ATLANTA -- There's something to be said about clean, efficient and decisive victories in ACC play, especially on unseasonably cold and blustery weather days in the South.
In Virginia's defense, the Cavaliers coaches probably weren't banking on one of the worst weather days in Atlanta history -- relative to the calendar date of Nov. 1 -- when crafting their original game plan during the week.
And even with that weather footnote, the coaches almost certainly figured the Wahoos would collect more than 22 rushing yards against the Yellow Jackets -- one of the nation's best rush defenses entering the day.
But that's how the cookie crumbled for an unbalanced Virginia offense (262 yards passing) that got behind the proverbial 8-ball from the get-go, trailing by two touchdown less than 11 minutes into Saturday's clash.
How ineffectual was Virginia? Georgia Tech tailback Synjyn Days (team-high 147 rushing yards, one receiving TD) twice eclipsed UVa's total rushing output on single runs of 32 and 33 yards.
Days' production helped spur Georgia Tech to 268 yards on the ground and 409 total. That balanced success subsequently motivated the Yellow Jackets coaches to call only 12 pass plays, with quarterback Justin Thomas throwing for 141 yards and three touchdowns -- off just seven completions.
"We left some points out there offensively," said Johnson, perhaps alluding to his team's one interception or the final possession that evaportated the final 5:40 left in the fourth quarter ... "but you have to give Virginia some credit because they are a pretty good defensive team.
Efficient moves were omnipresent for Georgia Tech's Saturday shakedown. In their first three drives -- all touchdowns -- the Yellow Jackets covered 191 total yards on only 19 plays.
By contrast, Virginia's first five drives included three punts, one lost fumble and one touchdown.
On the surface, the above statement reeks of blasphemy, since Johnson (594 catches, 9,676 yards, 68 TDs) and Thomas (287 catches, 4,456 yards, 36 TDs) are arguably the NFL's pre-eminent receivers right now -- when healthy.
Plus, of the four Tech receivers mentioned here (counting Hill), Smelter -- at 6-foot-3, 225 pounds -- lags behind the group in terms of elite-level speed (NFLDraftScout.com has Smelter pegged in the range of a 4.58 40-yard dash) and the intangibly perceptible "upside."
Or is it tangibly imperceptible?
Whatever the case, Smelter certainly has a knack for creating separation with opposing defenders -- especially in the red zone. His 18-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was a three-tiered thing of beauty:
First, on his route down the right sideline, Smelter's hard curl was enough evasive force to garner space between him and the Uva cornerback.
Secondly, before possessing the ball, Smelter used his body position to prevent the Wahoos from getting a clean look/touch of Thomas's accurate pass -- like a basketball frontliner boxing-out his man for a potential rebound.
Third, with the ball secured, Smelter bull-rushed his way into the end zone, taking advantage of an overwhelming size differential and notching Georgia Tech's second touchdown of the day.
Smelter's scintillating score (say that three times fast) merely served as the appetizer to a superb receiving day, catching four balls for 107 yards and one touchdown. For the year, Smelter (10 career touchdowns at Tech) has already logged four 100-yard outings.
Of course, it's hard to quantify how rock-solid college stats translates to the pro level -- especially with a run-first operation like Georgia Tech. But let's spin the positives from that statement:
Given the incredible success of Calvin Johnson (a first-ballot Hall of Famer someday) and Demaryius Thomas (on track for back-to-back-to-back campaigns of 1,400 yards receiving/double- digit TDs) in the pros ... Smelter should get a quite-reasonable benefit of the doubt from NFL execs on Draft Day 2015.
Georgia Tech athletics director Mike Bobinski (formerly of Xavier University and the University of Akron) has hired only one head football coach at the Division I level -- Lee Owens at Akron in 1995, replacing Gerry Faust.
(Owens would go 40-61 over nine seasons with Akron, claiming one MAC East title in that span.)
Granted, Bobinski hit three proverbial home runs with his basketball hires at Xavier, tapping the likes of Thad Matta (now with Ohio State), Sean Miller (now with Arizona) and current coach Chris Mack to run the Musketeers' high-level hoops program. But that experience wouldn't necessarily mollify the occasionally irrational whims of the Georgia Tech football faithful -- if the school were to pursue another direction from Paul Johnson, who earned his 55th victory with the Yellow Jackets and 100th career FBS triumph on Saturday.
And before Georgia Tech could start breaking down prospective candidates for the plum job, school officials would be wise to answer three introspective questions:
a) What are the realistic expectations for Georgia Tech over concurrent three-year cycles? Is it all about competing for division and conference titles? Or does Georgia Tech have the infrastructure to secure a College Football Playoff invite every 5-7 years?
b) Is there value in Georgia Tech abandoning its run-first identity ... presumably in favor of a spread-offense philosophy that's all the rage in modern-day college football?
I say presumably because it's impossible to believe Georgia Tech would chase another power-running coach to oversee the program.
c) What are the realistic recruiting expectations for Georgia Tech, given the rigid academic requirements with prospects -- especially incoming freshmen? Does Tech have the resources (personnel, financial, logistical) to annually post Top 20 recruiting classes nationally -- or at least top five in the super-sized ACC?
Let's be honest: A college-level kicker, especially one starting for an ACC team, should make 100 percent of his tries from 26 yards. There's really no way to sugarcoat that -- unless heavy snow and/or 40-mph winds are also at play.
For those who don't understand the reference, Pittsburgh had a golden chance to upend Coastal-leading Duke on Saturday, needing just a 26-yard field goal to beat the Blue Devils in regulation.
But Pittsburgh's kicker, the aptly named Chris Blewitt, botched the 26-yarder ... giving Duke renewed life in overtime. As such, the Blue Devils scored on both OT possession and eked out a 51-48 victory on the road.
Had Duke lost on Saturday ... it would have created the chaotic scenario of four two-loss teams in the Coastal Division -- with Georgia Tech (7-2 overall) momentarily grabbing the group lead at 4-2.
And with that, we might have been treated to an absurd tiebreaker system that would be obligated to distinguish amongst three of four "like" programs -- without a simple head-to-head solution.
Instead, Duke (7-1, 3-1 in ACC; victory over Georgia Tech on Oct. 11) still controls its own divisional destiny and should be prohibitive favorites to carry the remaining four games of the conference slate.
And when we say "prohibitive" ... we're being kind to Syracuse, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and dreadful Wake Forest (the Demon Deacons' average ACC deficit: 20 points per loss) as a finishing kick.
Adding to the Blue Devils' good fortune, the final three games (Va. Tech, UNC, Wake) all take place at home.
"It would have been nice" if Pittsburgh had defeated Duke, said Johnson in the postgame. "But we can only control what we can control. We have two (ACC) games left ... and Duke has -- what? -- four."
Of its four previous defeats this season, Virginia (4-5, 2-3 in ACC) had lost to UCLA, BYU, Duke and North Carolina by a combined total of 24 points.
