Scott, Can You One Time Kick It?!?

During the North Carolina game, Scott Blair missed two relatively easy field goals. Some believe that these missed added to Paul Johnson's frustration level at halftime when he goes postal on the referee (see video evidence in an earlier blog). I got to thinking if the communication between Coach Paul Johnson and Scott Blair went a bit something like this:

Just a note, keep the volume low on this one if at the office.

Paul Johnson = Rodney Dangerfield

Ok, so Paul Johnson does get some respect, but not from this guy, who made a list of the Top 5 Option coaches and left out CPJ:

5 - Rich Rodriguez
4 - Darrell Royal
3 - Fisher DeBerry
2 - Barry Switzer
1 - Tom Osborne

I left this comment on his site. No one disses CPJ and gets away with it!

Where’s Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson? Dude invented his triple option offense, calls the plays from his head with no playbook, makes adjustments on the fly, and had way more success in Year 1 than Richrod.

Not to mention 2 national championships in 1AA, turning Navy from 0 wins to 10 in 3 years, and tying for the division at Georgia Tech in Year 1.

Oh, I don't know, you tell me...

Doesn't the clock stop on first down? Doesn't it stop when you go out of bounds? Thanks ACC refs. Nice job.

I've figured out Tech's key to victory

Get two ACC players of the week. We're 2-0 then.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN

Sean Bedford, Georgia Tech, C, Jr., 6-1, 267, Gainesville, Fla. (Buchholz)

Bedford helped the Georgia Tech offensive line create plenty of space for Yellow Jacket ball carriers, who combined for 317 rushing yards and 406 overall in a 24-7 win against then-18th-ranked North Carolina—a victory that lifted Georgia Tech back into the AP poll at No. 25. Despite mid-game cramps, Bedford and his fellow linemen neutralized a Tar Heel defense that entered the game allowing just 52.3 rushing yards per game and ranked sixth nationally in total defense.

DEFENSIVE BACK: Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech, SS, Jr., 6-1, 210, College Park, Ga. (North Clayton)

Georgia Tech junior strong safety Morgan Burnett was credited with both of the Yellow Jackets’ interceptions in a 24-7 win against then-18th-ranked North Carolina. Burnett’s two interceptions give him three for the season—good for second place in the ACC—and 13 for his career, moving him into a tie for fourth in school history. He also made a team-high six tackles.

Kinda Sorta Like This

Or maybe like this

but certainly not like this, well, at least not for me.

So, buy one of these
and a bottle of this
but don't act like this



But you can still do a lot of this
and hope to see a lot of thisJust go ahead a prepare yourself, it's gonna rain.

Calvin Johnson named to Sporting News' All-Decade Team

Congrats to Calvin!

SPORTING NEWS ALL-DECADE TEAM (COLLEGE FOOTBALL)

OFFENSE
WR Larry Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh
WR Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech
T Jake Long, Virginia
G Shawn Andrews, Arkansas
C Alex Mack, California
G Marcus McNeill, Auburn
T Robert Gallery, Iowa
TE Kellen Winslow, Miami
QB Matt Leinart, USC
RB Darren McFadden, Arkansas
RB Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma
DEFENSE
DE David Pollack, Georgia
DT John Henderson, Tennessee
DT Tommie Harris, Oklahoma
DE Terrell Suggs, Arizona State
LB James Laurinaitis, Ohio State
LB Paul Posluszny, Penn State
LB Derrick Johnson, Texas
CB Terence Newman, Kansas State
CB Lito Sheppard, Florida
S Sean Taylor, Miami
S Roy Williams, Oklahoma
SPECIALISTS
K Mason Crosby, Colorado
P Daniel Sepulveda, Baylor
KR Ted Ginn, Ohio State
PR Jeremy Maclin, Missouri

The Sun Devils Understand

Just take a moment and check out this article from writer Bob Young with The Arizona Republic regarding Saturday's game with UGA... I'm not sure it can be said any better. It helps explain why I'll never return to Athens for a football game.

LINK - Talkin' trash at Georgia - literally

"Good teams don't lose two in a row"

So says our head man, Paul Johnson. And he held true to that (assuming you considered last year's Georgia Tech team to be a good one), never losing two in a row last season.

