Georgia Tech Football: What Went Wrong Against Kansas

The blame doesn't fall on the offense. It wasn't the defense. It doesn't even fall completely on the special teams or coaching staff. It was a collective failure.

Fumbles, dropping passes, bad reads, bad angles, missed tackles, blown assignments, bad blocking, playcalling, terrible punting, terrible kicking. You name it. 

You know what they say. It was a total team effort. Only this time, it's the other way around.

Georgia Tech went into Lawrence, Kansas as 14 point favorites against a Jayhawk team that lost to North Dakota State (FCS) the week before. Not to mention they were breaking in a freshman quarterback.

In his first start, Jordan Webb threw for 179 yards and three touchdown passes. Another freshman also had a big day. Running back James Sims had 101 yards on 17 carries.

With a trip to Chapel Hill this weekend, Paul Johnson and the Yellow Jackets need to turn this thing around quickly. North Carolina is a hungry team that would love to get revenge after last year's 24-7 loss in Atlanta. 

This was by far the most frustrating and I'm sure Paul Johnson harped on it. 

A block in the back on the opening kickoff of the second half (you will see this later on) that started the Tech drive on the eight yard line. 

A roughing the kicker penalty that kept the Kansas drive alive.

A roughing the quarterback penalty (by a senior) that kept another drive alive but this time, it went for a touchdown.

A false start on 4th and 3 at the end of the game, which changed the strategy. 4th and 3 is much more manageable than 4th and 8 for this offense. 

As you can see, there were many dumb mistakes that hurt the Yellow Jackets on Saturday. Hopefully Coach Johnson will fix this quick. 

Quarterback Joshua Nesbitt has gotten some heat about his accuracy and, at some points, deservedly so. But the senior improved greatly from week one to week one.

But in Lawrence, Nesbitt looked more comfortable throwing the ball than he has in a long time. The only problem was his receivers weren't helping him out.

Quentin Sims, Stephen Hill, Roddy Jones, and Tyler Melton all dropped passes, some in key situations. Hill dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone that turned 7 into 3. I'm still not sure why the ball is thrown to Jones. Melton dropped a pass on 3rd down that stopped a drive.

The loss of Demaryius Thomas will be most difficult to replace and this is why. The Yellow Jackets need a go to receiver to step up and Hill looks like the likely candidate.

While he struggled throughout the game, Stephen Hill stepped up late and caught a touchdown pass and tow point conversion to bring the game to three points. 

While 6 of 15 isn't great, Kansas converted many of their third downs early in the game and made them count. Georgia Tech improved late in the game and made some stops but it was too late.

One could argue that Kansas did well enough on first and second down and made their third downs very manageable. 

The Georgia Tech offense was very good last season on third down, which is part of the reason they were so successful. On Saturday, they were only 4 for 13.

In 2009, it was almost a sure thing that they were going to convert on third and short. And if they didn't, they would convert on fourth down. That was not the case on Saturday as Kansas stopped the Tech offense on multiple third downs. The Yellow Jackets were also 1 of 4 on fourth downs.

If Tech cannot convert on 3rd and short, it will be a long season. 

Special teams did not help the cause on Saturday.

Maybe Paul Johnson is so confident with his offense that they don't practice kicking? That is highly doubtful but boy, that was atrocious.

After the first touchdown of the game, kicker Justin Moore kicked the ball out of bounds. The Jayhawks started at the 40 yard line and scored on that drive.

To start the second half, the Yellow Jackets committed a block in the back penalty that started their drive at the 8 yard line. The Jackets go three and out. 

On the ensuing punt, Chandler Anderson punts it 13 yards. Yes, 13 yards. Kansas got the ball inside the Tech 30 and, of course, scored.

Don't forget the roughing the kicker penalty that kept a Kansas drive alive. Luckily, they didn't capitalize.

There are many concerns on this Georgia Tech football team. The ability to pile up yards is not one of them. The ability to finish drives could be an issue.

The Yellow Jackets piled up 407 yards of total offense but left several touchdowns on the field. At times, it looked like they were going to drive down the field with ease and score a touchdown. Then all of the sudden, the drive stalled.

At the end of the first half, Georgia Tech had a chance to take a seven point lead and couldn't cash in inside the Kansas 10 yard line, when Stephen Hill dropped a pass in the end zone.

The inability to finish drives correlates with everything that went wrong offensively. Not converting on 3rd downs, dumb penalties, the nonexistent passing game, etc. 

Anthony Allen has received limited carries in his first two games but has put up very good numbers. The senior has 17 carries for 117 yards in the first two games. That is nearly 7 yards per carry. So why isn't he getting the ball?

The dive has been such a key play in this Paul Johnson's offense, going back to the days of Adrian Peterson. Dwyer was very successful the past two years with the dive play but for whatever reason, he isn't getting the ball.

South Carolina State was keying on Allen which explains his 4 yards per carry in the opener (which still isn't bad). But Allen gashed the Jayhawks up the middle a couple times and they continued to go with the pitch or quarterback keeper. 

Most of the time, it is Joshua Nesbitt's read. But if you watch closely you will see a fake handoff to the B-back and Allen will act as a lead blocker. Those are designed plays to go with the pitch or the QB keeper. 

Why not more designed runs with Allen? Why not use the B-back option, which normally went for a big play the last two seasons?

GIVE THE BALL TO ALLEN!