Nov. 28, 2015
Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Johnson
Opening Statement
“I think that game is a microcosm of our season. We have a hard time valuing the ball. Anytime you lose the turnover battle like we have the last couple games, you’re not going to win very many games. We can’t seem to fi nish plays on offense. We get in the clear and we’re one block away. Three times I counted we drove down to the 30-yard line and guys miss assignments. [We] forget to go in motion, tell motion, catch the pitch, and block the read key on the option. I wish I could explain it. I guess it’s being young.
“We still had a chance. We got them down there on the six-yard line and whenever we need a stop we can’t get one. We’re playing man-to-man and we turned the guy loose. [It’s] disappointing. It’s all stuff I think we can fix, [that] I can fix. I’m hell-bent to get it fixed. I’m not going to go through this again.”
On the offense’s struggles in Georgia territory
“There were about nine possessions in the game. The problem was we couldn’t finish. We’d get the ball across the 50 or get it down to the 30 and then we would screw it up. We had a 2nd-and-1 and we tried to break a tendency with a play-action pass which you’ve got to do once in a while. We threw the ball away like we should have [because] they covered it. Then we can’t make 3rd-and-1 and we miss a read on 4th-and-1 and there you go. It’s like I said, third downs were atrocious as they have been all year. Pass protection was bad like it has been all year. [Justin Thomas] didn’t have a chance to set his feet. I think we had some guys open. They’re very good on defense. They run around and they’ve got a good defensive football team. They’ve held everybody defensively pretty good. But we had our chances, especially early in the game. We hit them with a little counter play and they didn’t have an answer for it, but we couldn’t fi nish. I know one time on our sideline we had two blockers on one guy with the ball carrier and their kid made a play. Instead of a touchdown, neither guy [blocks] him.”
On improvements for next year
“A lot of it is youth. A lot of it is guys who will probably not be playing next year when we get everybody back. We’ve got to coach better. It’s all of the above. We’ve got to pay more attention to detail.”
On Clinton Lynch’s development
“Clinton’s played well all year. Lynn Griffi n has done some things in the last two games. I think both of them have a bright future. They both haven’t played before this year. Clinton’s a freshman. I think that that position is going to get a real overhaul when we get our guys back. We’re going to have Qua Searcy back and J.J. Green and a bunch of guys who were hurt. Nathan Cottrell, who we felt was the best freshman in the class, got hurt in camp. There’s going to be some good depth at that position. We’ll also get three B-backs back which will also help us a bunch with competition and ability.”
On Justin Thomas’ interception
“He said he was throwing to Clinton [Lynch] and it sailed on him.” On P.J. Davis’ ejection “He slugged a guy. I was watching dead on him. I think the guy was probably holding him and it was probably going back and forth. But he’s the guy who got caught and it was a valid call.”
On positive takeaways from this season
“We played a lot of young guys. A lot of guys got experience. I think sometimes guys take winning for granted. They should have gotten a good dose of that. I know I did. It’s unac-ceptable. We’ve got to get better.”
Georgia Coach Mark Richt
Opening Statement
“It was a great victory. I’m proud of our players, fi rst and foremost. It was a great team effort. Our coaches did a wonderful job. Our fan base showed up in big numbers.
“I want to credit to Coach Johnson and his team. They battled. Both teams battled well. It was kind of a typical game that we play. I guess it’s nine out of 12, a touchdown or less. I know the last 12 games have been close. That’s kind of how it goes, but you’ve got to keep persevering until the end, which we did.”
On the play to begin the fi nal possession from your own 7
“It was basically the same play in which we were hitting out fullback out in the fl at. That’s the one you hope pops there when you’re geared to stop the run. The fullback takes an angle like he’s going to block the power, and he slips out in the flat. I think we hit him a couple of times. One time we hit Malcolm [Mitchell] on a crossing route … same play but it went to the third progession which is Malcolm. This particular ball that went downfi eld was our second progression to our tight end. Apparently they jumped the fullback in the fl at and he got open. It was a huge play, no doubt. But it’s a relatively safe play; you don’t want to get to crazy. It was a great call and good execution.”
