It was a very good year at Georgia Tech
Some random thoughts before I get on the plane to West Coast, where it is warm and sunny:
1. It’s been a very good year at Georgia Tech. While last night’s loss to Iowa in the Orange Bowl was a disappointment to Georgia Tech and its fans, at some point today it will be time to put it into perspective with the rest of the season. Georgia Tech ran into a big, athletic defense that had had over 40 days to prepare. When quarterback Ricky Stanzi was healthy, Iowa was the best team in the Big Ten and would have likely gone undefeated if he had been available for the Northwestern and Ohio State games.
In just two seasons Paul Johnson has made Georgia Tech a player again on the national stage with an ACC championship, a BCS bowl, and a win over Georgia. While it can’t be a great year unless you beat the state rival, this was a very good year at Georgia Tech.
2. Time to give the Big Ten its props. The Big Ten has gotten beat up during bowl season lately, going 1-6 last year. Iowa was the only Big Ten team to win a bowl last season when it beat South Carolina. But this season the Big Ten has posted four pretty impressive wins: Ohio State over Oregon to snap the Big Ten’s six-game losing streak in the Rose; Penn State over LSU in the Capital One; Wisconsin over what was supposed to be a faster, more athletic Miami in the Champs Sports; and finally Iowa over the ACC champs in the Orange. Northwestern had several chances to beat Auburn in the Outback before losing in overtime.
3. Kudos to Rich Brooks. The former Falcons assistant coach has decided to step down at Kentucky after seven seasons. One of his goals when he took the job was to leave the program in better shape than he found it. On that point he was a huge success. The program was devastated by NCAA probation when he got there and after struggling (9-25) in his first three seasons there were a lot of people who wanted to get rid of him. But athletics director Mitch Barnhart and President Lee Todd stuck with Brooks, who then took the Wildcats to four straight bowl games, something never done in the football history of the school. I will never forget Kentucky’s upset of No. 1 LSU in Lexington in 2007. In fact, that season I went to Lexington three times to watch Kentucky play and saw three great games, including a four-overtime loss to Tennessee which put the Vols into the SEC championship game over Georgia. Brooks turns the reins over to offensive coordinator Joker Phillips.
4. Bama looking for first win over Texas. There is a lot of history that says No. 2 Texas can beat No. 1 Alabama in tomorrow night’s BCS championship game. The two storied programs have met eight times in history with Texas holding a 7-0-1 mark:
Year———————Winner
1902———————Texas, 10-0 (Regular season)
1915———————Texas, 20-0 (Regular season)
1922——————–Texas, 19-10 (Regular season)
1947——————–Texas, 27-7 (Sugar Bowl)
1960——————–3-3 Tie (Bluebonnet Bowl)
1964——————–Texas, 21-17 (Orange Bowl)
1972——————–Texas, 17-13 (Cotton Bowl)
1981——————–Texas, 14-12 (Cotton Bowl)
I’ll be in Los Angeles on Thursday where I will give you my five burning questions about the BCS Championship game.
5. Urban Meyer wasting no time. For a guy who was supposed to be taking a leave of absence, Florida’s Urban Meyer has been a busy boy this week. He has lost four assistant coaches since the end of the regular season—Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong along with assistants Kenny Carter and Vance Bedford are all headed to Louisville. Offensive assistant Billy Gonzalez left before the bowl game to go to LSU. He has been replaced by Zach Azzani of Central Michigan. Meyer and interim coach Steve Addazio have hired former Gator assistant Stan Drayton, who left for Tennessee with some hard feelings in 2007 saying that he wanted to coach in a more conventional offense. Drayton is a good recruiter and Florida needs that to hold this class together. D.J. Durkin, who coached the past three seasons at Stanford, has been hired to coach the linebackers, which was Strong’s position. We’re still waiting to hear on the defensive coordinator’s job although published reports say that current assistant Chuck Heater has a shot.
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588 comments Add your comment
LOU DOBBS
January 6th, 2010
9:58 pm
Pres Obama has called a noon Saturday press conference to announce the new UGA defensive coordinator. Congress has cancelled all proceedings for this momentous occasion. Sec of Defense Gates and Sec of State Clinton will be at Obama’s side for this. The new coach will the guest of honor at a White House dinner featuring chitling stew.
Wreckmaniac
January 6th, 2010
10:05 pm
COLLEGE FOOTBALL MAN OF THE YEAR: Joe Cox, for putting up with TrailerNations fan base. 2nd place- Logan Grey. See what your UGA schollys got for you two boys ? There’s 15 other QBs in Athens who will receive the same accolades in 2-3 years. Whose daddy’s (all from
Valdosta) will all say “Well, at least he got to warm the bench in Athens” instead of taking that offer to Southern Mississippi.
