But now, after a disappointing last few seasons, Georgia Tech finds itself in the midst of a turnover turnaround. In their first season under new defensive coordinator Nate Woody, the Yellow Jackets have already doubled their turnover count from last year.
Georgia Tech NCAA Rankings – Turnovers forced
| Year |
Turnovers |
NCAA Rank |
| 2017 |
10 |
123rd |
| 2018 |
20 |
t-8th |
As they prepare to face Miami– they of the diamond-encrusted “turnover chain” and widely considered the pioneers of the turnover prop movement – the Yellow Jackets have no plans of slowing down.
“It’s electric. One guy gets a turnover, another guy wants to get one. It’s a happy feeling,” said senior Anree Saint-Amour, who contributed one of Tech’s three interceptions against North Carolina.
But why the uptick? There’s a certain amount of luck involved in forcing a turnover. A pass deflects off a receiver’s hands and into the hands of a defensive back. A ball takes a fortunate bounce toward a defender instead of away from him.
But luck alone doesn’t explain why Georgia Tech has gone from one of the worst turnover-forcing teams in the nation to one of the best. Head coach Paul Johnson says his team has gotten more pressure on opposing quarterbacks, leading to a spike in interceptions.
“We’re probably a little more aggressive, even though we haven’t blitzed a great deal. There are more guys upfield, more tackles for loss. I think, even though the sack numbers aren’t what we’d like, at times we’ve gotten more pressure on the quarterbacks,” Johnson said.
Interceptions, of course, were a trademark of Woody’s defenses at Appalachian State. Over the last three years, no team picked off more passes in the Football Bowl Subdivision than the Mountaineers. But more than scheme, Georgia Tech players point to a simpler reason: they’ve been drilled by Woody since Day One to run to the football on every play.
Rallying to the ball has become their rallying cry.
“That’s something that Coach Woody has been preaching since he got here like crazy,” Saint-Amour said. “After every play, he’s always, ‘Run to the ball! Run to the ball! Run to the ball!’ That’s what he’s been doing since the spring. We’ve been practicing that, and it transitions over into the game. It’s always on everybody’s mind – getting to the ball, stripping the ball, hitting somebody, making a tackle, shooting your shot – and that’s creating more turnovers.”
That habit started in the spring, Jalen Johnson agreed. During practice, the punishment for players not running to the ball was running some more.
“If we didn’t run to the ball the first time, he’d tell us to run to the sideline [before coming back onto the field]. So that’s more running. And if we didn’t run to the sidelines hard enough, we’d run to the other sideline,” Johnson explained.
