Notre Dame hits the road this weekend when they travel to Atlanta to play the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. For an offensive preview, click here. Now we move to the other side of the ball where Georgia Tech features an overall solid defensive unit.
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
Here is how the Yellow Jackets (5-2) have fared so far this season:
vs Florida State (in Ireland) (24-21, W)
vs Georgia State (35-12, W)
at Syracuse (31-28, L)
vs VMI (59-7, W)
at Louisville (31-19, L)
vs Duke (24-14, W)
at North Carolina (41-34, W)
Georgia Tech features a stout run defense however they have had issues against the pass. This season, the Jackets rank 36th in total yards (327.4) and 41st in points (20.57) per game allowed.
One major improvement from last year has been their success on third downs. Last season, this Georgia Tech defense finished last in the ACC in third down stops. This year, opponents have only converted 28 of 88 opportunities, a 31.8% clip that ranks 28th in the country.
Fourth-down stops have been much harder to come by. Opponents have converted 11 of 16 fourth down attempts (68.8%), which ranks near the bottom in the country. Regarding Notre Dame’s offense, they have been very successful on fourth downs, converting seven out of ten attempts, which is top-25 nationally. It would not be surprising to see Irish Offensive Coordinator Mike Denbrock be aggressive when it is fourth and short.
As mentioned before, Georgia Tech’s defense has struggled against the pass. Their main issue appears to be the lack of a legitimate pass rush. As a unit, the defense allows 223.7 passing yards per game, 83rd-most in the country. The pass rush has only generated nine sacks this season (1.29 per game), second-worst among ACC teams. Notably, the Jackets did have to replace 17 sacks from last season after losing edge rusher Kyle Kennard to South Carolina and tackle D’Quan Douse to Michigan State. Additionally, opposing quarterbacks are averaging a 141.83 passing efficiency rating, the third-worst among ACC teams. To top off all these struggles, the defense has only one interception this season, tied for last in the country.
Regardless of these disappointing stats, Georgia Tech’s defense has the talent and capability to be better than they have shown. The Yellow Jackets secondary has received production from a duo of corners and a group of athletic safeties.
The two Georgia Tech cornerbacks to keep an eye on are Ahmari Harvey and Warren Burrell.
Harvey, a redshirt junior, is enjoying a breakout campaign after finishing last season with 31 tackles, three passes defended, three interceptions, and a forced fumble in 11 games. The 6-foot 190-pound corner has already recorded 34 tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and the team’s lone interception this season, which came two weeks ago against Duke. Redshirt senior corner Warren Burrell is graded as the best coverage defensive back on this defense, per PFF. The Tennessee transfer has recorded 19 tackles and leads the team in passes defended (four) this year.
The Yellow Jackets defense also features four dynamic safeties: Clayton Powell-Lee, Taye Seymore, Omar Daniels, and LaMiles Brooks.
Powell-Lee and Seymore typically fill the free safety role. Powell-Lee, a junior, finished second on the team in tackles last year with 70. The 6'2, 195-pound defensive back can also line up at slot corner if called upon. He has been better against the run compared to the pass this year, totaling 23 tackles, two passes defended, and a fumble recovery. Sophomore Taye Seymore is enjoying his first impactful year after primarily appearing on special teams last season. He has recorded 28 tackles, three for a loss, and two passes defended. Seymore has been better in coverage than Powell-Lee, however, they both pose bigger threats as run-stoppers.
The two other safeties for the Irish to keep an eye on are Omar Daniels and LaMiles Brooks. Similar to Powell-Lee, Daniels can also be featured as a slot corner. The redshirt junior and former Kansas State transfer is experiencing a breakout campaign after making just one start last season. Daniels has recorded 24 tackles and two passes defended this season. He is a pure tackler who has not been super reliable in pass coverage this season. Finally, LaMiles Brooks is a senior who experienced his best year in 2022 when he earned Third Team All-ACC honors. Last year Brooks dealt with various injuries that limited his snap count throughout the season. This season Brooks has been healthy and recorded 14 tackles and two passes defended. Although Brooks may not reach his All-ACC potential again, perhaps due to injuries, he is still capable of making a big play if needed.
