Georgia Tech Football: What we have Learned so far About The Yellow Jackets

Four games, four wins ! This is truly a dream scenario for every Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets fan right now.

Paul Johnson’s crew will not be taking the field again until October 4th when they take on the Miami Hurricanes, so this gives everyone time to sit back and digest what has been shown to us by the Yellow Jackets.

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First, the Jackets have shown that they are a resilient group that actually handles adverse situations well.

Every game that the Jackets have played had it’s tense moments. Wofford breaking off a big run to make it close at the half, Tulane scoring at will in the first half, the second half rally by Georgia Southern, being down 24-17 with time ticking away against Virginia Tech.

All these moments could have seen the Yellow Jackets crumble and fail but the team got stronger and overcame each situation with big plays and clutch performances.

Speaking of clutch, that is another thing that was shown to everyone in these first four games. We got to see how clutch a performer Justin Thomas is.

Thomas has started off ugly in a lot of these games only to find his accuracy when it matters most. Big third and fourth down plays with long yards to cover, and big touchdown passes, would actually be overlooked if people were just going by his stat line. It has not always been pretty, but Thomas comes through when it matters the most and he is a huge reason why the Yellow Jackets are 4-0.

DeAndre Smelter has been a huge target for Thomas and has been equally as clutch with 14 catches for 339 yards and four touchdowns. He is averaging 24.4 yards per grab.

Also offensively, the running game is wearing down the opposition. Zach Laskey seems to wear down the opposition so that big plays can be made by Justin Thomas, Tony Zenon, and Charles Perkins.

Even B.J. Bostic and Synjyn Days are ripping off 4.4 and 4.9 yards respectively per carry. When this offense is running the ball downhill, opponents look demoralized at times.

And finally, the Jackets defense is very opportunistic and has big play capability. Paul Davis’ 41-yard “pick-six” was a crucial play in grabbing the win in Blacksburg over the Hokies.

What about Quayshawn Nealy’s interception against Tulane for the touchdown? That pick was critical and slowed the momentum that the Green Wave was starting to build after getting a defensive stop.

Sep 20, 2014; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies tight end Bucky Hodges (7) has his face mask grab by Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defensive back Corey Griffin (14) while trying to make a catch during the first quarter at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

The team has collected six interceptions on the year and all were big in some way. The Jackets secondary with Jamal Golden, Demond Smith, Isaiah Johnson, Chris Milton, D.J. White, and the Griffin Brothers (Corey and Lynn) might be a little better than advertised.

The defense is giving up 194 yards per game to the rush and 207 yards per game to the pass. But the defense has gotten stops when they needed them the most.

No one expected a 4-0 start out of this bunch. Even with the 4-0 start people tend to look at the class of the opposition that was faced instead of really paying attention to how Tech overcame the obstacles .

Georgia Southern is a better team than outsiders gave them credit for.

Wofford was a pretty tough game to start with.

Tulane was a good offensive team that actually shot themselves in the foot with their decisions.

Virginia Tech actually had a psychological edge with five straight wins over the Jackets until last Saturday.

Yet, through all of that, the Yellow Jackets have swarmed to a 4-0 start. This weekend off could be viewed as bad timing since it does interrupt the momentum.

Then again it gives the Yellow Jackets an extra week to think about and prepare for another big game against the Miami Hurricanes.

Next Saturday we are going to learn even more about this team and possibly see if they can crack the Top 25.