#22 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Will the Triple Option machine rage on? How important were Jonathan Dwyer and Demaryus Thomas? Will Al Groh make the defense better? Can Josh Nesbitt make it through another season taking a beating and staying injury free? What do 2 consecutive Bowl losses say about the predictability of the Yellow Jacket offense?

Yes, this and MANY other questions will be answered this season, which will be Coach Paul Johnson’s 3rd in Atlanta. After a breakthrough 2009 Season that saw the Yellow Jackets win the ACC for the first time since 1990, expectations to sustain such success are high. But how realistic is that goal?

The Georgia Tech offense is the same Triple Option that Johnson developed at Georgia Southern in the 90s and then perfected at Navy in the early 2000s. Having played in the offense myself, I can tell you that while it is one of the more simple offenses to run, it is one of the more difficult offenses to stop. For offensive players it requires the utmost discipline and as Johnson used to say when he was implementing the offense in Annapolis, “If everybody executes their (expletive) assignment, we’ll get at least 5 yards every (expletive) time.” Tech has used that philosophy to bring the Option attack back to prominence in major D-1 football. QB Josh Nesbitt leads the offense, returning for his Senior season after having a Junior campaign that saw him throw for 1,700 yards and 10 TDs, while rushing for 1,037 yards and 18 TDs. If he improves on those stats just slightly, then he will certainly be on the Heisman short-list come December.

Early NFL entry is the main reason that Tech isn’t much higher on my Pre-season list. The Jackets lost RB Jonathan Dwyer and WR Demaryus Thomas to the draft, and the pair combined for 2,549 yards and 22 TDs. Looking to replace the production of those 2 studs will be RB Anthony Allen and WR Stephen Hill. Allen had an impressive 9.7 ypc average in 2009 and added 6 TDs. Allen is neither extremely fast nor powerful, but he is the perfect mix of both. He plans to add a bit of weight this off-season since he is moving from the A-Back (i.e. Wing Back) position to the B-Back (i.e. Fullback) and will likely take more of a pounding. Hill has all the tools to be a great WR, but he only hauled in 6 catches last season playing 2nd fiddle to the All-ACC WR Thomas. A big leap in production is a must for Tech to have success through the air.

Defensively is where the most change is taking place. The Jackets lost the top DE in the Conference (Derrick Morgan) early to the NFL as well as playmaking Safety Morgan Burnett. Although they return 8 starters, the loss of 2 All-Conference capable athletes doesn’t bode well for a defense that was susceptible to the Big Play throughout the ’09 season. Hoping to fix some of the holes in the defense is newly hired D-Coordinator Al Groh. Groh brings with him over 38 years of coaching experience highlighted by 2 Coach of the Year awards attained while at Virginia (2002 and 2007). Known for his defense, as he was the D-Coordinator for 2 NFL teams (Giants and Patriots)… Groh will switch Tech to the 3-4 scheme employing the athleticism of a 4th LB in his base set. The expectation is that this will open up opportunities for more blitzes which will be key in a conference laden with talented veteran QBs (Christian Ponder, Jacory Harris, Tyrod Taylor, Kyle Parker).

The ACC projects to be one of, if not the, toughest conference in the country this year, so the Yellow Jacket schedule will be daunting. The Road Schedule is insanely difficult. And although the goal of a 2nd consecutive BCS bowl berth is attainable, having to play Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech and Georgia in 4 of their last 5 games might make simply achieving 8 wins a more realistic goal.

Key Returning Players:
QB Josh Nesbitt
RB Anthony Allen
WR Stephen Hill
FS Dominique Reese
DE Anthony Egbuniwe

Key Games:
Sept 11 - @ Kansas
Sept 18 - @ North Carolina
Oct 23 - @ Clemson
Nov 4 - @ Virginia Tech
Nov 13 - Miami (FL)
Nov 27 - @ Georgia