The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Marshall joins AP’s rankings at 25th while Miami rises to 12th
A week before Big Ten teams become eligible again for the Associated Press college football poll, No. 25 Marshall is ranked for the first time since 2014 and Miami jumped to No. 12 after an ACC road win.
Clemson remained a nearly unanimous No. 1 after another light week. The rest of the top 10 was basically unchanged. No. 2 Alabama received one first-place vote. Oklahoma was No. 3, followed by Georgia, Florida and LSU. The defending champion Tigers also received a first-place vote.
A season disrupted by the coronavirus cranks up this week. The SEC, which has eight teams ranked, kicks off. The ACC and Big 12 have full slates of games.
Reviewing good and bad in Georgia Tech’s loss,
After the giddy excitement created by Georgia Tech’s comeback win over Florida State, the Yellow Jackets couldn’t take the next step against Central Florida in a 49-21 defeat at Bobby Dodd Stadium. That said, it wasn’t all bad for Tech, which was seeking its first win over a top15 team since 2015.
Observations from Tech’s second game of the season:
Jackets had uphill climb
Saturday’s loss to the Knights was not a surprise — UCF is a veritable powerhouse, with a 35-4 record in its past three seasons. The Knights had a pairing that Tech couldn’t match in quarterback Dillon Gabriel (417 passing yards, four touchdowns, one interception) and wide receiver Marlon Williams (154 receiving yards, two touchdowns).
“That dude, I just want to give him props — he’s a real good player,” Tech safety Juanyeh Thomas said of Williams. “He made some great catches.”
Tech also picked a poor day to have five would-be starters on the “unavailable” list: All-ACC running back Jordan Mason (believed to be out with a foot injury), two-year starting cornerback Tre Swilling (foot injury), reigning ACC defensive end of the week Curtis Ryans (unspecified), defensive end Antonneous Clayton (injury) and tight ends Dylan Deveney and Dylan Leonard (unspecified). That’s along with return- ing starter defensive tackle T.K. Chimedza already out for the season with an injury. It required scheme changes for both offense and defense.
Due to lapses — five turn- overs and what coach Geoff Collins called instances when the team “let go of the rope” — what might have been a 14-point loss or closer mush- roomed. But the day can still have value so long as the Jackets apply lessons learned at UCF’s hands.
“We just have to learn to overcome bad things that happen to us and prevent the turn- overs,” Collins said. “When we get into the red zone, we’ve got to capitalize, and when other teams get in the red zone we got to, we’ve got to bow up and get the stops as needed.”
An impressive debut for Gibbs
With Mason out, freshman running back Jahmyr Gibbs showed in his debut why team- mates and coaches raved about him in the preseason, including offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude’s contention that “if there’s five guys in the country that are freshmen that are better than him, I’d love to be able watch those guys play, too.”
Just as classmate Jeff Sims did last Saturday quarterbacking against Florida State, Gibbs wowed fans, including a 75-yard kickoff return, Tech’s longest since 2018. Slipping out of the backfield, he caught four passes for 60 yards. He ran 15 times for 66 yards and a touchdown, sometimes dashing through the UCF defense and otherslowering his pads for tough yards.
“It was fun,” Gibbs said. “It was fun getting to go back out there on the field playing against a team with a different colored jersey.”
Gibbs’ day of 66 rushing yards, 60 receiving yards and 93 kickoff return yards is certainly not the usual stat line for a college debut. Between 2015-2019, only 20 players recorded a 60/60/60 game, according to sports-reference. com, and only 11 managed a 60/60/90.
Tough afternoon for defensive line
The easy part to observe in the Knights’ offensive decimation of the Jackets was the downfield work that Williams and his teammates did in the Tech secondary to get free for deep balls.
But, as is often the case, that was enabled by a lack of pressure on the quarterback by Tech’s shorthanded front. Sometimes relying on seven-man protection schemes, Gabriel threw relaxed in the pocket, confident that he would have enough time to launch precise deep shots.
Gabriel was sacked twice (both by nickel Charlie Thomas, who had a standout game).
Sims not so bad in second game
Sims didn’t have the same sort of performance that he did against Florida State, not with a hand in four turnovers. However, a glitchy game shouldn’t be a surprise from a freshman starting his second game. Also, it might not have been as bad as the numbers would suggest.
The first turnover — a fumble on what looked like an option keeper in the red zone — was on him and likely cost the Jackets points. He was stripped from behind on a play that overall wasn’t executed well.
The first interception was a tipped pass just past the line of scrimmage that fell into the hands of a UCF defensive line- man. The second, late in the game and under heavy pres- sure, was an ill-advised “make something out of nothing” pass apparently to Gibbs, but defensive end Stephon Zayas made an athletic play to catch it. With a little luck, both could have been harmless incomple- tions. He also had a hand in a mesh fumble with Griffin that was charged to Griffin.
Good to be back
There’s no telling if Tech can get to the end of the season, but there was comfort in having a game to play and cheer for at the stadium, at least for one day. The marching band, confined to the north stands, belted out its standards. The Ramblin’ Wreck pulled out of the northeast tunnel to lead the Jackets onto the field. P.A. announcer Kevin Payne filled every corner of Grant Field with his familiar calls.
It was different in other ways. For the first time, alco- hol was on sale in the general seating areas. The new multihued LED lights flashed in time with music during breaks in action. The new speaker system was plenty loud. The new turf yielded a few slips, but seemed to play well.
The stadium looked sparse with 11,000 scattered about in clumps throughout the stadium, but: “It didn’t really sound like a limited crowd out there,” UCF safety Richie Grant said. “They were pretty loud.”