Georgia Tech Football: Grading The Offense After Victory Over Pittsburgh
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Georgia Tech is now 2-3 after a win on the road against Pittsburgh and the offense scored the most points that they have against an FBS opponent since scoring 30 on Boston College last year.
However, despite the win, this offense has plenty to work on. They left some points on the field by settling for four field goals and the passing game is still not great.
The good news is that Hassan Hall had his best game as a Yellow Jacket, gaining over 160 yards on the ground and providing the offense with the big plays it has been lacking for most of the first five weeks.
So how did each position on the offense grade out for Georgia Tech?
Quarterback: C-
Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Sims made plays with his legs last night
At halftime of this game, this grade was an F. Sims struggled to throw the ball all game, and several of his throws should have been intercepted. He was careless with the ball and got bailed out by Pittsburgh's defensive backs being unable to catch anything.
However, Sims made plays in the second half and gave great effort. He was blocking for his teammates down the field and made plays with his legs, including the touchdown that sealed the deal. His touchdown throw to E.J. Jenkins helped lift the team and in the end, Sims got the win.
Going 11-26 for 102 yards is not going to win you many football games in the future though. Sims has to make better decisions for this offense to be better.
Running Backs: A
Hassan Hall had one of the best games of his career vs Pittsburgh on Saturday
This might have been the game where Hall takes over as the top back on Georgia Tech's offense. Hall finished with 157 yards on 20 carries and averaged 7.8 yards per carry.
His biggest play of the night was right after Georgia Tech got the ball back after Pitt had scored to make it 19-14. Hall had a big gain to get the Yellow Jackets in Pitt territory and then Sims had a touchdown run to seal the game. Hall has shown he can be explosive in this offense and today was his best game as a Yellow Jacket.
Dontae Smith and Dylan McDuffie combined for only 4 yards on three carries. It will be interesting to see how the backfield duties are split up going forward and how much Smith and McDuffie contribute after Hall's performance last night.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: D
Georgia Tech's wide receivers struggled against Pitt on Saturday night
The passing game as a whole struggled and while Sims was making mistakes with where he went with the ball, the receivers could not get any separation and make plays like they did last week.
E.J. Jenkins led the way in terms of yardage, with two catches for 54 yards on six targets. Nate McCollum led the team in targets with seven and hauled in three of them for 24 yards. Malachi Carter had one catch for five yards.
The tight ends have not done much this year in terms of receiving and that continued on Saturday. Dylan Leonard had three catches for 15 yards and that was it from that position.
This group needs more, but it is fair to say that Sims has to play better as well.
Offensive Line: F
There is just not anything good to say about this unit. Pittsburgh has a really good defensive line, but allowing four sacks, six quarterback hits, and 11 tackles for loss is unacceptable. Sims was under duress all game and that may have contributed to some of his questionable decision making. The good news is that Georgia Tech is not going to see a talented defensive line until they play Florida State. However, if they play that bad again, it won't matter who they play.
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