As a sportswriter, much of the fuel for my analysis comes from the mistakes of the teams that I cover. But today, there just wasn’t much to criticize. On a perfect, 70-degree fall day, the Yellow Jackets had it kicking on all cylinders en route to a 38-7 dismantling of the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
From the opening kickoff, Tech seemed more active, precise and spirited. While these attributes are all indicative of a strong team playing at home, one other attribute shined through on the opening drive: resiliency. There wasn’t much adversity in this game but a little bit of it came when quarterback Josh Nesbitt pulled up with a hamstring injury after a 21-yard run. Before you could blink an eye, freshman Jaybo Shaw was in the game and running the offense. Three plays later Embry Peeples was in the end zone for Tech’s first touchdown.
Conventional wisdom says that the SEC’s other Bulldogs would have responded to that punch in the mouth with a couple strong jabs of their own, but it never happened. After a stalled drive, Shaw showed a little more resiliency with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas just as he was getting hit by a defender. “I didn’t even see him behind me. I was about to plant my feet and try to make a good throw. I got hit in the back and fortunately, I got it there. With [Thomas], throw it close and he’s going to catch it,” said Shaw of the play.
Tech’s defense, which will be outshined by the offense’s exploits, really got going after allowing the only big play of the day. Anthony Dixon took a handoff 71 yards to the Tech 9-yard line, but the Yellow Jackets stopped the Bulldogs at the 1-yard line before defensive end Michael Johnson blocked Adam Carlson’s field goal attempt. These stops were the theme of the day for a defense that gave up 407 yards on offense but stopped the Bulldogs four times in the red zone, including an interception by Morgan Burnett and a sack by Johnson. Also, Dixon’s run would have been a touchdown if he hadn’t been caught from behind by Jahi Word-Daniels, who also had an interception. “It was just a track race and I guess I was just faster than him,” said Word-Daniels.
Also, it’s worth noting the performance put on by Johnson. The senior defensive end made his pitch for a top-15 NFL draft pick today with a fumble recovery, a sack and a blocked field goal. What won’t show up in the stat book is that Johnson manhandled his assignment (sometimes assignments) and could have had about three more sacks.
However, the accolades go to the offense. I don’t think anyone expected a 500-yard performance (438 on the ground) against a team that held Auburn to three points last week. Add to that the fact that most of it came with a true freshman quarterback at the helm, and this is close to a shocker. Of course, it helps to have one of the nation’s best young backs in Jonathan Dwyer, who rushed nine times for 141 yards and a Tech record 88-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
As you can imagine, there is a lot that Tech can take from this game. They know that their offense works and that they can work it. They know that the defense can stop teams at home and on the road. They know that they have two viable options at quarterback. And they know that they can compete, at least on some levels, with the SEC, which will bode well as the season goes on and the team’s confidence grows. “We came in hungry,” said Dwyer. “We came off a loss to Virginia Tech, one of our ACC rivals, and then hearing all the SEC-ACC comments really motivates us.”
Crosskey can be reached at jcrosskey@scoreatl.com.
Loading ...
