Jackets show spring change, progress at White and Gold Game

It was a spring of change for Georgia Tech with new schemes on both sides of the ball due to coaching changes and new coordinators, a lot of new names due to roster turnover and an emphasis by head coach Brent Key of getting back to the identity of toughness and physicality.

A little bit of all that was on display in Saturday’s annual White and Gold Spring Game which wrapped up with “Team Swarm” taking down “Team Wreck ‘Em” 34-10 in front of a solid crowd at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

“We had a simulated game today that we got out there and played. It really played out the way I wanted it to play out,” said Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key following Saturday’s spring game. “I would match the teams up, things we wanted to see, things we wanted to get done. I thought there was a lot of positives there, things we can coach up.

“I thought it was good energy still,” added Key. “So I thought we’ve come out of spring, we can look back and say now we did a better job I think this year developing young guys, new guys at a quicker rate. So those guys are playing at a higher level late in the season, midpoint late through the season, more so than last year. I think we have a chance to have a solid football team. Now that being said, we have a lot of work to get done. They’ll walk out of here today, come back in, start preparing for finals, be ready to take the finals. And hopefully have it finished with another really strong semester there. Take a little time away, and then come back in and after Memorial Day we’ll be back together completely as a team. Ready to rock and roll and put two months of training in, leading into preseason training camp.”

It was a defensive game early on as neither side dented the scoreboard in the first quarter, but the offense got in a little rhythm in the middle portion of the game, including three scoring drives on the final four possessions to finish the first half, including two touchdowns from Team Swarm and a last-second field goal by Wreck ‘Em to make it 14-3 at the break.

Each side had a little more success offensively in the second half with three more touchdown drives from Swarm and one by Wreck ‘Em to finish off the game.

Redshirt-sophomore transfer Alberto Mendoza had a solid day in his bid to win the starting quarterback job, going 12-for-16 with 148 yards and a touchdown along with 19 rushing yards on two scrambles.

Grady Adamson competed well also, especially in the second half, going 8-for-11 with 91 yards passing and one touchdown pass along with 20 yards on the ground and a three-yard TD scamper.

Georgia Tech’s new-look running game had some highlights, including transfer senior Justice Haynes going for 46 yards on nine carries and Malachi Hosley adding 25 yards on four carries with an 18-yard touchdown run. Haynes added two catches for 22 yards.

JP Powell was the leading rusher on the day with 68 yards on three carries, including a 56-yard touchdown. Chad Alexander also ran for 18 yards and a touchdown and had two catches for 19 yards and a touchdown.

I mean I don’t know what type of expectations there are…My expectations are high for every position. We have a lot of talent in there, deep room, and they all want football,” said Key of the running backs. “(Running backs coach) Jimmy Smith‘s been an unbelievable addition to our staff not only just the way he coaches, but the way he manages to lead those guys. He runs the room. Really been pleased with him and his addition to the staff. But we have some talented guys back there. They take a lot of pride in their craft. They push each other. And that’s the things that (offensive coordinator) George Godsey is able to do is put those guys all in position to be able to help us this season.”

The Jackets had 12 different players with at least one reception in the game led by tight end Kevin Roche‘s six catches for 70 yards. Debron Gatling added five catches for 58 yards and an impressive back-shoulder fade catch for a touchdown.

Evan Haynes had a strong day at receiver as well with three catches for 50 yards, and Jordan Allen added three catches for 42 yards. Tight end transfer Gavin Harris also had one catch for 28 yards, which was the second longest reception behind Evan Haynes’ 31-yarder.

In all, Team Swarm had 383 total yards on offense with 131 rushing and 252 passing while Team Wreck ‘Em was held to 141 total yards (71 rushing, 70 passing).

Tech’s defense, also performing for the first time in a game-type situation under new DC Jason Semore, showed potential despite having a limited playbook and not much blitzing or variation in coverages. Transfers Noah Carter and Jordan Walker shined on the defensive line with two sacks apiece as Swarm finished with five tackles-for-loss.

