Kentucky Football: Georgia Tech Defensive Pressure Stops Cats

Kentucky Football: Georgia Tech’s defensive pressure proved to be the defining factor that stifled Cats offense in TaxSlayer Bowl loss to Yellow Jackets

Dec 31, 2016; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Stephen Johnson (15) runs the ball in the second quarter as Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets linebacker Brant Mitchell (51) at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into the TaxSlayer Bowl, Kentucky was concerned with stopping Georgia Tech’s vaunted triple-option offense, from the fullback dive to the pitch on the edge. The number of Kentucky possessions, controlling the ball, opportunities to score-all would be effected by getting stops.

GAME STATS

But in the end, it was Georgia Tech’s defense that controlled the game, from building an early lead, to disrupting Kentucky’s offensive all day long. The Yellow Jackets were able to apply consistent pressure to UK quarterback Stephen Johnson, and completely shut down Kentucky’s own powerful running game, giving Tech’s offense plenty of opportunities to take control in the second half with the triple-option ground game.

“You have to score against Georgia Tech,” said Kentucky coach Mark Stoops following the game. “When you beat them, you’re scoring. But certainly we can do better. I thought we got soft inside. That’s, again, where the pressure of them executing, keeping you off balance, getting those three, four, five yards. That’s why you know the game is going to be short.”

Georgia Tech applied pressure from the opening drive. After moving the ball early, Johnson got hit on a drop back, coughed up the ball, and P.J. Davis scooped-and-scored from 38 yards to give the Yellow Jackets an early 7-0 lead. It was the first sign of things to come, as Georgia Tech’s front four consistently got in the backfield to disrupt the run game and pressure Johnson.

“He was under a lot of pressure,” Stoop said. “We were disappointed. We had some shots. We didn’t get good protection, we really didn’t. We didn’t protect well enough to get the ball down the field.

“With any quarterback, if you’re affecting the quarterback with pressure, mixing up looks… They did a nice job,” Stoops continued. “They played well. We needed to protect better. We were just off on shots and plays with pressures and coverages.”

And while Johnson didn’t have time to stretch the field vertically, the running game was also bottled up by Georgia Tech. The Cats were held to just 149 rushing yards on the day, 49 of those by Johnson to lead the team. The dynamic duo of Boom Williams and Benny Snells were held to 35 and 34 yards, respectfully.

Simply stated, Georgia Tech’s defense played better than anyone could have expected.