Tech’s Nesbitt to miss spring practice
Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt will miss spring practice because of minor surgery on his right ankle.
Nesbitt, a junior from Greensboro, passed for 1,701 yards and rushed for 1,037 last season. He accounted for 28 touchdowns last season, 18 rushing and 10 passing in helping Tech win the ACC championship. He didn’t miss a game because of injury last season.
The Yellow Jackets’ spring practice begins March 29 and concludes April 24.
Nesbitt, who is being mentioned as a possible Heisman Trophy contender in 2010, is expected to return for fall practices in August.
Tech has four other quarterbacks on its roster, including Jaybo Shaw, Tevin Washington, David Sims and Jordan Luallen. Sims and Luallen redshirted last season.
B-back Preston Lyons (shoulder) will also miss spring practice. Offensive tackle Phil Smith (knee) is expected to return.
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231 comments Add your comment
Dawglasville
February 18th, 2010
3:23 pm
Nesbitt fumbled the ball on the play and the Georgia defender was pulling him away from the ball. I guess Coach Wonder Bra was so upset about the play he decided to three Hail Mary’s at the end of the game. I guess the defense was so upset about Nesbitt they just quit too. Let it go. Enjoy the season you had and look forward to meeting us next year.
the voice of truth
February 18th, 2010
3:23 pm
Good luck Josh,,looking forward to a great Senior year,,if everybody played as hard as Josh,we’d never lose a game
Supersize that order, mutt
February 18th, 2010
3:23 pm
That’s true, Anti, but since we are the yellow jackets, and since the yellow jacket is black with yellow stripes, that should be reason enough to use black as trim and not blue.
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:23 pm
dawglasville, let it go and go to the uga blog dumba$$…why are you posting on GT blogs?
Gutfeld
February 18th, 2010
3:25 pm
nickj0321
It’s pretty simple. His rushing stats aren’t impressive enough to compensate for his poor passing numbers: 75/162 (46%), 1701 yards, 10 TD, 5 INT. He wasn’t even the leading rusher on his own team. He averaged just 3.7 yards per carry.
Let’s compare that to former Nebraska QB Tommie Frazier. He was a Heisman runner-up in his senior season. That year he completed 98-177 (55.4%) for 1,467 yards, 18 TD and 6 INT. He had 113 carries, 803 yards (7.1 ypc) and 16 TD.
Again, Frazier was more impressive running the ball AND he was a much better passing, as evidenced by his 9% higher completion percentage and his 18 TD/6 INT.
As impressive as Frazier’s numbers were in his senior year, he was still just a Heisman runner-up. Nesbitt isn’t even in the same zip code as Frazier as a passer or runner.
Anti-alternative
February 18th, 2010
3:25 pm
Personally, I think the AD and alumni association need to get together and decide exactly what tone of gold the official color will be and then not allow anymore yellow merchandise. I hate the disjointed look it creates when we play Wake or BC and their Old Gold is correct while our fans are split with abotu 7 different shades between yellow and tan. I mean, at least we win, but unity would be nice.
Anti-alternative
February 18th, 2010
3:26 pm
Fair enough about the yellow jacket. We could play that up more I guess.
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:27 pm
atleast you made somewhat of an intelligent argument…surprising considering i thought you were a bullpup fan…but hate to break it to you that tommie frazier is not competing this year so nesbitt will not have to compete with his #’s, but instead the players who actually are playing football right now…
Wossamotta U
February 18th, 2010
3:28 pm
Sheesh people, it is called tackle football… players get hurt from time to time. Players have to have surgery even. Comes with the territory. I’ve never seen one player complain the tackles was dirty, so it is time to get over it, otherwise we look like a bunch of whiners. Losing Nebitt for those plays hurt us, but our defense was much mor of a factor for why we lost that day.
Supersize that order, mutt
February 18th, 2010
3:28 pm
I read somewhere that Dodd actually liked the blue uniforms….God knows why, but his players preferred all white,with gold trim. Back before the GT logo which is now used, Tech either wore gold helmets with no trim at all, or white helmets with black and gold stripes down the middle.
MoDawg
February 18th, 2010
3:29 pm
A lot fewer Dawgs on a Tech blog than the other way around, I assure you “have in common”.
Nesbitt has a lot of heart and gives his all on every play. To say that UGA was “dirty” and tried to hurt him is just silly speculation. Anyone who played the game knows that you don’t “try” to hurt anyone but if they get hurt during the course of the game, that’s just part of it. You Tech fans who think the Dawgs were trying to hurt him, and that this is why he is getting ankle surgery need to take a step back and try reality. The reason he is having the surgery is because the QB position in your offense takes a flippin’ beating every game, and someone who plays as hard and with as much heart as Nesbitt is going to get banged up.
It’s the nature of the game, people!
Supersize that order, mutt
February 18th, 2010
3:30 pm
Wossamotta, you are correct. Tech’s defense, coupled with Nesbitt’s pretty poor passing lost the game.
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:31 pm
modawg – why are you, personally, on the GT blog?
Dawglasville
February 18th, 2010
3:32 pm
What is Alabama Jack’s obsession with sheep? Ah, forget it.