Here's what the team did following each loss last season:

-----------------

September 13:
L @ Virginia Tech 20-17 (278 yds rushing, 109 passing, 3 TOs)

September 20:
W vs. Mississippi State 38-7 (438 yds rushing, 62 passing, 0 TOs)

-----------------

October 25:
L vs. Virginia 24-17 (156 yds rushing, 103 passing, 3 TOs)

November 1:
W vs. Florida State 31-28 (288 yds rushing, 55 passing, 2 TOs)

-----------------

November 8:
L @ UNC 28-7 (326 yds rushing, 97 passing, 3 TOs)

November 20:
W vs. Miami 41-23 (472 yds rushing, 46 passing, 1 TO)

-----------------

Three of our best performances, if not THE three best, of the season came after a loss. Florida State was not that close until Nesbitt went down with an injury. It was 24-10 when we were rolling. Miami was down 41-10 before a couple 4th quarter touchdowns.

It looks like CPJ really knows how to rally the troops after a tough loss. I remember feeling this same way after the UNC loss last year, and we came back the next week and throttled Miami.

This year, we're down about a loss to Miami, so why not turn it around and get some revenge on UNC.

Another thing that makes you feel a little better about this Saturday is the stats against UNC last year. Despite the score, we had 326 yards rushing with a limping quarterback. Three poorly-timed turnovers cost us that game.

So I guess we'll find out Saturday if this team is "good." For the most part I agree with CPJ's statement. If we had two games against top-10 teams in a row and lost both in repectable fashion, I say we could still be good, but if we drop two in a row to teams ranked 15-25, we aren't a Top 25 team.

Just a little Wednesday comedy

For MADMEN fans everywhere.

It's not as bad as it seems

Take a look at these offensive stats (meaning about our offense; they're not bad enough to offend you) from all of last year and this year through 3 games:

2008:

6.01 yds/play
2.07 TOs lost per game
24.38 points/game

2009 (through 3 games):

6.35 yds/play
1.67 TOs lost per game
28 points/game

You'd like to be closer to the way we were playing at the end of last season, but the offense is ahead of what we averaged last season. Now if the defense can just stop someone...

A Chip on Their Shoulders

It has now been over a week since the debacle in Miami. I call it a debacle because that loss was a combination of two things: one team played great and the other team played terrible. I am taking nothing away from Miami and the nation has responded to their drubbing of the Yellow Jackets by putting them #9 in the polls. Do they deserve that ranking? Probably not but who am I to judge?

The Miami loss may be the best thing to happen to the 2009 Yellow Jackets. With that loss came the realization that they are NOT as good as they hoped. They were not a thundering stampede of non-stop first downs and a defense of iron bars. No team would look at them and collectively wet themselves in sheer horror. In other words, 9-4 didn't do a darn thing as 33-17 spoke a lot louder.

Maybe the team got just as caught up as fans did when looking at Paul Johnson's history of improvement between Year 1 and Year 2.

I don't want to focus on that loss but more on what that loss can generate. In some cases, one loss can turn into another, causing a tailspin that leads to an awful season amid hopes of a successful year. The team's minds are filled with regret, frustration and then acceptance of the overall outcome. Think 2008 – 2009 Detroit Lions. The thoughts of “not being any good”, “ deserving to lose” or “screw it” can come into the mind of the athlete just as easily as it can in the regular fan sitting in the bleachers.

However, there are times when the opposite occurs.

Regret turns into focus, frustration turns into anger and acceptance is rejected. You have all heard of the sports cliches of “looking in the mirror” and “finding out who were are” and it is at this time that those apply here. The Yellow Jackets must decide who they are and what they want to achieve. Forget the early expectations, the victory over UGA, Paul Johnson's history, forget it all.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets must do the one thing to be successful for the remainder of the year: play with a chip on their shoulder. They have been relegated to the back burner, removed from the polls and a now afterthought. They must believe that it is truly them against the world. They have to prove they were worthy of that ranking. When the team walks into Bobby Dodd stadium, there should be no jumping, no dancing, no playing to the crowd. They should walk onto the field like soldiers: determined, focused and relentless.

What He Said

I couldn't have said it any better than this guy. Get a grip people; the triple option is not "figured out." Tech just played a terrible game.

Georgia Tech head football coach Paul Johnson might as well turn in his headphones for an earpiece, his red flag for a red pen, his touchdowns for a teleprompter. According to the national media, he’s been figured out. After a 17-point offensive performance against fast-rising Miami, now in the top ten, defenses have been given the blueprint for how to stop Johnson’s once-vaunted triple-option attack.

At least that’s what some will have you believe.

For the first time since week nine of last season, Georgia Tech is out of the national polls. The aforementioned 33-17 loss to the Hurricanes dropped the Yellow Jackets from 13th to unranked. Like all opinions in regard to Johnson’s offense and his team, that reaction from the voters was a bit exaggerated. Let’s look at this logically. The 13th ranked team in the nation lost on the road, at night, to a now top ten ranked team and fell 13 spots? That same week, the third ranked USC Trojans lost to previously unranked Washington (who went winless last season) and dropped just seven spots in the USA Today Coaches’ poll. Wait, there’s more. Back in week two, 6th ranked Oklahoma State lost to unranked Houston by double digits, giving up 45 points at home. They fell just eleven spots to number 17.

A comparable point of reference would be Nebraska, who lost on the road as a ranked team, to a ranked team much like Georgia Tech did. The Cornhukers dropped from 18th to 24th, falling just six spots after their loss to Virginia Tech. Yes that game was closer than GT/Miami, but the team the Yellow Jackets lost to is undefeated and currently ranked inside the top ten. The ‘Huskers fell six spots, the Jackets over twice that – 13 spots.

College football has become a game of overblown, polarizing responses. In one week, Washington went from receiving zero votes for the top 25 to 194 votes after a three-point win over Southern Cal. A tremendous win for the Huskies, but this is a program with two BCS conference wins since September 2007. If that game-winning field goal is one more foot to the left, keeping in mind UW still played the exact same game, Washington likely doesn’t see the national polls all season. In today’s college football, fans want coaches fired after one bad performance, quarterbacks benched after one bad throw and teams flipped in and out of national favor like a young grade schooler picking his future occupation. One day a Trojan warrior, the next day a Cowboy. Hmm…

One could make the argument that no team, no scheme, no football ideology has felt the consequences of that mantra more than Paul Johnson and Georgia Tech. After every subpar performance, pundits cite that the Yellow Jackets’ offense has been exposed, justifying their longtime stance that the triple option offense could never work in BCS conference football by pointing to isolated figures, limited numbers and slanted statistics. Case in point; many identified the fact that the Jackets scored just 17 points against a Hurricane defense that was torched by Florida State the week prior as evidence that the riddle known as the triple option had been solved. My problem, and the proof to me that Johnson and his offense are often unfairly criticized, is the fact that such a sentiment isn’t applied across the board. If Miami holding Georgia Tech to 17 points is a sign that Johnson’s offense doesn’t work, why isn’t Washington holding Southern Cal to 13 points a sign that Pete Carroll’s offense doesn’t work, Texas holding Texas Tech to 24 points a sign that Mike Leach’s offense doesn’t work? More so, was Jacksonville State holding Florida State to one offensive touchdown a sign that Jimbo Fisher’s offense had been figured out? The Seminoles scored 54 points the next week at 7th ranked BYU. The “Paul Johnson Theory” of a poor performance being a sign of impeding doom is not generalized to other coaches and other offensive schemes. Why not?

The bottom line is that teams have good games, they have bad games; oftentimes the other team just plays a better football game (see Miami). At one point in time, that was understood. With millions of dollars at stake every week and an overflow of media experts waiting to flex their opinion and overbearing ego’s, there is no longer room for ebb and flow. As mentioned above, this is especially true with Georgia Tech. Many media members scoffed at the idea of Johnson’s option working in the ACC and have been waiting for moments of inconsistency to pounce on so they can prove themselves, the schematic football elite, right.

With Georgia Tech set to welcome North Carolina to Bobby Dodd Stadium this weekend, many will bring up the fact that the Tar Heels held the Yellow Jackets to just seven points last season. Fewer will bring up the fact that GT rushed for 423 yards in that game, but turned the football over at three inopportune times.

The embellished takes on Johnson’s triple option offense are ridiculous. Johnson is a fabulous coach. He won 62 games and two national championships in five seasons at Georgia Southern. After going 2-10 his first season at Navy, he won 43 games in five seasons. He led the Midshipmen to ten wins in 2004, just the second time they had reached double-digit victories in over 115 years at the Naval Academy. The two seasons before he arrived, the school won three games. In his first season at Georgia Tech, Johnson won nine games. In six seasons on The Flats, his predecessor Chan Gailey reached that plateau just once. Gailey never beat archrival Georgia. Johnson did so on his first try, 45-42, in Athens. On Gailey’s first try in Sanford Stadium, he got 44, that being a 44-point beatdown at the hands of the Bulldogs.

