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GTFLETCH

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TaQuon Marshall gathered the Yellow Jackets during the first week of preseason practice. It rained for the first part of practice that day then became humid when the sun came out. The weather conditions were not ideal, and head coach Paul Johnson remarked that the team had a case of feeling sorry for itself during the first week of practice.First-team 2017 ACC All-America offensive lineman Parker Braun told reporters after practice Monday that the team had just struggled in the period prior to the break. There were fumbles and just overall sloppiness. So, Marshall, Georgia Tech’s incumbent starting quarterback, took it upon himself to speak up. “The biggest thing we are working on is fighting through adversity,” Braun said. “We are such a young team. Usually, when we have a bad play or a bad drive, it tends to spiral down. That’s the biggest thing we are working on — coming together when times get tough.” Times were tough for Georgia Tech in 2017. The Yellow Jackets blew a 14-point lead in a double-overtime loss to Tennessee to open the season. Then there was a fluky tipped pass in the Miami game that led to a one-point loss. The team then blew a 15-point lead on the road at Virginia. Georgia Tech ended the 2017 season 5-6 with a 1-4 finish. But there’s a new sense of energy this season. Every defensive player who has spoken with the media in the preseason has spoken of new defensive coordinator Nate Woody’s coaching style and how he expects 100 percent effort on every play or else the team has to run sideline-to-sideline as punishment. That effort is being matched on the offensive side of the ball, too. Offensive lineman Will Bryan said he noticed the change this summer. “We had a really good offseason this summer working hard with the strength staff,” Bryan said. “We’ve brought that effort into camp so far. I’ve seen it. It’s been paying off. “There comes a time where everybody gets tired, and you get worn out. I think we’re over the hump already. We’ve already started to apply the pressure again.” There’s no time for Georgia Tech to start the season sluggish. After opening with Alcorn State, the Yellow Jackets have back-to-back road games against South Florida, a team that lost in the final two minutes to undefeated UCF last year, and Pittsburgh. The team follows the road trip with a home game against Clemson, one of the favorites to win the national championship this season. After not finishing strong in several games this past season, there’s a realization that 100 percent effort is needed to make sure 2017 doesn’t happen again. “Coach Johnson says all of the time that sometimes you’re going to have good things happen, and sometimes you’re going to have bad things happen,” Marshall said. “How are you going to bounce back? That’s kind of the mindset we have. When things aren’t really going well, I try to get the guys up and tell them that this is like a game, especially after a break. The break is like halftime for us. I tell the guys all of the time, ‘How are we going to finish this practice?’ We have to make sure the energy is there and everyone is paying attention, so when it comes time to go O vs. D again, everybody is locked in and everyone gets going.”

Other practice notes
  • Paul Johnson didn’t have an update on backup quarterback Lucas Johnson, who was injured during a scrimmage Saturday. Lucas Johnson was spotted at fan day Saturday with a walking boot on his right leg. “We won’t know for sure until they do all the testing, but we’ll let you know as soon as we know,” Paul Johnson said of his backup quarterback. With Lucas Johnson out for the foreseeable future, freshman James Graham, who was moved to wide receiver prior to the injury, has been practicing at quarterback, the position he was recruited at, and wide receiver. Redshirt freshman quarterback Tobias Oliver had runs of 39 and 56 yards in the scrimmage.
  • There also was no update on the ongoing kicking competition between Shawn Davis, Brenton King and walk-on freshman Wesley Wells. Davis drilled a 47-yard field goal, while King made a 45-yard kick during the scrimmage. The kickers haven’t kicked much during 11-on-11 drills during the preseason, so when asked if he has liked what he has seen from the trio, Paul Johnson said, “Nothing that really excites me, no.” Freshman walk-on Cliff Gandis, who was also in the mix, injured his knee playing soccer and is out.
  • Marshall threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to A-Back Qua Searcy on Saturday. Marshall said Searcy, who was running a vertical route, was wide open. There were numerous throws last season when wide receivers were wide open and Marshall failed to execute. “That was one of the things we noticed on film from last year,” Marshall said. “I missed a lot of guys that were wide open. I saw him running down the field running wide open, and I just tried to put it on him. I didn’t try to make him run too far to get it. I tried to get it right over his head for a perfect ball to let him catch it and let him run.”
  • Marshall took off the gold non-contact jersey for one series Saturday. That was the first time he was tackled since the Georgia game last season because the team didn’t go live in spring ball. When asked if he wants to shed the non-contact jersey after getting back into real action, Marshall laughed. “No. No. No. I’m good. I think Coach Johnson is good, too. I think he saw what he needed to see on Saturday. I’m cool with the yellow from here on out.”
 

originalwombat

Damn Good Rat
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Aug 7, 2012
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One of the least valuable pieces of practice news is that so-and-so is throwing the ball really well.
 

