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Georgia Tech football: Position Grades in Loss to UCF

By Shelby Williams

Georgia Tech Head coach Geoff Collins celebrates with Demetrius Knight II (No. 17) during a game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Bobby Dodd Stadium on November 2, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Georgia Tech Head coach Geoff Collins celebrates with Demetrius Knight II (No. 17) during a game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Bobby Dodd Stadium on November 2, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – NOVEMBER 09: Head coach Geoff Collins of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the second 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: Head coach Geoff Collins of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the second 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) /


Our final recap piece from the UCF game is offense and defensive position grades for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

In our final review piece from Georgia Tech’s 49-21 loss to UCF last weekend, we hand out grades for the Yellow Jackets both offensively and defensively.

Offensive Grades (By Dylan Callaghan-Croley):

Quarterback: C

As good as Jeff Sims looked against Florida State, he looked as bad against UCF on Saturday at times. He still posted great numbers, totaling 326-yards in the game including 82-yards on the ground but his decision making at times was poor in the game and it also seemed at times the game was moving a little too fast for him. When you have three turnovers in a game, you’re going to take at least some criticism. Now, that’s not taking anything away from Sims, he is a tremendous quarterback, and going up against a top-15 team in just your second start would be difficult for any quarterback. He’s going to be a star for Georgia Tech but Saturday was just a small road bump on what could be an expressway to success for the Jacksonville, Florida native.

Running Back: A-

Each of Georgia Tech’s running backs really performed well against UCF as Jahmyr Gibbs, Jamous Griffin, and Dontae Smith all ran the ball with great success. Gibbs made his collegiate debut against the Knights and lived up to the billing he had coming out of Dalton High School with 219 all-purpose yards against UCF. Griffin totaled 82 total yards himself over 10 touches while Dontae Smith added 53 of his own on seven touches. Not too bad for a group that was missing their starter coming into the season in Jordan Mason.

Wide Receiver: B-

I was overall impressed by the wide receivers again, the group looks confident this season and looks mostly sure-handed. You’d like to see them create a little bit more separation but so far their showing vast improvements from last season.

Tight End: N/A 

We really don’t feel comfortable enough grading the tight end position since the Yellow Jackets were both missing Dylan Deveny and Dylan Leonard for the game leaving long snapper Jack Coco as the starting tight end for the game. That being said, Coco put forth a quality effort in the game including making one reception for eight yards.

Offensive Line: A+ 

Georgia Tech’s offensive line had another impressive game for the most part against UCF as they did not allow any sacks to a talented front seven for the Golden Knights. Add in the fact that the Yellow Jackets rushed for over five yards per carry on Saturday and the offensive line is showing massive improvements in year two under Brent Key.

Offense Overall: B-

This probably could’ve been a B or a B+ but at the end of the day, the offense had five turnovers and left 10-17 points on the board. It wouldn’t have made a difference in the result but the Yellow Jackets offense surely is light years better than they were at any time last year. With Jeff Sims and Jahmyr Gibbs sharing the backfield for the next three years the future is bright for the Yellow Jackets and once they get these kinks out of their system, this could be a scary offense.