The Yellow Jackets defense has relied on a dominant run defense to get them to this point. Just one year after allowing 5.8 yards per carry (second-worst among Power Five teams), this unit currently ranks second in the ACC with 103.7 rush yards allowed per game. This number also ranks 26th among all FBS teams. Notre Dame will likely be Georgia Tech’s toughest test in terms of rushing as the Irish are averaging 216.5 yards per game on the ground, 16th among FBS teams.
Two keys to this dominant rush attack are interior linebackers Kyle Efford and Trenilyas Tatum.
Efford, a redshirt sophomore, led the team in tackles last year with 81 despite only starting the final seven games. He is on pace to lead the Yellow Jackets in tackles once again as he has already racked up 52, including a sack against Syracuse. He has three games with 10 or more tackles this year, including last week. The talented backer is a great tackler capable of stopping the run by himself. The other interior backer to keep an eye on is senior Trenilyas Tatum who is coming off his best game. Last week against UNC, he recorded six tackles, a forced fumble, and half of a sack. This season the senior has totaled 29 tackles, five for a loss, one and a half sacks, a pass defended, and the forced fumble from last week. If anyone on this defense is going to disrupt Irish quarterback Riley Leonard on Saturday, odds are it will be Tatum.
On the edges, Georgia Tech has three solid rushers who are capable of posing issues for the Irish offense: Romello Height, Sylvain Yondjouen, and Kevin Harris II.
Height is a redshirt junior transfer from USC who is experiencing his best career season. The Irish saw Height last season in their matchup with USC, although he only recorded one tackle in the meeting. This season, Height has 25 tackles including four for a loss as one of the more complete defenders on this squad. Yondjouen, a 6’4 260-pound beast from Belgium, is not as featured as Height in this defense but he has been productive in his somewhat limited playing time. The redshirt senior missed all of last year after suffering a season-ending injury in week one. He appears to have come back strong as he leads the team in sacks (two) in addition to his 12 tackles, four for a loss, and two passes defended. Like ILB Tatum, Yondjouen is coming off his best performance when he recorded three quarterback pressures, two tackles, and a sack on just 22 snaps. The third key edge rusher is former Alabama transfer, senior Kevin Harris II. The 6’4 250-pound edge has underwhelmed so far this season, only recording seven tackles and a sack despite receiving good playing time. If he can clean up his tackling, he could pose a larger threat.
Similar to the edges, the interior of the defensive line has also received production from three individuals: Defensive tackles Zeek Biggers, Makius Scott, and Thomas Gore.
Biggers, a senior, has tallied over 30 tackles in each of the past two seasons. The 6’6 320-pound tackle appears on pace to reach that number again as he has 12 tackles this season, in addition to two passes defended and a fumble recovery. Biggers is a great tackler who thrives in defending the run. Makius Scott, also a senior, had 34 tackles last season. The 6’4 290-pounder is coming off his best performance of the year, when he recorded four tackles and half of a sack against UNC. He has not exactly been a game-wrecker this season but the former South Carolina transfer is capable of disrupting the run. The final interior lineman to highlight is Miami (FL) senior transfer Thomas Gore. The 6-foot 290-pound tackle had quite the journey to end up at Georgia Tech. He spent four years at Georgia State where he was named an All-SBC honorable mention before transferring to Miami last season. After receiving limited playing time at Miami, Gore made the move back to Atlanta, except this time with Georgia Tech. This season he has not been heavily-utilized but, like Scott, he is a good tackler and run-stopper. He has struggled the past two weeks specifically, only tallying one quarterback pressure and no tackles in his somewhat limited playing time.
Overall, this defense is reminiscent of Stanford’s unit from a week ago. A solid run defense mixed with a below-average pass defense that Coach Denbrock and Riley Leonard should be able to succeed against. If the Yellow Jackets want to upset the Irish on Saturday, they will need to disrupt Leonard, something Georgia Tech has yet to do this season.
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