Georgia Tech Post Game Thread

[Riddickulous]

1. DeShone Kizer was pretty good. He looked comfortable, poised, and I don't know if we had a single play where we had to hurry to get the snap off or burn a timeout. I love how he keeps his eyes downfield when he's on the move. The interception was a bad throw (Robinson's poor route notwithstanding) and he had a few other dangerous passes, but that's to be expected for a young QB. Overall, really, really solid debut as a starter.

2. CJ Prosise is a beast. Great speed, great vision, and holy crap does he run hard. Pretty good for a guy who was supposed to be RB #3.

3. I'd like to see more touches for the freshmen backs. Hopefully next week.

4. Will Fuller is Will Fuller. That diving grab on the bomb was a play I've never seen him make. Even caught it with his hands.

5. Chris Brown had a few bad drops, but otherwise had a pretty decent outing. 8 catches for 65 yards.

6. What's the deal with Corey Robinson? He's completely disappeared.

7. Really hope that fumble doesn't put Aliz'e Jones in the doghouse. Aside from that I thought he looked pretty solid.

8. Overall I thought we did a better job getting the tight ends involved today. Collectively, they caught 4 balls.

9. Ronnie Stanley had a rough game. 4 penalties.

10. Terrific game by the entire defense. Just awesome.

11. Joe Schmidt was fantastic today. Good way to rebound after a rough week two.

12. Drue Tranquill was killing it today, which makes his probable season-ending injury all the more devastating.

13. He still had a few bad plays but I thought Russell didn't look too bad overall today. Had a few pass breakups.

14. Give CJ Sanders some offensive touches, please. That kid is electric.

 

[stlnd01]

Offense is a gimmick??? It has been destroying teams.. Miss St included... Give credit to ND defense who dominated.... The team played extremely well....

I thought G Tech would win the ACC and I am hoping I am right... if we drop a game and go 11-1.. Beating the ACC champ will look great on the resume.. also hoping Texas can pull out a 8-4, playing TCU and Baylor tough

Their offense isn't a gimmick, but they are kind of a one-dimensional team. They couldn't pass for shit until the last two minutes. And their defense was nothing special. If we wrote the playbook for defending their option game, they could certainly lose to several of the better defenses in the ACC.
But yeah, I'm a Tech fan now. Hope they go all the way (or at least meet Clemson for the conference title). They sure could. Nobody in the ACC looks especially good this year.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Pros:

*Pretty dominating performance, particularly on defense. ND was clearly the better team

*Best defense I've seen us play against triple option...ever. Jaylon and Joe Schmidt are phenomenal.

*Great penetration on defense getting to their quarterback

*Offensive playbook simplified

*Offensive line and pass protection was solid

*CJ Sanders might be our best punt return option since Golden Tate

*Fuller for Heisman might start gaining traction. That 3rd down leaping catch in the 2nd quarter was a huge play in the game.

*Chris Brown finished the game really strong after an awful start

*Farley with the forced fumble right after halftime was huge.



Cons:

*Way too many false starts

*I don't trust Yoon in a big spot. Nice to see him make that fg in the 3rd quarter though

*I feel like we have so many weapons on offense that never get used (Tori Hunter, Corey Robinson, Carlise, ESB)

*Alize Jones is a major disappointment so far but still early in his career

*Tranquill's injury. We're not just getting injuries...we're weekly getting 1-2 season ending injuries.

*Absolutely hated Kelly calling timeouts in the first half to get the ball back. Maybe i do that if Zaire was the QB....but with Yoon shaky and a rookie QB i'd take 13-7 at the half any day instead of expecting him to run the 2-minute drill.

*I just get the feeling Kelly doesn't have too much confidence in Kizer. Maybe that's just an indication of how good Zaire was in camp.

*Why do i have a feeling at the end of the year 30-22 vs. 30-7 might make a difference to the ignorant college football analysts who didn't watch this game.

How can you make that statement about Alize. It's his third college game ever and he barely played in the first two games! Jeez he nearly caught a TD with double coverage.


Sent via tapatalk

 

[Fbolt]

FYI-BK presser up on UND.

Apparently the False Starts were due to Kizer's snaps and the differences he brings as compared to Zaire.

 

[OCIrish]

First thoughts........

Defense-was absolutely lights out for almost an entire game. I cannot ever recall a ND defense defending the triple option so incredibly well.........ever.......

Kizer-didn't play bad, however, at times, reminded me of EG in the pocket. Of which scared the ever living dog shit out of me....

