How much sting do the Yellow-Jackets have left?

Georgia Tech has undergone massive schematic turnover this off-season. That’s good news for us and anyone else who catches the Rambling Wreck in September. But what does Gah.Tech have back? How good is GT and how long does it take GT to find their game in 2008? Or is that really code for they do not find their game until 2009?

(readers note: each team will be ranked both overall in the ACC, and inside their division. Their overall ACC ranking is #), the divisional ranking is the order in which they appear top to bottom in their division)

  • Atlantic:
  • 9) Maryland
  • 10) NC.State
  • Coastal:
  • 8) Georgia Tech (tie)
  • 8) Miami
  • 11) france
  • 12) Duke

8th Georgia Tech (tied with Miami), Georgia Tech: 4 back on offense, 4 back on defense, zero specialists return.

Inexperience? “Not so fast my friends.” That’s what most see when they see the 2008 Georgia Tech Yellow-Jackets. “Yes”, does GT return the least starters in the entire ACC, but they also return the second most lettermen in the entire ACC. So GT is not quite as sophomoric as one would expect. But GT did switch both offensive and defensive schemes, that is code for suffering from the proverbial learning-curve early on. But I for one really like these play-calling changes and the coaching talent GT has imported. Though it will take time to see the improvements emerge, and it might just take you until the fall of 2009 to see what I mean.

On offense the Rambling Wreck is loaded with high school very highly touteds (VHT). On paper their backfields average ranking out of high school is 27th. Ours (VT’s) via direct comparison is 47th. So GT does have some real game-breakers in it’s backfield that will now run the old Naval Academy triple-option wishbone attack. Now, how’s this for a refreshing approach? Guess how many pages are in Head Coach Paul Johnson (who has hired himself to be his offensive coordinator) playbook? If you said “zero” you are a true-blue D-1 college football insider. If I asked you “How many Coach of the Year awards does Paul Johnson already own?” How many of you would say “four?”. In other words…the first-best Head Coach in the ACC just might currently reside in the ATL. Coach Johnson fields 5 upperclassmen starters on his now light-weight and mobile OLine.  In fact the GT OLine is one of only two ACC OLines to have only one player north of 300lbs. The other team? Wake Forrest; who also runs a lot of Option and Counter based plays. Ergo, while there will be some misQ’s and mistakes early on, I fully expect GT to be a top-2 rushing ACC football team for the final 6 games of 2008, very likely lead by super-Soph and VHT (5th best Rb out of H.S.) Jonathan Dwyer (#21 on the above right). Pass catching is decent, but pivot Josh Nesbitt is a runner first, and he ran well enough last year to place 3rd in GT rushing yardage for 2007 despite only playing about 5 full games as snaps taken go.

On defense GT easily enjoys the services of the best De in the ACC, and very possibly the best De in all of D-1 college football in one Michael Johnson (see pic on right). To take that a step further, several pre-season college football magazines have anointed GT as having the best DLine in the whole darn ACC. The GT DLine is very tall, athletic, strong and mobile. That’s no bad skill-set. That’s great news, as the one true weakness on the GT stop-unit is clearly its cadre of all-underclassmen Lb’s and the fact that the Yellow-Jackets only return one starter in their secondary. That’s a very very new-car smelling hind-7 on defense. They are all speedy, quick to the ball pursuit oriented players, and GT does enjoy two fringe all-conference starters in its secondary. But GT will only go as far as its underclassmen starting LB’s take them.

 Gah.Tech ballers who could start at V.Tech: De Michael Johnson, Dt Vance Walker, Dt Darryl Richard, right-Ot Andrew Gardner, Rb Jonathan Dwyer, Ss Morg Burnett, Wr Demaryius Thomas.

GT’s schedule is front-loaded, and rear-loaded. As the Rambling Wreck must travel to play at BC, then come to Blacksburg in week two and week three respectively. Then GT closes with Miami of Florida at home, and a visit down between the fabled hedges to play in-state rival Georgia. If GT can somehow go 2-2 out of those bookend back-to-backs, GT is your surprise team in the ACC for 2008. That typed, 1-3 is the best I can see, and o-4 is very much in play. If GT second layer defense grows up fact, GT might just back into a 2008 bowl bid, if not they are a 5-6 win team that might just be the 2009 ACC Coastal favorite. b’street