Georgia Tech D looking to continue upward trend

 

ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia Tech’s defense is earning compliments instead of criticism.
The next challenge is to show its recent strong play is no fluke.
Georgia Tech still ranks near the bottom of most Atlantic Coast Conference defensive statistics despite strong signs that a turnaround is underway.
Defense has played big roles in back-to-back wins, including six fumble recoveries at Pittsburgh two weeks ago.
The Yellow Jackets allowed only 22 yards rushing and one touchdown in last week’s 35-10 win over Virginia. Jamal Golden and Adam Gotsis had interceptions. Paul Davis and KeShun Freeman each had one sack and one forced fumble.
Coach Paul Johnson said Tuesday he is looking for the defense to add more momentum to the turnaround on Saturday at North Carolina State. Georgia Tech (7-2, 4-2 ACC) will try to stay close to first-place Duke in the ACC’s Coastal Division.
”I think anytime you do well your confidence is going to go up, and hopefully you can take the momentum and gain from it,” Johnson said. ”You’d like for it to be a pattern and not an enigma, a one-game thing.”
The Yellow Jackets allowed only 15 first downs and 284 total yards against the Cavaliers. Virginia’s Kevin Parks, who ranked third in the ACC with 105.2 yards rushing per game, was held to 13 yards on five carries.
The Cavaliers’ previous season low for yards rushing was 114 against Louisville on Sept. 13.
”I thought defensively we played our best game of the year and hopefully we can take that momentum and build on it,” Johnson said.
Golden, a junior free safety, said he wasn’t satisfied with last week’s strong showing.
”It’s not where we want to be,” Golden said. ”But it’s the best we’ve done this season. We did a good job stopping the run, and that’s really what helped (defend) the passing attack. We got a lot of pressure on the quarterback when they put the ball in the air. That turned into the two picks.”
Golden is tied for third in the league with three interceptions.
There were few defensive highlights before the last two weeks. Georgia Tech still ranks only 12th among the 14 ACC teams with its average of 413 yards allowed and 11th with 26.2 points allowed.
Before the win over Virginia, the Yellow Jackets’ best defensive showing had been in a 28-17 win over Miami. That was overshadowed by a combined 79 points allowed in back-to-back losses to Duke and North Carolina.
It is easy to understand why Johnson wants to see another strong performance before giving the defense more praise.
Johnson said last week’s key was stopping Virginia on third down. The Cavaliers converted only 3 of 12 third downs.
”It was by far the best we’d been on third downs,” Johnson said. ”We had good pressure. I think the defensive coaches had a good plan. We had good pressure and challenged the receivers for the most part. We were able to get off the field on third down. That’s kind of really what it’s all about.”