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Fast Analysis: Georgia Tech vs Clemson

Fast Analysis: Georgia Tech vs Clemson focuses on the Sept. 22, 2018 matchup in Atlanta. How did the GT offense and defense perform in this key ACC matchup.
Fast Analysis: Georgia Tech vs Clemson

The image of Paul Johnson pondering life decisions in the midst of his offense is telling of how Saturday went for Georgia Tech. Before today’s game, Paul Johnson-coached Georgia Tech teams had won three out of the last four versus Clemson in Atlanta.

Fast Analysis: Georgia Tech vs Clemson

The outcome Saturday would not favor a new number in the win column for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. How did Tech perform in their 49-21 loss to Clemson? Let’s discuss in our third edition of Fast Analysis: Georgia Tech 2018.

First Half

Offense

The offense was abysmal in the first half against the Clemson defense. During the eight offensive drives for Georgia Tech in the first half, TaQuon Marshall and team punted four times, missed a field goal, lost a fumble that Clemson returned for a touchdown, and scored a touchdown. It was embarrassing to say the least.

Tech’s offense came out of the gate making plays and extending the opening drive – the drive was almost eight minutes. Tech drove the ball all the way down to Clemson’s 16 yard line but, ultimately, was forced to punt the ball to end the drive. Think about that: Tech made it to the 16 yard line and thanks to a false start penalty and a fumble, was forced to punt to end the drive. Tech would end two drives in the first half inside of Clemson’s 30-yard line with no points to show for it.

The rest of the first half would prove equally as disappointing. Tech’s second drive would last three plays and result in -25 yards. The remaining six drives went like this:

  • Three plays, zero yards, PUNT
  • Seven plays, 45 yards, MISSED FG
  • Three plays, negative three yards, PUNT
  • Three plays, negative four yards, PUNT
  • Four plays, 23 yards, TOUCHDOWN (after Desmond Branch INT)
  • One play, negative one yard, END OF HALF (doesn’t really count)

Every time Marshall dropped back to pass he had multiple Clemson defenders in his face or hitting him from his blind side. Marshall’s play during the first half left much to be desired as well.

Marshall’s touchdown in the second quarter did offer him the opportunity to move up in the Georgia Tech record book. But what does it profit a Georgia Tech quarterback if he gains a spot in record books but loses the conference game?

The Yellow Jackets’ offense would finish the first half with 97 yards and three fumbles. The offense would recover two of those, but the one lost fumble was returned by Clemson’s Clelin Ferrell for a touchdown.

Marshall went 0-for-2 through the air, and looked frustrated during every attempt. That is understandable when you are attempting to throw the ball against Clemson.

Defense

Nate Woody’s defense came to play in the first half of Saturday’s contest. During the first quarter the defense was flying all over the field and making plays. The defensive play of the first half is even more impressive when you consider how often they were on the field. The one lengthy drive from Tech’s offense was the opening drive; but after that Tech’s offense was not on the field often enough to give the defense needed rest. And that cost the defense.

Clemson’s offense did not score a touchdown in the first quarter Saturday. Unfortunately for Tech’s defense, there are four quarters in a college football game. Clemson scored three touchdowns in the second quarter, and they did so quickly. The three touchdown drives took a total of five minutes and 40 seconds off the official game clock.

Silver lining:The one touchdown scored by Tech’s offense in the first half was a result of Desmond Branch intercepting a pass on Clemson’s 23 yard line.

Tech would enter halftime attempting to stop the bleeding as they trailed 28-7

Special Teams

Tech’s special teams have not given up a kickoff or punt return for a touchdown since the South Florida game and that is something to encourage fans. Unfortunately, the kicking game is still weak as Brenton King missed another field goal with 12 minutes left in the second quarter. Pressley Harvin III had an impressive day punting the ball, and boy was he busy today.

Second Half

Offense

Georgia Tech’s offense did not fare much better in the second half. Fans will look to the two touchdowns scored by the Yellow Jackets in the second half as shining moments, but all 72 Clemson players that made the trip to Atlanta played in today’s victory. So the Tech offense was not playing against the best Clemson had to offer any longer.

Marshall was able to lead a nice drive towards the end of the third quarter. The drive went 75 yards and lasted three minutes and 27 seconds. Nate Cottrell scored his first career touchdown to finish out the drive.

Holistically, Saturday was one of the worst performances of TaQuon Marshall’s career. Marshall was responsible for four of Tech’s eight fumbles on Saturday. At times he looked like “Sunshine” from Remember the Titans learning how to pitch the ball for the first time.

The writing was on the wall in the fourth quarter and Paul Johnson decided to give the back-ups some real-time experience against the number three team in the land.

Tobias Oliver entered the game at quarterback for Tech and looked just as good as he did against South Florida. Oliver threw his first career touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to Clinton Lynch. Lynch would be the only Tech player to record a catch on Saturday. Lynch would finish with three catches for 57 yards and one touchdown.

Oliver would complete both passes he attempted on Saturday and would add 34 rushing yards from nine carries. Again, this was against a second-team defense, but Oliver has a bright future at Tech.

All in all, it was a horrid day for the Tech offensive unit as they were only able to gain 203 yards of total offense, and fumbled the ball eight times. Paul Johnson and his offense have only looked good in the opener against FCS-opponent Alcorn State. And the offense was not even that impressive during the season opener. Next week’s non-conference matchup against Bowling Green, who finished dead last in the MAC conference in total defense in 2017, could be the fuel this Georgia Tech offense needs to get going.

Defense

The final score was bad, and the defense looked really bad at different times of the game, but fans should have left the game with a certain degree of respect for their defense. The defensive unit played their hearts out on Saturday and received little to no help from the offensive side of the ball. In fact, two of the touchdowns scored by Tech’s offense were a result of forced turnovers by Tech’s defense.

That being said, the defense still had issues of its own. There were multiple times during the game where the defense was not even lined up properly when Clemson was snapping the ball. That is a discipline issue, and it is an issue that both sides of the ball are struggling with in 2018.

Clemson was able to gain 480 yards between rushing and passing on Saturday. They are an amazing team that has playoffs written all over them. All Nate Woody and his defense can do now is learn from Saturday’s embarrassing loss and move on to Bowling Green.

Special Teams

Georgia Tech’s special teams units were called upon to punt the ball some more in the second half of Saturday’s loss to Clemson. King had no further attempts to miss a field goal, and Harvin III continued to punt well for the most part.

It will be interesting to see if King is lining up to kick extra points and field goals next week. Johnson and team might use the contest as an open kicking competition for the remainder of the season.

How Do Tech Fans Feel?

Numb. Tech fans did not even register a win in the “who has more fans” showdown today. It was clearly a Clemson majority in the stands even before Tech fans left early to avoid any further humiliation.

Tech’s offense returned seven starters from an impressive 2017 unit. Ted Roof was out and Nate Woody was in. Clemson, Miami, Virginia, and Duke are all home games this year. At the beginning of the year, things were looking great for the 2018 Georgia Tech football team. And then week two happened. Not a big deal – close loss on the road. Then week three happened. OK, that one hurt, it was an ACC opponent. And then Tech fans arrived at week four hosting Clemson. You get it.

After today’s beat down at home, fans are going to be looking for answers. Will Paul Johnson last the season? Will Tobias Oliver and TaQuon Marshall share more reps to ignite the stagnant offense? Time will tell, but changes are coming.

Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images

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