Georgia Tech Half-Season Awards and Report Card

(I wonder who Paul Johnson's half-season MVP is...)

The three sure signs of fall have all arrived. It's turning colder, the trees are about 97 different colors and college football season is going pedal-to-the-floor.

The North Avenue Trade Schoolers have a big one -- maybe the biggest in years -- looming against the Hokies this weekend. But before we dive too deeply into one of the ACC's marquee games of the year, let's pause and talk half-season report cards and awards, shall we?

Half-Season Offensive MVP: Josh Nesbitt

No-brainer here. Nesbitt is a slim second to Jonathan Dwyer for the team lead in rushing yards, and he's already eclipsed most of last year's passing totals, including total yards, in just over half as many attempts.

But more than that, Nesbitt has gone from a question mark to the unquestioned leader of this offense, and the kind of field general Paul Johnson teams need. His toughness, savvy and playmaking ability should have him on every shortlist for ACC Offensive Player of the Year.

Half-Season Defensive MVP: Derrick Morgan

I almost hesitate to give this award away to anyone, considering how poor the Jackets have been defensively in-conference, save the one outing against UNC. But Morgan deserves it.

He's a force on a defense sorely lacking them, and he's averaging a sack a game despite being the focal point of every offensive gameplan he runs into.

Kid's gonna have a bright NFL future. For now, he's part of the difference between singing in the Music City and eating oranges, if you get my drift.

Half-Season Surprise: Demaryius Thomas

Considered giving this one to the backfield depth, which has been impressive.

But Bay-Bay Thomas leads the ACC in receiving yards, and his incredibly 23.85 yards per catch average is tops in all of college football. Put it another way, dude makes serious big plays in an offense we were all told was too one-dimensional. 

Sometimes, I really do wonder if Paul Johnson closes the door to his office to laugh at everyone he continually proves wrong. Thomas is just another example, and he's become one of the conference's most-feared weapons.

Half-Season Disappointment: The defense

Shocking, I know.

Seriously though, Georgia Tech swore up and down that it could overcome the loss of three NFL draft picks on its defensive line.

Players like Jerrard Tarrant and Mario Butler were supposed to supplement established names like the aforementioned Morgan and the defense's other Morgan, safety Burnett, and this was supposed to be a stout, if not stellar, unit.

Instead, injuries and inconsistency have Johnson and left defensive coordinator Dave Wommack searching high and low for answers. They simplified the assignments, they switched to a more basic scheme, and Tech's still given up 115 points in its last four games, including 75 in its last two.

You don't get invited to BCS bowls with those numbers.

Play of the Half-Season: Josh Nesbitt giveth, and Josh Nesbitt taketh away

Nesbitt's fumble-turned-thievery move might very well have saved Georgia Tech's season. It almost certainly saved a win in Tallahassee.

Give that ball back to the 'Noles, and Tech might not see it again with the lead in its possession. Instead, Nesbitt rips the ball back, then takes a QB keeper into the end zone for what proves to be the deciding score.

Half-Season Report Card

Offense: A-

Definitely struggled out of the gate against Clemson and Miami, but has more than made up for it in the last three weeks, and is now 24th nationally and fourth overall in the run.

Defense: D

It's not a full-on F, because the defense has done enough to give Georgia Tech a 5-1 record. But far too many times, this unit has looked overpowered, outmaneuvered and lost on the field against what was supposedly equal or even inferior competition.

Forty four points to Florida State and 31 points to Mississippi State, that's just too much.

Special teams: B-

Scott Blair has been a disappointment, frankly, but Paul Johnson likes to go for it more often than not on fourth down anyway, so it's not like Tech has needed a long-distance kicker in the last year-plus.

Where the Jackets make up for it, however, is key. Kick coverage is head-and-shoulders above last year's routinely mediocre performances, and Tarrant's already got two punt returns for touchdowns, something Tech didn't even sniff last season.

Kicking and punting could be better, but are still reliable, probably the overall theme of the unit itself.

Coaching: B+

The defense is still a cause for concern, more because of the lack of depth, which just happens sometimes. But offensively, the Jackets have added all sorts of new wrinkles and formations, and Johnson has once again stayed several steps ahead of his competition by doing things new-age and old-fashioned at the exact same time.

The biggest criticism of the offense I can think of, frankly, is that sometimes it feels like the Jackets score too quickly, making their defense work more. That's not a bad problem to have.

That's all I got. Will have a Virginia Tech preview-type story up in the next couple of days.

For now, let me know what you think, sound off in our lovely, user-friendly comments section below. And as a tribute to one of my favorite bloggers, I leave you with a song. Hope y'all enjoy.

"Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show

Headed down south to the land of the pines,
I'm thumbin' my way to North Carolina.
Starin' up the road, pray to God I see headlights.

I made it down the coast in seventeen hours,
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers.
And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh, I can see my baby tonight

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me

Runnin' from the cold up in New England,
I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time stringband.
My baby plays the guitar, I pick a banjo now.

Oh, the North country winters keep a gettin' me,
and I lost my money playin' poker so I had to up and leave.
But I ain't a turnin' back to livin' that old life no more.

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me

Walkin' due south out of Roanoke,
I caught a trucker out of Philly, had a nice long toke.
But he's a headed west from the Cumberland Gap,
To Johnson City, Tennessee.

Now I gotta get a move on before the sun.
I hear my baby callin' my name,
And I know that she's the only one.
And if I die in Raleigh, at least I will die free.

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me