Tech Takes A Tumble in Tampa
Yellow Jackets Fade Late in Frustrating 49-38 Loss to USF
Tampa Florida is known for being hot, humid and hospitable. While there was plenty of heat and humidity on this early September Saturday, the hospitality was lacking at Raymond James Stadium for the visiting team, as Georgia Tech fell 49-38 to host University of South Florida. This game was a to-and-fro shootout that looked and felt like it should have ended differently for the visitors. “You make your own luck” noted Tech Coach Paul Johnson ruefully after watching his team drop the game with a late fade.
Any loss hurts, but the pain gets sharper when victory is at hand and then slips away. That was the case on Saturday. And while there were several factors that worked against Tech (injuries, loss of 2 defensive key players to targeting calls, an untimely vague holding call) the truth is that all 3 phases for Tech-offense, defense and special teams– failed to execute when it mattered most and thus cost them a win.
Consider: Tech generated over 600 yards of offense, including 183 through the air. They held the ball well over 35 minutes. They clamped down effectively on USF’s best receiver, holding Randy St Felix to 3 catches for 23 yards. Tech’s defense under DC Nate Woody got 5 tackles for loss..
And yet— it was the Bulls who overcame a late 10 point deficit and pulled away with 21 points in the 4th quarter to secure the victory.
How does that occur? Often the statistics can tell the story, but in this game the 1st quarter foretold the quirkiness that was to come. Tech gained 210 yards in the first stanza, including 99 in the air. They had the ball over 10 minutes, yet led by only 3, because Bulls’ freshman wideout/returner Terence Horne brought back successive Tech kickoffs for scores to keep USF in the game early. Paul Johnson said he’d never seen that happen in 40 years. Some quick research put forth that this was the 25th time in NCAA history that the same player ran back consecutive kickoffs for scores. I don’t know how many teams were able to overcome that feat and still win –but probably very few.
The game’s early stages featured more to-and-fro than a ping-pong match in a rubber room . Tech started the scoring with a 35 yard Brenton King field goal following an interception by DB Tariq Carpenter on the Bulls’ opening possession. From that point. the game’s next eight scores resulted in lead changes, and it felt as though the win would ultimately go to the team that broke serve in that pattern. So when Georgia Tech scored twice in succession in the 2nd half to build a 10 point lead, it seemed as though the game would tilt their way.
Not so.
Following a Bulls’ touchdown to draw back to within 3, the game decisively turned on 2 Tech miscues. The first was a fumble by A back Qua Searcy inside USF’s 15-yard line recovered by LB Nico Sawtelle at the Bulls’ 12. The home team drove quickly down the field and scored to take the lead on a 19 yard run by QB Blake Barnett.
Tech’s situation then became dire when TaQuan Marshall’s arm was hit as he threw, resulting in an interception, this too by Nico Sawtelle. With a short field, the Bulls again took prompt advantage with 5 play, 18-yard drive ending in another Barnett TD, this one a 5-yarder, to cap the scoring. Tech’s last-gasp possession ended inside the Bulls 10 on a no-gain run play.
A notable positive for Tech was the play of back-up QB Tobias Oliver who came into the game after Marshall was sidelined with a toe injury. Tobias performed well, taking the offense on several extended drives and scoring 3 TD’s himself. Oliver was pulled in the 4th quarter once it became necessary for Tech to throw, as Marshall had been cleared to play and is
Another casualty came when KirVonte Benson went out early with a lower body injury. He did not return and was ably replaced by freshman backup Jordan Mason who tallied 96 yards on 13 carries for the day.
Two additional important players were lost to Tech for the game after being called for targeting . DB Tariq Carpenter, who intercepted Blake Barnett in the game’s opening minutes, was called for targeting moments later as he assisted on a tackle. Tech absorbed the 15 yard penalty and Carpenter was ejected from the game. In the 4th quarter, LB David Curry encountered the same fate, also while assiting in a tackle.
Its impossible to measure the direct effect of those penalty calls on the defense. But USF ended the contest with 3 successive 4th quarter touchdown drives. The new Tech defense did not acquit itself well here, as none of these drives took more than 2 and a half minutes. That scene conjured up sad memories of last season’s late losses to Miami and Virginia. Again the trend was one of failing to make a big play at the most vital moment.
It all added up to a disappointing loss to a non-conference foe. The full significance of this loss won’t be known for weeks, but Tech must focus now on its ACC opener in Pittsburgh next week. QB TaQuan Marshall noted that if Tech achieves its goals by winning the Coastal Division, Saturday’s loss will be but a faint memory. His assessment rings truetheand there seems good promise to this team, but key failures in big moments–in all facets of the game–will have to be eliminated for the Jackets to achieve those heights.