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Georgia Tech Football: Offensive Position Grades in Win Over Florida State

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - NOVEMBER 09: Jamious Griffin #22 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets rushes in the first half during a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at Scott Stadium on November 9, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - NOVEMBER 09: Jamious Griffin #22 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets rushes in the first half during a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at Scott Stadium on November 9, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /
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As we finish up our recaps of Georgia Tech’s 16-13 win over Florida State, we hand out offensive position grades.

Quarterback: B+

What a performance out of the true freshman quarterback. Now, he did make a few freshman mistakes and those are bound to happen for any freshman quarterback making their first career start. That being said, Sims showed a ton of poise despite his two interceptions in the first half and proved to have that “IT” factor that will make him a special quarterback for years to come. Anytime a freshmen quarterback puts up 341-total yards (277 passing yards, 64 rushing yards) in a game let alone their first career start, it’s something worth taking note of.

Running Backs: B-

The running backs were not great on Saturday in my opinion but they did enough. With Jahmyr Gibbs out for Saturday’s game with some sort of injury it appears, Jordan Mason, Jamious Griffin, and Dontae Smith all saw playing time in the 16-13 win. Overall, the three running backs put together 106-yards on 24 carries, a quality average of 4.4 yards per carry. Mason left a bit to be desired but Griffin looked solid over his nine carries while Smith saw just one carry but picked up nine yards.

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Wide Receivers: B+

You probably couldn’t ask for much more out of Georgia Tech’s wide receivers in this game if we’re being honest. Malachi Carter looks like the Jackets No.1 wide receiver right now with six catches for 66-yards while Jalen Camp picked up right where he left off last season when he got injured against Temple. You probably would’ve liked to see more targets for Marquez Ezzard and Ahmarean Brown. Ezzard had a nice 45-yard reception on his only target while Brown had just three targets after being the Jackets leading receiver last season. But all in all, the Jackets showed some quality depth at the position and didn’t seem to have any issues catching the ball either.

Tight Ends: B

After losing Tyler Davis this offseason, there were questions of how Georgia Tech’s tight end position group would be in 2020. While we really didn’t get a ton of answers about the group on Saturday, we did see some flashes. Dylan Deveney saw most of the playing time and looked pretty good while doing it making two receptions for 15-yards. The group as a whole looked pretty decent in blocking as well but it’s a small sample size, we’ll see how they perform going forward.

Offensive Line: B+

Credit is very much deserved by the Georgia Tech offensive line. Coming into this season, I had some serious doubts about the offensive line but they held up pretty well against one of the more talented and bigger defensive lines they will face this season. While it certainly helps to have a quarterback with the pocket presence that Sims showed on Saturday, the Jackets offensive still only allowed one sack for the entire game and six tackles for a loss. Again, it’s still early and only one game but if that’s a sign of how much the offensive line has improved this offseason, bright days are on the horizon for the program.

Place Kicking: C-

The only reason the placekicking is getting a C- is because Jude Kelley made the game-winning kick and appeared to not lose much confidence despite having two field goals and one extra-point blocked. It’s not entirely his fault those kicks were blocked but there is enough blame to go around to everyone on the field goal unit for those three blocked kicks.

Overall Grade: B

Overall, I think a B grade is a fair offensive grade for the Yellow Jackets based on their performance against the Florida State Seminoles. There is obviously a ton to love about how the offense looked against Florida State but there’s still plenty of work to do. While they did look good, the Jackets did leave probably 10-14 points at the least on the board. They’ll need to improve that going forward if they want to pick up wins against tougher opponents like UCF this Saturday.