2011 Season Preview: Georgia Tech players to watch, history and trends

Our analysis on the starters, top backups, history and trends for Georgia Tech when Clemson hits the road to Atlanta on October 29…

2010 Record: 6-7 (4-4 ACC, third in the Coastal)

2011 Georgia Tech Schedule

Sept. 1 WESTERN CAROLINA

Sept. 10 at Middle Tennessee

Sept. 17 KANSAS

Sept. 24 NORTH CAROLINA

Oct. 1 at NC State

Oct. 8 MARYLAND

Oct. 15 at Virginia

Oct. 22 at Miami

Oct. 29 CLEMSON

Nov. 10 VIRGINIA TECH

Nov. 19 at Duke

Nov. 26 GEORGIA

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson has won three of his four meetings with Dabo Swinney's Tigers, but all close wins with an average margin just over four points per game. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Coach: Paul Johnson (71-43 career record, 17-8 against ACC [3-1 vs. Clemson], fourth year at Georgia Tech).

Offense (2010 ranks): Spread option (Total offense: 36th/Rush offense: 1st/Pass offense: 119th)

Defense (2010 ranks): 3-4 (Total defense: 64th/Rush defense: 78th/Pass defense: 34th).

2010 Special Team Ranks: Net punting – 114th/Kickoff returns – 97th/Punt returns – 97th/Punt return yardage defense – 98th/Kick return yardage defense – 11th.

2010 Misc. stats: Turnover margin – 86th/Fewest penalties – 74th/First downs – 50th/First downs allowed – 60th/Third down efficiency – 98th/Red zone efficiency – 28th/Red zone defense – 22nd/Time of possession – 21st.

Outgoing starters: 12

2011 Starters (2010 stats)

Returning Offense (7)

RB: A-back - Orwin Smith (Junior, 516 rushing yards/4 TD/195 rec. yards); A-back - Roddy Jones (Senior, 353 rushing yards/4 TD [3 rushing, 1 receiving]/119 rec. yards).

WR: Tyler Melton (Senior, 6 catches/99 rec. yards/1 TD); Stephen Hill (Junior, 15 catches/291 rec. yards/3 TD).

O-line: RG Omoregie Uzzi (Junior, 6-3 300/13 starts); LG Will Jackson (Sophomore, 6-3 285/9 starts); LT Phil Smith (Junior, 6-5 287/12 starts).

New Projected Starters (4)

QB: Tevin Washington (Junior, 514 rushing yards/417 passing yards/41% cmp/6 TD [Four rushing/two passing])/Synjyn Days (Redshirt freshman, 6-1 205).

RB: B-back Charles Perkins (Redshirt freshman, 6-0 202)/Richard Watson (Junior, 32 rushing yards)/Preston Lyons (Senior, 60 rushing yards).

O-line: C Jay Finch (Sophomore, 6-3 283/3 starts); RT Tyler Kidney (Redshirt sophomore, 6-2 262).

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said Tevin Washington was the man to beat at QB after spring football, but a five-turnover spring game for Washington and the strong play of redshirt freshman Synjyn Days will make fall camp interesting. (AP Photo/Charles Smith)

Outlook: Towards the tail end of last season, Johnson’s Jackets were forced to give sophomore Tevin Washington an early run at the QB spot after senior Josh Nesbitt was injured at Virginia Tech on an early November Thursday night. Washington was unspectacular with a 1-3 record in the four starts down the stretch – finishing with a 41 percent completion rate and six total touchdowns. Johnson said he had a strong spring though, but five turnovers in the Georgia Tech spring game make you wonder how safe his spot is at QB going into fall camp. Add to that, redshirt freshman Synjyn Days had a day at GT’s spring game with two touchdowns – and without the turnovers.

The Georgia Tech triple option attack will be anchored by A-backs Orwin Smith and Roddy Jones on the wings. Behind the QB, Johnson said B-back will be a rotation of players including senior Preston Lyons, junior Richard Watson and more.

Two upperclassmen man the wide receiver slots in senior Tyler Melton and junior Stephen Hill. Folks have expected big things from Hill as an heir apparent to NFL WR Demaryius Thomas, someone who thrived in this system, but he’s yet to deliver on those expectations.

The Yellow Jackets offensive line features no seniors, but does have three starters back with both guards and a tackle.

Returning Defense (5)

D-line: DE Jason Peters (Senior, 1.5 sacks/5 TFL/52 tackles); DT Logan Walls (Senior, 23 tackles); DE Izaan Cross (Junior, 2.5 sacks/6.5 TFL/41 tackles).

LB: SLB Steven Sylvester (Senior, 60 tackles/10.5 TFL/3 sacks); ILB Julian Burnett (Junior, 89 tackles/2 TFL/1 INT);

New Projected Starters (6)

LB: ILB Quayshawn Nealy (Redshirt freshman); WLB Jeremiah Attaochu (Sophomore, 23 tackles/4 TFL/3 sacks).

DB: Rod Sweeting (Junior, 1 INT/38 tackles/7 PBU); Rashaad Reid (Senior, 12 tackles); Isaiah Johnson (Sophomore, 46 tackles/3 TFL/1 INT); Louis Young (Sophomore, 10 tackles).