Paul Johnson’s offense works. But like all other offenses, it doesn’t always work. Why is that so difficult to understand? For as much as people praise the spread, the triple option isn’t that much different. Both offenses spread the field, look to attack weak points in the defense and try to maximize opportunities for the playmakers at the skill positions. But the triple option is for some reason met with an odd, exaggerated reaction. Critics constantly talk of how and why it doesn’t work, then pat themselves on the back and talk of the mystery being solved on the few occasions when it doesn’t thrive.

Georgia Tech fans, enjoy the many wins to come in the future. Paul Johnson is a tremendously successful head coach. Then again, you’ve probably already figured that out.

Article here

UNC Game Preview

At this rate, this is what the game will look like Saturday...

Thursday Night Breakdown

Photo Credit: Al Diaz - Miami Herald

I mean honestly, what do you say? We flat out got beat. Just handled in every aspect of the game. And it may seem weird, but in the end, this was a game we needed to lose. Let me start from the beginning and make an attempt to explain.

Bad Omen
I had a bad feeling about this game for a long time. It was just set up to be a massive fail.

1. Miami came in off the high of the FSU game.
2. Miami had extra time to prepare.
3. Miami had revenge on their minds from the beat-down the took last year.
4. Miami seemed to feed off the media hype of "the U is back" talk.
5. Tech has seemed oddly flat in our first two games, even while winning.
6.
7. Tiffany & I were invited over to a friends house for dinner and to watch the game. Special thanks to Matt & Katie for the yummy pork roast and chocolate cake. But oddly enough anytime we do this, the Jackets lay an egg. So I guess I can take the blame for the bad karma. Much like the UGA game in 2006 when our friend James slammed on the brakes headed down 316 into Athens. Tiffany grabs the door while bracing herself, accidentally pressing the electric windows button, thus lowering the windows, causing the GT flags to come loose and go flying down 316 to get run over time and time again. Yea, we lost that game too.
8. 3 Games in 12 days. This team is out of gas. Or do we have a conditioning problem?

Defense
Aside from a few stands late in the game that held Miami to a missing field goal try, I'm not sure we did anything right on D last night. The Hurricane offensive was well balanced, hitting short a long passes at will. Running for what seemed like 8 to 10 yards a carry. The secondary, which I had started to feel was a strong point of this team, just couldn't get it done. They're bodies were running around on the field, but I got the feeling that there minds were elsewhere. We had no answer for Miami's O. The Defensive Line you ask? Harris had all night to throw. One time I think I saw him hike the ball, make a ham sandwich with mayo, enjoy said ham sandwich then throw the ball down field. That's how much time he had. I'm not sure if their o-line is that good or we just played that bad. A question I have regarding many aspects of this game. The DL just didn't get any pressure all night long.

Oh, and can I mention tackling? Or the complete lack there of. More times than not I saw the first defensive Tech player flat out bounce off a Miami back or receiver, arm tackles all night long.

Now I will say, the defense does get somewhat of a pass due to the fact they were on the field all night long. They had to be slap out worn out and no amount of subbing was going to help after awhile. So my hats off to them for fighting hard and not allowing this to become a 60 point Miami game. It was headed that way. But I will also say that I like Randy Shannon better after this game. He could have easily ran up the score.

Ok, before I move on lets look back at the last 5 games and the points that D has given up:

vs UGA + 42
vs LSU + 38
vs JaxSt + 17
vs Clemson + 27
vs Miami + 33

Granted, I'm only giving final score. Special Teams scoring, defensive scores and junk points are not calculated into this observation. But aside of the JaxSt game (Div2, or whatever the heck they call it) Am I starting to see a pattern? Does Womack have an answer?

Offense
Slow motion. I thought after watching the first drive that maybe we were ready to play this game. Marched down the field running the ball pretty well. If memory serves me correctly I think we ran 12 straight running plays on that drive but then did what we've done all too well this year, stall. 3's will not cut it, we need to start punching that ball into the endzone and not hoping for the big play to always put up the TDs. Drive down the field, eat clock, shorten the game, keep their offense off the field, tire out there defense. All things we should be masters at with an offense like this. But last night they played that hand much better.

