By Jimmy Hyams
As the son of a former football coach, Dave Hart understands the importance of scheduling.
He also understands how hard it can be on a team to play a triple-option offense with only a week to prepare.
That’s why the former Tennessee athletic director “insisted’’ that if Tennessee were to play Georgia Tech, it had to be the season opener for the Vols.
Tennessee takes on the Yellow Jackets in the opener for both teams Sept. 4 at Atlanta’s new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“If I were a coach,’’ Hart said today, “I would not want to play that scheme in the middle of a non-conference schedule.’’
The demands of defending a triple option are challenging. You must play assignment football. It takes eye discipline. It takes patience. It takes sharp tackling in the open field.
And heaven forbid if a defensive back bits on a run fake and gets beat deep on a pass play.
Hart pointed out that teams usually fare better against a triple option when it’s a season opener or a bowl game or you have an open date the week before.
Hart said he thinks ACC teams who play Georgia Tech annually still try to schedule an open date before going against coach Paul Johnson’s attack.
Last season, Vanderbilt, which was a bowl team, played Georgia Tech in the third game of the season without an open date.
The result: Georgia Tech won 38-7.
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