Akinji07

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When asked if he wants to shed the non-contact jersey after getting back into real action, Marshall laughed. “No. No. No. I’m good. I think Coach Johnson is good, too. I think he saw what he needed to see on Saturday. I’m cool with the yellow from here on out.”
What a ööööing leader.
 

JelloJacket

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TaQuon Marshall gathered the Yellow Jackets during the first week of preseason practice. It rained for the first part of practice that day then became humid when the sun came out. The weather conditions were not ideal, and head coach Paul Johnson remarked that the team had a case of feeling sorry for itself during the first week of practice.First-team 2017 ACC All-America offensive lineman Parker Braun told reporters after practice Monday that the team had just struggled in the period prior to the break. There were fumbles and just overall sloppiness. So, Marshall, Georgia Tech’s incumbent starting quarterback, took it upon himself to speak up. “The biggest thing we are working on is fighting through adversity,” Braun said. “We are such a young team. Usually, when we have a bad play or a bad drive, it tends to spiral down. That’s the biggest thing we are working on — coming together when times get tough.” Times were tough for Georgia Tech in 2017. The Yellow Jackets blew a 14-point lead in a double-overtime loss to Tennessee to open the season. Then there was a fluky tipped pass in the Miami game that led to a one-point loss. The team then blew a 15-point lead on the road at Virginia. Georgia Tech ended the 2017 season 5-6 with a 1-4 finish. But there’s a new sense of energy this season. Every defensive player who has spoken with the media in the preseason has spoken of new defensive coordinator Nate Woody’s coaching style and how he expects 100 percent effort on every play or else the team has to run sideline-to-sideline as punishment. That effort is being matched on the offensive side of the ball, too. Offensive lineman Will Bryan said he noticed the change this summer. “We had a really good offseason this summer working hard with the strength staff,” Bryan said. “We’ve brought that effort into camp so far. I’ve seen it. It’s been paying off. “There comes a time where everybody gets tired, and you get worn out. I think we’re over the hump already. We’ve already started to apply the pressure again.” There’s no time for Georgia Tech to start the season sluggish. After opening with Alcorn State, the Yellow Jackets have back-to-back road games against South Florida, a team that lost in the final two minutes to undefeated UCF last year, and Pittsburgh. The team follows the road trip with a home game against Clemson, one of the favorites to win the national championship this season. After not finishing strong in several games this past season, there’s a realization that 100 percent effort is needed to make sure 2017 doesn’t happen again. “Coach Johnson says all of the time that sometimes you’re going to have good things happen, and sometimes you’re going to have bad things happen,” Marshall said. “How are you going to bounce back? That’s kind of the mindset we have. When things aren’t really going well, I try to get the guys up and tell them that this is like a game, especially after a break. The break is like halftime for us. I tell the guys all of the time, ‘How are we going to finish this practice?’ We have to make sure the energy is there and everyone is paying attention, so when it comes time to go O vs. D again, everybody is locked in and everyone gets going.”

Other practice notes
  • Paul Johnson didn’t have an update on backup quarterback Lucas Johnson, who was injured during a scrimmage Saturday. Lucas Johnson was spotted at fan day Saturday with a walking boot on his right leg. “We won’t know for sure until they do all the testing, but we’ll let you know as soon as we know,” Paul Johnson said of his backup quarterback. With Lucas Johnson out for the foreseeable future, freshman James Graham, who was moved to wide receiver prior to the injury, has been practicing at quarterback, the position he was recruited at, and wide receiver. Redshirt freshman quarterback Tobias Oliver had runs of 39 and 56 yards in the scrimmage.
  • There also was no update on the ongoing kicking competition between Shawn Davis, Brenton King and walk-on freshman Wesley Wells. Davis drilled a 47-yard field goal, while King made a 45-yard kick during the scrimmage. The kickers haven’t kicked much during 11-on-11 drills during the preseason, so when asked if he has liked what he has seen from the trio, Paul Johnson said, “Nothing that really excites me, no.” Freshman walk-on Cliff Gandis, who was also in the mix, injured his knee playing soccer and is out.
  • Marshall threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to A-Back Qua Searcy on Saturday. Marshall said Searcy, who was running a vertical route, was wide open. There were numerous throws last season when wide receivers were wide open and Marshall failed to execute. “That was one of the things we noticed on film from last year,” Marshall said. “I missed a lot of guys that were wide open. I saw him running down the field running wide open, and I just tried to put it on him. I didn’t try to make him run too far to get it. I tried to get it right over his head for a perfect ball to let him catch it and let him run.”
  • Marshall took off the gold non-contact jersey for one series Saturday. That was the first time he was tackled since the Georgia game last season because the team didn’t go live in spring ball. When asked if he wants to shed the non-contact jersey after getting back into real action, Marshall laughed. “No. No. No. I’m good. I think Coach Johnson is good, too. I think he saw what he needed to see on Saturday. I’m cool with the yellow from here on out.”
Tl;dr
 

GTFLETCH

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Before practice in Georgia Tech’s defensive meetings, defensive coordinator Nate Woody plays the Hustle Tape. The Hustle Tape is what every defender wants to be on. If a player is not on the Hustle Tape, he is doing something wrong.