Supersize that order, mutt
February 18th, 2010
3:32 pm
MoDawg, I have no idea it the hit on Nesbitt was “dirty” or intentional or not; TV doesn’t show anything out of the ordinary. BUT, players have in the past, and still do, intentionally try to hurt players on the other team. FSU in Bowden’s heyday was notorious for attempting to knock key players out of games.
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:32 pm
dawglessville – why are you posting on the GT blog?
Question
February 18th, 2010
3:33 pm
What is ankle cleaning? Seriously, what does that actually mean? Why are his ankles dirty? And for that matter, what can he do in the future to prevent dirt build-up?
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:33 pm
arthroscopic surgery…cleans out any damage like chipped bones etc
Anti-alternative
February 18th, 2010
3:33 pm
Did you see the basketball throwbacks against UNC the other night? That ratio of white and gold would look perfect for a good, old fashioned football uniform. Gold helmet, big white GT on it, white top with gold shoulder stripe (not wedge), big gold #’s and either white or gold britches with a nice stripe down the leg. Look like 1950’s Tech play like 1950’s Tech?
Supersize that order, mutt
February 18th, 2010
3:34 pm
Question, it’s probably calcium buildup that needs to be scraped off, and there is probalby nothing that can be done to prevent it happening.
Question
February 18th, 2010
3:35 pm
Thanks, Nick. But seriously, does anyone know where to get more information on the extent of the damage; i.e., if one ankle is worse than the other? Will this affect how the offense is run? Is this problem likely to recur in the future?
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:36 pm
what do GT and UGA fans have in common (other than posting on GT blogs)?
-Neither one went to UGA
Supersize that order, mutt
February 18th, 2010
3:36 pm
Anti, I was at the UNC game,but I honestly can’t remember what Tech’s uniforms looked like. But I agree; I think the “simpler” the look of the uniform, the classier it looks. Some of these uniforms being worn by teams today are just butt-ugly.
Question
February 18th, 2010
3:36 pm
Thanks, Supersize. Best of luck in the recovery to Nesbitt.
Dan
February 18th, 2010
3:37 pm
I hope Nesbitt gets healthy for fall practice so they can get their timing down.
And I have no idea if anyone purposely tried to hurt him the UGA game. I sure hope they did though. We tried to hurt them and they tried to hurt us. I, personally, wouldn’t want it any other way (assuming it’s clean). They won, we lost. No big deal. If you don’t want to get hit, go play tennis.
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:37 pm
question – it is a pretty minor procedure…it shouldn’t affect him after a month or so
Dawglasville
February 18th, 2010
3:37 pm
nickj0321- I’ll get back to the dawg post and you can get back to your Natalie Portman Star Wars poster. Go Jack It!
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:38 pm
hey natalie portman is kinda hot
Gutfeld
February 18th, 2010
3:40 pm
nickj0321
No, he won’t be competing against Frazier. LOL. That wasn’t the point of my post.
Frazier was a contender because he was a good passer to go along with being an exceptional runner. That’s the type of season it’s going to take to get a QB running that system into the serious Heisman discussion. Nesbitt is neither. Nesbitt wasn’t even the leading rusher on his own team. He posted a very modest 3.7 ypc average. If he’s going have passing numbers like he had last year, he’s going to need to have an exceptional year running the ball. A 3.7 ypc average, while not even leading your own team in rushing yards, is not exceptional. The elite RBs will have FAR better rushing stats. That’s why Nesbitt needs better passing stats to bridge the gap.
In order to be a Heisman contender, Nesbitt needs to: A) have an exceptional year running the football or B) vastly improve his passing numbers to go with his fairly solid, but unspectacular rushing numbers.
I realize that you’re a GT fan, but you’ve gotta take off the gold blinders and look at this objectively. If you do, you’ll understand what I’m saying. I’m not bashing Nesbitt at all. Just stating the facts.
BigTimeTechFan
February 18th, 2010
3:42 pm
At less Tech fans will admit R Ball was stupid and it was a bad play to go after UGA Coach. Cheap, I don’t know one tech fan thay tried to back him up or make excuses. Play on Nebitt was not right.
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:42 pm
Gutfield – ahh makes sense…but i think he will have an exceptional year running the ball…
Dan
February 18th, 2010
3:43 pm
Gutfield, I think you’re right that Nesbitt isn’t a legit Heisman guy.
As a Tech fan though, I say who cares? The guy made every play possible last year except for that bonehead throw against Iowa. Other than that, he played perfectly all season and Tech fans no doubt loved his heart.
GTMike
February 18th, 2010
3:43 pm
I think that people are too hard on Josh about his passing. Granted his passing isn’t amazing, but it’s better than people give him credit for.
Gutfeld, you said that he should get his percentage up to about 55%… I think that it probably should have been closer to that this past year than to what it was. From what I saw this season, I would guess that over 1/4 of the incompletions were dropped passes that were catchable. Especially as the season progressed and we started passing more to the A-Backs… They really need to work on their hands in the offseason because they were dropping balls left and right.
GTYJacket
February 18th, 2010
3:43 pm
You dont have to be able to throw goodto win the Heisman as a QB. All you have to do is run your specific offense to perfection and win Championships. Perfect example Tim Tebow. Josh Nesbitt will leave Tech with a winning record against UGA as a starter(2-1), 2 ACC Championships, and Hopefully a chance to play for the BCS National Championship. More impressive than that Stafford kid that went UGA. Go Tech
Anti-alternative
February 18th, 2010
3:45 pm
Aw, come on. You don’t like Cincinatti’s little bearcat swipes all over the uniforms? Just playing…I agree. Keep it simple and traditional. Tech’s a historic program that shouldn’t have to change the uniform ever. Let newcomers play the part of the poseur.
bruce mac
February 18th, 2010
3:46 pm
As a Dawg fan, this is one bad dude. I love the way he plays and competes hard on every play. If Tebow can win the Heisman I don’t see why Nesbitt can’t win it, but Tech would have to have a great year. I don’t know it the team around him is good enough but I say as a college player he is great.
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:46 pm
my whole point is…will nesbitt WIN the heisman…probably not, but he is a superstar fot GT and what’s wrong with putting his name in the convo thats all…i mean he did have 18 tds running and 10 passing…thats not shabby, plus if GT is a championship contender again….
Dawglasville
February 18th, 2010
3:47 pm
She is real hot. I think it is the Star Wars part that gets you even hotter. An elfin princess costume and you would never get out of your dorm.
Supersize my order, mutt- That’s what your wife said. Oh, yeah… sorry. You probably don’t have a wife. My bad.
Gutfeld
February 18th, 2010
3:47 pm
Dan
I agree. GT fans shouldn’t care if he’s a Heisman contender. I was just replying to those who said he would be. All GT fans should be worried about his Nesbitt improving his completion percentage to the point where he can step up and consistently make plays in the passing game when needed. He wasn’t able to do that last year and the lack of a passing game ended up really hurting Tech in a few games.
Nesbitt
February 18th, 2010
3:48 pm
Gutfeld makes a good point on Nesbitt’s limitations as a passer, but that isn’t why he won’t be considered for the Heisman. He will never be the strongest runner in the game and thus will never put up the biggest numbers. And because this is a running team, primarily, he will be over shadowed no matter how great of a job he does. Bottom line, he’s very good at many things, but great in any one category as to be an outstanding Heisman candidate. However, he does put the team in the best position to win and that’s the most important thing.
Dan
February 18th, 2010
3:48 pm
GTMike, you’re right that people need to lay off him about the passing for a couple reasons. First, we only do it like four times a game so it’s difficult to get into a rythm. Second, all of our passes are 50 yards downfield so it’s not surprising the likelihood of a completion goes down. Third, our pass protection was horrible all year.
And you’re also right that his receivers often didn’t help him. Obviously the Bay Bay drop hurt us against UGA, but the other one that comes to mind is the drop by Roddy in the ACCCG on the opening drive. He was wide open at the three yard line and it hit him right in the chest and he dropped it.
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:48 pm
dicklessville – you like star wars that much?
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:49 pm
dicklessville – i graduated from college many years ago, something i am sure you are aspiring to do after you get your GED…and never lived in a dorm…
Dan
February 18th, 2010
3:52 pm
No offense taken at all, Gutfield. Didn’t intend any attitude at all. I think the lack of a passing game hurt us against UGA but the play calling didn’t help either (which is the other issue with Nesbitt’s completion percentage – i.e. we throw deep every time we throw it). I had no issue with us throwing it but there was no need to throw it 40 yards downfield at that point. Also, the way our defense was playing, even if we had scored a TD to get a 31-30 lead, Caleb King probably would have run it 70 yards on the first play anyway.
Nesbitt
February 18th, 2010
3:52 pm
To be sure, improvement in his passing skills would change the consideration entirely, and every gain in passing consistency will make him that much more dangerous to opposing defenses. As it stands though, most teams will prepare entirely for the run attack because his passing attack is a lower percentage threat.
Supersize that order, mutt
February 18th, 2010
3:54 pm
Dawglasville, how about taking a break from blogging and go change the oil in the fryer. That last order of fries you gave me was soggy. If you can’t do any better than that, then I will take my business elsewhere
Nesbitt
February 18th, 2010
3:55 pm
Dan, I felt the biggest problem was the defenses inability to hold the line of scrimmage. Most of the running plays by Georgia were relatively small (by Paul Johnson’s standards at least). The weakness at the tackles should be a major focus this spring.
Chan Gailey
February 18th, 2010
3:56 pm
GO DAWGS!
nickj0321
February 18th, 2010
3:59 pm
Chan Gailey – go back to the UGA page or buffalo or something…
Why????
February 18th, 2010
4:00 pm
GT cannot win their bowl games; in fact, they usually get their doors blown off anytime they play a top 25 team from another conference. And what is this talk about Nesbitt for a possible Heisman candidate? What a joke!!!! Paul Johnson will be wearing a size 36-B man boob bra (instead of his current 44-C) before that happens. Gimme a break!!!!