Duke post game thread

Fun game, and hopefully the beginning of one of the foundational things that needs to happen if Collins is going to be successful: beat the crap out of Duke every year.

Clearly the extra time between games benefited them although the two major issues with the team's play this year still haven't been completely corrected. Sims' ball security, particularly on the read option plays tonight, wasn't what it needs to be. And special teams had mental errors although we can take some solace in the team being perfect/error free on PAT's. That's progress at least.

I'll also preface everything I say after this by saying that Duke is terrible. That's a bad, bad football team this year. Perfect for a young team like Georgia Tech to get right mentally and gain some confidence. But, I'm not staking a grand on the team winning the ACC next season off of beating a terrible Duke team. That said...

Tech whipped them on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. It's probably the first time they've been able to do that under Collins. Defensively, that was the biggest difference between this game and other games. For a good 2/3 of the game they held Duke's running game completely in check. This may not be the sole reason for it, but my goodness Akelo Stone is a large man. They controlled the line of scrimmage and the linebackers and safeties used their speed and tackled well to clean up the rest. If Tech can make a team one dimensional and allow Jordan Domineck the opportunity to go hunting, I like Tech's odds and that was part of the formula tonight.

Offensively, the rushing numbers tell the tale. Even with Sims' struggles with the read-option plays, Duke had no answers. Sims alone was a beast running the ball in this game. Then you layer on top of it that this roster, IMO, has four running backs that will play in the NFL. Gibbs is obviously special and a star and Mason in just a big thumper who is hard to bring down and has good vision and elusiveness. Jamious Griffin was out in this game, but that allowed Dontae Smith to get more touches and he paid it off. Eye test says he may be the fastest of the bunch and after getting their brains beaten in by Mason, the change of pace was just too much for Duke to deal with. And Tech had a very good game run blocking to open up holes for those guys, and when you get the kind of yardage they were getting it opens up the passing game for some big shots.

I don't know how many more games the team is going to actually get in this season because of COVID, but this was an important W to get to show they could beat a team they were supposed to be able to beat and beat them badly. That was far from certain after dropping games like Syracuse early in the season. Wish it wasn't on ESPN3 outside of the Atlanta market, because it would've been a decent game for recruits to see.
 
BainbridgeJacket said:
Got to be honest, how bad are we on defense to force 5 turnovers and still give up 33 to this Duke team? Just have to find a way to get the defense and ST sorted out this off-season.
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In fairness, special teams and the offense gave up 9 directly, and another 3 after the late half INT. 21 points isn't terrible, and is comparable to how Duke has performed in a lot of their other games.
 
BainbridgeJacket said:
Got to be honest, how bad are we on defense to force 5 turnovers and still give up 33 to this Duke team? Just have to find a way to get the defense and ST sorted out this off-season.
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9 of those he nothing to do with the D. Additionally, a pick before the half, added 3.

D only gave up one score in the 2nd half. Also, they held Duke to less than 2 yards per carry and 6 of 17 on 3rd down.
 
BainbridgeJacket said:
Got to be honest, how bad are we on defense to force 5 turnovers and still give up 33 to this Duke team? Just have to find a way to get the defense and ST sorted out this off-season.
Click to expand...

Spotted them nine of those points with poor special teams plays (McCollum's turnover and Smith's mental error that led to the safety) and another field goal on a turnover. I'm not as down on how the defense played. They looked much improved tonight.
 
gtfan088 said:
In fairness, special teams and the offense gave up 9 directly, and another 3 after the late half INT. 21 points isn't terrible, and is comparable to how Duke has performed in a lot of their other games.
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Don’t try to reason with a dumbass. If he didn’t know that before he posted he isn’t going to understand it now. Rumor has it he can’t even take a walk in the woods without getting lost.
 
Cutcliffe bemoaned cut blocking for years, then added it with an option package to his offense as soon as CPJ retired. I'm glad we walked all over his defense tonight, but happier we only gave up 7 after halftime.
 
Damn good win.

CGC is a big time recruiter. Tonight he proved he could win against a fairly elite coach that has 2 decades more experience.

GT football is on the right track.

We have not only big time recruiting, but big bullies transferring from other programs in our trenches—- Miss St transfer this week on OL.

Collins will be playing for ACC Championships in 2-3 years and beating UGA.
 
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Feels good to get a win especially at home against Cutcliffe. I really enjoyed the movement our lines on both side of the ball were getting.

I’m curious if we can win another if we don’t have a significant turnover margin. That seems to be a necessary outcome.
 
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