Report Card: Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech
BLACKSBURG, VA -- Virginia Tech's scrappy, come-from-behind victory over Georgia Tech in the season opener for both teams Monday night already put the Hokies in the driver's seat to win the ACC's Coastal Division.
Either the Hokies or Yellow Jackets have represented the division since the ACC split into two divisions to host championships games prior to the 2005 season. So it stands to reason this game which Virginia Tech won, 20-17, in overtime, will carry lasting meaning.
Here is the report card for both teams' performances:
GT offense -- Other than two possessions, one that lasted 15 plays and another that was split with the passing game, the Yellow Jackets had issues with the Hokies' stout defense. GT managed just 288 total yards, including only 192 on the ground, which is more than 1oo under its average in the Paul Johnson era. Grade: D+.
VT offense -- Wildly inconsistent, the Hokies amassed 152 yards in the final 9-plus minutes of the contest but finished with just 326 on the night. Just 5-for-16 on 3rd-down chances and averaging only 2.7 yards on 35 rushes, the Hokies have plenty of work to do. Grade: C-.
GT defense -- Al Groh's 3-4 defense is definitely taking shape. It put enough pressure on Logan Thomas and flushed out receivers most of the night. It stopped the run and frustrated the home team. But it let down too much late. Perhaps conditioning was an issue. If not, Groh has to figure out exactly what went wrong. Grade: B.
VT defense -- This unit has big-time potential. They hit, run sideline-to-sideline, and they read situations well. Other than two drives, they dominated the usually-productive Yellow Jackets. Grade: A.
GT intangibles -- Pretty clean performance, and how the Jackets kept their composure until the very end was impressive. Johnson should be happy with how his team handled the evening for the most part. Grade: A.
VT intangibles -- You have to be highly impressed by how the Hokies turned things around. They appeared to have no answers and little left in the tank. But Logan Thomas and a spirited defense laid the foundation for Cody Journell's to field goals to be the difference. Despite some special teams snafus, it worked out in the end. Grade: B+.