Smith swarms Yellow Jackets in impressive performance

Georgia Tech would repeatedly try to gain yardage by extending a play toward the sideline.

But Roquan Smith’s blazing-fast lateral speed wouldn’t allow it.

The Yellow Jackets were in search of any resemblance of offensive traction and found themselves in a third-down situation. So, quarterback Taquon Marshall stepped back in the pocket and all of his receivers were covered.

As Georgia Tech’s leading rusher, Marshall did what he does best -- attempt to scramble and buy more time. Little did he know that Georgia’s leading linebacker would be right behind him, and Marshall found himself being shoved out of bounds.

“My speed helped out a lot, and I knew what type of player (Taquon) was,” Smith said. “In big-time moments, he wants the ball in his hands so I knew he wasn’t going to try and throw it. He tried to give me a fake like he was going to throw it. But I knew he wanted it, so I just had to take advantage of it.”

The sack served as one of nine tackles for Smith in the Bulldogs’ 38-7 victory, but the bulk of his production came on designed run plays. On the opening drive, Qua Searcy tried to stretch it outside and Smith was there to bury him for a 1-yard gain.

And it happened again, again and again. It became a repetitive theme as four of Smith’s tackles were for loss. He gave credit to his defensive teammates as they created the opportunity for Smith to only beat one block.

In fact, Georgia nose tackle John Atkins said Smith owes him cookies for getting him free.

“He’s a tackling machine,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “I feel like I saw today was what he did all week in practice. He got sideline-to-sideline and was relentless, athletic, tough and competitive. I’m proud of how he works and buys into what we believe.”

Smith’s success against a triple-option attack isn’t new to him as he faced it many times in region 4-AA in his high school days with Macon County. It became something that he “loves” to defend against, but that wasn’t what prepared him most.

Instead, it was the Bulldogs’ scout team that was widely commended for its efforts during practice. Smart believed the group’s effort to be one of the best he had seen as the buy-in was present and players were willing to simulate different positions.

Georgia used Caleeb Roberson to resemble Marshall and had two separate offensive line groups to simulate Georgia Tech’s cut blocking. Once more, the Bulldogs’ preparation paid off and it was Smith that took the spotlight.

“He did a hell of a job and was literally flying around,” said Natrez Patrick, Smith’s counterpart at inside linebacker. “I feed off of his energy, and it was great to be able to get the job done.”

Smith wasn’t the only Georgia linebacker to be influential against Georgia Tech’s run-first approach. Patrick added five tackles and Tae Crowder -- who usually doesn’t rotate in for Georgia -- saw significant action as a run defender.

Georgia Tech’s rushing attack ranks fourth-best nationally with an average of 319.3 yards per game. Georgia continues to show it has a nationally-regarded run defense of its own and held the Yellow Jackets to 188 yards on 46 carries.

Smith was successful in limiting Georgia Tech’s triple-option attack as six-of-nine stops went for five yards or less. There was one occurrence, however, in which the Yellow Jackets’ broke loose towards the edge.

Georgia Tech A-Back Nathan Cottrell tip-toed down the right sideline for a 33-yard gain -- the longest rush recorded for the Yellow Jackets in the game -- and Smith was called upon to stop the bleeding there, too.

It set up the Yellow Jackets’ lone score of the game.

“There was someone that made a mistake, and if you make a mistake with the triple option, they’ll make you pay,” Smith said. “That’s all it was, and we expected them to execute if we were out of position.”

Just as Smith was chasing down Georgia Tech defenders, the Bulldogs’ star linebacker found himself being chased by his head coach.

In his final game at Georgia Tech, Smith began to walk towards an assemblage of Georgia fans with a grin on his face, and Smart was trailing right behind him. He then climbed on the back of his leading defender to celebrate the performance.

“I told him that I love him and that he’s a great kid,” Smart said. “He does things the right way. I don’t thank him enough.”

This story was originally published November 25, 2017 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Smith swarms Yellow Jackets in impressive performance."