Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Passing Game: Does it Exist?

Sunday, July 31, 2011

By M. Ryan Hayes
CFB Writer

When Paul Johnson was hired to replace Chan Gailey as Georgia Tech’s head coach in 2007, he was asked by ESPN’s Mark Schlabach if he thought the triple-option could be effective in the defense-laden ACC.

Of course Johnson said it was possible. "During the past six years at Navy, we played 29 BCS teams, in the large part from the ACC,'' Johnson said. "We averaged almost 30 points against them.''

Schlabach asked exactly what everyone was asking themselves but in hindsight it was the wording of the question that needed to be altered, not the message.

What Schlabach was really asking was this: “Can you only attempt a dozen passes a game against BCS conference opponents, week-after-week, and be successful long term?”

Even with an ACC title under his belt (regardless of what the NCAA may say), it remains to be seen if the Yellow Jackets, under Johnson’s leadership, can consistently compete for conference titles.

In fact, the numbers are trending downward. In 2008, Georgia Tech went 3-1 against ACC opponents with a .500 record or better and only 2-2 in 2009. Last year the numbers were even worse as the Jackets went only 1-3.

The reason for looking at only the ACC’s best teams is two-fold. When facing a team year-after-year with the same coach (or coordinators), good teams pick up on tendencies and trends. When you pass for less than 90 yards per game, it’s a lot easier to eventually hone in on defending the run. That includes teams with coaches like Johnson who has been known to modify plays on the fly and watch game film only in fast forward.

Secondly, ACC teams have the advantage of preparing to defend the run in the offseason. Even if you only spend a couple days preparing for option-based opponents and watching film on defending it, repetition leads to preparedness which leads to success. That was never more evident than with Clemson, who was finally able to defeat Georgia Tech in 2010 after losing to the Jackets three straight times including the 2009 conference title game.

Strangely, this passing-deficient trend has long been an issue in Atlanta, long before Johnson’s arrival. Since 2004, Georgia Tech hasn’t finished one season completing 50% of its passing attempts.

That's six years of not being able to hit one out of every two passes. That's excruciatingly poor at any level of college football. The high point over that period was a 49.3% mark in 2007.

How can Johnson turn this trend around?

First and foremost, Johnson needs to recruit more reliable receivers. Georgia Tech led the conference last year in dropped passes. Focus in on a top-tier physical receiver every recruiting season and sell them on the success of former Jackets’ players like Demaryius Thomas. It should be easy to sell a recruit on the opportunity to be the go-to player at your position.

So far, outside of Thomas, that’s been a challenge for Johnson’s staff. Junior Stephen Hill was supposed to be that receiver when he was recruited out of Texas in 2008 but has yet to live up to that billing. Senior Tyler Melton has worked as primarily a number two receiver but struggled to separate from defenders last season.

Coach Johnson will again get a chance to see if redshirt sophomore Jeremy Moore, who's coming back from an ACL tear last season, can step in as a third (or better) option.

When Georgia Tech won the 2009 ACC Championship, they had a bevy of sure-handed wide receivers with exceptional hands and the ability to create separation from defenders. Strangely, this group has a lot of the same players yet many more question marks.

On the other side of the line of scrimmage there have also been issues with who was throwing to the receivers. While former-Jacket quarterback Joshua Nesbitt wasn’t an awful passer, he struggled at times with sailing throws and throwing into double-teams.

Current Jacket quarterback Tevin Washington, on the other hand, has shown none of Nesbitt’s passing strengths. He looked lost and uncomfortable and at times threw balls up for grabs towards covered receivers.

What would help Georgia Tech the most would be to have a quarterback that can run as opposed to a running back that can pass. If Johnson feels that he can mold quarterbacks to run the option, why not have the assurance of a proven passer as well?

Essentially since Joe Hamilton was under center at Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets have struggled to find a quarterback that excelled at one aspect of the position, regardless of the offensive scheme. There’s no doubt that Nesbitt was the closest to having those abilities but you have to question where Georgia Tech would have been in 2009 without the physicality and jump-ball abilities of Thomas.

This year Georgia Tech is at a turning point as Johnson needs an improvement to show his option scheme hasn’t been figured out. Most of the burden, and Coach Johnson would likely agree, falls on Washington’s shoulders. Secondly, receivers that can create separation on the outside must reveal themselves for the misdirection of the option to run effectively.

If Hill, Melton or someone else can’t be at least a poor man’s version of Thomas, Georgia Tech is looking at another season of defenses keying in on the run and decoding the mystery that once was Johnson’s triple-option.

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