ACC Joke
January 6th, 2010
10:08 pm
Best team in the Little 11………..this is the same team that had to block 2 field goals in the closing seconds to avoid losing to a Division II school. Quit sugar coating the putrid performance of the gnats and the whole a she she…….
Wreckmaniac
January 6th, 2010
10:09 pm
Gov Perdewww said today that he was “taking a leave from gov’mint” today in order to attend the “states biggest challenge” which is ending the embarrassment over the DC problem at UGA. Sonny said ” Sometimes we
govs have to make the tough decisions”. When questioned by reporters about the state’s unemployment problem, high teen pregnancy rate,and illiteracy, the gov said “Don’t question my judgemint”
SHINOLA
January 6th, 2010
10:10 pm
WE WON THE ACC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wreckmaniac
January 6th, 2010
10:13 pm
The SEC announced today that a third division was being created in order to respond to UGA fans demand for attention. The dawgs will be put into a 4 team division with Vandy, Ky, and Miss State. Slive said
“if they can’t win this division, I don’t know what we’ll do”
UGA’s deeeerectum of atheletics said ” its about time. This being ignored is killing our fan base”
Wreckmaniac
January 6th, 2010
10:18 pm
In order to sell $ 5 tickets, the next UGA basketball game will feature a half-time introduction of the last Dawg nat champ football team. At this time, 3 members of that roster can travel, 4 are in retirement villages while the remainder are dead. The student body president commented ” I remember my grandfather talking about that team. He said that opposing teams had to take the train to Athens because the airplane was still being developed” Larry Munson will be wheelchaired in for the event.
Wreckmaniac
January 6th, 2010
10:19 pm
I AM NOT OBSESSED WITH UGA!!!!!!
Wreckmaniac
January 6th, 2010
10:20 pm
There will be no free hotdogs or coke?
Marine Col GT Grad
January 6th, 2010
10:25 pm
Its amazing. Been watching comments all year from our UGA brethren about GT football. I’ll give you UGA folks this: UGA pounded GT in its annual festival, and yes, GT got manhandled in the Orange Bowl (the score was not indicative of how bad they played against Iowa.) However, UGA was a HUGE disappointment in the SEC this year, and for you UGA folks to not concede that and continue to focus on GT’s shortcomings is validation of your limitations as football savvy fans. I grew up in GA and the fact that UGA has won ONE Natl Championship does not make you the envy of NCAA football. Get a life folks. There are greater concerns than the UGA vs. GT dynamic. OK?
Wreckmaniac
January 6th, 2010
10:25 pm
VOL Fan. If you can’t handle this hit the road. We’re just happy to have an easy target like UGA to kick around.
Marine Col GT Grad
January 6th, 2010
10:32 pm
OK, time for a reality check. I’ll grant UGA Nation that GT got manhandled by both UGA and Iowa the last two games. However, UGA was a huge disapointment in the SEC this year and for those of DAWG Nation not to acknowledge that is further evidence that UGA fans have a limited memory capacity. Whats worse is that UGA has won a total of ONE National Championship in their illustious history. I’m not saying that UGA is not a top program, but give me a break. GT has never been a top program, and its won 2 Natl Champs in its history. How about UGA fans concede that GT had a good year, the losses to the U, UGA, and Iowa notwithstanding. Lastly, get a life UGA fans. There are more important issues to focus on rather than who does what to who in NCAA football. The bottom line is that it is ENTERTAINMENT and a revenue stream for the school. Its not the end all be all.
GIVE ME A BREAK
January 6th, 2010
10:34 pm
This article and comments are funny. Didn’t Ga. Tech have the same amount of time to prepare for Iowa? And who were the teams that UGA beat that had to win bowl games to get above .500? Curious for that response considering the ACC couldn’t even fill their pitiful bowl commitments this year because the conference is piss poor. BTW, 8500 fans from UGA showed up for the piss poor bowl we went to and one. First major bowl for Tech in 42 years and you sell 11K. Pure pitiful fan base.
VOL Fan
January 6th, 2010
10:40 pm
I can handle it….it appears you can not handle Georgia but maybe once every nine years. Is that kicking it around?
VOL Fan
January 6th, 2010
10:42 pm
Wreckmaniac = m
m is afraid to use that moniker any more.
