Halfway Home In 2021
The third year of Geoff Collins’ tenure at Georgia Tech is precisely halfway complete (unless Tech changes that math by gaining a bowl berth that would likely come with a 6th victory). At the season’s midpoint, there has been plenty to excite Tech fans. There’s also been plenty to worry about in the manner of an overall lack of consistency in team performance- including players and coaches.
The team has been consistent only in its inconsistency, alternating wins with losses through each of the first half dozen. And inside that trend, there are even more ups and downs, not only with game results, but from quarter to quarter, or even play to play. A disheartening opening loss to Northern Illinois was followed by a workmanlike win over Kennesaw State. An “encouraging” loss to Clemson was followed by a rousing Saturday night win over then -ranked UNC– which was then followed by a thorough whipping by Pitt. And finally, in their most recent game, there was a harrowing last-minute win over a only moderately talented Duke team.
The Duke win seemed like a microcosm of the entire first half of the year. Collins’ troops’ performance in Durham was like the proverbial little girl with little curl in the middle of her forehead. When they were good, they were very, very good but when they were bad, they were horrid.
Supporters and optimists will say,” Hey, a win is a win!”. Detractors and pessimistic types might point out that Tech has a better, deeper roster than Duke, and that the win should have been by a much more comfortable margin.
Here are a few observations:
1) Tech’s overall record is about where most predicted– right at .500 through six games, though flipping the loss to NIU and the win over UNC was most predicted.
2) The Yellow Jacket offense is better overall, though the O line play has been shaky, leading to a drop off in the run game so far. The high ceiling of QB Jeff Sims has been clear to see– in glimpses. He also is still given to somewhat spectacular mistakes, especially with errant throws. His backup QB is Jordan Yates (putting aside for a moment Collins’ “ATL” system in which he does not formally designate “first- string” names, ostensibly to boost overall readiness among other roster members). Yates played in the first three games and his game could be described as producting fewer ups and fewer downs-in a word, safer–but also less dangerous to opposing defenses. It must be remembered that Jeff Sims is a sophomore who has only about 15 games total under his belt.
3) Tech’s defense seemed likewise improved, at least through the win over UNC, in which they morphed (momentarily as it turned out) into the ’86 Chicago Bears, generating sacks and turnovers all over the place. However, since then they’ve had two games where they looked porous and confused, and bereft of effective in-game adjustments. They gave up over 500 yards to Pitt (not shocking, really) and almost did it again against Duke (very disappointing). Inside the defense, the linebacker play has been solid, but the play of the D-line and the secondary has been highly variable, often from possession to possession.
4) Special teams play has been an overall upgrade on 2020. Nobody expected the departure of star punter Presley Harvin to be painless, but newcomer David Shanahan has played well, with the occasional hiccup. Gavin Stewart’s kickoff work has been quietly stellar. It’s a rare moment anymore that Tech fans hold their breath as the opposing team returns a kickoff (channeling the USF game in Tampa under CPJ, anyone?) And PK Brent Cimaglia has brought some stability to field goal chances. After a rough debut vs NIU, Cimaglia has been fairly reliable. When he hit a field goal vs Duke to earn his 7th make of the season, he surpassed Tech’s total number of made field goals over the past TWO seasons combined (6). Admittedly, that’s a pretty low bar (pun intended), but the point is, things are better in his department.
5) Coaching- simply put, the jury is still out on Geoff Collins and Company. They achieved only 3 wins in each of the first two years. That’s a low standard. With only one more win this year, they will have evidence of tangible progress and will earn more time.
One thing is clear– they can recruit. Tech’s roster has far more big, tall, fast people than it did 3 years ago. And Collins emphasizes continued development of all who arrive. His players are still buying what he is selling. And it is refreshing to many that Collins takes many of the negatives for recruiting at Tech and turns them into positives, selling the school and the city to potential Yellow Jackets and families..
But there is not yet confidence among fans that these coaches can maximize the results that a “better” roster would be expected to bring. In fact, some say the crazy ebb and flow of results ( plain old wins and losses) is evidence that the staff cannot make the most of what they’ve got to work with. Put another way, if a better roster doesn’t ultimately produce a better record, then recruiting itself is not the only hindrance.
In reality, it’s too early to say and the rest of this very month of October 2021 will do much to show out those capabilities. In particular, the offensive line is a place where Collins’ recruiting has not yet borne fruit. A somewhat similar situation holds on the D line. In today’s college football world, those are the two areas where stability is born.
That’s it on your halftime break. Now on to the second half of the 2021 season. Georgia Tech faces Virginia this weekend in Charlottesville. Game on.
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports