Justin Fuente Planning to Lean on Option Experience to Stymie Yellow Jackets

Bud Foster may be one of the most experienced coaches in the country when it comes to defending the triple option, but Justin Fuente says he's no stranger to Paul Johnson's scheme either.

Not only did he coach against Navy last year with Memphis and square off with Air Force back in his TCU days, but he's even spent time learning how to run the option himself. He says that started during his time with Horned Frogs, and he's kept elements of it in his offense "every stop along the way" in his journey as a coach, giving him a unique window into how Georgia Tech operates.

"Coach Johnson and his staff have the answers," Fuente said Monday. "When you give them something, they can certainly counter-punch with that. It is certainly an obstacle that has to be tackled in all phases of the game."

The Yellow Jackets certainly put pressure on opposing defenses with that scheme, but Fuente noted that there's ample evidence that it taxes opponents' offenses as well.

"If you look at the Navy vs. Notre Dame game last week, Notre Dame had six possessions on offense, scored on five of them — three touchdowns and two field goals — and lost," Fuente said. "Kicked a field goal to go down by one with seven-and-a-half minutes left and never got the ball back. It really forces you to make the most of your time on offense."

Tech's offense didn't come close to meeting even Notre Dame's productivity last week, scoring just three points in the second half against Duke, and OT Jonathan McLaughlin is well aware that his unit can't afford to repeat that sort of performance against GT.

"We know we're gonna have limited chances this week," McLaughlin said. "We play a tough opponent this week with what they do on the other side of the ball. I'm not gonna say everything has to be perfect, but we do have to take advantage of all our chances that we do get."

As for the defensive side of the ball, Fuente will use a tactic that Foster has used in the past by running the scout team offense with no ball. While it may seem an odd tactic at first, Fuente believes it forces the defense to focus on their assignments.

"We have done that in the past to make sure you're assignment correct," Fuente said. "It's very difficult to actually have (the scout team quarterback) make the reads. Often times, you can do it like that."

But as far as who will run that scout team offense at quarterback, Fuente and his staff will make the decision during their weekly meetings tonight.

"I'll be anxious to take the defense's input on what they think they need," Fuente said. "You can't teach them to run the triple-option. They can't actually go out there and read it. You've got to do the best you can to simulate it. That's the other challenge is simulating this. It's a little bit foreign."

Andrew Motuapuaka is no stranger to defending Johnson's offense. Having seen it several times in the past, Motuapuaka understands the ways GT works to trick the defense.

"I think they do a lot of things to mess with your eyes," Motuapuaka said. "Fake handoffs, pitches — you've just gotta be fundamentally sound and make sure that you're doing your job and that you're not trying to do too much. Then they'll expose you, a gap will be exposed, and they have the potential to take it to the house."

But that's not to say that he isn't looking forward to the challenge.

"It's pretty much designed for the mike to make a lot of tackles, so I think it's pretty fun," Motuapuaka said.

The secondary will likely have less work to do against the Jackets, but the Hokies are still hoping CB Greg Stroman can suit up Saturday all the same. He suffered a nasty-looking ankle injury while receiving a punt against Duke, but Fuente seems generally optimistic that the corner will be available in the near future.

"I don't have any real updates on him," Fuente said. "It was a scary-looking thing. I was concerned, obviously, when it happened. We've gotten a lot of good news about it is all I'll say."

Sam Rogers

ON HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS TO FINISH 4-1 IN THE STRETCH OF HAVING FOUR OUT OF FIVE GAMES ON THE ROAD:

"It was big. Obviously I feel like we've got some momentum now. I feel like we're doing well game to game. We've just gotta keep approaching them the exact same way; taking it one game at a time. We've seen earlier in the year what it's like to get too high on ourselves. Just gotta make sure we keep taking it one game at a time and remember the preparation it takes each week and just keep plugging along."

ON IF IT WAS IMPORTANT TO PROVE THE TEAM CAN WIN A GAME WHEN THEY DON'T PLAY THEIR BEST:

"Yeah, I think that's really important. To show that, like you said, when things are a little bit sloppy, still just finding a way to win. At the end of the day, it doesn't say that it was a sloppy win or a very good loss. It just says win or loss. Finding a way to win these games that don't always look the prettiest, I think (it) shows what kind of team we have and the character we have on our team."

ON IF THERE'S WORRY THAT EVANS IS TAKING TOO MUCH PUNISHMENT WHILE RUNNING:

"We gotta do a really good job of protecting him in pass calls and things like that. Running the ball, you've gotta do a really good job blocking for him. As far as play calling and stuff like that, you've gotta talk to the coaches. That's all up to them. We're gonna do whatever we can to execute whatever play they call."

ON IF THE LAST STRETCH OF GAMES WAS PHYSICALLY TAXING:

"Football, no matter what kind of stretch you have, is physically taxing. It's a violent game. You're gonna be sore, but at the end of the day, every team is sore at this point of the season. You've just gotta make sure you're rehabbing your body and taking care of your body right and just keep going. No one's going to slow down for you and no one's going to feel bad that you've got aches and bruises here and there. Just gotta keep plugging along and do what we do."

ON IF AS A BALL CARRIER HE IS CONSCIOUS OF THE TARGETING RULE AND IF PLAYERS MANIPULATE THAT RULE TO THEIR ADVANTAGE:

"No, honestly I don't think about it at all. You just go out and play the same you have since you were have. Just play hard. They have these rules in there to protect us and however they call it, it's not up to me. As far as everything else goes, you can talk to Coach (Justin) Fuente about it."

ON IF THERE'S ANY COACHING IN HIGH SCHOOL ABOUT KEEPING YOUR HEAD UP DURING CONTACT:

"Yeah, they said all the time to make sure your eyes are up and see what you hit in everything you do. You get in a dangerous situation when you put your head down. All of those rules are there to protect us. We don't want anything bad happening, so they're good rules. We obviously (have) to abide by them."

ON IF HE HAS TO TALK TO THE TEAM TO KEEP THEM GROUNDED WITH THE DIVISION TITLE IN SIGHT:

"I know it sounds cliche, but we can't think about that when you have a game right in front of you. If you look too far ahead of you, you're gonna trip over something that's right in front of you. I honestly believe that. We've just gotta worry about Georgia Tech right now. What happens at the end of the season is what happens. Right now, we've just gotta worry about Georgia Tech. We can't worry about anything else. There's definitely some reminders to stay focused on this week because at the end of the day, we've put ourselves in a good position. We know what could happen, but that means nothing if we don't go make it happen. We've gotta go make sure we worry about Georgia Tech right now and nothing else."

Justin Fuente

OPENING STATEMENT:

"Thanks again to the Hokie Nation that turned out to the game. Just looking at the video and reflecting back on it, it was pretty special to have that many fans down there at the ballgame. I know our kids appreciated it. I certainly did. On behalf of our staff, just want to thank everybody that came out. We'll certainly need them again this Saturday. Get to come back home. Got a tough matchup with Georgia Tech. Coach (Paul) Johnson and his triple-option attack can really put pressure on you in a lot of different ways. In terms of forcing you to be efficient offensively in your limited opportunities. Obviously defensively you've gotta be assignment sound and good tacklers, (and) have your eyes in the right spot and defend four downs. It will be a great team challenge. Our kids will be looking forward to it. Hopefully we'll have a great week of practice."

ON IF THE LIMITED TIMES THE OFFENSE GETS THE BALL WILL CHANGE THE WAY HE CALLS THE GAME:

"I don't know that it can change too much of your philosophy or what you're trying to accomplish. I think there may be some small decisions throughout the course of the game that you may take that into consideration. Obviously it's based on time and situation and all of that sort of stuff. But it's certainly a factor. I don't know that game-planning throughout the week you make a conscious decision to do anything differently."

ON IF HE APPRECIATES THE GEORGIA TECH OFFENSE AND IF HE INCORPORATES ANY OF THOSE ELEMENTS IN HIS SCHEME:

"We try to. When I went to TCU, I got introduced to running some option. Certainly not to this extent. I've always felt like having an element of that to your offense is advantageous. We've kept it in everywhere that we've been; every stop along the way. Again, certainly not to this extent, but I think as coaches, we always have respect for guys that have answers. Whether you're talking about Bud (Foster) and the way we play defense and the adjustments that we make to the triple-option offense or the spread offense, whatever it is, you've gotta have adjustments and answers to certain problems. There are a lot of good offenses out there. There's a lot of good defenses — the 50 defense is a good defense, 4-3 is good, 4-2-5 is good. All of those things are good, but it comes down to can you make the small changes necessary to give your guys a chance. You might not pull them off on a weekly basis, but as a coach, can you make those small adjustments to give yourself a chance. You can see that they certainly can. They've been doing it for so long, and are so adept at it, that they're comfortable with the nuances that they need to tweak in order to give themselves a chance to have success."

