In which we praise the defense for probably the first time in this column’s history
It can’t ever be easy huh?
Game Recap in Three Sentences
Tech was firmly in control in the first half, with the run game and defense both looking very good and leading to only about 8 minutes of possession for Duke.
Duke had chances in the second half but couldn’t stop the mistakes, including a failed 4th down attempt inside our 10, a penalty on a would-be-successful 4th down attempt on our 25, and a missed FG.
Penalties made up some of the biggest momentum shifts, with both teams being bailed out by PI, roughing the passer, and offsides on late downs.
Above The Line of the Week
- The run game. Jamal Haynes made a full return with 128 yards, Chad Alexander was an awesome substitute late in the fourth, and it all ended with 245 total rushing yards for the Jackets. Let’s keep it up.
- Nerd schools. We see you Vandy, and we appreciate you. With Georgia State’s help you’ve now given us transitive wins over Bama and UGA.
- Fourth down conversions. Tech was 3-3 on the night, with two of them leading to eventual scores.
Unformed Thought of the Week
Brent Key is 11-1 following a loss; we haven’t suffered back to back losses since the middle of 2022. I don’t really know how much of this can truly be attributed to “we step up our game after a loss” versus “we’re a .500 team and that naturally leads to some results alternation”, but it still feels like a meaningful improvement over the loss streaks we became used to in the previous era.
5 Star (7 Star, 5 Star) Developmental Program Haiku of the Week
Fraudulent devils
Defense, what a cool concept
Could’ve been a rout
In Defense of Defense
Georgia Tech hasn’t had a season allowing under 20 points per game since 2006. We’ve got some good offenses coming up on the schedule, but at the 2024 halfway point we are currently allowing 18.3 (note: this doesn’t include the Louisville fumble recovery TD, but it does for some reason include the blocked kick return TD). That makes us the 28th best scoring defense in the country, and our 313 allowed yards per game is good for 32nd. We’re also 30th in allowed 3rd down conversion rate, 34th in red zone defense, and 11th in red zone attempts allowed. It feels foreign to say, but the defensive improvement so far this season is a huge reason that we’re sitting at 4-2.
Everyone loves a good chart so let’s look at this improvement visually:
Here’s my analysis of these numbers:
In particular it’s our run defense that’s been the stingiest – we are currently the 11th best total rushing defense in the country, allowing just 87.5 yards per game. Our 3.14 yards per rush allowed is 20th. We’ve only given up two rushing touchdowns all season, and both of those were in the very first game against FSU. Duke’s Star Thomas was coming off of three straight 110+ yard games (including 166 and a score in his last against UNC) and we held him to just 48 yards on Saturday night.
The chart for this improvement is even more striking than the others:
You’d have to go back to the 2000 season to find the last time we allowed under 100 rushing yards per game. 2012 was the last year that we allowed zero rushing TDs in five games (and there’s good reason to believe we’ll finish 2024 with more than five).
Of course, the defense could still be a lot better. Kyle McCord carved us up like a turkey and all of the other non-VMI QBs threw for at least 200 yards, except for DJU who threw for 193. We’ve given up several backbreaking 4th down conversions. We struggle to get sacks, pressures, or TFLs, and have barely sniffed any turnovers. But even with these deficiencies the defense is a huge reason we have wins against FSU and Duke, and a huge reason we had a chance against Louisville – that’s a fun change of pace from previous years where the defense played the role of constant liability. Again I have to say that there are some good offenses coming up on the schedule, but I’m excited to see if this improvement is here to stay.
Look Ahead
Up next is the one you’ve all been waiting for, North Carolina (10/12, 12:00). We even get the elite ACC privilege of being on The CW for this grudge match against the most hated man in our fandom. UNC opened the season 3-0 against inferior opponents, but has now lost their last three (including a defensive embarrassment against JMU and a complete collapse against Duke). In the most predictable circumstances of all time, their defense under Geoff Collins sucks. They gave up 520 yards to Pitt, 394 to Duke, 611 to JMU, and even 358 to Charlotte. The offense has been good but based on weird comments from Mack Brown and some other reports, it sounds like their season is dangerously close to falling apart in the locker room. Now, we have the chance to twist the knife and give them a losing record that they’ll hopefully keep for the rest of the year. The key to this game is easy: score early and score often against a weak defense. I want to put up 50 on this clown and make him say something stupid like “they gave us looks we’ve never seen before”. We had a great defensive effort against Duke, let’s keep that momentum going and shut down their offense.