Georgia Football: Three Biggest Takeaways From Loss to Florida State
Georgia Tech went on the road to Florida State as massive underdogs on Saturday and was unable to keep the game close, losing 41-16.
Even though Georgia Tech was able to get a 3-0 lead after a Florida State turnover, it was all downhill from there. The defense allowed over 600 yards of total offense, the tackling on defense was terrible, the offensive line was getting pushed around, and as a result of the offensive line struggles, the offense was subpar.
The loss drops the Yellow Jackets to 3-5 heading into its game against Virginia Tech next week and a bowl game at this point is highly unlikely.
So what are the biggest takeaways from Georgia Tech's loss to Florida State yesterday?
3. The offensive line is preventing the offense from doing anything
The Georgia Tech offensive line is among the nation's worst
It is not a hot take that the Georgia Tech offensive line is not good, but it is at the point that the entire offense can't do anything because of how poor it is. Some of the blame can go on Brent Key, who has been coaching the offensive line for the last four years. There is nothing good to say about the unit.
The starting unit was Corey Robinson II, Paula Vaipulu, Weston Franklin, Joe Fusile, and Jordan Williams. True freshman Tyler Gibson did see some time today, as did William Lay III, and Pierce Quick.
The offense only had 24 yards at halftime and while I think some of the playcalling by Chip Long was not great, the offensive line was getting blown up and Florida State defenders were living in the backfield.
The bottom line is, if the line performs like this, Georgia Tech is not going to win another game for the last month of the season, even against a team as bad as Virginia Tech next week.
2. The defense was exposed
Florida State's offense was dominant against Georgia Tech on Saturday
Florida State's final offensive numbers included 642 total yards, 396 yards passing for Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis (a new career high), and 246 yards rushing. The Seminoles averaged nearly six yards per carry, 10.2 yards per pass attempt, and 16.5 yards per completion.
The tackling was a major issue for this team as well. As good as Charlie Thomas is, he had a 30% missed tackle rate on 42 run defense snaps according to PFF (Pro Football Focus) and that is a high number. Ace Eley had a 20% missed tackle rate and defensive backs K.J. Wallace and LaMiles Brooks each had 28.6%. Those numbers are not going to get it done from a run defense perspective.
The passing defense was the most disappointing, but not totally unexpected. While the passing defense has improved from last year, some of the better performances came against teams that are not great at throwing the ball (Virginia, Duke, and Pitt) and I thought there was a chance the good numbers might have been a bit fraudulent. I was hoping to see a good effort in this game against a good Florida State offense, but that was not the case.
The offense does the defense no favors by not being able to do anything, but this was more on the defense today, as opposed to last week vs Virginia.
The defense is better than last year but not as good as some might have thought, as evidenced by the performance today.
1. Zach Pyron showed some promise
True freshmen quarterback Zach Pyron showed some promise against Florida State
Zach Gibson got the start for the Yellow Jackets in this game but was taken out after the second drive. True freshman Zach Pyron was then inserted into the game and stayed in for the rest of the game. He was not perfect by any means, but he showed enough for fans to look forward to what he could become in the future.
It needs to be pointed out that this was an incredibly difficult spot for Pyron to be in. On the road against a good team with an offensive line that is not good is a tough position, but Pyron showed some resiliency.
For the game, Pyron was 18-28 for 198 yards and two total touchdowns. The most impressive drive was the first one after halftime and the Yellow Jackets recovered the onside kick. Pyron was 2-3 for 42 yards and hit E.J. Jenkins for a touchdown to make the game 24-10.
I am not sure how much Pyron will play the rest of the season because I am sure the coaching staff would prefer to keep his redshirt. Jeff Sims might be back and with this offensive line, Sims is the better option because of his ability to move around and escape in the pocket.
The true freshmen showed some promise and some fight in the second half and will be a guy to keep an eye on in the future.
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