Georgia Tech Football: Three defensive players to watch vs. South Carolina State

Georgia Tech will look to have a bounce-back performance on defense

Jackson Caudell | Sep 7, 2023

Georgia Tech Football: Three defensive players to watch vs. South Carolina State /

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Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Georgia Tech did not have the defensive performance that it needed last Friday to get a win against Louisville, particularly in the second half. The Yellow Jackets did not get a sack or a tackle for loss, and allowed 227 yards rushing, and 474 total yards to the Cardinals. There were plenty of missed tackles in the game as well and this week, Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key talked about the adjustments that the Yellow Jackets need to make on that side of the ball this week, particularly on the defensive line and the tackling.

While they are playing an overmatched opponent in South Carolina State, Georgia Tech needs to show improvement on that side of the ball and give themselves the confidence that they need heading into a tough road game against Ole Miss.

So who are the defensive players to watch on Saturday vs South Carolina State?

The defensive line

Okay, okay, I know I am cheating a little bit here, but the defensive line is going to play such an important role for this team this week and the rest of the season. That is even more true with the news that top defensive end Sylvain Yondjouen is going to miss the season with a torn ACL.

After not having a sack or a tackle for loss last week, the defensive line is going to have to have a bounce-back performance. Yes, South Carolina State is not a high-level opponent, but the defensive line had such a poor performance that they need to gain their confidence this week, especially with a number of big games on deck the rest of the year.

This week, Key was asked to give his thoughts on the defensive line's performance:

"I thought they were solid in the run game and I thought at times we got high and the pad level started raising up and the pad level got underneath us. There were some things on some stunts, some stunts we had where we might have been slow getting to the gap, getting across, and as a defense as a whole, we have to continue to disengage in blocks and defeat blocks and that is for all positions. Getting the extension finishing at the ball carrier.

From a pass rush standpoint, too many times the ball was coming out quick, credit to Louisville and their quarterback for getting the ball out quick but at the same time, we have to hit edges and work edges and when we run line games, be able to take that vertical and penetrate as opposed to getting stuck on an individual blocker at different times and a lot of that comes back to using our hands and continue to get guys off of us and that goes for both sides of the football."

I expect a nice performance from this team this week and the defensive line to play better.

DB Clayton Powell-Lee

The defensive performance as a whole was not great for Georgia Tech, but one bright spot was safety Clayton Powell-Lee.

Powell-Lee had to step up in the wake of LaMiles Brooks being out of the game and he finished as the highest-graded defensive player (78.5 grade on 62 snaps) for the Yellow Jackets on PFF (Pro Football Focus) and he picked off a pass.

The thing that I am looking for this week from him is the improvement in tackling. The entire defense must tackle better and Key said that is something they worked on in getting ready for this game:

"You don't want to deal with it by any means but we have been dealing with it for two of the last three days but yeah it does and you guys remember last week I talked about where this team was relative to this team playing each other, but how are we playing another opponent. That is going to be the real telltale sign and that is what the first game is, it is the first real telltale of how you are compared to someone else, how you are as a rush end going against another tackle and vice versa.

You know how you are with tackling the running backs or receivers that you have and defending the tight end that you have, but now, relative to another team and now we see where that is and really there is no way to know that until you go out and play another game and something that we work on all the time. Every day is some form of a tackling circuit and we had over 400 live reps of scrimmage over the summer and there are some things from the first scrimmage to the last scrimmage that were improved on but we still have a ways to go with it and now seeing where you are compared to another team and compared to another skill set, now you can really hone in on some of those finer points even that individually and collectively that we have to get better at.

We have confidence to that we can go take that shot and make that tackle and we have 10 other guys behind us and that is a big thing that we have talked about and if someone throws a quick hitch or a slant or a bubble out wide, you don't assume that thing is going to come down, you have to have 10 other people running over there with their hair on fire and ready to have that guys back and we have worked on that as well."

LB Paul Moala

Moala earned the starting linebacker spot next to Trenilyas Tatum and he was the third-highest-graded defensive player on PFF with a 69.8 grade on 63 snaps. He had a great preseason camp and Key has talked about him leading up to the season a lot as a leader on the field and off:

"He has a very good chance (of playing regularly). Very good. Paul has had a really good camp. What have I seen from him? I have seen maturity, I see experience, I see a level-headed guy. I see a leader, I see a guy that impacts others around him, not just what he says, but how he does everything, how he goes about his business on and off the field, how he handles himself in the locker room, how he handles himself on the field. With the way that he has positively been able to affect Trenilyas Tatum has been outstanding, seeing the communication between those two, it has been great to see on the sidelines.

He has played a lot of ball. He has played a lot of ball. He has durability, he has been able to play a lot of games at a very good level. He played both spots and has a good knack in coverage and understands coverages and he understands his strengths and weaknesses and I think that is really important at that position and to be able to diagnose plays and a knack to slip blocks but also front somebody up with his hands and get off a block and go make a play and that is what you look for. You look for guys that... there are a lot of guys that have the ability and can run around and do things, but when you have 320 LBS running right at your face, what kind of decision are you going to make?"

I watching Moala closely to see if he can keep improving on a solid game and step up as a true difference-maker at the position. We knew that Georgia Tech was going to have to have guys step up because Charlie Thomas and Ace Eley and Moala seems to be the early leader for one of those spots. I want to see if he can continue his upward trajectory.

The defensive line

DB Clayton Powell-Lee

LB Paul Moala

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