I thought we did a decent job of spreading the ball around in the running game: Dwyer, Nesbitt, Roddy, AA. But one of the major keys to this O (and any O) is blocking. Fundamental. If you have it DVRed go back and watch the drives after the opening one. You'll hear all the yapping about how Miami is shutting down the option. When we were missing block after block. Big ones, blocks that would have put 6 on the board. I give Miami all the credit for playing a great game, but you can't help them by letting them set up camp in your backfield. Anyone else wondering where Lucas Cox was? Blocking is something he seems to do very well. Marcus Wright sure can lay some blocks.

Passing game you ask? Well, those deep bombs looked nice. But I can only think of two times BayBay was actually open when thrown to. When it was late in the game and we're down by a few TDs on 3rd and 19 you could see that Nesbitt was just putting the ball up and letting Thomas try to go grab it. So not much to say here. I would like to see the ball spread around more. Nesbitt has a habit of focusing on throwing only to BayBay only. Jackson is out there as are our BBs and ABs.

O-line? Once again, blocking. Some of our plays require a little time to develop. The o-line has to give Nesbitt and company the time make the reads and execute the plays. What I saw last night was a submarine with a screen door. I think I have to say now that these smaller linesmen are not going to work against big Div1 defensive lines. Am I wrong?

Field position was in our favor almost all night long. How many times did we start at the 40? With a short field like that why are we not putting major points up?

They've Figured Out the Option
I'm starting to see why Coach Johnson get's so irritated with this statement. We come out on Thursday night and smack them around running for over 400 yards on National TV and the media doesn't say, "look at how great Tech is playing" they say "look at how bad Miami's defense is playing." But when we come out and can't execute no one says "look at how bad Tech's offense is playing" it's always how wonderful Miami's defense is. Which somehow always means anytime we have a bad game and don't execute the offense then some how the opposing team "has figured out the option." Now once again, Miami played great. But people, the option is no different that any other offense. You still have to block, read and execute. If you don't, you can't move the ball and score points. How come I never hear a TV commentator say "they've figured out that pro-style offense?" Enough already.

Injuries
It seems like Dwyer will be ok. I don't have any details but Johnson didn't seem too worried about his shoulder in the post game press conference.

Cooper Taylor was pulled late in the game for heart palpitations. Hope he's ok.

If you go back and watch the play where Roddy lands on his head, all you can do is thank the good Lord above he wasn't seriously hurt. You want to take a positive from this game. There is a big one. Also, I've never been one to call out players on this blog. These are kids and I don't think it's right, but I will say this hit on Roddy shows how important blocking can be. Someone whiffed a block and Roddy paid for it.

Sylvester? He got hit pretty good on that kick off return I say concussion probable.

Heard Brad Sellers hurt his wrist but continued to play? Hope he's ok.

I don't expect to see Hall any time soon. Hope it's not major.

We Needed to Lose?
For some reason I've been feeling like after watching the JaxSt and Clemson game that this team needed to lose. Not just lose, but get embarrassed. Sometimes it's a game of heartbreak and sometimes you need games like this to grow. A wake up call of sorts. My hope is this game acts as a spring board to light a fire under this team for the rest of the season. Guess we'll see.

And Here Come the Questions!

I want to start by saying that I did not watch the Georgia Tech vs. Miami game. I don't have ESPN and it was pouring down rain so I chose not to go to my local Orange and White uniformed restaurant to see the game.

And I am glad I didn't.

I did keep an eye on the CBS Sports online game tracker and was rather dumbfounded as to what I was seeing. My first update it was 14-3 Miami. 14 to 3? Are you kidding? Maybe CBS got the score backwards, yeah, that has got to be it. No, wait. It was right. Could Miami's boast of it's offense being unstoppable actually be true?

Turns out it was.

Over and over, the game tracker showed Miami scoring and moving the ball at will. Touchdowns made on long passing strikes, Tech unable to run the ball, etc. It was all to horrible. Thank goodness for the blunt, data driven game tracker. I wouldn't have been able to stomach watching that performance. And the final result? 33 - 17.

I have no desire to review the numbers, to draw a comparison between quarterbacks or the offensive lines. Rather I would just wait and let the uproar begin. You know the one I speak of. It has been there since CPJ walked across the stage and put on his GT hat. The same dull background murmur that has dogged the coach, his staff and players for the last two seasons. It was quieted down a bit last year but was picking up steam after the LSU loss, then came Clemson and now Miami.

Say it with me now (barbershop harmony not expected), "Have they figured out the Triple Option?"

Oh, I am sure that there will be some online authors that will write about Tech's lack of intensity, poor game execution or other of the long list of reasons the team was blown out of the water. But there will be a common the to all the articles and discussion boards. Has the ACC figured out the Option? It would be one thing if the team did well but lost the game due to turnovers, but they achieved only 96 yards on the ground. 96? The Miami lead back had 94!

This was the team that was run over and over and over for roughly 470 yards last year and now they limit Tech to 96!?!?!? I am no math major but 470 > 96. This discrepancy alone will get the murmur going again and I can't really say I blame the murmur.

But I will tell the murmur that 2 > 1 and that the year is far from over.

As always, the AJC Ridiculous Vent of the Week!

Regardless of their records going in to the last game of the regular season, I'll bet you a buck that UGA beats Tech in Atlanta on November 28th.

I will see that buck and raise too-fitty!

UGA news conference to detail tailgaters’ destruction

Photo Credit: Tom Ritch

Read the details from the AJC - LINK

Now I know anytime you have a lot of people in a confined space eating, drinking and having a good time you will have some trash left behind. But I've always thought we did a pretty good job of getting trash in bags and recycle items in their respective containers. I've only seen Tech's campus pretty messy after a game once. We got back to the tailgate after a night game and some homeless people had torn open the trash bags. Saddened me on a few levels but even it wasn't this bad. Tech fans, lets make sure we always take pride in our campus.

The pain of College Football

Incredible highs and incredible lows. So often it hurts to be a fan. This guy knows. Hang in there, Clemson's not done yet.

Mash on the Gas is pretty good, but...

http://www.kanyelicio.us/http://mashonthegas.blogspot.com/

Gameday!

Get ready for more of this:

GO JACKETS!!!

Thank You Bulldog Nation for providing the laughs.

Honestly? Do I really need to provide any commentary? I think somethings just speak for themselves.

2 GT ACC Players of the Week

Our two MVPs from the Clemson game have been honored as ACC Players of the Week:

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: Derrick Morgan, Georgia Tech, DE, Jr., 6-4, 275, Coatesville, Pa. (Coatesville)

Georgia Tech junior defensive end Derrick Morgan had a career night in Georgia Tech’s 30-27 win against Clemson on Thursday night in front of a national television audience on ESPN. Morgan had a game-high 10 tackles, a personal-best four tackles for loss (13 yards), and three sacks (nine yards). Additionally, he helped the defensive front pressure the Clemson offense into forcing two interceptions and holding off a Tiger comeback after Georgia Tech led 24-0 midway through the second quarter.

SPECIALIST: Scott Blair, Georgia Tech, K, Jr., 6-0, 198, Calhoun, Ga. (Calhoun)

Georgia Tech junior kicker Scott Blair converted a game-tying and game-winning field goal in the fourth quarter to cap a come-from-behind win for the 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets over Clemson, 30-27. After the Tigers scored 27 unanswered points to take a 27-24 lead early in the fourth quarter, Blair tied the game with a 34-yard field goal to cap a 12-play and 69-yard drive, then sealed the win with his game-winning 36-yarder. Blair also kicked a 24-yarder in the second quarter, converted all three of his point-after-touchdown tries, and even threw a touchdown pass to teammate Demaryius Thomas in the first quarter.

Congrats! Also, good news: Jaybo Shaw looks to be a week ahead of schedule and should be back for the UNC game.

How Does One Achieve a Narrow Win from Domination?

I have to ask this question because both options were available to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets upon playing the Clemson Tigers on Thursday night. Normally this is not the case as most games will fall into one of those categories early but are confirmed going into the later stages of the fourth quarter. However, this game seemed to have both the spectacle of a complete domination and the dramatic come from behind victory. I don't think my heart could take another one like this.

