We have entered Pitt’s 2022 ACC Conference opponents review. The first team is the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
Geoff Collins enters his fourth season at the wheel of the Rambling Wreck and a wreck it is. In his three years at Georgia Tech, his teams have been consistent. Three straight years of 3 wins with an overall record of 9 – 25 (7-18 conference, 2-7 OOC and no bowls). The fans and blogs are getting restless. They want Collin’s head.
Georgia Tech Football Opinion Week 2022: The Outcome is Assured – From The Rumble Seat
I like the writer of the above link – Robert Binion. He not only writes opinion pieces but does an exceptionally excellent job with S&P+ analyses. More on him later.
Georgia Tech’s 2021 results and the 2022 schedule.
Are Pitt fans the only ones who complain about scheduling? No.
Might as well get this over with. Robert Binion’s S&P+ projected win totals for all 65 P5 teams against a Vegas betting site (Points Bet USA).
The Binion Index: Looking at Win Totals for 2022 – From The Rumble Seat
Just one more link to go but not just now.
Here are the Rivals 5.7 and above 2022 commits. Also included are the current Transfer Portal (TP) additions.
GT lost 16 players to the TP (nine on offense, seven on defense). In return, they neared the NCAA limit of 32 commits with 15 class of 2022 recruits and plucking 15 from the TP. Notice the two QB TP additions. Are they depth or a QB competition? GT lost two QB’s to the TP. The current QB Jeff Sims has not lived up to his potential.
The best of the TP entries is RB Dylan McDuffie (Buffalo) and Safety Ahmari Harvey (Auburn).
On to the stars identified as NCAA team leaders in selected stats or members of the 2021 All ACC teams. I have added a new stat Athlon’s 2022 preseason All ACC Conference four teams.
ACC Football 2022 All-Conference Team – AthlonSports.com | Expert Predictions, Picks, and Previews
In total, 116 individual names (120 positions) were selected. That is approximately one third of all ACC starters for the 26 positions used. I already list the 2021 All ACC selections. Athlon just gives some names to replace those who are no longer eligible. I have the “names” in Orange to identify them.
Get used to a lot of color coding losses. Jahmyr Gibbs is the major loss to the TP. He is going to Alabama to get more national attention for his overall performance. NIL money may be involved but not Addison money.
The offense revolves around QB play. I have added sacked and yards lost to the QB chart. I also added career stats for the Sims and the two TP QB additions.
Georgia Tech running backs and receivers 2021 activity. Also returning production summary for Pitt and Georgia Tech.
GT is now leading in the lowest percentage of returning offensive production of the ten teams I have reviewed. While they picked up two RB’s from the TP, I am surprised that they did not pick up any WR’s. They did get two TE’s.
Can the Oline stats mitigate the loss of returning production. I added Pitt allowed sacks and tackles for loss.
Just to refresh your memory a “bright green” color coding means the player(s) are lost due to medical reasons.
GT lost three of their OL starters. They have added four players from the TP for potential starters (Tchio-Clemson, Quick-Alabama) and experienced backups.
Unless the OL makes a gargantuan leap in play, the Oline will not help mitigate the skill players loss.
On to the defensive review.
Georgia Tech had 46 players make a defensive stat. But nine of them were offense players. Two were special teams players. That leaves 35 defensive players making a stat.
The chart below strips out the non-defensive players and eleven players who did not make at least seven or more tackles.
The below chart includes 24 players- eleven DB’s, nine DL’s and four LB’s making up (and I mean made up) “seven+ tackles two deep.” Yep, I lowered the number of tackles to have at least a “two deep.”
Half of my “two deep” are gone. Less than half of the total defensive production is returning. The DB position needs rebuilt. GT did pickup five defensive players from the TP. All were DB’s with P5 backgrounds.
Let us put the above in perspective – 2021 NCAA defensive stats
Georgia Tech’s 2021 defense, in my opinion, was a solid F+. Then they lose more than half of their production.
I feel sorry for Geoff Collins. He took over a team that ran the triple option and tried to convert it into a P5 offense. He signed a seven year contract.
Geoff Collins’ contract averages $3.3 million annually (ajc.com)
At least, he was able to upgrade recruiting but too little too late. He is gone. On to Virginia Tech.
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