Option no longer the offense being chosen
So ’Canes ‘D’ readying for new-look scheme from Georgia Tech
CORAL GABLES — Georgia Tech week for the Miami Hurricanes is usually one filled with a defensive emphasis on player assignments for defending the triple option and gap discipline.
The Yellow Jackets, however, are in their first season transitioning out of the option offense. Their architect for it the past 11 seasons, Paul Johnson, retired after 2018.
Georgia Tech has a new head coach in Geoff Collins and new offensive coordinator in Dave Patenaude, who has been implementing his spread scheme.
Miami (3-3, 1-2 ACC), which is starting N’Kosi Perry for a second straight week at quarterback, gets its first crack at the new-look Yellow Jackets (1-5, 0-3) in a noon kickoff Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.
“It’s definitely a relief now that they don’t do the things that they [did],” said senior linebacker Michael Pinckney, who enters 2-1 against the Yellow Jackets in his career as a four-year starter.
“We used to have to take an extra week to actually prepare for them guys. We did a good job adjusting to it, but they’ve got a new scheme. They’re in the spread and that’s something we like, and we’re going to prepare just as much we did with the triple option.”
But even though it may not be the same triple option everyone
has associated with Georgia Tech for the past decade, the Yellow Jackets’ roster is still flooded with athletes who were originally recruited there to play in that scheme. So it ends up being sort of a mix.
“What’s ironic is they still have option principles in their offense,” Miami coach Manny Diaz said.
Said UM defensive coordinator Blake Baker: “They still do triple option out of the spread, and I think they have a lot of team speed when you look at their skill positions and their quarterback. Those guys were obviously recruited to play the triple option, so those guys can run. We’ve got to do a good job [of ] making sure we know where they’re at and do a good job tackling when we get around them.”
Georgia Tech has run the ball on more than 60% of its offensive snaps, and that’s when it has been playing most of its games from behind. Redshirt freshman quarterback James Graham makes his third start after replacing Tobias Oliver.
Of course, any success the Yellow Jackets have on the ground will start with the effectiveness of their offensive line against Miami’s defensive front.
“They do a lot of different things,” said Hurricanes redshirt freshman defensive end Greg Rousseau, coming off a breakout game against Virginia in his first career start.
“They move around a lot. Those O-linemen are pretty athletic and used to chopping and moving a lot, so they play with high effort and they play with high intensity.”
The key for UM’s defensive line? “Just getting up the field and knowing your assignment,” said junior defensive tackle Jonathan Ford. “It’s nothing really tricky about it. As long as you penetrate up the field, the plays are going to come.”
Georgia Tech’s defense can also confuse opponents who aren’t adequately prepared.
“A lot of man coverage [and] they’re going to challenge a lot of throws,” Diaz said. “[There’s] a lot of twisting, blitzing, stunting by their front. They’re not a very static, stationary defense. It’s a challenge.
“They’re going to take away a lot of the easy-access throws and really try to challenge you to push it down the field, which then allows their rush to have a say in it.”
That sounds a lot like what Miami had trouble with early against Virginia Tech. When the Hokies took easy throws away from Jarren Williams, they intercepted him on the Hurricanes’ first three possessions and opened up a 28-0 lead.
Perry is confident the Hurricanes are up for the challenge.
“They play with a lot of effort and they’re a fast defense, but I’m not too worried about what they do,” said Perry, who had a career-high 422 yards and four touchdowns against Virginia Tech and then accounted for two touchdowns in a 17-9 win over No. 20 Virginia.
“It’s about us. I feel like if we win, [it’s because] we played good. And if we play bad, then we’re going to beat ourselves.”
Coming off that victory against a ranked opponent, Miami must guard against the belief it now has things figured out before facing a 1-5 opponent.
“Nobody has a book on how to prepare for success, like after you’ve had success,” Pinckney said. “But everybody’s got books on how to deal with failure and, I think, we’re in that position right now.
“I think it’s hard to deal with success. You beat a highly ranked team and you’re feeling good about yourself, and Georgia Tech, they’re just as good of a team. So we’ve got to come out and prepare like we prepared last week.”
Said Diaz: “It’s easy to look at their record and say, ‘Oh, it’s whatever.’ Not in this league. We know how this ACC Coastal is, and we know how our team is.
“There’s no easy wins. It’s hard to win a football game, and every game has to start with that understanding. We have not proven that we can handle that. That’s a big challenge for us this weekend.”