Two down….

Well, both of Georgia Tech’s wins have been full of exciting moments, even if they haven’t been the prettiest games you’ve ever seen.

Through two games, what concerns do you have and why?

I wouldn’t make too much out of Jonathan Dwyer not cracking 100 yards in a game yet. He could have done it against JSU. Clemson was determined to keep him from breaking a long one, keying all four defensive lineman and a linebacker on him almost every play. Five guys on one. 

As I wrote, Nesbitt’s consistency, or consistency, with accuracy is something to discuss. He looked great against JSU, but was scattergunning passes through the first three quarters against Clemson. I asked him if the interception on his first pass caused him to really try and fire fastballs with the rest of his passes. He said no.

I could be wrong about this, but I think Tech’s quarterbacks have only attempted one pass to a wide receiver not named DeMaryius Thomas, and that pass was a Hail Mary to Stephen Hill at the end of the first half against Clemson.I thought for sure passes would be thrown to Kevin Cone or Hill just to give them the experience. At some point one of them is going to have to make a play.

The interior defensive line is still a work in progress. Ben Anderson and Jason Peters held the point of attack much better against Clemson than they did against JSU. T.J. Barnes has still yet to make a play, and looked like he was getting pushed backward against the Tigers on a few plays. He did have a tackle.

Those are a few of my thoughts. Let me hear yours. What must Tech do better against Miami next week?

101 comments Add your comment

my momma told me the ref was always

September 11th, 2009
8:06 pm

correct. Don’t believe it, just ask him.

last game,3 for 144. next game 50 of 51…how bout that?

Not Disappointed!

September 11th, 2009
8:10 pm

Roddy Jones was three steps in front & dropped a wonderful pass that had open field. That’s when my son dropped his coke, which hit me. He’s 12 and knew that was a perfect pass that had alot of potential. :-( The kid looked lost. You have to love em!

I didn’t understand why Nesbitt was slipping early on, but he made up for them. “Nesbitt please plant your feet. Like you demostrated in the last throw.” It was a perfect throw to BeyBey.

I know the game was an ugly win, but we won. I still think we can compete and win in Miami. It’s not going to be easy, but we can win.

The defense made some good plays yesterday & shows alot of promise. Offensive line missed some crucial blocks as well.

To sum it up, “We started off strong, made some terrible mistakes; nevertheless we battle back to win. It says alot about this team.” Go Jackets!

Not Disappointed!

September 11th, 2009
8:13 pm

Good luck tomorrow superdawg. I really don’t like the “Old Ball Coach!”

Ramblin Wreck!

BB's

September 11th, 2009
8:26 pm

Let’s make this very clear. There was a 2 point takedown (had it been wrestling) on a Clemson lineman on that pass. Again, each team had some calls against them. After all, it’s football. But i would simply remind “Super Dawg” and all of the ugag fans of this. We have 2 W’s and you have none. And life is good!

superDawg

September 11th, 2009
8:52 pm

You know you turd sniffing idiots come back and post under my handle and think it makes me angry well you are wrong.Fact is the truth is the truth and tek was extremely lucky to have that win.After your trickory on a fake punt you pull ahead,well clemson came back strong took the lead and was smacked down by a poor call by the refs.You are extremly lucky to say we won.tuck fech!!it’s not the game its the idiot tek nerds that make you look like the dumb asses that you are.tuck fech!

superDawg

September 11th, 2009
8:59 pm

I said good luck against miami at the end of my post at 4:37pm my thoughts are still the same.If you lose it will not bother me at all.but i hope tek wins. its some of you fans I hope will lose because you can’t handle the humiliation of it all.good luck to the real fans,not the bandwagon idiots.

Stinger

September 11th, 2009
9:08 pm

Get off this blog you bunch of UGAG Cry babies if you can’t do anything but Whine. I’ve never seen anything like it. I know you are upset that your season is already over and that you will lose again tomorrow night against the Ole Ball Coach, but come on. The refs did not determine the outcome of our game. We put Clemson away with big plays early. Yeah they came back, but the refs had nothing to do with all our big plays. The bottom line is that we were able to come back and shut Clemson down and score twice more and win the game. You could not come back against a highley over rated Oklahoma State team. South Carolina is not rated and Clemson will stomp them, but they will beat you tomorrow. I know, I can hear it now, the refs made all these bad calls against you. Face the facts, you have a quarterback like Reggie Ball and a coach like Chan Gailey. Seriously, Chan is available. He can guarantee you 7 wins. That is 2 more than you will get this year.

