Georgia Tech Football: Grades for Each Unit on Defense Against Clemson

How did the Georgia Tech defense perform in their game against Clemson?

Don't let the 41 points that Clemson scored on Monday night mislead you. The Georgia Tech defense played well against the Tigers and if were not for a couple of blocked punts, the Yellow Jackets' defense would have held Clemson to under 30 points. 

Clemson rushed for 119 yards on 40 carries last night but managed only three yards per attempt. Will Shipley is one of the best running backs in the ACC and the country and Georgia Tech managed to hold him without many explosive plays. The defense got three sacks and hopefully, can carry that pass rush into future ACC contests. The coverage was tight for most of the night and that is a huge improvement from last season. 

It was not perfect, however. The Tigers were able to go 7-15 on third down and hopefully, the Yellow Jackets can lower that number against other teams. 

Here is how I graded each position on defense. 

Defensive line- B+

Georgia Tech's defensive line played a good game against Clemson / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

I had concerns about the defensive line and their ability to get pressure this season, but they did well in this game. 

Keion White is the top pass rusher that the Yellow Jackets have and he finished the night with two sacks. He was getting after Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei and was the X-factor that Georgia Tech has been hoping for with him fully healthy. Hopefully White can continue to build off this performance. 

It was not just White that had an impact in the game though. Noah Collins has been praised by the coaching staff during training and he showed his ability in the game on Monday. 

Overall, if this is the kind of production that the Yellow Jackets will get from their defensive line, this defense will be much improved. 

Linebackers- A

Georgia Tech linebacker Ace Eley played a good game against Clemson / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

This group gets an A for how they played in this game. Ace Eley and Charlie Thomas played well and the encouraging thing for Georgia Tech is how this group kept playing well after Thomas was ejected. Eley forced the Yellow Jacket's only turnover of the game when he took the ball away from Uiagalelei in the first half and that was huge for early momentum.

Demetrius Knight II came in and had six tackles and looked good against the run. Expect him to see plenty of reps against Western Carolina because of Thomas having to miss the first half because of the targeting call. 

This group was the most experienced on the defense heading into the season and they started off the season on the right foot.

Secondary- B+

Georgia Tech defensive back Myles Sims played well against Clemson in week one / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

If not for a couple of touchdown passes given up in the second half, the Georgia Tech secondary could have had a higher grade than this. 

The encouraging thing about this game from the secondary was that there were not many busted coverages and miscommunicated plays. That was a massive problem last year, but the Yellow Jackets seemed to button things up last night. 

I was impressed by how well the Yellow Jackets did in man coverage. Myles Sims made some nice plays in coverage and there was pretty tight coverage across the board. Clemson is not the most dynamic passing team and there will be other teams that will test Georgia Tech's secondary more (Ole Miss in a couple of weeks), but they did well in this game. 

Hopefully, the defense can build off the good things they did in this game and be a good unit for the rest of the season. 

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