The Yellow Jackets return home this week to find another nationally ranked defensive team standing in their way.
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The Yellow Jackets host Pittsburgh on Saturday as they try to snap a four-game losing streak.
Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson walks the sidelines during the…
Johnson wasn’t really exaggerating. Their total defensive average of 264.6 is No. 7 in the nation. Listen to what Johnson and his players said after the loss to Clemson. Frank Beamer’s squad finally played like they should have all year.
Boston College is now allowing only 140.3 yards per game, less than half as many yards as Clemson allows this year and 120 yards per game less than what Clemson allowed last year when the Tigers led the nation in total defense (260 yards per game). The defense also forced two Pitt fumbles.
Their defense has steadily improved in the four seasons under coordinator Brent Venables. The redshirt senior is a Miami native and former transfer from Ohio St. Cash has recorded 38 tackles in the five games he has played in.
“The sixth-ranked defense is coming in now”, Johnson said of Pittsburgh. Michigan State opened as the #5 team in the country (AP Top 25; they were #6 in the coaches poll). “There are a lot of different things that they can do to you so it’s not an easy thing to defend”. Those four teams finished the season with 19 losses between them, each team suffering at least four SU losses AFTER Week 7 of the season.
Thomas has not been as effective this season as he was in 2014, partially because of the breakdown of the offensive line and partially because of the inexperienced backs.
“I felt like I had to make a play”, he said. “I looked out on the field Saturday at Clemson, and at one point we had five freshmen on the offense – and that’s guys who came in August, not guys who were early enrollees or whatever”. “It’s not like he’s doing everything right”. It’s just the lack of experience. “We’ll play pretty good defense for a couple series and then all of the sudden, we’ll give up a 65-yard run or a long pass”. “There’s motion and they are chopping you”, explained Narduzzi. “Teams understand that if you want to win big, you’ve got to stop people”. I had Wake going winless in the conference.
Although preseason All-ACC tailback James Connor was lost in the first game with a knee injury, the Yellow Jackets will face another solid quarterback in Nate Peterman. He has rushed 17 times for 130 yards, a 7.6-yard average, and scored two touchdowns. But Cook not only played against the rival Hurricanes, he dominated them by rushing for 222 yards and three TDs – including a 72-yarder on his first carry – to lead the Seminoles to a come-from-behind victory. Johnson called him probably the equal or better of any wide receiver in the ACC. Motley, a junior, 1019 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions on the year. He is seven catches away from breaking the school’s career reception mark of 202.
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“The worst thing that you can do when things aren’t going well is throw the baby out with the bathwater and just panic”, he said. So you go just back to basics, you keep repping it and hope that they do that. “If you limit the other guys, you hope he can’t beat you by himself”.
