Mario Cristobal gives his impressions of Georgia Tech's offense
This week, the Miami Hurricanes will open up conference play against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Ahead of that game, head coach Mario Cristobal shared his thoughts and impressions on the Yellow Jackets’ offense.
One thing that’s readily apparent to Cristobal is that this is a much different Georgia Tech offense than in years past, including last season.
“They did a great job in the portal,” Mario Cristobal said. “They have certainly upped their level of talent. So, they’re explosive and they throw the ball as good as anybody and they’re very accurate in what and how they throw it when they throw it, who they throw it to.”
This off-season, Georgia Tech added several key offensive players through the transfer portal. That includes quarterback Haynes King and wide receiver Dominick Blaylock among others.
“They stretch the field vertically and horizontally. They do a great job with shifts and motions. Present a lot of eyewash to try and get you and catch you in some eye violations or whatnot. They do a great job getting downhill in their running game, in the form of counter, wide zone, tight zone, slips, pitching the ball to the perimeter. They’re challenging. They’re changing of pace presents some issues as well, and they do a great job up front,” Cristobal said.
“Coach [Brent] Key‘s an offensive line coach by trade. So, obviously, that’s an area of emphasis for them. They do a good job beating people up at the line of scrimmage and they’ve done that this year.”
To this point in the season, Georgia Tech is averaging 480 yards per game, which ranks the Yellow Jackets 17th in total offense. That’s helped Georgia Tech put together the 49th-ranked scoring offense, averaging 32.4 points per game.
Mario Cristobal on the impact of Georgia Tech’s defensive coordinator change
After Georgia Tech’s upset loss to Bowling Green, head coach Brent Key made a change at defensive coordinator, promoting Kevin Sherrer to defensive coordinator. That’s a change that Mario Cristobal admitted could create unknowns for Miami.
“It just leaves an unknown factor that you’ve got to dig deep into that person’s history, what they’ve done, where they’ve been, how they may tweak or add to the system even though it’s five, six, seven days. There’s still plenty of time where they can change things. At the same time, they’ve had a lot of success in their current system. So, I’m sure it’ll be a blend of some sort,” Cristobal said.
“With that being said, we’re systematic on offense. Yeah, we like certain things against certain things, but should we be in a situation where we do get some type of surprise look, schematically, that rules take over. We’re built on rules. So, if something shows up that’s something we haven’t seen, trust your rules and go execute. So, the uncertainty is something that you just have to deal with and go play your best football.”