Second viewing thoughts and grade report: Georgia Tech

For those who wonder about the logistics of writing these recaps, Saturday was ideal. Attending the game in person causes you to miss many things but you notice other details that the camera doesn't catch. Watching the game broadcast back fills in the details you cannot pick up in person. As for impressions from the game, I felt the team is really lacking unity and organization. You saw players getting on the field late, the confusion in some play calling and formation penalties. I also noticed some guys giving good efforts while others seemed checked out. After the game there were rumors of a player issue in the lockerroom, but the gossip I heard was that there were no fights. Just guys yelling about mistakes and how this season is not over. I hope they do unite and get back to winning. Spaz sucks, but these players are not playing well. Everyone is underachieving.

Offense: D


Rettig's stats were fine but this wasn't his best game. I felt he forced some throws and missed some huge potential plays. I also think he is locking in too early. On the INT, the safety just read him and slid over for the pick. You can also tell he's not spreading the ball around by the number of players involved in the plays. If he wants to get back to the effectiveness we had in the first part of the season, that means getting the ball  to your third or fourth option.

Andre Williams is getting better. His stats were worse but I felt he found some good holes and made good cuts accordingly. He was also good when asked to go out in a passing route. Of course it wouldn't be Spaz football without a running back fumble. Williams abligded and it killed our drive. Dudeck was fine.

As a group the offensive line wasn't the problem. Though we still had some issues. Gallik struggled again and at one point had guys just step right around him. How can that sort of things still be happening? He also had a terrible snap that killed one of our possession. Cleary was okay, as was Wetzel. Vardaro was fine. I thought White played well. Some of the bigger holes came from his blocks.

Swigert played well. He's good at finding the soft spots in the zone. Amidon was good but had some awful drops. His runs after the catch were pretty good. Pantale dropped a TD too. Coleman was okay. What I appreciate about Coleman is that he does a good job of turning upfield, even if it looks a little awkward.

I've been pleading for Martin to abandon the runs and push the ball threw the air. We did this week but it only worked on a few drives. But as I referenced with Rettig and the Oline, we just had some mistakes (forced throws, drops, turnovers, etc) that were as stalling as anything that Martin could have called. It wasn't a bad gameplan. Just poor execution.

Defense: F

The defensive line was better than they were against Army but still not good enough. Appiah had an off day. Abdesmand did not look good. Ricci made some mistakes. I liked what I saw from Davis. As a converted offensive lineman you never know what skills sets he brings, but he got good push and made some tackles. Wujciak made some nice tackles and was one of the reasons the interior was clogged up. Edebali made some nice plays. Murray was pretty good in extended playing time and deserves more time in the rotation.

I don't know what going on with Clancy but he got swallowed up multiple times on blocks. Then he missed a few tackles. And he wasn't great in pass coverage. One of his worst games of the season. KPL made some plays. Divitto struggled again and was just caught out of position or flat footed on some of the options runs. Joy played hard but seemed to get twisted around a few times. I liked what I saw from Daniels. Hopefully he'll get more playing time as the season progresses.

When we play this offense, our DBs are so focused on helping with the run that we allow some killer pass plays. GT's touchdown right before the half was a perfect example. Sylvia had been cheating up throughout the first half. They did a slight roll out and he was burned by his man downfield. Asprilla was good against the run. Noel struggled in pass coverage. Jones was okay. Simmons was okay too. Rositano missed some tackles and was beat on other plays.

I don't know what to do with McGovern and Spaz. We make running teams look like good passers. We are breaking every record for all the wrong reasons. Why can't he figure this out? We've been masking talent for years. What has changed so much? We played base most of the game, but none of it seemed to matter.


Special Teams: C

The bad news was the Freese miss, the kick coverage breakdowns and the poor punts.

The good news was Swigert's steady hands on the punt returns. Spiffy ran well and so did Jones.

The biggest special teams issue was the roughing the kicker. That is another example of the players not knowing the situation. As I keep saying, there is plenty of blame to go around.


Overall: D

I guess you have to give Spaz and the staff credit for keeping the guys into the game and making a short run in the second half. But how can you toss out kudos for the second half effort when we were down big again in the first half? We weren't ready for their defense. We couldn't get them off the field and we couldn't sustain any offense. Plus there were some weird decisions like the kick at the end of the half instead of the Hail Mary. Going for two later in the game. Wasting a challenge in the second half. It's like now instead of being checked out or ultra conservative he's just winging it. It doesn't matter either way. We are getting the same results.

Spaz keeps saying we're close. I sort of see it, but don't trust him at all. He has had multiple games to get things right, yet here were are. Everyone contributed to this disaster, but it is Spaz's job to begin the turnaround. I don't believe it is in him. Let's hope the players and staff do or else this final stretch will be brutal.