Now to the other side of the ball.
We have to play disciplined defense. That means we have to tackle to the ground. None of that arm tackle crap that did us in back in '08. More like point of attack, wrap em up and take em down hard.
And that especially has to happen early. Grantham can't let his guys come out too keyed up where they make simple mistakes, ones we've been prone to during the season. If we hold them down early, they'll get frustrated. And quite honestly, our offense could have the game in hand by then and ready to squeeze it tight.
But play good, disciplined defense first and foremost. Stop the dive play and force this black russian Vlad kid to make mistakes. Because he will make them when put into a position to do that. For as many times as he runs the ball, he only averages a couple yards a carry. And he has almost as many picks as touchdowns thrown. Hassle him and he's just Reggie Ball with an ill-suited name.
Next, when they get their yards and get to the redzone, they're one of the best in the nation at getting seven points when they get there - over 85%. Even in their losses they score touchdowns when they get to the redzone 75% of the time. Our defense in the red zone has been much better since that murderous October run. That's got to be another key right there. Give up the yards, man up and force a turnover or a field goal attempt at best.
Lastly, protecting the ball is always a key. And Georgia Tech has been more horrible at it than we have this month, at least until they played Alabama A&M last week. Going into that cupcake they were -4 at Virginia, -1 Pittsburgh and -1 at Clemson. Georgia's been better, not significantly better. But better. If we can create some fumbles like we did last week against Kentucky it would be great.
Now, I gotta go make sure the bourbon is packed so that when these guys heckle me about SAT scores I can say, "Hey! Richt is to yellow jackets as winning is to reggie ball."
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| Bernie's here. Set phasers to stun. (or whatever the hell...) |
