Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Recruiting Class Analysis | Schedule Analysis
– Georgia Tech Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 7-6 overall, 5-3
Head Coach: Geoff Collins, 1st year
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GEORGIA TECH OFFENSE
– Square peg, meet round hole. As the offense undergoes a transformation from an option attack to a more balanced overall conventional style, veteran offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude will have some work to do. The O averaged 409 yards and 34 points per game, but it was all around the nation’s best running game. And now comes the transformation.
– Step One … find a quarterback who can throw. The Yellow Jackets didn’t go the grad transfer route to find a dual-threat passer who might be a better fit, mostly because junior Lucas Johnson is handling things just fine. The 6-3, 215-pound junior can move, but he’s also has pro-style passing skills with good mid-range accuracy.
No one’s asking for Drew Brees right out of the gate, and it’s going to be a process, but there’s not a massive concern. Option quarterbacks James Graham and Tobias Oliver are each going to see time and a role in some way, but that will come in fall camp.
– Of course the running backs are in place. 212-pound sophomore Jordan Mason returns after leading all running backs with 659 yards and seven scores, and 215-pound junior Jerry Howard is back, too, after running for 564 yards and five touchdowns, Overall, this is a deep group that has to adjust, but can handle the changes. But …
– Now they all need a line to run behind. Losing G Parker Braun to Texas as a big blow, and there’s a whole lot of shuffling to be done in August to figure it all out, but the starting five will be fine. The depth, though, is a big issue with a rotation needing some work. At the very least, this group is athletic.
– And the receivers in place to do more than block and hit the home run? Short answer … it’s a work in progress. Getting UConn grad transfer Tyler Davis is a huge help considering the position was all but ignored under Paul Johnson.
Senior Jalen Camp is the leading returning wideout – he caught 11 passes. Malachi Carter is a 6-3, 185-pound deep threat, and Miami transfer Marquez Ezzard adds another big 6-2 body to the equation.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GEORGIA TECH DEFENSE
– It would be nice if the Yellow Jackets had a slew of nasty veterans on defense to pick up the slack while the offense continues to figure out what it’s doing. Instead, seven starters are gone and the top three tacklers and seven of the last 11 from last year have to be replaced off a decent, but inconsistent defense.
– How are things going to change right away under the new coaching staff? Pressure, pressure, pressure. The Yellow Jackets didn’t to much of anything to get into the backfield, and hitting the quarterback was nothing more than a distant rumor. That’s about to change, but it’ll take August camp to find the guys up front to handle the work.
– There’s size in the interior, with 295-pound Brentavious Glanton, among others, but where are the pass rushers? Out of the 17 sacks generated last year, the guys who produced 13 of them are done.
Sophomore Charlie Thomas is a safety-sized linebacker who’ll get a shot to make things happen in the backfield. Former Florida Gator Antonneous Clayton has all the talent to rock right away, but overall, consider the end situation a work in progress.
– The linebacker situation is a bit thin, too. The Yellow Jackets didn’t use a whole lot of thumpers in the old regime, preferring for defensive back-sized flyers who could get around the ball. David Curry is back after coming up with 47 tackles on the inside, and Quez Jackson is a promising option after seeing a little time as a freshman.
– Expect a fierce competition for jobs in the secondary with leading tacklers Malik Rivera and Jalen Johnson done. Junior Tariq Carpenter is a huge 6-2, 225-pound strong safety who can bring the pop, and sophomore CB Tre Swilling is set, but it’ll take some help from players like Michigan transfer Myles Sims to rise up and take over.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP GEORGIA TECH PLAYERS
Best Georgia Tech Offensive Player
RB Jordan Mason, Soph.
A good back for the old Georgia Tech system, he should be an even better fit for what the new coaching staff wants to do. Ryquell Armstead ran for almost 1,100 yards and 13 scores for Temple last season, and that might just be how Geoff Collins is able to utilize the 6-1, 220-pound sophomore.
Mason has the burst, and he’s got the bulk to do far more after averaging six yards per carry with 659 yards and seven scores. He can catch, too, turning into a nice receiver throughout spring ball.