Lawson Pritchett tied Carter with the top tackle total with three for Swarm, and AJ Hoffler had a tackle-for-loss. Pritchett and Fenix Felton each had a pass breakup.

Team Wreck ‘Em’s defense was led by Savion Riley with a game-high seven tackles (five solo), including a half a tackle-for-loss. Myles Forristall added five tackles (three solo), and Zachary Tobe had four solo tackles, including a tackle-for-loss, and a pass breakup. Cayman Spaulding and Isaac Obrokta each had a pass breakup as well.

“The first D-line was really…I almost don’t really consider it a first D-line right now, because we’ve got a lot of really good players in that position,” said Key. “I think it’s just the depth on the defensive line. Yes, I did just say that. It’s great to say it. So I thought those guys did some good things. (Our goals) are number one, stop the run. Number two, generate pass rush, create negative plays, affect the quarterback, get sacks.

“Everybody here knows, it was a mission of mine to set out to increase the size and length of our defensive line,” added Key. “You want ends that look like a Amontrae (Bradford). Well, now we do (have that). We needed more girth inside. We needed more depth inside. And that’s what been very encouraging. We were playing a lot. We put a lot of defense in this spring to really see what sticks and see what these guys, what their attention level is. And I’ve been pleased with those guys. But being able to play technique up front, being able to play attack mode, single gap up front, being able to play varying fronts…I’ve been pleased with the coaching of them. I think Jess (Simpson) and Kyle (Pope) have done an outstanding job with those guys. Simplified a ton of things, especially the edge position where those guys can just feel free to go play. Obviously the acquisition of talent (was important).”

Game recap…

Defense dominated the first quarter with only two three downs combined between the two teams.

Team Swarm was able to put a nice scoring drive together to open the second quarter that included several impressive completions by Mendoza for first downs before the drive culminated with a three-yard touchdown run by Chad Alexander to put Swarm up 7-0 with 8:37 left in the first half. Aidan Birr connected on the PAT.

Swarm carried that momentum forward with a quick 3-and-out by the defense followed by another scoring drive that started from the 50 and included Mendoza completions for first downs to Debron Gatling and Kevin Roche to keep the march alive. Malachi Hosley then busted up the middle for the 18-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 following the Landon Shaffer PAT with 3:39 remaining in the first half.

Wreck ‘Em finally answered with a scoring drive to end the half as JP Powell had a run for a first down, Graham Knowles completed to Evan Haynes for a first down and Knowles then scrambled to the opponent 24 for another first. Birr came in to hit a 48-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to cut Swarm’s lead to 14-3 at the half.

Swarm started the second half much like it finished the first half with a scoring drive to open the third quarter, culminating in an 18-yard touchdown pass from Mendoza to Gatling as Gatling adjusted the route and caught it over the defensive back. Shaffer’s PAT made it 21-3 with 9:32 left in the third. Haynes had a run for a first down on the drive as well as Mendoza connecting with Jordan Allen for a long gain and another first down.

Wreck ‘Em answered with a touchdown drive on the ensuing possession punctuated by the longest run of the day as Powell busted loose for a 56-yard touchdown sprint. Birr’s PAT cut the Swarm lead to 21-10 with 5:40 left in the third quarter.

Team Swarm had another long scoring drive that spanned the end of the third and early fourth quarter that ended with Grady Adamson finding Alexander out of the backfield for an 11-yard touchdown pass. A 68-yard PAT was attempted by Birr after that but fell just short to make it 27-10 Swarm with 11:17 left in the fourth.

The final drive of the game ended with another Team Swarm touchdown as Adamson kept on the read option and ran in a touchdown from three yards out. Shaffer’s PAT made it 34-10 as the rest of the time ran off the clock.

Up next…

Georgia Tech will have a few weeks off before coming back to start its summer workout and conditioning program leading up to the start of preseason fall camp in late July/early August.

The Jackets will open the season on Thursday, Sept. 3 at home against Colorado at Bobby Dodd Stadium.