Georgia Tech linebacker Julian Burnett (40) is the Yellow Jackets' leading returning tackler in GT defensive coordinator Al Groh's 3-4 scheme. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Outlook: Georgia Tech enters year two of Yellow Jackets defensive coordinator Al Groh’s 3-4 system and return their entire three-man crew on the line. The stats aren’t gaudy for any of them, but they’ll be a year more learned in Groh’s system.

Their top two returning tacklers reside in the four-linebacker part of the rotation in junior Julian Burnett and senior Steven Sylvester. Redshirt freshman Quayshawn Nealy had a monster spring game with eight tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery and two passes broken up.

The Jackets lost all four starters from the secondary, but aren’t starting completely fresh at defensive back – the top four listed on the depth chart each played in a double-digit number of games in 2010.

Returning Kicker/Punter (1)

P: Sean Poole (Sophomore, 39.3 yards per punt).

New Projected Starters (1)

PK: Justin Moore (Sophomore).

Outlook: Georgia Tech is set at punter with Sean Poole, but had their share of adventures finding a replacement for three-year starter Scott Blair this spring. Yellow Jackets’ kickers were 0-for-3 on the spring game with misses from 28, 47 and 49-yards. Sophomore Justin Moore was listed atop the depth chart when all was said and done – he had five kickoffs last season.

Notable Backups (2010 stats)

RB: A-back Embry Peeples (Senior, 287 rushing yards/2 TD [one rushing, one receiving]/66 rec. yards).

Highlights of the Clemson vs GT game

With commentary by Pete Yanity and Will ...

Clemson/Georgia Tech recent history: After three losses in two seasons to Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson, Dabo Swinney finally got on the scoreboard with a dominating 27-13 win in Death Valley last season. Clemson RB Andre Ellington rushed for a career high 166 yards – with three touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving).

The Yellow Jackets and Tigers met twice in 2009 with a game in Atlanta and in the ACC Championship Game in Tampa, Florida. In the ATL matchup, Georgia Tech jumped out to a 24-0 lead and Clemson battled back with 27 unanswered points to take a 27-24 advantage with 11:33 to go in the fourth quarter. Tiger-killer Scott Blair (9/11 on FGs in three seasons against Clemson) knocked in 34-and-36 yarders for the 30-27 Jackets win. In the ACC Championship Game, it was C.J. Spiller vs. a well-oiled GT spread option machine – Spiller racked up 301 total yards and four touchdowns, but the Jackets’ O countered with 469 total yards with three TDs on the ground and one through the air (coupled with four Scott Blair FGs) for the 39-34 win.

Clemson players versus…Georgia Tech: With three games against them in the last two seasons, quite a few Tigers have racked up the stats versus the Yellow Jackets.

RB Andre Ellington accounted for three touchdowns against Georgia Tech with two rushing and one receiving TD and 257 total yards on the game. In his career against the Jackets, Ellington has rushed for 250 yards – returned kicks for 116 yards and scored four touchdowns.

Notable among the receivers, DeAndre Hopkins caught four passes for 50 yards, Jaron Brown had three for 39, Dwayne Allen has two for 19 over the course of two games and Marquan Jones caught one for 37 yards back in 2009.

Kicker Chandler Catanzaro was good for two of his three attempts last season – hitting from 38 and 21-yards with a miss from 29. In two games, punter Dawson Zimmerman had one to forget in his debut against GT in 2009 with five punts for a 32.2 yard per average – didn’t get an opportunity to play in the high-scoring ACC Championship Game, and improved to a 39.5 average on two punts last season.

Dabo's postgame comments on defeat of GT

DE Malliciah Goodman had a career game in Death Valley last year with nine tackles (one for loss) and a pass breakup (has 13 tackles against GT in his career).

Safety Jonathan Meeks put up seven tackles with a pass breakup last season, and linebackers Quandon Christian and Corico Hawkins posted five tackles each as well. Career-wise, DE Andre Branch has 13 and DT Brandon Thompson has nine tackles against the Jackets.

Trends: Before last year’s 27-13 Clemson win, Georgia Tech had won by an average of 4.3 points in the three previous meetings. The Jackets topped 300 yards rushing in the two wins in 2009, but the Tigers held them to 242 on the ground and 6-for-19 passing for 83 yards in last season’s loss. After an 8-3 mark in road games in ’08 and ’09, Georgia Tech finished 2-4 in 2010. Paul Johnson’s Jackets are 6-1 in October road games.

2010 Schedule/Results

Sept. 4 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE – W 41-10

Sept. 9 at Kansas – L 28-25

Sept. 18 at North Carolina – W 30-24

Sept. 25 NC STATE – L 45-28

Oct. 2 at Wake Forest

Oct. 9 VIRGINIA – W 33-21

Oct. 16 MIDDLE TENNESSEE ST. – W 42-14

Oct. 23 at Clemson – L 27-13

Nov. 4 at Virginia Tech – L 28-21

Nov. 13 MIAMI – L 35-10

Nov. 20 DUKE – W 30-20

Nov. 27 at Georgia – L 42-34

Dec. 27 AIR FORCE – L 14-7

O&W 2011 Season Preview

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