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Paul Johnson Not Happy After Tech’s First Scrimmage

By Jonathan Savitske

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Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets’ Head Football Coach Paul Johnson was not happy with his team’s performance following the Jackets’ first scrimmage on Saturday morning.

The scrimmage, closed to the public, by all accounts was disappointing and has Head Coach Paul Johnson fired up. Johnson was quoted after the practice by stating:

"“Their idea of competition and mine is probably not the same right now…Those guys have played and they need to play like it. They need to practice like it. We need to see more leadership out of that group than we’re getting right now”"

This is quite disheartening to hear as a Georgia Tech football fan going into the 2015 season, especially with such high expectations being a placed on the team. During the ACC Kickoff event last month, the media pick the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets as the preseason favorite to win the ACC Coastal Division and to make the ACC Championship Game in December.

-= Related: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: Pre-Season ACC Coastal Power Rankings =-

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the primary source of Paul Johnson and his frustration is with the performance of the offensive line, which according to Johnson, had 5 penalties in their first 6 possessions on offense during Saturday’s scrimmage. The offensive line returns 4 of its 5 starters from last season. A veteran line such as this should not be committing frivolous penalties as frequently as they did at the scrimmage on Saturday.

The Georgia Tech offensive line is tasked with providing the requisite support to Paul Johnson’s triple option offense. At risk of trivializing the issue, it was only Georgia Tech’s first scrimmage of camp and the players are still getting back into the swing of things.

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The frustration on Paul Johnson’s part is warranted, but once his players get back into a groove, the offensive line should begin to function as they did last year when the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets set records in rushing yards per game, rushing yards, and yards per carry.

Paul Johnson is a coach that will push his players in order to achieve excellence — and in a season when so much is riding on the offensive line’s ability to protect rushers, Johnson’s frustration will light a fire under his players to perform better.

Johnson said that the offensive line needs to be a strength of the team, and not a weakness. With more practice under their belt, Tech’s offensive line will be able to rectify their issues going into the Ramblin’ Wreck’s first game in September against Alcorn State.

Next: Jabari Hunt-Days Reinstated, Bolsters Georgia Tech Defense

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