GIVE ME A BREAK
January 6th, 2010
10:46 pm
Teams UGA beat that went to bowls and record prior to bowl:
OK State 9-3
Arizona State no bowl
S. Carolina 7-5
Tenn. Tech whatever here
Auburn 7-5
Tech 10-2
Vandy no bowl
Arkansas 7-5
Losses and records
LSU 9-3
Kentuckry 7-5
Florida 12-0
Tenn. 7-5
OK State 9-3
Where is the bowl team that needed the win to get above 500?
GIVE ME A BREAK
January 6th, 2010
10:46 pm
Sorry, OK State was there twice and of course UGA lost.
Eaasssyy
January 6th, 2010
10:56 pm
Wreckmaniac,
If your weak azz jackettes joined your “fantasy” SEC subdivision you’d drop to .500 in conference play. Best case scenario mind you.
Suck it Dork
The Mayor
January 6th, 2010
11:00 pm
The most disappointment from our loss in the Orange Bowl is that we have to hear for another whole year how our “gimmick offense” is outdated and teams can beat you when they have time to prepare for it. No, not at all. It’s just difficult to execute against NFL-sized and ready players on LSU and Iowa teams. We were outweighed and out-muscled in those two games, plain and simple. We don’t have the big, physical front men we need and they get exploited by teams loaded with big boys. It’s been a problem all season but too many penalties to start the game put off the rhythm for the whole evening and the quarterback that was getting pounded in the first half never fully recovered for the rest of the game. We didn’t get blown out and the only reasons it wasn’t an OT game were a missed FG and a blitzing defense letting a guy get through in the last 4 minutes of the game. It’s not like Iowa was a powerhouse and I actually thought the match-up was fairly even unlike some of the other bowl match-ups (see also UF-Cincy, UGA-A&M, etc). And Iowa fans are definitely classier and nicer than UGA fans any day. Co-mingled tailgating with them was actually fun. I also don’t see their fans trolling comment sections on any articles making even the slightest mention that Tech has a decent team.
If you want to post on football blogs, try actually watching the football game for more than watching scores. It’d make the exchanges much more useful and entertaining.
JUST TAKE YOUR MEDICINE
January 6th, 2010
11:22 pm
Tech fans been talking smack all year— whatz up?
Rablin' Yech
January 6th, 2010
11:29 pm
Mayor Dufus,
Watched the game…..enjoyed it thoroughly. 150 yards on offense to the other teams 400+ is getting manhandled. Parse your words how you want but it was a beat down. At no point during the beat down did Yech appear to be the best team. Glad you had fun in the Blue Carpet bowl of Miami. Looks like you girls get cold weather wherever you play. Only way to avoid that is play in the Ga Dome but that would mean having to face a decent SEC team and we all know how that will turn out for you girls.
The Mayor
January 6th, 2010
11:39 pm
And there Mr. Yech goes again spouting numbers like that means “I thoroughly watched the events that transpired during the game.” Football is not actuarial science. And if you actually read my content, I pretty much made the point that we were “manhandled” to borrow your term that was borrowed from the AJC headline. (Way to add value to the conversation. Thanks.) My point is that if you actually watched the game our linemen were getting tossed around like bushels of corn by big guys that probably grew up doing exactly that. They were big and physical and it disrupted our offensive flow. Same goes for LSU last year. And yes, even in the UGA game this season. It’s a problem that is being addressed but our coach needs more than two years to build a program.
BBB
January 6th, 2010
11:43 pm
UGA dominates Tech in the series……60-39-5
BIRDDAWGONE
January 6th, 2010
11:56 pm
“our linemen were getting tossed around like bushels of corn by big guys that probably grew up doing exactly that.” FYI alot of MEN who toss around bushels of corn grew up in trailers. You TECH boys keep trashing people who live in trailors! Then you want to get on this BLOG and talk about CLASS. Just an observation from a UGA grad whose family lived in worse houses than most trailors.
The Mayor
January 7th, 2010
12:10 am
I was really just saying that there’s not much else to do in Iowa than toss corn! It’s called a joke and it was actually borrowed from some Iowa fans we were tailgating with. I grew up poor with a single mom and lived in a trailer as well and only made it through Tech on scholarships and student loan. But if you still have a hangup about growing up poor then you can add whatever context you’d like. I forget that anything us Tech folks say has some ulterior and sinister motive just like all of the disparaging remarks I made about UGA’s team while I was writing about Tech football. Oh, I didn’t? But I did actually manage to work in a complement? But then I did write something about their fans when comparing to Iowa fans but it doesn’t go anywhere beyond “hostile vs. friendly,” pretty much like my reception on this comment roll has proven. But I will learn how to identify more quickly when I’m arguing with a wall!