Tom in ATL

September 11th, 2009
9:22 pm

I brought up the refs call becuase it was game changing, and it was being discussed in the national media. The other local team also had some game changing calls go against them last week – also picked up by national media. Largely due to those calls – one group of fans is distraught and thinks the sky is falling, and one is overjoyed and may be a tad overconfident. Looking at just the Series between UGA and Tech in the last 10 years – just look at how many games have been decided by questionable calls – favoring one team or the other: 1997 – UGA 4th down play incomplete – pass interference – TD pass next play – UGA wins 27-24, 1998 – Joe Hamilton fumbled overruled due to inadvertant whistle – Tech wins 22-19, 1999 – the Jasper Sanks mystery fumble – Tech wins 51-48, 2006 – disputed fumble returned for TD – UGA wins 15-12. Close games can be directly influenced by blown calls – and last night – there’s alot of people outside of Metro Atlanta that think Tech was the recipient of such a call.

superDawg

September 11th, 2009
9:31 pm

Final thought for today.I hope your team wins every game up until nov.28 and UGA wipes the honey off your beehinds.tek should wear white and UGA wears black that would be fitting for your final game of the regular season.I will be laughing for the rest of my life.GO DAWGS!!!.

hardmanb

September 11th, 2009
9:42 pm

I saw an exciting and hard fought game between two highly motivated traditional rivals. Yes, there were breaks, as always in college football. I saw a lot of young athletes playing tired, but playing their hearts out against bigger, stronger and more experienced opponents. There was great coaching on both sides, Clemson for 2nd half motivation and comeback, and especially for Tech special teams.

Both teams have nothing to be ashamed of. My special thanks to the Tech players who are giving so much effort and heart to representing Tech. May their work and sacrifices be returned to them multifold. Good win, guys.

hey superDawg

September 11th, 2009
9:42 pm

you’ll be “laughing the rest of your life”?

that’ll be really akward at funerals…..

Diablo69

September 11th, 2009
10:00 pm

Once and for all – Clemson’s interior lineman had a fist full of jersey and help our Defensive Tackle to the ground as he side stepped him. That was a hold! Look it up in the rule book. Just because linemen get away with this “all the time” doesn’t mean it wasn’t a hold. The official obviously thought it gave Clemson an unfair advantage on that particular play which is really the determining factor. I certainly don’t agree with a lot of these same judgement calls (late hit, hold on a cut block, etc) but you cannot argue that it was a phantom call.

Trade School Junkie

September 11th, 2009
10:11 pm

GT fans, forget the mutts.

They’ve been WAAAAAAAAAAYYYY too busy sh**ing in their pants all week.

If mutts lose to Darth Visor on Saturday, then you’ll REALLY see the Sh** hit the Fan…and then we wont hear from them…until NEXT YEAR.

rj

September 11th, 2009
10:19 pm

The kick-off returns where horrible last night. Returners didn’t “Bust It” up the field but instead were tenative at best. THIS HAS GOT TO IMPROVE! We need returners that are fearless and fast like Tarrents or last years fastest player on the team, Marcus Wright, who returned kick-offs last year bringing it back and running North and South and getting us much better starting field position. That would help the offense most of all! Where is Wright this year anyway? Johnson was quoted throughout fall practice saying that Wright had really improved.

BobbyBrown

September 11th, 2009
10:29 pm

superdawg: How can I take you serious when you spell tech tek?? Even if you are doing it on purpose, which I am not sure you are. It makes you look stupid and and very childish. Which is probally one of the reasons you are a UGA fan.

Trade School Junkie

September 11th, 2009
11:09 pm

Regarding the Miami game next week…a little perspective here folks.

2008: GT:21 CU:17—(4 pt margin)
2009: GT:30 CU:27—(3 pt margin)

2008: GT:41 Miami:23—(18 pt margin)
2009: GT: ? Miami: ?

Here’s the point:

The 2008 & 2009 GT-CU games were both very close. Difference in CU QB play looks like it was A KEY DIFFERENCE between 2008 & 2009.
CU QBs threw (4) INTs in 2008. CU QB Parker is really good. And, Spiller didnt play in 2008. Those were the key differences.

The 2008 GT-Miami was a COMPLETE BLOWOUT…and I’m being VERY generous to Miami by calling it a “BLOWOUT.” It was MUCH WORSE in person.

Miami has “fixed” its OC & QB “problems.”
But, am I worried about GT beating Miami. Nope.
It would be a shock for GT to lose to Miami.

2008: FSU:41 Miami:39
2009: FSU:34 Miami:38

Its laughable listening to sports media pundits talk about how FSU & Miami are “BACK.” Folks, theyre not “BACK.” There was practically NO DIFFERENCE between 2008 & 2009 FSU-Miami games.

I watched both 08 & 09 games start to finish. The 08 game was a MUCH BETTER game b/c Miami rallied back from a 24-0 2nd Qtr deficit to just missing an on-side kick, from pulling off a HUGE come from behind win.

See, no one remembers the 2008 game b/c: it was on a saturday, played in a torrential rain, with a smaller crowd, in Miami. The 2009 game was: at night, on a holiday, at Doak, with a bigger crowd. So, while last week’s game “seemed” different, it was actually, much like the 2008 game.

It was the “atmosphere” and the lead changes that made last week’s
FSU-Miami game “LOOK” like a heavy-weight fight. But, in fact, it was practically the same game as the game last year…that EVERYONE called a “yawner.”

If FSU doesnt screw-up on clock management at the end (FSU had 1 timeout still left), then FSU wins, 41-38. ABOUT THE EXACT SAME OUTCOME AS LAST YEAR.

So, what’s the big damn deal about last week’s game ??????????????

I can tell you for CERTAIN, FSU QB Ponder, and Miami QB Harris arent
jack-sh** by comparsion with CU’s Kyle Parker. Parker makes Ponder & Harris look like complete crap!!

Clemson is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY better than Miami.
To prove it, just look back at the 2008 GT scores vs Clemson & Miami. THAT ALONE tells the REAL story.

So, I have a great deal of confidence that GT will get a VERY SOLID win at Miami next week.

GM

September 11th, 2009
11:24 pm

Discussing bad calls is pointless. They happen and always will. Worry about something you can control, like a stupid fake field goal call by Dabo. Ref discussions are for losers.

case in point

September 11th, 2009
11:51 pm

let the jury deside.

jury

September 11th, 2009
11:53 pm

bad call clemson should have won

The Dude (Andrew Sherwin)

September 12th, 2009
1:02 am

Anyone concerned with the officiating should just watch the game on ESPN360. Whenever you want, really.

GO JACKETS!!!

juvenal

September 12th, 2009
3:03 am

they live in the past, they stillwhine about the sanks fumble,ignore them…speaking of the past, Techies love to blame chan for everything, so remember why we have so few jr & sr linemen, that tho#! & #21 r gr8, that class in particular we wondered at the lack of linemen(thank God for Derrick!)..remember CPJ is doing fantastically better with somebody elses players,you cant guage till its his folks…finally 2 things-1-grammar kooks:a lot of blogs count characters, alot of us are passionately in a hurry to spit something out, esp if we supposed to be working, & i hire folks to do most of my typing 2 if i thought CPJ was reading these blogs to improve his coaching, THEN i wud b worried!got 2 go get redy to kill somthin, at least with thurs games i dont miss as much of the 1st 2 wknds of bow season

GT9

September 12th, 2009
6:11 am

The most influential play of the game was when Ben Anderson tackled the Clemson back for a one yard loss on a 3rd and 1 inside the five in the 4th quarter.

GTman

September 12th, 2009
7:06 am

There are two things that we need to do against a defensive scheme like Clemson.

Clemson’s defensive strategy. Clog the 1 and 2 holes with DTs. Penetrate the pitch lanes with the DEs.

1. Throw the crossing route and the seam route to the A backs. These passing lanes and routes are wide open. We had a nice gain with the pass to Allen (this guy can catch the ball and we threw to him once all night???!) and had Jones wide open and he dropped a ball right in his hands (one of the better throws by Nesbitt).

2. Send the B-back through the 3 and 4 holes. These are wide open. We finally started running Nesbitt through these holes picking up 5 -7 yards a pop. However, if we had sent Dwyer through these holes he would have picked up huge yards. I was disappointed that CPJ did not make this adjustment. You do not need to send Dwyer into a brick wall play after play. If the DTs are selling out and automatically going to the 1 and 2 holes and the DEs are automatically going outside to fill the pitch lanes, the 3 and 4 holes are wide open. Dwyer gets through the hole, makes a LB miss and he is gone!

THWG!

GTCL63

September 12th, 2009
7:52 am

Where is the improved passing of Nesbitt we kept hearing about Spring and pre season?

Where is the 10 times improved offense? Except for the opening pitches I haven’t seen it.

Where is the faster tempo we heard about in the Spring?

Where is the added playbook? I don’t recall any reverses, shovel passes etc.

Look at Navy running their offense against Ohio State. Quick; sharp; outmanned but not out executed. Our offense needs to watch that game. So far the offense is plain vanilla. Very few plays with backs in motion. Almost seems as CPJ is holding back. I noticed on several outside plays blockers ran past closing linebackers instead of taking them out. Had they been even looked at yardage would have been gained. If CPJ can get their attention, this team can be awesome.

I agree need more short passes, throw to other WR but the first play was a TD. Josh underthrew as he did most of the night. Where is Stevens?

I thought the D played well except for Spillers TD reception. The one to Ford was a perfect pass. Parker was unreal for a Freshman. Clemson is going to be tough this year. Should hang some losses on NC, VT, FSU, or Miami that can help us to the Championship game.

Very surprised we did not get a punt blocked. Wow! Isn’t he slow in geting it off?

GO JACKETS and dress her in WHITE and GOLD. THWG and BEAT the CANES!

Alabama Jack

September 12th, 2009
8:06 am

After watching the game live Thursday night and re-playing it last night, it is my humble conclusion that:

A. Clemson had the better athletes.

B. Tech had the better coaches.

I’ll take PJ and the boys in white and gold any day. Remember when “Boss Ross” came to the flats the word was “Bobby Ross football is smart football” and that got us some nice hardware. I feel the same way about PJ’s game.

It ain’t a gimmick if it works. So far, 11-4 seems to be working pretty well.

BTW, THWG.

Alabama Jack

September 12th, 2009
8:10 am

Remember, if the dawgs switch QB’s tonight, they will once again be playing without Cox. Not an unusual situation for UGAy.

GTMike

September 12th, 2009
8:24 am

Actually, most Dawgs play *with* their Cox alot, ‘cuz no one else will get near them.

George P. Burdell

September 12th, 2009
8:27 am

I agree GT9. Ben Anderson stopping Spiller on that 3 and 1 from the 4 was a game changer. If they had gone in for the TD on that drive it might have gotten ugly.

Go Jackets!

TDone

September 12th, 2009
8:39 am

To SuperDawg and Tom in ATL, all I have to say is SCOREBOARD!!!

Records Won't Matter

September 12th, 2009
9:23 am

The jury is still out on both teams as to what they really got. In November it won’t matter what the records are. At this point they both better just worry about one week at a time.

GT45

September 12th, 2009
9:29 am

I got a feeling CPJ is looking at tape, right now, and making adjustments. You guys, I may be wrong, but I don’t think we’ll see another D line as tough as CU. I’m sure other schools will try to use their scheme as a blue print, though. Nez will be fine. He just needs to remember he can also run out of the pocket. We had some great running lanes, at times, when recievers were covered. Hey, no fumbles! This game may give the U a little confidence, though, which may or may not be a good thing. Go Jackets-

gtechsta

September 12th, 2009
9:35 am

Tom in ATL, there was a hold on that play. It was credited to the wrong Clemson lineman. Would have been nice to get a correct call on Clemson’s TE juggling the ball out of bounds but it was ruled a completion and they scored their second TD. Stop whining and check out the scoreboard. If you have no man in the fight, then leave the arena.

RT in NC

September 12th, 2009
10:14 am

My concern is that it looked like our lines got worn out by the second half. There was some great down field blocking by the whole offense, including the beefy linemen. Can our O-line play 4 quarters in an offense that requires the big boys to sprint every other play? Do we lack depth? How much did Clemson outweigh us and how do we stack up against other team’s D-lines?

The other big concern is pass defense. Maybe it just looked bad because spiller and Ford are so much faster than everyone else, but I’m worried that a team with good receivers might light us up.

AvidGT

September 12th, 2009
10:47 am

In past I have written that nesbitt cannot pass. That he must improve. Nothing has changed. To stop Techs ground game, we must have the threat of a passing game so that the linebackers and safetys must provide double coverage on occasion. I hope we do not enter a new reggie Ball situation. The other QB’s must be given a chance. The passing that GT does is the easiest a QB can hope for. Literally single coverage all over the field. A decent QB should be near 100% on completion rate. This shows how really bad Nesbit is.

I am late getting this in the Q so probally no-one will read it but I would like to hear if you agree or disagree.
The results prove my case. Don’t say ” yes but he is so good on the triple option”– hogwash!! Washington is probably better at it!!

GM

September 12th, 2009
10:53 am

If Washington or the others were better, they would be playing.

GT45

September 12th, 2009
10:56 am

Oh yeah, there should be a rule that you can’t blog on here unless your butt has been in a seat at BD on game day. I still don’t have my voice back. It is still pitiful to see such poor turn outs fo a top 15 program! Have you no shame? Go Jackets-

gtbabe

September 12th, 2009
10:57 am

the best thing that could happen to a GT team before heading to play the Canes at Miami is to almost lose to Clemson. If Jackets won 30-0, they would have been decieved about what it takes to beat Miami as well. Now they know. No letting your guard down, no giving less than 110% on every play until 60 minutes is complete. Has anyone ever attended an “away” game on these blogs? It is intimidating enough as a fan much less what the players must face. Now your looking at facing a team you have beaten 4 straight yrs who probably wants to beat us worse than anyone else. I was in Miami 2 and 4 yrs ago in the Orange Bowl Sh$t hole (what a dump) and it was bad enough. Now the Canes have Landshark Stadium and a national tv audience. But I liked what I saw in Anthony Allen, Jerrard Tarrant, Scott Blair and Demaryius Thomas. Not too much of a fan of Roddy Jones, really let the fans down in Chapel Hill in 08 too. Hope he improves. Good luck Jackets, go get’em.

gtbabe

September 12th, 2009
11:00 am

sorry, deceived

A Rob

September 12th, 2009
11:37 am

Avid GT,
Please stop with the comparisons to Ball. Nesbitt is a MUCH better and more dangerous runner than Ball ever was. With his strength and mobility, he is what this offense needs. Josh runs the offense well, and hopefully this was just a setback. Sure his passes were off the mark, but he took the offense on his back down the stretch. He proved he has the will to win, and without all the trash-talking of RB!

Talking about blocking,

September 12th, 2009
11:40 am

Cox came in (2nd half, I think) and made a fantastic block on one of CU’s big boys and the result was a nice run. When Cox blocks you, you know you have been blocked.

Looking forward to another W next Thursday. Wonder what CPJ will pull from the hat this week?

@avid

September 12th, 2009
11:48 am

re passing, in this case, shorter might be better.

You are correct, you are too late to be the cherry buster in proclaiming that Tech needs to improve on passing…

gtbabe

September 12th, 2009
12:20 pm

anyone needing a little encouragment today, go take a look again at Techs win over GA in Athens on You Tube, lakesmom video was the best part 1 and part 2, and Roddy was outstanding, so Roddy good luck in Miami and maybe you and Dwyer will pull it through this time again! Just know Miami wants a win over us the way we wanted one over GA

Jacket Fan

September 12th, 2009
1:13 pm

To all those worked up about the poor calls (both ways by the way), when the team records are published this week, next week, next month or 10 years from now, Clem’s Son will still be the loser.

rickety racquet

September 12th, 2009
3:38 pm

Guess who has one of the top defensive units and beat the crap out of us last year. UNC. That game scares me more than the FSU or the Georgia games. I’m not worried about Miami b/c their D stinks and we can probably overcome FSU b/c they are undisciplined in the gaps. BUT UNC can stop the run…plain and simple. It could be a 6-3 ballgame if we don’t shape up. But I did like the fact that we threw up 24 points in the blink of an eye. The rest is simply mental and hopefully, CPJ and the media will shout loud enough for our kids to respond and play a full ballgame at 110 percent. Great win anyway! A win is a win and the boys in Gold and White deserve some applause! How about Tarrent? (spelling?) That kid can fly! Maybe he could play some A back w/ Mr. Jones.

big-time83

September 12th, 2009
8:21 pm

BI think a lot of ppl r missing the big picture here. This was a turn around game…..with really only about 2 full days 2 prepare 4 it….cpj didn’t make a big deal about this “ugly win” because he knew all he needed 2 do is outcoach clemson…I guarantee u that it will b a huge difference come Thursday against miami
They will b much more sharp.

Melinda

September 12th, 2009
9:58 pm

RE the holding call, the refs blew the personal foul call earlier in the game. Maybe Clemson doesn’t score on that drive if they don’t call it?

As Glier says in his article, I thought Johnson’s adjustment of having Nesbitt read the Tackles instead of the Ends was a pretty good adjustment in the 4th Quarter. Miami and UNC will be tough games if we don’t improve.

As someone who has watched the flexbone at Navy and Southern, I am amazed at how slow Tech still looks running it. They get no push on the O-line. Even undersized Navy got some leverage on OSU’s D-line, simply by using good techniques. Our line play has to improve.

Calm Down!

September 13th, 2009
10:37 am

Man, settle down tech fans! You guys ran for over 300 yards in this game and everyone is talking about how Clemson shut down the T.O. and how you guys have to improve or you will get blow away by Miami. I do agree that the team has to keep the petal down for 4 quarters, but you guys beat a very good Clemson team on Thursday night-you will be fine.

Tech kept sending Dwyer up the middle because Nesbitt was seeing a dive read at the snap (that’s why its called the triple option-there are no pre-determined calls-the offense doesn’t even know who’s getting the ball). Clemson’s D tackles were beasts, so CPJ switched to the midline late in the game and ran Nesbitt inside down their throat.

GT, you have the master so don’t worry about the team. As a Navy alum, I was crushed to see PJ leave because he is such a good coach and a master play caller. Clemson had a big, fast defense and you STILL ran for over 300 yards! GT is going to be fine and have a great year.

Go Jackets!

Not Disappointed!

September 13th, 2009
3:21 pm

Thanks “Calm Down!” I do feel the Jackets will be fine.

“Can you believe the way Flordia State handle Jacksonville St?” Wow, Jacksonville St had the game until a bad series, which was cause by Florida State. I watch on the computer. Lets have a good week and have fun in MiAmI!

Go Jackets!

Born2Buzz

September 13th, 2009
3:53 pm

CPJ will correct some of the flaws. I’m sure there will be focus on not allowing deep pass plays, which is really all Clempson had against our D. I think the O will continue to improve every week.
Special Teams gets an A-. Would have been a slam dunk A+ without the kickoff out of bounds.
Tech fans, it is going to be a long tough season so enjoy every win. Not too many easy W’s out there (although right now UVA and Duke look awful). We will need a full 60 minute effort again this Thursday against Miami. I’m sure CPJ will demand it.

joetgt

September 13th, 2009
6:33 pm

remember poeple gt is still very new to this offense , i say by week 5 they will be a well tuned machine running the tripple option so much better. tech has so much talent . i think that if gt can execute properly nobody can stop their offense. and i was impressed with their energy on defense, they were alot better than i thought , of course minus the 3 big plays the allowed against clemson.
i see tech going 11-1 if they learn from their mistakes or it could be 9-3 if they dont. but look for tech this thursday to be more sharper and win 38-17 against miami..