ON IF THERE WILL BE A DESIGNATED GUY TO PLAY THE JUSTIN THOMAS ROLE ON THE SCOUT TEAM:

"We'll have that discussion today at five o'clock. I'm sure we will. I know — I don't know — I think last year Sean Daniel did that role for us last year, I think. Today at five, in our staff meeting, we'll talk about what we need to do there to make sure we get a good look."

ON IF HE FEELS A SENSE OF RELIEF AFTER GETTING THROUGH THIS PAST FIVE GAME STRETCH WITH A 4-1 RECORD:

"A sense of relief? (chuckles) No, I don't feel any relief. We're anxious to play this week. I'm happy we won the game last week. I felt a sense of relief after it was over with, but I feel a strong sense of trying to get ready for Georgia Tech. I'm happy that we're playing at home. But I know we have a huge challenge. Like I've talked about many weeks, the previous weeks don't really mean anything in terms of what we're trying to accomplish this week. I think our kids feel that and they understand that level of intensity it's gonna take to give ourselves a chance."

ON HIS THOUGHTS ON COACHING ROGERS THIS YEAR:

"It's kind of hard to describe. I've enjoyed every moment of it. I have a great appreciation and an amount of respect for him. He's not only an intelligent football player, but he's extremely tough (and) very mature. You can do a bunch of things with him. If we were different in some other spots, we would do even some other stuff with him. That's the thing I think of, sometimes if our makeup was a little bit different, we could probably do a few other things with him. He could handle it and be very efficient at it. I've really enjoyed it. I'm very grateful for this opportunity with Sam."

ON IF THE STAFF HAS TAKEN A CHANCE TO LOOK BACK AND REFLECT ON WHAT HAS WENT RIGHT AND WHAT STILL NEEDS TO HAPPEN:

"No, not much time to look back. During the bye week, we always do self-scouting and self-evaluation. You don't have time for that. If you spend too much time on anything other than the next task at hand, then it's gonna catch up to you pretty quick."

Andrew Motuapuaka

ON IF HE IS LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS GEORGIA TECH GAME:

"Yeah, I think it's really fun. Georgia Tech week, especially at the mike position, just flying around and trying to make plays all over the field. It's pretty much designed for the mike to make a lot of tackles, so I think it's pretty fun."

ON IF THE LAST STRETCH OF GAMES WAS PHYSICALLY TAXING:

"It's been pretty hard on all of our bodies. The coaches try to help us out during the week in trying to take it off of us physically. It's been helping us a lot throughout the weeks that we can just go on Saturday and just play physical, play hard. But yeah, it's been pretty tough on our bodies."

Jonathan McLaughlin

ON IF HE SEES ANY SIMILARITIES IN JEROD EVANS AND LOGAN THOMAS:

"I would say they are different quarterbacks. Different styles, but it feels good to have a quarterback that can move like Jerod can. It was great to have a quarterback like Logan that could move as well. They're both great quarterbacks. I wouldn't say similar to each other or throw the same, but I feel like they're both great."

ON IF IT'S HARD TO KEEP THE TEAM FOCUSED ON THE NEXT GAME:

"I wouldn't say it's anything hard, but like you said, we just get the message from coach and we try to instill that in the young guys. Let them know that we have to take it one game at a time. We really have to take it one game at a time and try to go 1-0 every week."

ON HOW MUCH PRIDE HE TAKES ON THIS BEING THE BEST SEASON SINCE HE'S BEEN HERE:

"I take a lot of pride in it. I feel like, like I said before, the seniors jumped in from the start with what Coach Fuente's trying to do. The only thing is we have to keep going a week at a time."

ON IF THE LINE KEEPS TRACK OF WHEN THEY PUSH THE PILE FORWARD:

"That's not something we keep track of. That's something that we in the offensive line room take pride in doing."

ON IF WYATT TELLER WANTED PART OF THAT TOUCHDOWN:

"He did and I was celebrating with him."