BIRDDAWGONE
January 7th, 2010
12:38 am
MAYOR:
You also did not talk about CLASS in your earlier post. I did not “call you out” personally in my last BLOG. I simply used a quote from something that came from a TECH supporter to make a point to all your tech buddies on the BLOG. It is call “irony” – Am I a trailor wall or a fancy brick house wall?
Rablin' Yech
January 7th, 2010
12:39 am
Mayor, do you know what walls are? Do trailers have walls? And yes you did get blown out….not sure what definition you want to use but statistics don’t lie….unless of course you go with Ben Franklin’s adage of lies, damn lies, and then statistics. Please let us know when Paul Johnson’s “own players” have arrived. He is quite fortunate that Chan Gailey left the cupboard well stocked. And yes I do aspire to reach the nirvana of insight that you have managed to obtain in watching a game. Maybe I was too preoccupied with laughing at all the empty seats in the stands.
Rick James
January 7th, 2010
12:40 am
She’s a brick hooouuusssseee…………not a Mayor trailer.
IF THE WALL SAYS SOMETHING YOU DO NOT LIKE
January 7th, 2010
12:46 am
PUNCH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BuLLdawg
January 7th, 2010
6:15 am
ACC 3-4 in Bowl Games this year. 5 ACC teams did not make a bowl; 2 SEC didn’t (GA tek played them both.)
ACC 4-5 against The SEC all season, including the bowl games. FL beat FSU. So Car beat NC State and Climpsum Farmers. Alabama beat Virginia Tech. And, excuse me too, UGA beat GA tek 30-24 at their house.
Last year, the top ACC in Final AP Poll was Number 15, and 2 years before that, the top-ranked ACC team was Number 18 in the AP Poll. For 6 years now in a row the average AP Poll ranking for the BEST ACC team is Number 12. That’s 4 teams worse than an 8-team play-off format.
GA tek played 6 teams that did not even make a bowl game. No team in America played that many in 1 year.
It has been since President Dwight Eisenhower Ike was President that GA tek last won a Major Bowl Game. ACC is a lousy football conference.
The high school offense got 7 points last night.
7.
Now, I’ve heard it all. The ACC is good because it LOST to the Big 10 second best team.
There is only 1 team that might move up 1 place in the polls, and that would be Virginia Tech getting higher ranked than GA tek.
CHUMPS.
13 consecutive years both UGA and GA tek have been to a bowl game. UGA won 11 of those; GA tek 5.
5.
8 of last 9 and 15 of last 19 to have 60 wins by UGA over GA tek.
GA tek made Iowa look good. 7 points on Offense; what a total joke. Iowa gave up MORE to Northern Iowa, Arizona, Arkansas State, Indiana, and Northwestern to name but 5 really sorry teams – really sorry teams.
If GA tek had not played 6 teams who were not even in a bowl game, they lose those games. The ACC isn’t any good.
24-30 football.
66-73 men’s basketball.
50-56 women’s basketball.
GA tek fans, their coaches and their players, are POOR SPORTS.
You can clean up a pig, put a ribbon on its tail, spray it with perfume, but it’s still just a pig.
Auld Lang Syne
January 7th, 2010
6:47 am
The Mayor
January 6th, 2010
11:39 pm
And there Mr. Yech goes again spouting numbers like that means “I thoroughly watched the events that transpired during the game.” Football is not actuarial science. And if you actually read my content, I pretty much made the point that we were “manhandled” to borrow your term that was borrowed from the AJC headline. (Way to add value to the conversation. Thanks.) My point is that if you actually watched the game our linemen were getting tossed around like bushels of corn by big guys that probably grew up doing exactly that. They were big and physical and it disrupted our offensive flow. Same goes for LSU last year. And yes, even in the UGA game this season. It’s a problem that is being addressed but our coach needs more than two years to build a program.
Mayor,
I’m not a Dawg fan and I have no particular animosity toward you. If you’re new to this blog, then I can understand why you are amazed by the vitriol displayed here by Georgia fans. You would have had to be here for the past year or so to understand that this is merely a response to the many obnoxious Tech fans behaving like the nouveau riche because they finally won a few ballgames.
As for Tech’s O-line problems — they aren’t going away. Not in 2 years… not in 20 years. You can’t run this style of offense with big, pro-set offensive linemen. The option offense functions as an equalizer that allows teams with smaller athletes to compete with the big boys by using precise pitch timing and misdirection to run ‘around’ the opponent’s defense, rather than running ‘through’ it. This is about as good as it gets. CPJ’s offense will probably assure you a winning season every year, rather than losing seasons in most years. That said, it is not a good scheme for winning against the very best competition that you will encounter. If it were, then you’d see teams like USC, Texas and Alabama using the same offensive strategy. After all, it’s not a new invention. The military academies run this offense for the same reason that Tech now does. It has everything to do with the type of players that can be recruited to play football at Tech.