2. TE Tyler Davis, Sr.
3. QB Lucas Johnson, Jr.
4. RB Jerry Howard, Jr.
5. OT Zach Quinney, Soph.
Best Georgia Tech Defensive Player
CB Tre Swilling, Soph.
The son of former Georgia Tech star Pat Swilling was able to show off a little bit in his freshman season, making 24 tackles with a pick and six broken up passes. Now he’s going to be the star of a rebuilding secondary with 6-0, 200-pound size, and range. He’s a physical corner who can pop.
2. P Pressley Harvin, Jr.
3. LB David Curry, Sr.
4. LB Charlie Thomas, Soph.
5. S Tariq Carpenter, Jr.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The Georgia Tech Offense
Complete passes. The biggest issue with all the new offensive changes is how the mindset of the passing game has to go from taking advantage of napping defensive backs to hit the home run, to simply being able to dink and dunk a bit.
Georgia Tech averaged a whopping 19.45 yards per completion – only Army averaged more – but the quarterbacks completed a miserable 44% of their passes. Presumptive starter Lucas Johnson needs to be accurate.
Biggest Key To The Georgia Tech Defense
Hold up. Really, the biggest key is going from generating next to no pass rush to being the type of killer unit that new head coach Geoff Collins turned loose at Temple, and that ties into the overall issue.
Part of the formula when it came to the defense was rest. It could be a nimble, agile D – mainly in the back seven – because it wasn’t on the field all that often. When the offense has the ball for over 33 minutes a game and goes on long marches, it makes life easier for the other side. Even with that, the Yellow Jackets had the nation’s second-worst third down defense. That all changes with the more aggressive pass rush.
Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Lucas Johnson, Jr.
Under Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech always tried to get a guy who really could throw, but the O always ended up using the running back types who could handle the option.
Johnson came in as a runner, too, but he was also a high-powered passer in high school with a live arm and good 6-3, 215-pound size. It’s not totally a sink-or-swim situation with him under center, but it would make life a whole lot easier if he went from having a good spring session to dominating in fall camp as all the offensive changes become second nature.
Key Game To The Georgia Tech Season
North Carolina, Oct. 5
There are enough winnable games on the slate to somehow get to six wins and bowl eligibility, but forget it if the Yellow Jackets can’t get by the Tar Heels for the third year in a row.
They’ll have already played Clemson, and after the UNC game comes road games at Duke and Miami. But early October, the changes should be fully kicked in on both sides of the ball in a game the team can’t afford to drop at home.
– Georgia Tech Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 Georgia Tech Fun Stats
– Average Yards Per Catch: Georgia Tech 19.8 – Opponents 11.5
– Points Off Turnovers: Georgia Tech 124 – Opponents 59
– Time of Possession: Georgia Tech 33:49 – Opponents 26:11
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. GEORGIA TECH WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
Oh that’s just GREAT.
The new coaching staff comes in with little returning experience on defense to work with and an offense full of players who have to be learn an entirely new system. What else does the program have to deal with?
A schedule set up by someone trying to be very, very mean.
Hey, Geoff Collins, welcome to the gig. Now start your era off at Clemson. Oh yeah, newbie, and you finish off the regular season against Georgia, and just to give you a funky twist, you have to play your old team – Temple – on the road.
If playing the defending national champs wasn’t enough of a gut punch early on, how about a few other shots to the ribs with road games at Miami, Virginia and Duke?
And before that Georgia game, why not get Pitt, Virginia Tech and NC State all in November?
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 6
The team has enough talent and should be good enough to beat USF, Citadel, and slip past Temple, but it’ll take some work to get the three or four other wins needed to go bowling.
There isn’t the decided schematic advantage anymore without the option offense for teams to worry about, and the more conventional schemes should take a little bit to kick in.
Even so, football is football. The players will be okay in time, the coaching staff is terrific, and this is a good overall pivot at the right time.
This will be a redshirt season for the program, but it’s necessary.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Recruiting Class Analysis | Schedule Analysis