Any thoughts on not getting the shutout after the unsportsmanlike penalty was called
“That (Georgia player’s motion which drew the penalty) does signify incomplete pass, but it also signifies our punt safe – it was fourth and seven – on our sideline just to make sure they don’t go on the field if in fact they punt. I don’t know that they would have punted, but you’ve got to get it communicated so you don’t have 12 on the field or some kind of other mishap. We were out of timeouts. I guess ‘no comment’ is the best comment right now.”
It seemed like you dominated in so many ways, are you a little aggravated it was so close
“I’m not aggravated at all, I’m happy. Any victory is a great victory, especially when it’s your in-state rival. I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to watch it. I’ll probably be a college football fan tonight and watch a lot of other coaches sweat it out. I can’t get frustrated with what happened. I can only be happy that we won and be proud of our guys, not just today, but over the last month. It’s been pretty neat.”
What do you make of the regular season
“We came up short of our goal to get to Atlanta and try to go beyond. We all know that. That’s the standard here, to win the SEC. But when you also look at a team that was in the position we were in, everybody came together. It certainly could have gone one way or the other. It was that moment of truth where you ask, ‘what are you going to do?’ Lay down and die or lock arms and get after it. They did.”
Georgia Tech Senior CB D.J. White
On the adjustments Tech’s defense made with Tyler Marcordes lining up over the tight end
“A lot of times we wanted to match him [Marcordes] up with the tight end. You know, give ourselves a chance to cover the wide receivers because they came out a lot in a slot formation for this game. I know for us, if we could get that matchup with the two corners on the wide-outs, that’s what we are looking to do.”
On what the last four years at Tech have meant to him
“It’s been special. It’s been real special. I grew up a Georgia Tech fan. I followed the team back since the Calvin Johnson days, as far as I can remember. So it was really special for me to come stay in state, go to my favorite school growing up and get a chance to not just play, but make plays on a big stage. Things didn’t go the way we wanted to, like you said, but the memories we created these last four years — they’ll last a lifetime.”
On Georgia’s ability to protect the ball and prevent big-play turnovers
“They did a good job of protecting the ball. You know they didn’t put their quarterback in too many situations to make a mistake, as far as passing the ball. Running back-wise, they’ve got some guys that can carry the ball pretty well. So, those guys did a good job of protecting the ball. I mean, we were going for the ball all game because we knew we needed a turnover, but we just couldn’t get one.”
Going from 11-3 to 3-9
“Yeah, that’s a simple question with a loaded answer. You know, it’s a combination of a lot of things. It’s never just one or two things. We had a lot of young guys in a lot of key posi-tions this year just getting experience. Defensively, we were always trying to push to get better, but maybe we didn’t get to where we wanted to either. As a matter of fact, I know we didn’t. So a lot of different things, you know. The ball sometimes just doesn’t bounce your way. But one thing I can say is that everybody kept playing hard.”
Senior S Jamal Golden
On if a lack of confi dence and injuries contributed to close losses this season.
“We always thought we were going to win, no matter who went down. Last year we had injuries too. I know we had injuries this year. You just have to step up and it’s next man up. I mean, effort was never a problem. Everybody that came in played hard. Nobody went out there thinking we aren’t going to win or anything. It’s just, sometimes the ball bounces your way, sometimes it doesn’t.”
On what it feels like to have a losing season as a senior
“It just kind of sucks that it’s a bad taste in your mouth that you can’t really do anything about now. But, it’s going to help me in life. I mean, life is not over just because the season is over. We have to move on. For me and the 21 other seniors that are graduating, we have to move on. Football is a game of life. It’s going to teach you about life and it’s going to help me further down the road.”
On Clinton Lynch
“He’s a hard runner. He is deceivingly hard to tackle, and you see that he is an explosive guy. He’s a guy that Coach Johnson wants to get the ball to. So, he’s going to have a pretty bright future and probably be one of those premier guys that you’ll see in our offense for years to come.”
