It wasn’t pretty, but Tech got the job done. In the first half, Tech’s mediocre offensive performance was buoyed by an unVEALievable punt return and a fumble return TD. The Bulldogs led 24-10 at half. During halftime, gtpdd members Evan and Matt spoke over the phone. They came to the conclusion that if Tech took advantage of getting the ball first in the third quarter, it would kill the Demons’ ambition. Tech would take a 31-10 lead, and Northwestern hadn’t done much in the first half to show it could come back.
Unfortunately, Tech must have been listening to the play-by-play announcer’s weird fascination with greasy watermelons (no seriously, he talked about playing football in a creek with a greased watermelon for at least three minutes) and fumbled the ball twice. NSU took advantage of those two blunders just as they had in 2014.
Then, Dae’Von Washington decided that NSU shouldn’t score any more. One tip drill and one acrobatic leap later, Washington had two picks and the Dogs were on their way to four unanswered TDs. Jaqwis “Beat Cancer’s Ass” Dancy, Rashid Bonnette, and Jarred Craft (x2) scored as the offense finally got rolling and led the team to a 52-24 win over the very crampy Demons. Seriously, y’all should get that looked at.
Player of the game
Evan: My player of the game is Dae’Von Washington. The RS-Junior Linebacker was slated as a backup to Russell Faris on this week’s depth chart, but he had a huge impact on the field. He picked off NSU’s backup quarterback twice and also finished the game as the Bulldogs’ second leading tackler.
Josh: The new press box. It was beautiful.
Nathan: Teddy Veal. I wasn’t quite on board the Veal hype train before this game, but he showed what he is capable of Saturday night. His receiving stat line wasn’t great (3 catches for 40 yards), but it was the punt return that showed his worth. With an offense that didn’t play up to expectations, special teams and field position will play an important factor in the next three games.
Daniel A: Boston Scott consistently made things happen whenever he was on the field. He was the key part of Tech’s 9 play 74 yard drive that put them up for good. Scott helped convert an early 3rd and 4 with a nine yard reception and then broke off a big 29 yard run on 3rd and 2 later in the drive. This set up Dancy to put the Bulldogs in the lead for good.
The go tech pls dont die metric
Evan: Well, Tech certainly gave us a scare there for a bit. It took Tech a long while to get the offense rolling, but I don’t think there’s too much to be concerned about moving forward. There were first game jitters, play calling issues, and it takes time to develop chemistry. I’d say my gtpdd outlook is still cautiously optimistic.
Josh: This was an ugly, ugly game. I didn’t start feeling comfortable until the 4th quarter when we went up by 14. Tech technically did go and not die, but we didn’t look like we were living either. I’m thinking that playing down to an old rival, first game jitters, and limited play calling is what caused this.
Nathan: Tech went. They may have fallen asleep for a bit in the first three quarters, but they didn’t die. They got better as the game went on, and for a first game that’s all you can really ask for. I’m more worried about how well Miss State and South Alabama (at least early on) played than how poorly Tech did at times.
gtpdd Hot Takes
Evan: My hottest taek is that the hyped up defensive ends did not seem to have much of an impact. Ferguson and Canty combined for a paltry 4 tackles. That’s not going to be enough to keep the hype train rolling on Ferguson’s draft stock.
Josh: Good god most of this game felt like watching the 2013 team again. We looked pedestrian on offense.
Nathan: Expect a full story later in the week about this, but there were a lot of low snaps throughout the game. These low snaps wreak havoc on the short passing game. If Tech isn’t able to find consistent center play quickly, these next three games might not even be close. And not in the good way.
Daniel A: Tech will be fine. I was expecting some growing pains and we certainly got them but Tech also showed flashes of competence that will hopefully continue. I’m not nearly as panicked as folks in some online communities (if Nathan gets to tease an article then so do I)
Moment of the game
Evan: The moment of the game for those of us watching on WatchESPN was undoubtedly when the stream actually started working. That was around ten minutes in to the second quarter–just in time to learn about greased watermelons.
Josh: Teddy Veal’s punt return TD was awesome.
Nathan: We’re all band nerds here, but the combined halftime show was pretty amazing. Tech can’t compete with a more musically inclined NSU school. So if you can’t beat them, you might as well join them.
Daniel A: Dancy scoring the what stood as being the game-winning touchdown is easily my moment of the game. He had already received a big ovation after a decent kick return in the second half but the Joe erupted as he bounced into the endzone in the third quarter.
Jaqwis Dancy 🤜🤜🤜 Cancer
TAKE THAT! pic.twitter.com/TsWK4YyCEC
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) September 3, 2017
Photoshop of the week
