Sept. 26, 2015
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POSTGAME QUOTES [GAME 4]
DUKE BLUE DEVILS (3-1, 1-0) 34, #20 GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS (2-2, 0-1) 20
SEPTEMBER 26, 2015 • DURHAM, N.C. • WALLACE WADE STADIUM (20,101)
GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Paul Johnson
Opening Statement…
“It was disappointing. I think you have to give Duke credit, especially defensively. They played their tails off. I thought they were pretty good going into the game and they didn’t disappoint. It’s like I told our team, you’re not going to win games when you snap it over your punter’s head, give up a kickoff for a touchdown, give up a punt return for a touchdown and then are anemic on offense. We’re just not a very good offensive football team right now. [Wide receiver] Ricky Jeune made a couple of nice plays today, but other than Ricky, nobody makes any plays. It has to be four yards at a time. We don’t have a skill guy who can break out and we’re not good enough at other places to make up for it when we screw up. We ran one trap play and had to run it five times until we got it right. When you do that against a team that’s pretty good, you’re not going to be very good.”
On Georgia Tech’s improvement on defense in the second half…
“They played really well in the second half. That’s probably as good as a defense has played since I’ve been here. They played great and gave us every chance in the world to win the game.”
On his frustration level…
“I’ve done this a long time. I’m frustrated, but I’m sure they’re frustrated, too, so we (have) to do a better job coaching them and we have to be better on offense. We have to be better. And then what happens is the quarterback starts pressing and it gets worse, just like the last play. Hand it off. If you don’t make the first down, you don’t make the first down. That’s the read. You have to hand it off. I understand where he’s at. He’s trying to make plays himself and gets frustrated. He can’t drop back to throw without three guys around him.”
On special teams miscues…
“It’s hard until you look at the tape. I think guys just got blocked, couldn’t get off blocks and missed tackles. I think we missed two tackles on the punt return. Kick return, I’m sure someone was out of their lane.”
On the recent struggles of Georgia Tech’s offensive line…
“I’m not sure it was all that great last year. We had good skill guys. Everybody wanted to anoint those guys. How many tackles did Synjyn [Days], Zach Laskey and all those seniors [break]? They’re playing with a bunch of freshmen. Those guys aren’t going to be the guys who make plays. If you look, the skill guys are the guys that have never played, minus the quarterback.”
