The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Georgia Tech falls to Miami 35-14

ATLANTA- It was a one-game score going into the 4th quarter. There was excitement at Bobby Dodd.

Georgia Tech's defense did some of its best work of the season defensively in the 3rd quarter, and despite not forcing any turnovers had the team in a position where a win was within reach.

Following a failed-attempt at a trick play which resulted in an injured Zach Pyron and a turnover, things began unraveling quickly.

Two more turnovers, including a pick-six and the game was out of reach.

Let's get to the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Nate McCollum- McCollum, without question, is the go-to weapon for anybody under center playing QB at Georgia Tech. On Saturday he was targeted 11 times, and came down with eight of those for a total of 101 yards and a touchdown.

McCollum's ability to create separation and break through arm tackles is something that the rest of the WR unit has been unable to do thus far this season.

Though he had some mishaps on special teams (more on that in a bit) if Georgia Tech has a "star" player offensively, there is no questioning that it is him. Especially if freshman QB Zach Pyron is forced to miss time, after leaving the game late in the 3rd quarter with an injury.

OL Pass Blocking- A unit that has been crushed by chronic injuries, the flu, and at times overall horrible luck, there were times throughout Saturday's game that Georgia Tech looked the best they had all season along the interior.

Both Pyron and Gibson had time to throw, and a clean pocket which is something that neither are accustomed to having thus far in their Georgia Tech careers.

Miami came into the game with 32 sacks.

Prior to Pyron's departure, the unit had given up just one sack which resulted in a net loss of one yard. The unit of Robinson/Quick/Franklin/Williams/Leftwich appears to be the best five moving forward.

Gibson's going to need to develop a timer in his head to avoid taking coverage sacks, but that's no fault of the unit in-front of him and is something that needs to come sooner than later.

Punt return team- Miami's punter may have been one of the players of the game had the game stayed as close as it was entering the fourth quarter. On multiple occasions, the returner would either attempt to fake as if he was catching the ball, or get out of the way completely, letting the ball bounce and losing what would turn out to be precious yardage in the process.

The ball instead ended deep in Georgia Tech territory. When the special teams unit watches the tape on this, they'll quickly see the yards that were lost as a result.

Offensive play-calling- There were times throughout Saturday's game in which it was really hard to get a feel for what the plan-of-attack was offensively. The team threw the ball 43 times on Saturday, the most they have all season. They also finished with just 129 yards rushing, against a team that had given up well over 200 yards rushing against Florida State.

That's without even mentioning the trick-play attempt on a 1st and 10 just after Pyron ran for 19 yards on 2nd and 15.

Chip Long's offense finished with 363 yards total on Saturday. It also finished with four turnovers and 14 points.

QB containment- I surprised some when I picked Miami to cover the small spread in this week's JOL staff picks, and when asked I noted how poorly Georgia tech has been at preventing the quarterback from making plays with his feet.

Whether it be the zone read, designed QB draw, or scrambling for extra yardage on broken plays, Brown made GT pay time and time again. Brown finished with 87 yards total, a number which would be enough to lead Georgia Tech on Saturday.

The issues with scrambling quarterbacks is something Georgia Tech has struggled with going back several years. It is yet to be corrected, and led to some ugly moments on Saturday.

Being unable to get of the field in the first half (Miami held the ball for 63%) wore the defense down. Scoring 21 point (14 offensively) while only putting up 72 yards of offense.

Attendance- 33,857. That's the announced attendance number from Senior Day on Saturday at GT. For a team with bowl aspirations coming into the day, that's an abysmal number.

It was the best turnout of the Brent Key era. It is also less than the announced number of the Western Carolina game.

There were entire sections of the stadium on Saturday that appeared empty. The fans in attendance were (very) loud at times, but for Georgia Tech to get to where everyone in Atlanta wants them to be, there's got to be some improvement there.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any successful program, and for recruiting to elevate, the atmosphere (among other things) needs to elevate.

The product on the field needs elevated, too.