The Georgia Tech offense looked great in stretches against NC State last Saturday, but whenever it looked like the Yellow Jackets might make it into the end zone, the Wolfpack defense stood tall. So despite allowing quarterback Jeff Sims and the Jackets to move the ball down the field easily, the bend-but-don’t-break play of the Pack defense last Saturday was one of its better performances this season.
Wolfpack secondary
Sims rushed for 93 yards on 17 attempts, but part of the reason why he ran the ball so often was how well covered his receivers were. Yes, Adonicus Sanders snagged seven catches for 105 yards, but only one other Georgia Tech wide receiver managed to get two catches.
By and large, the passing schemes employed by head coach Geoff Collins broke down, and Sims had to turn to his legs to churn some yardage for his team. When Sims did decide to throw the ball, the result was an inefficient 13-for-27 outing for 151 yards. Because of that, the secondary earns the highest grades on the defense this week.
Grade: B+
Wolfpack linebackers
Sims and running back Jordan Mason, who rushed for 99 yards, amassed huge rushing totals on this Wolfpack defense. At times, Georgia Tech looked like the Paul Johnson teams of old with how easily they were able to run the football, but it looks like Tech’s running ability was limited to the early part of its drives, as the Jackets couldn’t get anything going in the red zone. That has to count for something, and it’s a huge feather in the cap of this linebacking corps.
Sims scored a 34-yard touchdown on the ground to put the Jackets on the board, but at that point the secondary shares some of the responsibility in not stopping him too. The linebackers also provided opportunities for this game to flip on its head, as redshirt junior Vi Jones and redshirt sophomore C.J. Hart Jr. both forced fumbles. Had those fumbles been recovered by NC State, most people would’ve viewed the play of this linebacking unit this Saturday more favorably.
Grade: B-
Wolfpack D-line
The job for this defensive line was a little different than against most opponents. Against a dual-threat quarterback like Sims, you can either try to contain him within the pocket and force him to pass, or flush him out of the pocket and let the linebackers deal with him. The defensive line tried doing a little bit of both with mixed results.
The QB-contain packages forced Sims to make some inaccurate throws, but on a few occasions, Sims was able to go to his checkdown route and get a first down anyway. Whenever the defensive ends rushed and collapsed the pocket, Sims was left exposed to the linebacking corps, but as mentioned previously, the NC State linebackers couldn’t stop Sims until the Jacket offense reached the red zone.
The defensive line did everything it was supposed to do; it’s just the circumstances that prevented the group from getting the results it wanted, and it shouldn’t be penalized for that. Giving up 99 rushing yards to Mason isn’t a good look, however, so that dings the line a few points in the defensive grades this week.
Grade: B
