Sept. 15, 2013
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery | GT Photos
Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson
On first ACC game of the season:
“It’s good to get a road and conference win to start out. I’m not sure we played a great game, but we hung in there. We made enough plays. Duke played really hard. We still have a lot to clean up, though.”
On special teams play:
“Our field goal kicking was a disaster. Really, it’s low kicks. I don’t think it’s protection. We had problems on the kickoff coverage, as well.”
On defensive play:
“I thought defensively we played okay, except for a couple of drops. We played a lot of base defense. We really simplified [the defense]. I know people get tired of me saying that, but that’s what we did. We played base defense, guys got lined up, and we played better.”
On offensive play:
“I thought we did some good things. Offensively, we were too hit and miss. I was frustrated at half time, offensively, and then I looked at the stats and we only punted one time. It still didn’t seem to me like we were in-sync like we need to be. If you can play like that and you can win 38-14, it’s a good thing.”
“We had some third downs because we missed some reads and we did some things that we overcame. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple times, but we made plays and overcame them. When you’re up like that at half time, 24-7, and you come out and have an eight minute drive to start the third quarter and score, that’s a pretty good way to start. That’s a pretty good way to set the tempo.”
On Georgia Tech Quarterback Vad Lee:
“He made some plays. He had four touchdown passes, so he made some plays. I’m sure there were a few passes he’d like to have back, but it’s going to be a process. There’s going to be some good and some bad.”
“He made some big plays, but he also missed some that were wide open that could have been big plays. A young guy is going to do that, and that’s why I’m saying, the more he plays the better he’s going to get.”
“I think it’s disappointing at times because we had some chances. The one interception should have been a touchdown pass. He threw it to the wrong guy. We should have hit the guy on the wheel [route]. We dropped one in the end zone, as well. We had another guy early on that we overthrew. We need to settle down and make those throws, and if we do, it certainly helps the running game a lot.”
On Georgia Tech Wide Receiver DeAndre Smelter:
“He’s a good player. I think he’s really going to help the team.”
On the option play calling:
“I don’t know if we ever got into a rhythm. I probably didn’t do a great job of calling plays. I think we jumped around too much.”
On consistent play:
“We have to get better next week. It’s going to get better as we go. We have to ratchet up, and I think our guys can do that. We just need to get into a routine, so we can practice. We have to play better than we did today if we’re going to win our division and go to Charlotte.”