Still things that need improvement on, and hopefully, Deshone get the teaching he needs.

 

[stlnd01]

First thoughts........

Defense-was absolutely lights out for almost an entire game. I cannot ever recall a ND defense defending the triple option so incredibly well.........ever.......

Kizer-didn't play bad, however, at times, reminded me of EG in the pocket. Of which scared the ever living dog shit out of me....

Still things that need improvement on, and hopefully, Deshone get the teaching he needs.

The "intentional grounding" play was dreadful. Of course on the next play he flings it 50 for a TD. Rookies.

 

[TheTurningPoint]

I dont see how a true freshman is a disappoint in the first 3 games of his career.

Jones and Yoon have been up and down, but they are figuring out their routines and the college game. It's different. The speed and lets be honest even for Alize playing in front of 80k and millions at home is a little different than high school.

The freshmen will be fine. Not worried about them in the least. They gotta get better, but we are talking about 3 games into their career.

 

[OCIrish]

The "intentional grounding" play was dreadful. Of course on the next play he flings it 50 for a TD. Rookies.

Yeah.....I mean, I know this was his first srart, but the way he carries the ball in rhe pocket......seen way too many fumbles by no.5 to last me a lifetime.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

I dont see how a true freshman is a disappoint in the first 3 games of his career.

Jones and Yoon have been up and down, but they are figuring out their routines and the college game. It's different. The speed and lets be honest even for Alize playing in front of 80k and millions at home is a little different than high school.

The freshmen will be fine. Not worried about them in the least. They gotta get better, but we are talking about 3 games into their career.

No worries with Alize. But don't want this tough start to get into Yoon's head.


Sent via tapatalk

 

[Riddickulous]

Watch Jones come out next week and have like 100 yards.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Watch Jones come out next week and have like 100 yards.

I'm cool with that


Sent via tapatalk

 

[vinnymac2402]

My favorite play was when ND had the ball on the goal line and Kizer went under center. Can got a full head of steam and scored. No more shotgun in goal line.

 

[NDRock]

My favorite play was when ND had the ball on the goal line and Kizer went under center. Can got a full head of steam and scored. No more shotgun in goal line.

Agree, that also brings the play action into the game. Waiting for us to do that under center/short yardage situations.

 

[Fbolt]

replay is up on NBC sports

 

[TDHeysus]

....Jones and Yoon have been up and down.....

after hearing how he was the greatest kicker to have ever kicked, and then his subsequent tank-job since the season started. I must admit Yoon was wearing thin on me; I'm still behind the guy, and I actually still think he'll be great. But I will admit to talking some shit while he's lining up for kicks. dude needs to step it up.

 

[nsisk157]

after hearing how he was the greatest kicker to have ever kicked, and then his subsequent tank-job since the season started. I must admit Yoon was wearing thin on me; I'm still behind the guy, and I actually still think he'll be great. But I will admit to talking some shit while he's lining up for kicks. dude needs to step it up.

He is a Freshman. He'll work it out and be fine.

 

[Grahambo]

I dont see how a true freshman is a disappoint in the first 3 games of his career.

Jones and Yoon have been up and down, but they are figuring out their routines and the college game. It's different. The speed and lets be honest even for Alize playing in front of 80k and millions at home is a little different than high school.

The freshmen will be fine. Not worried about them in the least. They gotta get better, but we are talking about 3 games into their career.

If they aren't megastars after 3 games then bust!

 

[woolybug25]

If they aren't megastars after 3 games then bust!

Kick them off the team!

 

[Grahambo]

Kick them off the team!

Suspends for academia and stuff!

 

[irishff1014]

If they aren't megastars after 3 games then bust!

Jones has a problem catching the ball early. I think he will be fine.

If I were Kelly you have to sit Upon down and tell him I know you are young but I needed you to be better if not we will find other options.

Further more verifying that not many top high schoolers can be really good their first year.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

Our kick game > GT's

 

[kmoose]

People need to relax on Yoon. He's a true freshman, and some people act like college kickers should be automatic like NFL kickers. It rarely works that way.

Yoon is 4/6 on Field Goals. His misses are from 45 and 34 yards. 45 yards is no gimme in college football. So a true freshman has made basically one bad kick on FGs.

He is 10/11 on PATs. Again, he's a true freshman. Nothing to worry about there.

And keep in mind.......... he might have been the #1 rated kicker in the country, but he only attempted 6 FGs in his senior season in High School. And he played soccer before switching to football in 8th grade. So it's not like he is a seasoned freshman.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

To do it Keith Arnold style...

