NCAA Football

New Jackets’ coach hoping Josh Nesbitt can handle QB job

Just about everything will be new at Georgia Tech this year, with new head coach Paul Johnson installing his triple-option offense and former defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta off to Notre Dame.

Obviously, the quarterback is the key component in running the offense, and with Taylor Bennett having transferred to Louisiana Tech, that leaves the reins of the Yellow Jackets’ offense likely in the hands of sophomore Josh Nesbitt, at least that’s what Johnson hopes.

“Going into the fall, everybody kind of assumes that Josh (Nesbitt) will be the quarterback, and I hope that that’s right. I hope he’s able to separate himself from the pack,” Johnson said. “But I won’t be afraid to play one of the other guys if he doesn’t.”

Nesbitt has the athletic ability to excel in the option (he rushed for 339 yards in limited time last year), but needs to prove he can make the right reads and protect the ball. Behind him are redshirt freshman Bryce Dykes and senior Calvin Booker, probably in that order.

“I’m not going to just hand him the job,” Johnson said. “He’s going to have to do something to deserve it.”

The head coach had wanted the No. 1 QB spot to be solved by now, but a leg injury in April kept Nesbitt out of most spring practices. He did, however, appear in the spring game.

However, in what could be a bad omen, the Yellow Jackets had a whopping nine fumbles in that spring game. Yet Johnson is confident that Nesbitt will silence any doubters about his ability to run the offense.

“I’m excited about Josh; he possesses all the physical tools that you look for in a good quarterback,” Johnson said. “He can throw the ball a lot better than a lot of people believe. He’s got good speed, he’s strong, he’s hard to tackle. He’ll grow as will the rest of the team, and I’ve got a lot of confidence in Josh.”

Under Johnson, Navy averaged 39.9 points per game last season. But the option has seldom been used in BCS conferences over the past 10 years to the extent that Georgia Tech will use it.

“I get a kick out of, ‘Will this work on this level?’ ” Johnson said. “I’m like, ‘Are we playing the NFC East?’ Last I looked, the last six years at Navy we were playing Division I teams. We played five or six from the ACC. We played Notre Dame every year. I don’t think it’s a question of fundamentally will it work. It’s, ‘Can we execute it and run it just like any other offense?’”

Related posts on The Red Zone Report

• No related posts.