“Some of the (players) make it on there more than others, but if we can get everybody on it every day, that’s the goal,” defensive captain Brant Mitchell told reporters after practice Thursday. “That’s the goal.”

The Hustle Tape is a collection of highlights from the previous day’s practice that showcases which defensive player gave 100 percent effort on a play or which player finished to the ball the best.

Getting on the Hustle Tape is the main way how Woody reinforces to the players what they’re supposed to do every day in practice. The team has fully bought into the new coordinator.

“We watch how Coach Woody played defense when he was at (Appalachian State),” defensive lineman Chris Martin said. “Just looking at film of how great defenses are. Great defenses always run to the ball. Brant has enforced and made a statement that we want to be a great defense this year. In order to do that, we all need to make sure we get in good shape and run to the ball.”

Martin said he has made the Hustle Tape a few times now, but the goal is to always make it on the highlight reel every practice. He feels like his teammates have the same goal because they know if they are all on the Hustle Tape every practice, there shouldn’t be an excuse for why Georgia Tech can’t show significant improvement on the defensive side of the ball.

To put it into perspective, head coach Paul Johnson wants to be clear that in past seasons, it wasn’t the case that effort on the defensive side of the ball wasn’t stressed. It was. But the difference now under Woody as compared to Ted Roof’s scheme is the simplicity of it. Players line up in this scheme and attack the ballcarrier. There are obvious assignments but less thinking now.

“I think you can play faster if you’re sure of what you’re doing,” Johnson said. “I think that’s offense or defense. If I have to think about what I’m supposed to do, it slows me down, as opposed to, ‘I have that gap. Here I go. Boom.’ ”

From what he has seen from the defense so far, Johnson has been pleased with the effort. One of the main reasons why Johnson decided to hire Woody was because of his team’s ability to cause disruption in the backfield, but Johnson wasn’t specific when asked if he thinks fans should expect to see more negative plays from the Yellow Jackets’ defense on Saturdays. But from talking with numerous defensive players, the excitement from what they’ve been able to do in practice under Woody’s simple scheme has been contagious.

“I think they’ve created a lot of negative plays in practice, and I don’t know if that’s because they’re any good or if we’re any bad,” Johnson said. “At the same time, they’ve given up a lot of big plays in practice, and I don’t know if that’s because we’re bad or really good. You won’t know until you play about three games.”

Mitchell feels like he’s gaining comfort in Woody’s system every day. As the team installs more blitz packages and other alignments, Mitchell believes the players are falling more in love with what their assignments are. Mitchell feels freer when it comes to being able to fly around and attack the ball.

“When you’re starting to move around a lot and make a lot of plays behind the line of scrimmage, that’s what you want from your defense,” Mitchell said. “That’s what brings excitement. That’s what you want to see. The running to the ball aspect — that’s something that’s really changed this camp. We’ve got a Hustle Tape and you want to get on the Hustle Tape. Every day when you come in, they’ll put on camera who’s running to the ball and who’s finishing to the ball. It’s getting guys to buy in. You want to be on it. If you have any pride for yourself, you want to be on that Hustle Tape.”

Mitchell said there hasn’t been a day when he hasn’t been featured on the Hustle Tape, and he doesn’t expect that to change, either. He feeds off of getting the recognition in front of his teammates and being the go-to example from the coaches. As the captain, Mitchell wants to be that guy and set the standard for how practice is supposed to look.

If there’s one player who fully represents what Woody is trying to do on defense, it’s Mitchell, and he feels the culture has shifted.

“No disrespect to last year’s senior class, but I think we’re a lot closer, and we’re holding each other to a higher standard,” Mitchell said. “We’re tired of having 5-6 seasons and 3-9 seasons. Everybody has come together. That was one of the goals this season was to come in and change the culture and to prove that we are one of the best defenses in the nation and we can be that. That’s what we are trying to do.”

