at the tape I think you will find that when TD is given 3 seconds he throws good passes. On the long passing TDs, he got the 3-seconds and threw strikes. Whatever you think of him, he throws the best deep ball we have seen in the Dome in quite a long time.
I would give Devito a C+ for this game. He was 13-24 (.541) for 194 yards (8.1 avg.) Two long TDs and one interception. He underthrew that on the run to a wide-open Taj Harris. Babers said in the pressers that he thought Taj should have been able to prevent the interception by knocking the ball from the defender.
There were some busted pass plays and some poor throws. Four carries for 23 yards and a couple of 1st downs but a missed opportunity when he went out-of-bounds a yard early on a scramble. I think Tommy would be the first to tell you he would want those back.
Sean Tucker
Inserting a true freshman as the starter when your QB is the most sacked in CFB, takes guts. Very few are ready for the blocking assignments. Given TD was only sacked once, it is safe to say the staff had confidence #34 could handle it - and he did.
Much has been said already about him so I will only add that he seems to be a more polished runner than his years would imply. He is patient, is quick, gets to the corner and, as we know,, the former track star has break-away speed. He looks like a keeper.
Play-calling
While I scream at the tv as much as the next guy, I try not to get too critical about play-calling because there is another team on the field. To me, play-calling is all about knowing what your guys can actually execute - not what you hope they can execute. Plays executed well rarely fail big-time.
There is an interview with John Madden where he tells a story about attending a Vince Lombardi seminar as a young coach just starting out. Madden says he was so excited and prepared to take a copious note. The first day all VInce discussed was the famous Packer power sweep. Madden was amazed at the detail involved. The next day he was excited to learn about something else but Vince simply continued in minutious detail about the same play. Vince's philosophy was that if properly executed it did not matter that the defense knew what was coming.
We had 5.5 yards per play, which would put us in the middle of the pack in the ACC.
Expectations
I look for marginally improved Oline play as the season progresses (with some big changes next year). If so, the running game will pick up and those two factors will let TD be the TD we expected. If we get some B games and an occasional A game from TD, we will do OK.
Assuming nothing is wrong with Andre, I think the D will continue to impress us. Given the youth, it has the chance of being special over the next few years.
All-in-all, it looks like a tough season ahead but with a great deal of promise for future seasons. I like our chances against Liberty, Duke, Wake Forest, NC State and probably BC. Not sure about L'ville.
LGO turn this thing around!
