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closeNASHVILLE, Tenn. — The first half was hairy, scary and something that completely rocked Georgia Tech and its fans to the core.
But 30 football minutes later, with their fears completely calmed, it was the east stands that began rocking, as they celebrated yet another Yellow Jackets win in what is shaping up to be a dream season.
“All in all, we win on the road, we’re in the game and now we’re back on task the next week,” Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson said. “Our big goal continues next week at home and we have to play better than we played (Saturday night).”
After entering into a totally unexpected first-half scoring flurry with lowly, two-win Vanderbilt, the Yellow Jackets jogged into their locker room at halftime searching for ways to stave off the upset-minded Commodores.
Imploring defenders to tackle better, and asking offensive players to come away with more big scores, Johnson — the master of the halftime adjustment — was able to help his team break a 28-all tie before going on to one of Georgia Tech’s biggest wins in three seasons.
Beating Vanderbilt 56-31, the Yellow Jackets scored more than 50 points for the first time since hanging 69 on Samford in 2007.
With Georgia Tech’s (8-1, 5-1 ACC) defense holding the Commodores (2-7, 0-5 SEC) to a field goal early in the third quarter, its offense ran away with the game after running back Jonathan Dwyer rushed for two of his three touchdowns.
“I’m running with a purpose (now),” Dwyer said.
The junior B-back went on to amass a career-high 186 yards rushing on just 22 carries.
“Ever since last week, a couple guys on the team challenged me to run the way they know I can run,” Dwyer said. “I watched old film from last year and things like that. If plays weren’t there, I still made plays.
“And that’s how I like to run the ball; to get the team fired up with a lot of emotion and just let everybody feed off of each other’s emotion during the course of the game.”
In addition to his banner performance, quarterback Josh Nesbitt crept up Georgia Tech’s all-time career rushing touchdowns list when he picked up two before halftime. That final score also boosted him into sole possession of the all-time lead for quarterbacks, surpassing former Yellow Jackets signal-caller Shawn Jones.
Along with his two rushing touchdowns, Nesbitt passed for two more for 193 yards. His final toss was an 87-yard bomb down the Vanderbilt sideline that resulted in a big reception for A-back Embry Peeples. The touchdown was the fourth-longest pass in school history.
“Actually, we put that one in on the sidelines,” Johnson said. “We felt like the guy was going to be open, and he was.
“Embry did a nice job running under it.”
Johnson and Nesbitt later said that they saw the free safety biting hard on play-fakes and other short-game plays, so they figured with Peeples’ speed they would be able to get the running back behind Vanderbilt’s secondary.
While the offense stepped up in the second half, Georgia Tech’s defense did, as well, improving its tackling.
Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said that after impressing a sense of tackling urgency into his players at halftime, they responded.
With defensive backs and linebackers missing on long pass receptions and runs by Vanderbilt running back Zac Stacy and quarterback Larry Smith, the necessity for better tackling was driven home at the half.
“We tackled so poorly in the first half it was unbelievable,” Wommack said. “We had guys looking like they were diving for quarters out in the middle of the field; it was that bad.”
Some of those issues were the result of injuries to safety Dominique Reese and cornerback Jerrard Tarrant. With minor nicks and bumps, the Yellow Jackets put backup and Macon native Correy Earls into the game along with sophomore Rashaad Reid and little-used Mario Edwards in their place.
The game keeps Georgia Tech’s BCS hopes alive and well as it enters Saturday’s home ACC contest against Wake Forest. Following that game, the Yellow Jackets will have a chance to clinch the Coastal Division title the next week at Duke before taking on rival Georgia a week later.
“We know that if we do look ahead that it’s going to come back and haunt us,” Dwyer said. “We just have to keep focus week-in and week-out.”
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