midseason football report card

Tech heads into its bye week before the final stretch of the season.

The team has played below expectations this season. Some expected the team to perform better than last year's team that made it to the ACC Championship game and the Gator Bowl.

Still, the team has shown flashes of dominance. Against Samford, the team rushed for nine touchdowns and racked up 69 points. The team's defense shut down Clemson's running back tandem of C.J. Spiller and James Davis in a 13-3 victory.

Furthermore, the team was able to visit Orange Stadium and play Miami and still come away with a victory. The Jackets relied on its rushing attack and its stout defense to power the squad to its third consecutive victory over the Hurricanes.

Unfortunately, the team has had a tendency to fall behind against teams because of sloppy play and turnovers. Against Virginia, the team fell behind 21-7 and against Maryland, the team had to attempt to overcome a 21-3 deficit. The two eventual losses saw Tech mounting a come back that fell just short in the fourth quarter.

The team will now enter into the second part of its season that will see several difficult matchups. Virginia Tech always provides a difficult test for Georgia Tech while Georgia has bested the team for five straight years. Even historically inept teams Duke and North Carolina have found more success this season. The Jackets must correct its ills if it wants to go to a bowl game or possibly the ACC Championship game.

DEFENSE: A-

Tech defense has played well this season, but has underperformed in the first half. Against Boston College, Tech allowed an opening drive touchdown and another drive that ended inside the Tech 10-yard line on a turnover. Against Virginia, the Jackets gave up two long drives for touchdowns in the first quarter. Against Maryland, Tech stopped Maryland on the first drive but then gave up three long touchdown drives of 84, 66, and 72 yards on Maryland's next three possessions. Tech also allowed a 63-yard drive to Army in the first quarter that resulted in a touchdown. In all four of those games, the Jackets were able to settle down and stop the team for the rest of the game. Tech's defense played four shut-down quarters against Clemson and Miami, but needs to do that consistently to be successful. The team has continued to blitz the quarterback throughout the season, finding success against less seasoned offensive lines and less experienced quarterbacks, but having its worst game against Boston College's Heisman candidate Matt Ryan and the Golden Eagles.

Defensive MVP: Darrell Robertson (4.5 sacks, 13.5 TFL, FF, fumble return TD)

Honorable Mention: Vance Walker (5.5 sacks, 10 TFL, 3 FF)

OFFENSE: B-

The Jackets' offense has performed very inconsistently this season. The Jackets scored 33 and 69 points against Notre Dame and Samford respectively, but since then have broken 20 points just three times, twice in road losses and once against Army. In ACC play Tech has averaged just 18 points, going 2-3 in the five games. The bright spot in Tech's offense has been the rushing offense. For the second year in a row, Tech leads the ACC in rushing and is one of the national leaders. Tashard Choice individually leads the ACC in rushing this season with 864 yards, over 200 yards better than the next highest (Lattimore (MD), 629). The passing game has really let the offense down this year. Quarterback Taylor Bennett has completed just 51.4 percent of his passes this season for two touchdowns and three interceptions, but has been plagued by several dropped passes from his inexperienced receiving corps. In order to consistently win games, Tech must force the opponent to respect the passing game in order to open lanes for backs in the running game.

Offensive MVP: Tashard Choice (864 rush yards, 24th in the nation).

Honorable Mention: O-Line, TE, FB: 5 sacks allowed

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-

Special teams have been the most improved aspect of Tech's game this season. Last year, Durant Brooks was a finalist for the Ray Guy award and has only improved in his second year, posting a better punt average as well as net punt average. Travis Bell has returned to the form that earned him All-ACC honors his freshman year and is second in the ACC in scoring, well on his way to breaking the single season school record of 19 field goals. Last season Tech averaged last in kickoff coverage, allowing two kickoff return touchdowns of over 95 yards each. This season, Tech's gone from worst to first in that department. Part of it has to do with the new kicker Scott Blair's deep, high kicks that allow the coverage team to run down the ball carrier. Last season, Tech used deep line drive kicks that allowed the return team to set up blocks for the ball carrier. The one blemish on the record of the special teams is a missed field goal at the Maryland game with time winding down, a game that Tech went on to lose, 28-26.

Special Teams MVP: Travis Bell (17/20 field goals made, 26th nationally individual scoring)

Honorable Mention: Durant Brooks (45.22 yds/punt, 7th nationally)