A 10+ win season with an option offense is a big deal. Enjoy it! Like I said — this is as good as it gets.
SuperB
January 7th, 2010
7:22 am
There are a lot of CFB teams in the same boat as Georgia Tech. Tech’s OT win at home over Wake Forest should not be overlooked when evaluating their second-half performance. Two others: Jonathan Dwyer’s paltry rushing numbers vs. Georgia and Josh Nesbitt’s (abyssmal) two completions vs. Iowa.
OGRE
January 7th, 2010
8:20 am
NERDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gailey Can't Coach
January 7th, 2010
10:12 am
“A 10+ win season with an option offense is a big deal. Enjoy it! Like I said — this is as good as it gets.”
That is simply an ABSURD statement. Both full-blown “spread option” type offenses, like PJ’s FLEXBONE, have won high school championships all over the country EVERY YEAR. PJ has already proven it can win Div II championships and an FBS Division Championship in YEAR 2 after being installed. Other college programs have consistently won, depending primarily on TALENT LEVEL, using pieces of spread, run-n-shoot & option (some parts more, some less) to win championships. Even many pro teams use spread option concepts to consistently WIN.
On any given Sat or Sun during the fall, there are no shortages of college and pro teams that consistently use spread option formations and tactics…And they’re usually the teams that lead their league in rushing and even total offensive production. But like ANY offensive or defensive scheme, it does NOT guarantee a win in every game…Nothing does.
People who refer to PJ’s Flexbone as “a high school offense that will never win in major college football” are simply ingorant buffoons that don’t understand HOW the offense works and WHAT went wrong when it doesn’t work. Defenses and talking heads say that “it’s assignment football” when talking about how to defend it. But like any other kind of offense, it’s also assignment football. It’s not from some other planet that can’t survive when it reaches Earth. Penalties, missed blocks, incorrect reads, superior talent and preparation against it are all ways that this offense can be shut down — WHEN IT IS SHUT DOWN. Most of the time defenses KNOW what they’re supposed to do, but they aren’t successful because of lack of discipline and execution.
After PJ’s first year of running this offense at GT, bloggers like you said things like 9, maybe 10 wins is the most you can get with an offense like this. So in year 2, now it’s “a 10+ win season” is as good as it gets. Meyer has already won TWO Nat’l Championships in the past 3 years using an offense very similar to PJ’s. And although it incorporates more run-n-shoot than the Flexbone, it’s still based in a spread option format.
If Nesbitt could’ve completed 1 or 2 long passes, the defense would’ve altered their scheme to compensate and the running game probably would’ve opened up…But this isn’t meant to be a woulda, coulda, shoulda thing. The point is THE FLEXBONE OFFENSE DID NOT FAIL against Iowa…Offensive EXECUTION is what failed. Any offense that does not execute properly is doomed, especially when confronted with BCS Bowl level defenses.
It’s not an “option” thing exclusively and to portray GT’s failings against LSU and Iowa as being such is just ingorant…Likewise, running the Flexbone offense in FBS Div 1 does NOT restrict GT or any other program to a certain number of wins per year. But lack of execution always will.
great laughs
January 7th, 2010
11:56 am
man- i have to admit- im surprised some of the people that post on here are smart enough to type. there are a lot of irrational idiots around here.
UGA fans- yes- you’ve dominated the rivalry game when looking at the past decade. Congrats on that. You also have to, however, look at the fact you are 1 and 1 against the ‘new look jackets’ with Coach Paul Johnson, and there is no legit reason to think this rivalry will not be a tough one for years to come (CALM DOWN! thats a GOOD THING for both of yalls fanbases!). (BTW- the ‘nerds’ “diss” is an odd choice, why not just say “hey! guys that make more money than me!!”).
Tech fans- UGA will bounce back from this year. They’ll be a fairly solid team soon.
FROM:
LSU FAN
Auld Lang Syne
January 7th, 2010
5:58 pm
Gailey Can’t Coach,
Time will tell.
LSU Fan,
Misery loves company and I suspect you’re looking for some.
30-24 Dawgs - WE RUN THIS STATE!
January 9th, 2010
11:01 am
Tony, I’ll tell you what it was a good year for – the Dawgs SWEEPING the Jackets at the joke by Coke in the ’00s! 30-24 was the sweetest of all!
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