Tough schedule hurting Georgia Tech's chances for turnaround
ATLANTA -- Sporting a 2-5 record and battling a five-game losing streak, Georgia Tech is far removed from the team that was ranked No. 14 after the second week of the season. But are the Yellow Jackets bad?
Georgia Tech probably compares favorably with the likes of Louisville (2-4), Texas (2-4), Maryland (2-4), big-time programs that have similar losing records. Despite going through this painful stretch of games, head coach Paul Johnson doesn't think his team is that bad.
"You know, I don't think we are a bad football team," Johnson said. "I don't think we are a great football team, but a bounce here or there, all I'm telling you is, we've played pretty good teams."
Johnson is correct. Their opposition has been stiff. The past five opponents have a combined record of 27-4, with undefeated Florida State (6-0) coming to town Saturday. It will be the third top-10 opponent for the Yellow Jackets this season.
"A lot of people have struggled with the teams we just played," Johnson said. "I would venture to guess that it's been a long time since anybody played three top 10 teams in six games in a row."
The five losses have come to No. 6 Clemson, No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 23 Duke and No. 25 Pittsburgh. North Carolina is the only unranked team the Yellow Jackets have faced during the losing streak.
"That's a pretty good stretch," Johnson said. "And it's a really good stretch when you've got the injuries we've got and the freshmen we are playing and the struggles. So, are we playing as well as we'd like to? No. I'm not saying that's an excuse. We want to win the games. I'm just saying it is what it is. You could have a different schedule and be 5-2 and not be near as good a football team as you are at 2-5, and nobody would care."
Part of the problem is the inability of the offense to duplicate its production during last year's 11-win season, which would have been hard to do. The Yellow Jackets are gaining fewer yards per game this season -- 476 yards in 2014, 415 this season. But it has been the inability to perform when needed that has been the most telling statistic.
"Like I said, there's a really fine line between winning and losing," Johnson said. "We win at Duke, which we had every opportunity to win and didn't. And you have to give Duke credit; they're 5-1, and a lot of people haven't beaten them.
"I think anybody who saw the North Carolina game knows we had a chance to win that game, but we didn't, and you have to give them credit. They made plays, and we didn't. We couldn't get it in on the goal line and couldn't get a stop. Same with the (Pittsburgh) game. You win those three games, you're 5-2, and it's deja vu."
This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 8:17 PM with the headline "Tough schedule hurting Georgia Tech's chances for turnaround ."