The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jackets seek a steadier course
Johnson emphasizing poise as way to reduce mistakes against Miami.
Poise: It’s not just for Miss Manners class anymore.
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson mentioned it several times during his weekly press conference ahead of Saturday’s game against Miami at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Assistant coaches and players later chimed in that the Yellow Jackets (3-1, 1-1 ACC) need to play with more poise to avoid repeating the mistake-filled performance in last week’s 26-7 loss to Clemson.
“You can’t play the game afraid to make a mistake,” Johnson said. “You just can’t. You’ve got to play. And you’ve got to go play and have confidence in your ability that you can play with those guys and that you can hang with them.”
The lack of poise sometimes shows in players moving at “warp speed” and missing blocks. Sometimes, it shows in players running to the wrong place or blocking the wrong man.
It showed in the offense’s start of last week’s game and continued with a poor early performance by the defense. That can’t happen against Hurricanes (3-0), who have abundant talent and have outscored Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic and Appalachian State by an aggregate 153-23.
Though beaten just once, Tech hasn’t inspired the same self-confidence as the Hurricanes. Against
Clemson, Tech’s offense produced minus-13 yards in its first two drives, while the defense again gave up a touchdown on its first drive for the third consecutive game.
By the end of the first quarter, the Jackets trailed 14-0 — that included Clemson missing a field goal — and 23-0 at the half.
Tech’s offense isn’t designed to come from far behind, especially when its bend-but-don’t-break defense typically absorbs a lot of the time of possession.
Johnson can’t put his finger on why the defense has given up touchdowns on opening drives. Defensive coordinator Ted Roof said the staff and players and have discussed it, but he declined to share details.
“When things don’t go well early, sometimes it’s panic,” Johnson said. “I tried to stress to our guys last week at the hotel on Thursday — everybody thinks it’s all these locker room speeches and come out and beat your head into the wall and, ‘Man, I’m fired up!’
“You’d better be poised and execute. All that stuff is gone after you get hit in the mouth a couple times.”
Johnson had an inkling that poise could be a problem during preseason Saturday morning scrimmages. He said whichever side — offense or defense — was on the wrong side of momentum often had difficulty gaining it back.
“If I had the answer, we wouldn’t do it, but I know it’s an issue,” Johnson said.
Quarterbacks and B-backs coach Bryan Cook said developing poise is a reflection of maturity, confidence, experience, trust and recognition. It sometimes takes time to develop such things.
Tech’s starting offensive lineup against Clemson featured two seniors — Justin Thomas and Freddie Burden — and five players who were redshirt sophomores or younger.
Cook said the coaching staff tries to place players in as many situations as possible during practice so that they aren’t surprised in games.
But guard Will Bryan said games naturally feel different with an amped-up atmosphere and emotions.
“You just have to relax and play your ball game like you know how to play it,” Bryan said.