2011-2012 Football Previews – Atlantic Coast Conference – Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
With Coach Johnson’s gameplan, which bucks convention but at the same time is tried, tested and true, he has a reputation of out-performing expectations.
ACC 2011-12 Football Previews: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Coach: Paul Johnson
2010 Record: 6-7
Georgia Tech Gambling Odds from Sportsbook.com to win BCS: +20000
Georgia Tech Team Page – Players Stats – Roster – 2011 Schedule –>
The read option offense does not need the prize talent (provided it is executed well) and defensive co-ordinator Al Groh has the 3-4 defense down to a fine science.
The Jackets finished below .500 in 2010, but went to their 14th straight bowl game. This season, Tech has the fewest returning starters in the ACC, but Johnson built winners out of green players in the past. Now in his fourth year in Atlanta, Johnson has all his personnel he needs to run his option offense and Groh has street cred as the former Virginia head coach and the one-time coach of the NFL’s New York Jets.
Team Strengths
The interior of Georgia Tech’s offensive line is in very good shape and built perfectly to create the seams for the quirky offense. Guards Will Jackson and Omoregie Uzzi aren’t huge, but they have the mobility they need to lay down the beat for the read option.
The Jackets also tend to have one solid WR that poses the lone threat apart from the option (think Demaryius Thomas in 2007-09) and this year that player is 6”5, 200-lb junior Stephen Hill.
Groh’s 3-4 defense should be better in his second season with Georgia Tech, and it helps that he has all three returning starters on the defensive line.
Team Weaknesses
Tech loses its top two rushers from 2010, yet with its “mixed bag” attack, there are still four players that had at least 300 yards rushing. Still, departed Anthony Allen, in particular, was effective. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
With QB Josh Nesbitt gone, there is a battle to fill the job under center. Tevin Washington played decently while Nesbitt was injured last season, but this time redshirt freshmen Synjyn Days and Darryl Dickey will push him.
The Jackets also have a pair of talented corners, but all the players in the defensive secondary are new starters. It would be only natural to expect some hiccups. Tech also must replace veteran kicker Scott Blair; puny sophomore Justin Moore will attempt to fill that job.
2011-12 Georgia Tech Football Prediction: 5-7
Paul Johnson will never have a QB that passes for a bunch of yards, but he brings an honest strategy that always seems to yield decent success. Still, Georgia Tech must replace many important players in 2011, and the ACC has significant parity in both divisions this year.
I will predict that Tech’s vaunted 14-year bowl streak will come to an end in 2011, as I don’t see Washington or Days or Dickey running the offense as well as Nesbitt did a couple seasons ago. Groh’s defense will probably get quite good, but he may still need a season or two to get the players he needs to perfectly fit his scheme.
If the Jackets win seven or eight games, it won’t be the first time that Johnson has made forecasters look silly, but this season it looks overwhelmingly like Georgia Tech is middle of the pack at best in the ACC.
2011 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Schedule
9/1/11 7:30 PM ET WCAR
9/10/11 7:00 PM ET @MTENN
9/17/11 12:30 PM ET KANS
9/24/11 12:00 PM ET NCAR
10/1/11 12:00 PM ET @NCST
10/8/11 12:00 PM ET MD
10/15/11 12:00 PM ET @VIRG
10/22/11 12:00 PM ET @MIAMI
10/29/11 12:00 PM ET CLEM
11/10/11 8:00 PM ET VATCH
11/19/11 12:00 PM ET @DUKE
11/26/11 12:00 PM ET GEO
