Examining Georgia Tech's Burgeoning Pass Attack

(No passing game? Demaryius Thomas would disagree.)

Paul Johnson is a man who likes to prove people wrong. Judging on his early body of work, he's pretty good at it.

They said the spread option wouldn't work in big-time college football, so he remade Navy into a respectable program. They said it would fail against BCS-level competition, and now he's on course for a BCS bowl appearance in just his second season.

So what else could they say about this quaint, quixotic little scheme of his? Well, surely he can't pass.

Don't look now, but I think the Unpleasable One's done it again.

Let us examine the available evidence, beginning with the physical test, the case study:

Click here , if you would please, and forward the video to the 45-second mark.

What you'll see is an 87-yard touchdown pass from Josh Nesbitt to speedy A-back Embry Peeples, just one of the deep passing plays the Jackets have scored with this season.

Essentially, Johnson saw Vanderbilt's safeties sneaking up into committed run coverage on one particular play and told Peeples to take off for the end zone the next time Tech ran it. Johnson's observation repeated itself, and Nesbitt hit Peeples for the touchdown, which was essentially the dagger in a close-game-turned-blowout.

It's representative of a larger trend for the Yellow Jackets. That trend? That the passing game is not just for the birds in Atlanta.

Consider the following (broken down for you into handy bullets):

• Thanks in no small part to its small number of attempts, Georgia Tech is third in the nation in passing efficiency. What that also means, however, is that the Jackets get their money's worth.
  
• What is that money worth? 11.91 yards per attempt, by far the best in the nation. In fact, no other team's average breaks 10. How is that done, do you ask? (See the flow here?)
• The short answer is Demaryius Thomas. He's a big dude, 6'3", 229 pounds, and he's great in jump-ball situations. The nature of Tech's offense requires several defenders to commit to the run, freeing up receivers like Thomas in one-on-one coverage.
  
• So what? Nesbitt just heaves a pass and Thomas catches it. Big deal, you say? Well, the big deal is that it works. Thomas is first in the conference in receiving yards per game, and he averages a ridiculous 24.2 yards per catch.
  
• But what about that bigger picture? Well, the bigger picture is that Nesbitt has improved in almost every major statistical passing category. He's doubled his career output in just nine games, averages more than 11 yards per pass, and has failed to complete at least one pass of 40 yards or more in just two games this season.
  
• That's all just a product of the option, you say. Well, yes, it is, but why is that bad? I mean, why are A.J. Green's numbers—44 catches, 732 yards, and six touchdowns—any more legitimate than Thomas' 34 for 823 and five scores? They are both simply a product of the offenses in which they operate.
  

Tech's judicious use of the pass is helpful, as well, in avoiding common miscues such as sacks and interceptions. Fewer attempts mean fewer opportunities for such game-changing mistakes. 

Talk in the offseason suggested that Georgia Tech needed to improve its passing game if it wanted to be a BCS contender, and that all began and ended with Nesbitt.

Asked and answered. Not only have the junior's numbers improved, but he's been undeniably more quarterback-like in his play this season as well.

Much of the time Tech passed in 2008, Nesbitt struggled to connect on much but deep passes. Now, you can see him take his time, make his checks, throw on the run when necessary, and put touch on passes when they need not be rifled in.

There's a difference between actually having a passing game and just passing the ball, and that is the difference between this year and last for the Yellow Jackets. The first defenses have to respect, the second they'll take their chances won't beat them.

For the final—and perhaps most important—point, I'll send you back up to the video highlight you just watched.

What you see there is not just a passing touchdown. It's a passing touchdown begotten of the same formation, the same pre-snap look, and the same post-snap reads as identical plays that Tech uses in its run game.

The option is an offense predicated on equal parts repetition and confusion. It wants a defense to see the exact same things pre-snap and then do something that defense has never seen before, not in the six, seven, 10 times that play has been run just in that game.

It lulls defenses to sleep and keeps them off balance at the same time, taking away a half-step that's crucial to continued execution.

In the play above, as with almost any other Georgia Tech passing play, the Jackets were able to use the same formation, the same motions, and the same setup, only to turn what looked like a run play into an 87-yard passing touchdown.

Even if he didn't show it, I'd imagine Paul Johnson had himself a chuckle as Peeples' feet found the end zone grass. He'd proved somebody wrong again.