Other practice notes
  • Johnson said he expects quarterback James Graham to be able to participate in a scrimmage Saturday. Graham has been out since last weekend with an undisclosed injury. With backup quarterback Lucas Johnson undergoing surgery on Thursday, Graham is now the clear No. 3 behind TaQuon Marshall and Tobias Oliver.
  • As for Oliver, Paul Johnson said he has been hit and miss and has looked like a young quarterback on the practice field, which is to be expected for someone who hasn’t seen any game action. But Paul Johnson did say he would feel comfortable having Oliver start if necessary.
  • Speaking of injuries, wide receiver Stephen Dolphus has been practicing with a cast on his hand. Paul Johnson said the cast should be removed by (Friday). As of now, Malachi Carter is “probably” the No. 3 wide receiver behind Brad Stewart and Jalen Camp. Paul Johnson has heaped praise on Carter ever since the start of preseason practice.
  • All of the offense has been implemented at this point, and Georgia Tech should expect to have its full arsenal of plays ready to go for kickoff against Alcorn State.
  • Christian Campbell has practiced at Stinger linebacker — one of the outside linebacker positions along with Jack — all week. When he’s at Stinger, graduate transfer Malik Rivera, Juanyeh Thomas and Jarett Cole have been shuffling in and out at free safety. Campbell said he doesn’t have a preference on where he plays on Saturdays — whether it’s at Stinger or free safety. “If I’m playing two, that just gives me a better chance to play somewhere,” Campbell he said with a laugh. Campbell started against Virginia last season, but that was his first start since his senior year of high school. He’s mainly just looking for an opportunity to start at whichever position will allow him to see the field immediately.
  • Campbell said the first day of playing Stinger was different for him because he hadn’t played a role like that before, but he has since become more comfortable with it.
 

GTFLETCH

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Coach Johnson also provided some clarity on what should be expected from the offensive line Saturday as he named Morgan the starting right guard. So the first-team offensive line on Saturday should be Will Bryan at left tackle, Braun at left guard, Lee at center, Morgan at right guard and Marshall at right tackle. Johnson has said he would like to have eight offensive linemen cycling into action during games. In addition to the six names mentioned above, Zach Quinney, Bailey Ivemeyer and Jack DeFoor should all see significant snaps this season. Tech’s depth on the offensive line this season is actually quite solid. Kenny
Cooper isn’t expected to play in the season opener against Alcorn State on Saturday, but Johnson isn’t expecting him to miss much more time than that. “The plan right now is to get him ready for the second game (against South Florida),” Johnson told reporters Sunday. “He’s been conditioning every day, so we’ll just have to see. I doubt he could go out in the heat in Tampa and play 80 snaps. We’ll just have to see where he is and if he’s ready to play. If he’s not ready, we aren’t going to rush him.”

Coach Johnson went ahead and named Wofford graduate transfer Malik Rivera the first-team starter at free safety. Juanyeh Thomas is his backup. Rivera has been praised by virtually every player who has spoken with the media this preseason. Because of his familiarity with new defensive coordinator Nate Woody’s defense, Rivera has been a vocal presence on the field, helping the team line up correctly and read assignments.

At the Will linebacker position, Johnson said he “thinks” David Curry will be the starter with Bruce Jordan-Swilling running with the second team. Curry has had as good of a preseason as anyone on the team, and that shows it with him beating out sophomore Jordan-Swilling, who was one of Georgia Tech’s biggest recruiting wins in recent history and had a sensational freshman season.

The Stinger linebacker position is still unsettled. Christian Campbell, Jalen Johnson and Charlie Thomas are battling it out. From what we’ve gathered throughout the preseason, Campbell will be the likely starter with Johnson running with the second team.


Johnson was asked if Graham could play this season in certain packages because of how often Johnson has said that the freshman just does things that can’t be taught. “Well, not yet,” Johnson said. “We’re probably gonna have something as we get into it. He’s still learning the offense and coming along. We’ll see. I mean, I’m not going to play him to just put him into the game. If he’s going to play and we need him to win, we’ll use him; otherwise, we’ll save that year for him.”
 

southendzoneBEE

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Dec 20, 2009
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13,579
Must be difficult being a head coach. Offense has a huge play, but someone on the defense made a mistake more than likely. Defense made a huge play, someone missed a block etc. Can't wait to see against a different team than ourselves!
 

18in32

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May 23, 2010
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The takeaway here is that Bruce-Jordan Swilling isn't going to start, but David Curry is. Curry must be pretty good, bc BJS was developing into a really good player for us.
 

johncu

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Mar 17, 2011
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9,557
The takeaway here is that Bruce-Jordan Swilling isn't going to start, but David Curry is. Curry must be pretty good, bc BJS was developing into a really good player for us.
I've heard that JaQuez Jackson may even beat out BJS for the top backup spot as well. Everyone's been giving him rave reviews and saying he's so disruptive and always around the ball.
 
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