Georgia Tech Football: Grading the Defensive Units in win Over Duke
After getting three turnovers vs Pitt in the upset win, Georgia Tech's defense was going to have to stop a Duke offense that had been playing well heading into last Saturday's game and they answered the call.
The defense turned in what was perhaps the best performance of the season, holding to Duke to under 300 total yards and stopping their ground game, which had been one of the ACC's best heading into the year. The only time Duke drove the field on Georgia Tech was when they had help from the officials on the last drive. It was another good performance for the defense and hopefully it will be one of many going forward.
So how did each unit grade out from Saturday? Let's take a look.
Defensive Line: A
Georgia Tech's defensive line helped stopped the Duke rushing attack
The defensive line totaled 1.5 sacks in the game, with one coming from Kyle Kennard, a half sack from Sylvain Yondjouen, and one from Makius Scott. Kennard led the unit in tackles with four and was followed by Noah Collins (3).
The defensive line did a pretty good job of holding their rushing lanes and not letting Duke quarterback Riley Leonard escape the pocket. Leonard is an effective scrambler and was the second leading rusher on Duke heading into the game vs Georgia Tech, but he was ineffective in the game on Saturday and the defensive line should get a fair amount of credit for that.
Overall, this was another good performance from the defensive line after their game against Pitt.
Linebackers: A
Georgia Tech's linebackers continue to be impressive each week
It is not surprising, but the linebackers had another good game on defense and it is something that I have just come to expect from both Charlie Thomas and Ace Eley.
Eley lead the team in tackles with nine, but he also contributed on a sack and had two quarterback hits. Eley leads the team in tackles this season with 65 and he is second on the team in sacks with 3.5.
Thomas had seven tackles, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit, and a pass breakup. Thomas is the best player on the defense and plays well every time that he is on the field.
Secondary: A
The secondary held Duke to a below average passing game
The secondary for Georgia Tech was pretty impressive against Duke on Saturday. The Blue Devils don't have a high powered passing attack, but they could not get anything going on Saturday against the Yellow Jackets.
One guy that stood out was true freshmen Clayton Powell-Lee. He was making his first career start and had a solid game. He was second on the team in tackles with eight and he seemed to be in the right position during the game. Powell-Lee is going to see plenty of playing time with Jaylon King out for the year and hopefully he can build on this game going forward.
K.J. Wallace is the other guy I want to highlight here. Wallace had an interception to go along with three tackles and has been a good contributor in his first season as a Yellow Jacket.
Overall, a good performance for everyone in the secondary, but Wallace and Powell-Lee caught my eye and as young players, they should only get better.
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