Oh sure, there are times when I truly love the close games. The battle of wills, the narrow misses and close plays causes one to get caught up in the moment and to become one with the game. Who doesn't love a come from behind victory? To snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and to celebrate the win where only tears of defeat were once inevitable. Most of the time, I like the dominating. To see the team in total control in all phases of the game: Offense, Defense and Special Teams. I enjoy seeing a team working like a machine, the defense controlling the line of scrimmage while the offense keeps the other team in confusion with precision plays and aggressive athleticism.

So now we come to the rare but thoroughly draining combination of both. The complete domination at first, followed by the slow and painful fall from grace culminating in a last ditch effort at the end that results in victory. This was the Clemson game in a nutshell.

Before I go any further, I was not able to attend this game due to a scheduling conflict but I was able to watch it at my local sports watching business (the one with orange shorts, but this time they were wearing all black). I was not able to be there in person to see the drama. However, my friend was attending the game and we exchanged texts during the game. Afterward, I read his texts in sequence and it really told the story of the game. Here are a couple of examples, “Woodshed”, “They got happy with the big lead and now it's gone” and my favorite “They might wanna think about playing ball now”.

So what creates this type of football anomaly? Essentially has to take place to allow for a complete domination to shift towards the come from behind victory. Now I am not going to go into the area of game review and play analysis. There are a ton of highly qualified individuals that excel in that forum and I tend to let the people who are good at something do it. If you want to read recaps, I am sure a quick scan of the Internet will provide you with plenty of reading material.

OK, back to my point. How does a team allow for both the elation of domination and the energy sucking spectacle of the come from behind win? I give you the following formula:

Four Quarters x Three Areas of Game (Offense, Defense, Special Teams) = 12 Phases
Number of Phases the Team Dominates/12 Phases = Expected End Result

I am sure that there are better equations our there but I am awful at math, but stick with me here. The above equation is based on the simple idea that in each quarter (4) a team (usually) can play the phases of the game (3). This totals to 12 total phases that a team plays per game. This does not mean 12 plays but the expected number of phases that a team will use in a game. The goal here is for us to determine the overall percentage of the game in which your team dominates. Let's use the Georgia Tech vs. Clemson game as our reference.

Georgia Tech
Won Offense, Defense and Special Teams in First Quarter = 3
Played Poorly in Offense, Defense and Specialist Teams in Second/Third Quarter = 0
Won Offense, Defense in Fourth Quarter = 2
Follow me here: 3 + 2 = 5/12 = 42%

So, in essence, Georgia Tech only won 5 phases out of 12 for the entire game. That comes out to be 42% of the game in which Georgia Tech dominated or controlled the game. So for less than half the game, Tech was achieving. So what happened with the remaining 58%? Well, that goes to Clemson. That is what makes the game so amazing is that Tech was able to fall BELOW average achievement (which aids in the Narrow Win category), but also was able to control things enough early on (which aids in the Domination category) and ended up with playing only 42% of a full quality game.

It is still very early in the season and I am sure that there will be tons of speculation about the team's ability to maintain consistency over the course of an entire game. Heck, I may even right about it myself.

There is always room for another Ridiculous AJC Vent of the Week (with a Twist!):
Stop beating on Joe Cox like a red-headed step-child....oh, uh, I mean stop beating on him like a second-string QB.

Wow! It's been only one game Dog fans. Seriously?

They're Back - THE GTGs - Reck Style

Enjoy.
Oh, and tonight. Wear White.

Don't forget - WHITEOUT tonight!

OK folks, it's not that hard. Just wear white. Don't complain about it or come up with some excuse. Just wear white. Don't say that you don't have a white GT shirt, it doesn't matter. Just wear white. Dig through your drawers and find any old t-shirt to wear, as long as it's white. Forget the fact that some how all the Whiteout shirts we ordered are now not going to be available. Just find something white to wear. Wrap yourself in TP, paint yourself with shoe polish as long as you're wearing white. Stop by Walgreens on the way to the stadium and grab a $2 white t-shirt that they had in the front of the store last night when I stopped to grab a gallon of milk. It's a WHITEOUT folks, which means, wear white.

See you there, I'll be the one wearing white.

Know Your Jackets

Last year the AJC did a series of interview videos on their website for the UGA football team. Entitled "Know Your Bulldogs." I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised they gave us some pub this year with "Know You Jackets." Enjoy.

AJC only seems to have Jon posted right now...I'll try and trackdown the link to the the vid Josh Nesbitt did a few days ago.