GOOD:
-Defense was A+ for 99% of the game. Literally could not have been better. GT's lone TD was the result of all kinds of holding to set up a big play that a JV high school ref should be able to catch.
-CJ Prosise -- despite clearly being banged up -- ran with authority. 200 yards and 3 TDs is pretty epic.
-Will Fuller big plays.

BAD:
-From a "running the offense" standpoint, I thought Kizer was shaky. Really late getting the ball out sometimes, and other times he was really inaccurate. This is to be expected. I hope he continues to improve with more reps. But he wasn't on the same page with his receivers multiple times, and he missed important throws. If the goal is to win 9 games this year, what he showed was good enough... if we want a championship he's going to have to really improve. He was dealt a tough hand with limited reps and it's on the coaches to make the best of it.
-Drops.
-False starts. Clearly a cadence issue, Stanley unfairly got bulk of blame when multiple people would flinch. Some of them were drive killers.
-Kicking.

UGLY:
-Onside kick fielding. Guys looked confused on the first play with who was supposed to block versus field the kick... and all but Schmidt looked tentative on the second one.
-That endzone INT deserves its own bullet. WOOF.

All in all a great post.

My only differences with what you have expressed is that I don't think the endzone interception merits ugly. Bad maybe. (But secretly I look on it as a good thing; because it was clear Kizer got that he was set up on that one.) Now he has a chance to learn what he doesn't know about disguised late coverage. I hope I am expressing this correctly, but that safety disguised coming over to bracket Corey really well!

• It was clear that Kizer realized what happened immediately.
• It was clear that he learned, but didn't internalize the mistake.
• He came out on his next series inspired!

What I might replace on your list for another 'ugly,' is the refereeing! It sucked canal water full of radioactive whale shit! In its own way, it was as bad as last year's FSU debacle!

Seriously, when I see a game where the score remains closer than the dominance of one team over the other, or one where the score is much greater than the level of dominance would indicate, I really feel as if it were influenced by "ref-douchery!" New term.

But yesterday I was getting more irate than Kelly :

• As you pointed out, GT held regularly and often on their sole meaningful touchdown drive.
• As far as the highlight of the fiasco, it was an incredible thing to see Greer Martini held twice, not once, but TWICE on the same play, in front of a ref and to see a no call!
• CJ's touchdown along the sideline, that was reviewed, so the foul was clear, was steered by his facemask. It was so flagrant that only a blind ref could miss it.
• The one holding call flagged against ND was just bull shit, there was no penalty whatsoever, watch the replay.
• GT with it's marvelous punt and kick returns, hit a block from behind, and or held every time (go coach Kelly!) to the point that you wonder why so many weren't called, because ND obviously alerted the officiating crew to the problem.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Loved this game. The new theory of having a head coach-quality "non-coach" {Bob Elliot} scout vs a difficult offense for over a week seems as bright an idea as you can get. Thank you, "coach".

To be brief about the game as it might portend for the future:
Almost all our flaws in this otherwise dominating performance are not only fixable but are "logically" going to fix themselves --- Yoon's calmness in kicks, Kizer's ball security, Kizer and his receivers getting on the same page on routes, the OLine understanding Kizer's cadence, Alize Jones' drops --- imagine what that game would have been with those things cleaned up and us paying better attention in the last minute of play? 45-7?

Things could go well in our future, but CJ must not be banged up --- he was hurting a little bit during the game and we can't have that. Both frosh RBs must be used as significant breathers. We need to get a better kick-off returner [and NOT CJ --- give him a rest]. Maybe Adams. Straight up at the apparent gap, and get what we can.

We should get off the OLine's back. No one can defeat the opponents' front sevens every time, and we do it most of the time. CJ didn't gain all those yards on his own. Also note that a defensive front seven has "seven" and the front OLine has "five". Breakdowns are often not the mighty five's fault.

A win over a high quality opponent is great. A win over a high quality opponent when we show how far from our own ceiling we are is fairly thrilling.

We still have a chance at this thing, friends. Get past Clemson, guys.

 

[GowerND11]

The "intentional grounding" play was dreadful. Of course on the next play he flings it 50 for a TD. Rookies.

That was supposed to be a screen to CJ, but there was a ton of pressure from the beginning and they covered the screen well. I believe Kizer was attempting to throw it at CJ's feet, but was already wrapped up. I'm sure Kelly/Sanford will use that as a teaching moment.

 

[kmoose]

Prosise shouldn't e asked to rush 20 times/game.

