Defensive Worries and Offensive Joy
Georgia Tech fans spent all week worrying that following up their big win over Florida State (okay maybe it wasn’t that big) they would fall flat at home against Georgia State. Well it wasn’t perfect, but Georgia Tech came away with a win that was pretty comfortable in the second half. So what did we learn from this game?
1. Pass Rush Is Still An Issue
After week 0 many felt that our pass rush was much improved this season. After re-watching the Florida State game and watching the Georgia State game I’m here to say “not so fast”. The Jackets got very little pressure against the Panthers recording 0 stats and let Christian Veilleux get comfortable.
Against the Seminoles, they got more pressure, though they still just recorded one sack (Romello Height also got one, but he facemasked DJ so it didn’t count). The big difference in these games wasn’t that GT defenders were beating Seminole blockers in a way that they weren’t in Saturdays game. The difference was blitzing. The Jackets frequently brought 5 and sometimes even brought 6 against the Seminoles. Their gameplan against Georgia State was much more conservative. They pretty rarely brought 5 at all and certainly weren’t bringing the safety blitzes like in game 1.
This looks like a team that isn’t going to get many pressures from defensive linemen winning one-on-one. They’ll need to blitz to get pressure and get creative with how they bring men. Santucci seems to know this and went for it against FSU. Of course they could be more aggressive against the Seminoles because they didn’t worry too much about FSU’s receivers and because DJ struggles to push the ball downfield, but they’ll have to figure out a balance between getting pressure and leaving your secondary out to dry.
2. Plenty of Playmakers
I was very excited about the offense this year and one thing that has surprised is just the depth of playmakers that this team will have going forward. The two playmakers that I was very confident in coming into the year were Jamal Haynes at running back and Eric Singleton at receiver. Haynes has exceeded my expectations so far. He never gets taken down at first contact and hits the hole hard. He’s got big play speed, but is a well rounded college back. Singleton hasn’t popped off quite yet (King missed him on a deep ball against the Noles), but I actually think he’s looked quite good. Buster Faulkner is emphasizing getting him the ball on screens and quick hitters.
But in addition to them I’ve been very impressed by Malik Rutherford. He’s made some big plays in the screen and jet sweep game, the intermediate routes, and against the Panthers he got incredibly wide open on a go route. He’s been electric. Between him and Singleton we have serious playmaking on the outside. But both players are small. Chase Lane (who is third in receptions) is bigger, but still far from big. A big, bully receiver is one thing this team is missing.
Filling that void somewhat is Avery Boyd. He was a big receiver last year, but bulked up and is now playing tight end. He’s made a couple of catches and can still move decently. He’s been a complementary piece so far, but I can see his role expanding against teams where size is a helpful matchup.
I’ve also been impressed by the backup running backs. Trey Cooley was listed as the second running back, but got hurt on the opening kickoff and so far has not returned. That’s left a space for some young running backs. Chad Alexander has performed admirably coming in for Jamal Haynes. He hasn’t broken a long run yet, but is consistently getting yards on every run and has been good at finding the correct holes. We also saw Anthony Carrie in garbage time against Georgia State and he promptly ripped off a long run. I think the true freshman might work his way into the backfield this season.
Put all of that with Haynes King’s legs and you have an offense with explosive potential.
3. Haynes King Turnovers Are Still A Worry
When looking for potential vectors of improvement this year, one that stood out was Haynes King reigning in the turnovers this season. That was his big negative in the past and early returns suggest that it might be again.
King fumbled twice against Florida State. One of those was a botched snap that he missed because the motion man was coming across late and blocked his view of the snap. I’m not entirely sure whose fault it was, but I’m guessing the receiver. The other was a miscommunication on a read option that led to the ball on the ground and a miraculous recovery by guard Keylan Rutledge. Neither of those went to the Seminoles and the botched snap yardage was thankfully made up on the next play. But they might not be so lucky next time.
His first pick of the season was against Georgia State. GT was up 28-6 at a point in the game where they just didn’t want to make mistakes and they’d win. Instead King felt pressure, threw a ball on the run to the boundary which floated and let Kenyatta Watson (former teammate) run under the receiver and pick it off. Several times so far this season King has made throws under pressure and off-platform. Some have worked out, but this one did not. King is always going to be a gunslinger, but I was hoping he could knock down the turnovers a good bit. It’s early in the season, but it looks like I’m going to be holding my breath a lot on the offensive side of the ball.