Tech spring game provides entertainment and big plays

ATLANTA- Georgia Tech wrapped up spring football with a very entertaining if not unusual spring game on Friday night in Bobby Dodd Stadium. Head coach Geoff Collins broke with the straight scrimmage concept and split rosters instead splitting the team into offense and defensive units led by a pair of quarterbacks with Jeff Sims and Chayden Peery running the gold team and Jordan Yates and Demetrius Knight leading the White squad. Also in an effort to be extra careful, Collins made the game thud instead of living tackling so not only were quarterbacks off limits for hits, but the entire offensive roster.

Coach Collins said the goal was to have some fun and enjoy the spring game and let both sides of the ball just play and not have to have complex game plans. The offensive production behind each quarterback Collins attributed to hard work by the players and the offensive staff since the end of the 2020 season.

“I’m really proud of the offensive staff, the way they went through this entire offseason breaking down everything that we do, the skill set of our guys that we have returning the skill set of the guys that we've added to the program, and just really putting them in some really good positions to do what they do, at a high level put all the moving parts together. And it was even a watered down version tonight,” Collins said. “We just wanted to play some really clean fundamentally sound football. let some young guys make plays show their abilities. without all the complex games just play some really good football. And I thought they did that tonight and competed at a high level.”

Given the offensive friendly format big plays were on the menu for the Jacket offense starting out of the gate as quarterback Jeff Sims picked up a 48-yard touchdown run on the first series of the game. Jude Kelley added a field goal to make it 10-0 Gold.

Defensively the Jackets defense held the white team led by some big plays by Juanyeh Thomas and a quarterback pressure from linebacker Quez Jackson who blasted a running back trying to pick him up in pass pro to force a key third down stop.

“Coach wanted to keep is short and simple,” Thomas said of the defensive game plan. “He wanted us to have fun and he didn’t want to implement our whole playbook so it was a quicker game and we could faster and fly around the ball.”

Jordan Yates responded for the White team with a 23-yard touchdown toss to running back Bruce Jordan-Swilling. Yates later had a very nice 32-yard hook up with Malachi Carter before a fumble on a speed sweep that Antonneous Clayton recovered in the red zone ended that chance to tie or take the lead leaving it 10-7.

In the second period, women’s basketball coach Nell Fortner played guest offensive coordinator while men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner player defensive coordinator. Fortner gambled with a wide receiver pass from Peje Harris and Tariq Carpenter intercepted the ball that was a throw downfield to quarterback Demetrius Knight.

“Josh did a really nice job calling them, the guys were having fun play and I was I was really excited to have Josh and Nell at the game and engaged in the program, I think one of my favorite things about our athletic department, how tight knit this entire group is. Our guys in the offseason competitions, go to a ton of other sporting events of our team's support our teams, are there, they get points for it for their offseason competition, but they get to know the other sports to get know the other athletes and the same thing with the coaches we've got great relationships and anytime that we can have those two personalities out there participating, it was great,” Collins said.

On the next series cornerback Myles Sims had two key plays with a sack on second down to force third and long and then he had good coverage on a deep shot by Knight to force a change of possession.

Chayden Peery hooked up with Nate McCollum for a 37-yard touchdown for the Gold squad to extend their lead.

Sims got the next crack and had a pair of key passes to tight ends first hooking up with Dylan Deveney for a 30-yard gain and then hitting Dylan Leonard for a seven-yard touchdown. The rare tight end red zone hook-up was applauded heavily by the crowd.

"I didn't really complete the ball to the tight ends a lot last year and they would kind of get on me about that," Sims joked. "But yes, I made it my goal to get better at that and just give everybody a chance to make a play."

Avery Boyd showed off his recovered speed on a 44-yard catch from Yates and Steven Verdisco a year removed from major knee surgery hit a 23-yard field goal on that drive. The defense nearly had a big interception before the field as Ayinde Eley the Maryland grad transfer linebacker dropped an interception on a slant attempted by Yates for Boyd in the end zone.

“It’s always going to replay in my mind until I get another opportunity to make it right,” Eley said. “I mean, that's a play I gotta make for the defense and for our team. The good thing was just a spring game tonight.

Peery led another scoring drive with a 22-yard pass to William Marshall and a 20-yard pass to Jamious Griffin setting up a 11-yard scramble for a touchdown for the true freshman quarterback. The white team went for two to take a 25-24 lead on a reverse by Ryan Lantz.

Jeff Sims took the field with two minutes exactly to go and scored in just 30 seconds of game time on a 33-yard touchdown pass to Kyric McGowan after a couple of quick hitters to Adonicas Sanders and Malachi Carter to flip the field.

Sims said the two-minute drive is when he felt like he hit his stride in the scrimmage.

“I was just saying (to the team) just move the ball downfield, complete the passes get out of bounds and don't turn the ball over,” Sims said. “So basically just staying calm back there and just trust the offensive line and trusting that my receivers gonna get open on the routes. On the play to Kyric, I was reading the safety as soon as the safety dropped. I knew I had Kyric, so I just waited on them to clear and I hit him in stride.”

Demetrius Knight got the final shot for the White team, but got sacked as time expired to give the Gold team a 25-24 win.

Bruce Jordan-Swilling led all rushers with 57 yards on 14 carries and three catches for 30 yards and a touchdown. McGowan led the receivers with three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. Quez Jackson was the leading tackler with five tackles and half a TFL. Tech's Gold Team QBs (Sims and Peery) combined for 16 competitions on 20 attempts for 223 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Jordan Yates led the White team with 99 yards on six completions and a touchdown. Demetrius Knight was the only scholarship quarterback who did not throw a touchdown in the game or lead his offense huddle to at least one touchdown.

Speaking to the media for the first time since longtime Tech assistant Butch Brooks passed away, Collins spoke about one of the men who took the young coach under his wing when he was just a graduate assistant at the Institute.

"I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that we lost somebody that's very special to me. Very special to the Georgia Tech football family last weekend, Coach Marion Brooks affectionately known as Butch. He was here when I was a young graduate assistant here in the late 90s/early 2000s. He was the tight ends coach and he was a mentor to me in this profession," Collins said. "He is a well-respected coach in the state of Georgia and in the southeast. He's meant so much to so many people as a legendary high school coach, and then all of his contributions that he had while he was here, and even since he's left here, and he means so much to me."

Collins said that coach Brooks opened the door for Collins' first return to Georgia Tech in the mid-2000s.

"He gave coach Gailey the recommendation to bring me back here in 2006 as the director of player personnel, I would not be the head coach at Georgia Institute of Technology if it was not for Butch Brooks. I love him," Collins said. "He means so much to me and my family, the entire Georgia Tech football family. So I just want to make sure I paid my respects to him, his family, everybody that loves him, and there are a lot who do. Coach Brooks has my undying love and support and will have will carry him with me for a long, long time."