Georgia Tech quarterback TaQuon Marshall’s accuracy must improve for the Yellow Jackets to be more effective on offense this season. He completed just 37 percent of his passes in 2017.ATLANTA – Georgia Tech football coach Paul Johnson will open the season knowing what to expect from his spread option offense and the team’s new defensive scheme.
As they have since he took charge in 2008, the Yellow Jackets will run the ball about 85 percent of the time with Johnson calling the plays. The defense, now aligned in a 3-4 base front under coordinator Nate Woody, has been designed to create more pressure and turnovers, having worked all offseason to get quicker and more agile in ball pursuit.
After Tech hit rock bottom on special teams last year, though, Johnson knows the Jackets’ fate could hinge on how well they perform in that phase.
They went 5-6 last season, missing a bowl for the second time in three years, in large part because they ranked 99th nationally in kickoff returns and 115th in kickoff coverage. Tech allowed six kickoff returns of at least 40 yards and ranked 65th in punt returns and 89th in punt coverage. The latter was particularly surprising – and disappointing – because Pressley Harvin III ranked second in the Atlantic Coast Conference with an average of 44 yards per punt last season as a freshman.
As for place-kicks, Shawn Davis and Brenton King combined to hit seven field goals in 10 attempts and missed four PATs. With the season opener just two weeks away, the team has yet to settle on a kicker, with Davis, King and walk-on freshman Wesley Wells competing for field-goal, extra-point and kickoff duties. Davis won the job in camp last year, but he incurred a season-ending injury at Miami during the fifth game of the season.