Tarheels Trounce Georgia Tech
Tech’s Offense Finally Comes Alive in 2nd Half…..But Defense Struggles the Entire Game in 38-22 Loss
Tech Coach Geoff Collins said his team must play better situational football.
Georgia Tech took the field Saturday as a 10.5 point underdog at home to a 2-3 UNC team that had lost narrowly to top-ranked Clemson a week earlier. For reasons unclear, there seemed to be mild optimism on the part of the Tech faithful, perhaps based on Tech’s history of success vs the Tarheels at Bobby Dodd Stadium, 19-8 all-time. Or maybe it was the fact that Tech’s defense had been their strength so far in 2019 and the secondary had been the best part of that defense.
Whatever the reason , Tarheel freshman quarterback Sam Howell wasn’t buying it. Howell strafed the Tech defense for 376 yards and 4 scores, hitting on 33 of his 51 throws. And it could have been worse. Tech intercepted him once and sacked him once, but that was not nearly enough to calm the storm. In fact, Howell and his receiving mates simply missed connections on 5 deep balls. On those plays, was a drop and several overthrows. any one of which would have made the gaping winning margin even wider.
Tech LB David Curry said there’s no room for fingerpointing
The irony here is that just when Tech’s defense had an unexpectedly bad day, their normally dormant offense finally awakened in the 3rd quarter. Chasing a 17-0 halftime deficit, QB James Graham hit Malachi Carter for a 28 yard touchdown. This score broke a dry spell of 7 quarters of play since the Jackets last scored a touchdown. Carter’s score came just after a missed 39 yard field goal attempt by the ‘Heels Noah Ruggles and for a moment , there was a faint hope that the bigger battle had been joined. However, Howell struck again minutes later, finding Dyami Brown for an 18 yard score just seconds into the 4th quarter to restore Carolina’s lead to 17 points. James Graham was able to direct Tech’s offense to 2 more 4th quarter touchdowns including a 32 yard pass to Ahmarean Brown. But UNC likewise produced 2 more touchdowns, as the Tech defenders had no answer for Howell and mates on this day. Yhe visitors’ ground game was productive as well. Javonte Williams gained 149 yards on 20 carries and the Tarheels totalled 211 yards on the ground on 46 carries.
The Tarheels’ dominance was even more evident on the stat sheet. They ran 44 more plays than did Tech.They outgained the Jackets overall 587 yards to 321. They garnered 34 first downs to Tech’s 14, and as has become common, they dominated time of possession by almost 14 minutes. Most glaring was their conversion rate on 3rd down, 11 of 19, vs Tech’s 4 of 11.
Georgia Tech quarterback James Graham led the Jackets to three 2nd half scores.
Graham finished the day 11 of 24 with 2 scores and 2 interceptions. He was handed the keys to the offense for this game, and it took a while, but his team ultimately responded with their best offensive production of the season, albeit all of it in the 2nd half.
And so, there were some positives. As of game 5, Collins and his coaches have settled on Graham as the starter at quarterback. The continuity provided by that decision should bear fruit. At the same time, in order to get that elusive 2nd win, the Yellow Jackets need to put together a compleat game, one in which all phases show out well.
Tech’s path does not get any easier. They have 6 consecutive ACC games followed by their traditional November date with UGA.
Coming up:
Georgia Tech visits Raleigh to take on Duke on October 12. North Carolina has a bye week before traveling to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech on October 19.