The young Yellow Jackets learned a painful, yet powerful lesson in the 38-3 loss to Louisiana State; games can end in an instant. Tech’s hopes of a 10-win season plummeted along with the paper airplanes thrown by disgruntled fans—not when LSU launched a bruising opening drive for touchdown, but during a period in the second quarter when LSU started drives in Jacket territory after a muffed punt and a failed fake punt. Both drives ended in touchdowns and Tech was down 28-3 before their fifth play in the quarter. That may not seem like a complete turning point in the game, but the magic never seemed to return for a Tech team that was pushed around on defense while the offense waited for an opportunity that never materialized.
While LSU only held a 214-157 advantage in first half yards, you got the sense the Tigers were up by much more. LSU controlled the short fields that were given to them by their special teams and got three touchdowns from Charles Scott (4, 2 and 1 yards). They also got a 17-yard touchdown from Keiland Williams. Scott’s 65 yards were punishing ones up the middle that seemed to steal momentum from Tech throughout the half. “We messed up on a lot of plays, missed assignments, missed communications,” said safety Morgan Burnett, who led the team with 14 tackles. “You have to give them credit. They came out ready to play; they looked like a defending national championship team.”
When they weren’t being run over by the Scott, they were being carved up with surgical precision by quarterback Jordan Jefferson. The young signal caller became a star, completing 11-of-12 passes in the first half for 121 yards and a touchdown. His performance earned him offensive MVP honors.
The Yellow Jackets, on the other hand, held the ball for five possessions in the first half. The one possession of note was a drive that ended at the LSU 7 but only resulted in a Scott Blair field goal. Tech didn’t fare much better in the second half as they drove down to the LSU 10 before cornerback Chris Hawkins forced a Josh Nesbitt fumble, which was recovered by Kirston Pittman. Jonathan Dwyer had flashes of his ACC Player of the Year prowess, including a 39-yard run in the fourth quarter, but found himself bottled up often by LSU’s defense. Afterwards, several LSU defenders gave praise to their scout team for properly preparing them for the triple option.
With a 35-3 halftime lead, you would have expected LSU to coast a little; instead they kept pushing. The Tigers drove to the goal line before Tech stopped them on four downs, a lone bright spot for the Yellow Jackets “We weren’t looking at stats, we didn’t look at the score. It was more like a gut check,” said Burnett.
LSU also showed a bit of aggression when, with game in hand, it successfully completed a fake punt. Brady Delfrey ‘s 21-yard pass to Chad Jones was met with a chorus of boos, but defensive end Michael Johnson had a different take: “I’m a competitor. I probably would have done it too.”
MOVING ON
Tech, aside from the defensive line, is very young. The Jackets learned today that there is a tremendous difference between coming back in a rivalry game and coming back in a major bowl game. Now that the triple option (as well as established players Dwyer, Jones, Burnett, and Morgan) aren’t going to catch anybody by surprise, coach Paul Johnson will have to commence coaching up a team with high expectations and eyeballs watching. Tech’s ability to put the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl in the rear view is critical.
Said Dwyer after the game, “All you can do is take this as a learning experience.”
Crosskey can be reached at jcrosskey@scoreatl.com.
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