Georgia Tech quarterback TaQuon Marshall runs past Clemson safety Denzel Johnson for a touchdown during last Saturday’s ACC game in Atlanta. Tech lost 49-21 to fall to 1-3 and is danger of getting off to its worst start since 1994.ATLANTA – Georgia Tech senior quarterback TaQuon Marshall has a message for critics who say his team’s season is essentially over.
Yes, the Yellow Jackets (1-3) are in danger of losing a fourth straight game and getting off to their worst start since 1994. But Marshall believes the Jackets will play a fundamentally clean contest against Bowling Green on Saturday and come away with a victory, as they are favored to do.
After that, it will be time to refocus on the team’s winless start in the Atlantic Coast Conference and next week’s trip to Louisville.
“There’s some goals out there that we can still reach,” Marshall said. “Just keep everything in perspective. Don’t get too down. Make sure everyone’s positive, because we can still get to where we want.”
Bowling Green is off to a 1-3 start as well and is 7-21 under third-year coach Mike Jinks. The Falcons, who are 0-2 in the Mid-American Conference, seem to be the right opponent at the right time for struggling Tech.
The Jackets first need to address self-inflicted mistakes. They have lost five of their nation-leading 14 fumbles and can’t afford to be careless against an opponent that forced 24 turnovers last year.
Paul Johnson, who is in his 11th season as Tech’s coach, recommitted to teaching fundamentals this week. He has seen enough dysfunction with his option-heavy flexbone offense – which has been flagged for eight false-start penalties this year – and a new 3-4 defense that has given up 122 points over the past three games.
“If you can’t bend your knees and play the leverage, it don’t matter if you’re blitzing or dropping,” Johnson said. “You’re not going to be very successful. It’s the same thing on offense. If you can’t get a quarterback-center exchange and you can’t pass protect a little better, it don’t matter.
“You can draw up all the routes and protections you want, but if you can’t do the fundamentals better – we’ve got to do a better job of coaching those things and emphasizing the little things. All those little things.”
At least first-year Tech defensive coordinator Nate Woody’s group is producing more takeaways. With interceptions last week by Desmond Branch and Malik Rivera, Tech has five this season to tie for 19th nationally. The Jackets had just six interceptions in 11 games last year.
Johnson, whose teams are 18-22 overall and 9-17 in the ACC since the start of 2015, believes a turnaround can happen quickly.
“I know what I see in practice, and I know what I see with our guys,” he said. “I think we’ve got a chance to get better and play better.”
His quarterback seems to have no problem turning the focus inward.
To block out bad vibes, Marshall recently deleted social media apps from this phone. He kept the accounts active but doesn’t plan to engage in Twitter, Instagram and others for the rest of the season.
“I’m only on Snapchat with a couple of my friends,” he said. “If you have my number, you can text me, but other than that, I put it to the side. Too much of a distraction. It makes me too frustrated, so I had to get rid of it.”