Why not? He's the starting tailback. A starting tailback rushing 20 times a game is not unusual at all.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

You are correct Mike. I didn't keep count but the number of pancakes, wide open holes, and three or four seconds of flawless pass protections on plays was incredible.

Clearly, many of the mistakes on offense originated from DeShone's inexperience, or lack of meaningful reps :

• The cadence issues were all DK, just like the ones against Texas were Malik's.
• The interception in the endzone was all DeShone, in fact, Corey made the proper adjustment to the route by going inside, to occupy the area in which the safety came from. DeShone just didn't have the experience to see that late movement by the safety. But he learned it and I bet he won't forget it!
• DeShone threw a number of balls behind receivers; the throw to Torii would have been a TD if it had been on time and in stride, and if he masters that, he is going to be incredibly dangerous!

Kizer did some good things, too :

• It seems every time he made a mistake, he learned from it and he came back with more effort than ever!
• He adjusted the timing of his ball to Fuller for the 48 yard touchdown by holding on to it. Further he put it where Will needed it to make the completion, and preclude an interception; the rest was 'shake and bake!'
• He was pretty good on his reads in the running game.
• He showed excellent escapability.
• The other thing, (normally this would be put by itself in the bad list, but it actually shows some incredible work on DeShone's part) is they totally changed his footwork this week. Think about it. That is why he tended to throw too many into the ground, but he fixed a myriad of problems, and reduced his tells, for the overall improvement of the offense's performance, by taking on 'changing everything' the week before his first start!

I suppose everyone has the right to feel 'butthurt' by the last minute of the game but their are two simple facts that I think are important mitigating circumstances to this situation :

• On the successful onside kick, there were at least two holding penalties that could have been flagged against GT, and they had a player offside, or it was a procedure call on the kicker, I don't care which you interpret as correct.
• On the last two touchdowns Johnson froze the linebackers one way and threw back to the fullback in the flat the other. In the meantime coverage moved to the other side of the field to the receiver out the way the quarterback took his first step, and the pitchman went. There was no one left to cover the fullback in the flat. I believe it was actually a good thing that nobody abandoned the game plan, (girl that you brought to the dance.)

Remember, Paul Johnson is a great tactician. He was going to come across something like this sooner or later. Had it happened earlier in the game, I am sure that ND would have made adjustments.

As it was, we need to see it for what it was, Paul Johnson struggling desperately to save a little face after BK and BVG took him out to the woodshed, for an extremely severe, old fashioned whuppin'!

After all that is what a guy like Johnson does, run his mouth and act like a general ass-clown, figuring his 'stragedy' and scheme will get him out of trouble.

Don't worry, this week everyone's going to know his mouth wrote checks that his team and his 'football acumen' couldn't cash! GO Irish!

Did you know that :

• No Irish running back started at the pace of CJ for the first two games in over fifty years, and now after game three he is on pace for over 1900 yards!
  
• Nineteen Irish defenders registered tackles in the GT game, again showing incredible depth!
  
• Joe Schmidt and Jaylon Smith hunt like large predatory cats; one forces the prey into the others waiting trap. When has ND had such an effective linebacker duo?
  
• The safety position responsible for the pitch man, (often) manned by Drue Tranquil in the first half and Mathias Farley in the second, would have been the second leading tackler for the game? (Much better than the other alternative of letting the pitchman run wild!)
  
• Mathias "BIG PLAY" Farley had a forced fumble on his first play of the second half, when he moved into a safety role, first replacing Drue Tranquil?

 

[ACamp1900]

They can't keep losing guys... They need to go a good month without losing another starter... THAT alone can derail this season if it continues...

 

[Rocknes Ghost]

-the defense was spectacular and Jaylon was a nightmare for Ga Tech. DL had a great game also. I thought Kizer was ok, but we definitely need to see improvement. He does seem to have pretty good poise. CJ P was great though he did look a little beat up / worn down (hard to imagine saying that about a guy who ran for 200 yards and 3 TDs).

-The holding penalty on Stanley was a terrible call.

-I would like to see Adams and Williams get most of the carries next week if possible. Give CJ P a little break to get fresh for Clemson.

-CJ Sanders should replace Amir on kickoff returns

-Hope someone took Bob Elliott to the Malpass room at Ruth's Chris last night. Big props here.

 

[Cackalacky]

I really liked Tillery at NT. Fom what I could tell yesterday, ND was primarily a 3-4 or 3-5, I guess we had Shumate and Tranquil/Farley on the field mostly though they played close to line most plays.