Georgia Tech vs. Jacksonville State - Recap

It is hard to believe that the first game of the college season is over. Months of constant buildup, from reading the barrage of recruiting news, listening to expert opinions and forecasting to watching the spring scrimmage have now gone out the window as the season is now in full swing. I am sure that there is a collective sigh of relief from ESPN, FoxSports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports as well as the multitude of sports themed websites and radio stations as they can now shift from guessing about the season to completely botching their coverage of it.

I could go on a tear about how the sports media has really dug itself into a whole so far but then I would miss out on the opportunity to talk about some football!!

I was fortunate enough to go to the first Georgia Tech game of the season, even if it was against Jacksonville State. No offense to the State but the match up did not get the hype or level of expectation as the Georgia vs. Oklahoma State game or even the Florida State vs. Miami game. Really?

This did not dampen my spirits as my crew and I made our way to our seats with the anticipation of seeing a quality outing from the Jackets. There were several things that I was eager to see, but we ended up getting there a bit late because of herding problems. Don't ask. Needless to say, we missed the first touchdown of the season as Jonathan Dwyer took the first play from scrimmage and rocked 73 yards for a touchdown! You know, he could have waited till I was in my seat to do that. I really should talk to CPJ about this.

Here are a couple of points I would like to make before going any further, as they are non-football related (sort of):

1. The new Mega-Tech-Tron is truly impressive, not Dallas Cowboy impressive but it is a true upgrade over the previous version. The pictures were crisp so that you could easily see the multiple Tech fumbles. The best part of the new MTT is that the overall production of the game experience is better, from the AT&T text message postings to the scoreboards from across the country. It is really first class.

2. The new uniforms are so much better now that they have gone to the pure gold look and gotten away from the French's Mustard color scheme. Georgia Tech has never done a great job in maintaining a look and overall color scheme. Don't believe me? Go into Tailgater's Alley and see if you can count the different color jerseys or T-shirts. My quick survey counted four main color combinations: black and yellow, mustard and white, black and mustard, gold and white. Oh, and I don't count the pink Tech stuff.

Ok, moving on.

The game itself was not as impressive an outing as I would have hoped but it did provide some idea of how the team will grow as the year progresses. Again, I will not make any projections based off this one game, but will say that I did see a lot of improvement that you can hang your hat on.

1. Tarrant was a welcome addition to the team. By now, we have all heard his story and it was good to see him on the field. From the level of enthusiasm he displayed, I think he was glad to be back. He had several good defensive plays and made some very solid special teams play with one returned for a touchdown. His energy was really infectious as the rest of the secondary looked aggressive and solid.
   

2. The defensive line did pretty well as many expected that it would get pushed around, not because of a lack of intensity but by the overall lack of experience. While there is a lot of work to do, I think that there is great potential on both sides of the line. The one thing that stuck out in my mind is #90 (T.J. Barnes) would is a mountain of a young man. On one play, there were THREE Jacksonville State offensive linemen trying to block him. When it required three people to stop you from doing something, you know you got skills.

3. On the whole, the defense was good, mainly in the secondary and linebackers, much as we suspected.

4. The passing attack was actually a passing attack this time around. CPJ stated that he wanted to expand passing this year and I think it was a solid outing for the forward lateral. Nesbitt has never been known as a quarterback with touch, but he did a good job of putting the ball into the right hands (namely Thomas) as Tech racked up about 150 yards of passing offense. I actually got tickled when the offense lined up in a more traditional formation once or twice.

5. Because Tech went nuts in the first half and then played a lot of the backups, I got a chance to see many of the players I had only read about: Allen, Peebles, Washington. These are young players and I know the game time did them a service. Other than a lack of a killer instinct, the replacements on the defense looked pretty good but I was disappointed by the lack of aggressive play.

Final Note:

Does wearing a ring like this mean that you're "The Man"?
Yes, yes it does.

College Colors Day - TOMORROW

Don't forget, College Colors Day is tomorrow. So make sure to wear your finest White & Gold to the office to represent.

Here is a list of retailers to get your gear. LINK

And then there is always Tailgaters Alley and the GT Bookstore.

Very Very Cool

More Pumpupedness

Dwyer Interview & Highlights

Nice video from Raycom featuring Dwyer. I couldn't get the embed to work correctly...so just click the link below to enjoy.

LINK to VIDEO