Does extra time matter when facing Tech’s offense?
Georgia will be the sixth opponent this season that has had extra time to prepare for Georgia Tech’s option offense. The Bulldogs last played on Nov. 13, when they were beaten by Auburn and its version of the option, 49-31.
The extra time is something that opposing coaches have played up when asked about facing Paul Johnson’s unique system. However, having extra time helps to prepare for any type of offense…or defense, as Johnson points out.
“I’m glad we had an extra week to begin to prepare for it,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “Hopefully it will make us better than it would on a week’s notice.”
Johnson also says that having an extra week is fine, but you still have to go out and play. Once the ball is kicked off, the game boils down to diagnosing and figuring out ways to beat strategies and tendencies.
Some of the teams this season have had extra time because of a bye the previous week. Others have had two days because they played on Thursdays, giving them Friday and Saturday to break down film or go over schemes. When teams play on Saturdays, most coaching staffs break down film on Sunday, so that’s a wash when counting extra days. Duke is included because it faced the option offenses of Army and Navy earlier in the season.
So, how have the teams that have had an extra week to prepare done against the Yellow Jackets?
| Team | Result | Extra | Rushing | Passing | Total | Tech’s | Difference | Opponent’s | Difference |
| time | allowed | allowed | Yards | average | average | ||||
| S.C. State | W, 41-10 | Opener | 372 | 12 | 384 | 405.6 | -21.6 | 196.7 | 187.3 |
| UNC | W, 30-24 | Week | 372 | 76 | 448 | 405.6 | 42.4 | 344.3 | 103.7 |
| N.C. State | L, 45-28 | 2 days | 247 | 116 | 363 | 405.6 | -42.6 | 334.4 | 28.6 |
| MTSU | W, 42-14 | 4 days | 329 | 86 | 415 | 405.6 | 9.4 | 394.3 | 20.7 |
| Va. Tech | L, 28-21 | 5 days | 346 | 80 | 426 | 405.6 | 20.4 | 354.1 | 71.9 |
| Duke* | W, 30-20 | Played | 320 | 90 | 410 | 405.6 | 4.4 | 443.8 | -33.8 |
| Army and | 12.4 | 378.4 | |||||||
| Navy |
So the extra week doesn’t really seem to matter. Tech’s offense actually averages about 2 more yards per game and the opposing defenses are giving up 63 more yards per game.
Of course, points are what really matters:
| Team | Result | Extra | Tech’s average | Difference | Opp. average | Difference |
| time | points | points allowed | ||||
| S.C. State | W, 41-10 | Opener | 27 | 14 | 13 | 28 |
| UNC | W, 30-24 | Week | 27 | 3 | 23.3 | 6.7 |
| N.C. State | L, 45-28 | 2 days | 27 | 1 | 21.1 | 6.9 |
| MTSU | W, 42-14 | 4 days | 27 | 15 | 28.9 | 13.1 |
| Va. Tech | L, 28-21 | 5 days | 27 | -6 | 18.9 | 2.1 |
| Duke* | W, 30-20 | Played | 27 | 3 | 36.5 | -6.5 |
| Army and | 30 | 50.3 |
Again, the extra time or preparation doesn’t seem to matter. Tech averaged 5 more points than it did against teams that had a week to prepare, and defenses allowed 8.4 more points than they did against other teams.
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158 comments Add your comment
dawgfan
November 22nd, 2010
11:26 am
I think we had an off week in ‘08 if I remember correctly. So there you go. But I notice Roberson conveniently ignores Johnson’s 0-2 bowl record. I’d say that’s relevant to this discussion.
I would say this year’s D is better suited for Tech’s defense than ‘08. We’ve been pretty good on the edge and up the middle. Its mostly been shoddy pass coverage that has killed us and Tech of course can’t pass the ball.
On O we’ll just keep throwing to AJ and there won’t be a damn thing Tech can do about it. Easy does it there.
All said, it should be a good game. The 15 point line is assinine.
Another week, another running quarterback | Get The Picture
November 22nd, 2010
11:27 am
[...] In one of the more strained uses of selective statistics I’ve seen, the AJ-C’s Tech beat writer makes the case that the extra week of preparation doesn’t particularly make a difference to Georgia [...]
Doug Roberson
November 22nd, 2010
11:33 am
I didn’t include the bowl games because both teams had a lot of time to prepare. Figured that was a wash.
Embarrassment
November 22nd, 2010
11:33 am
I’ve never understood how anyone – even an alumnus – could support and take pride in UGA’s football team. When you look at their history for the past forty years, how can anyone ignore Jan Kemp and the “remedial studies” scam, the Jim Harrick fiasco, the DUIs in the athletic office, the DUIs and other arrests of players, the #1 party school tag (i.e., the most drunk students), the suspensions and outright dismissals, the Fulmer Cup, and on and on?
As disgraceful and humiliating as it is, I don’t see many alums and fans demanding an end to this sordid activity. It sets UGA apart as the kind of school most people abhor, and it’s become an embarrassment to the whole state of Georgia.
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2010
11:39 am
It would help if Ga. Tech would recruit more “name” players. The best name I’ve seen recently is that guy Festus Ezeli who led Vandy to a win over UNC in Puerto Rico last night.
Seriously, Tech will have to establish the dive. I imagine that audibling away from Houston’s side of the field will be a necessity. The OL has to stop the false starts that turn into 3rd and long situations.
MalibuGT
November 22nd, 2010
11:39 am
hard for any tech fan to feel confidence after watching the last couple of games without Joshua. I don’t think we can stop dogs offense so our only hope was to keep scoring with them. And if we fall behind a couple of scores and need to start passing, it could go from bad to worse. Though….in georgia’s pass defense and tech’s passing game, it’s like the blind leading the blind.
Anyway, I’ll be there with my UGA buddies and we’ll have some fun either way!
GTBob
November 22nd, 2010
11:47 am
I’m honestly not really worried about our offense against UGA. We will be fine there. The biggest problem is our defense. If they stop us from scoring just once they will win. If they stop us from scoring a few times then its a blowout. Our only real chance is winning the turnover battle.
saban
November 22nd, 2010
11:50 am
Watching the Duke game was terrifying.
Hopefully Tech can play well.
Clarke County Correctional will empty out for this game.
How is Richt doing on the parole situation for the team?
RiffRaff
November 22nd, 2010
11:52 am
Dawgs are not good this year. Problem is Tech is even worse. Both end the season 6-6.
Colin Kaepernick for Heisman
November 22nd, 2010
12:01 pm
@Embarrassment
That’s what fans do. They look the other way when it turns out their best player in 40 years was actually ineligible to play football his entire career, then gets a DUI + Possession of marijuana as a member of the AD. He was just one of a few players that never should have legitimately suited up for their academic institution.
They diminish the the facts regarding a muli-level drug dealer being a member of the team.
They ignore the fact that despite claims of academic superiority, about 95% of the “Student-athletes” take the exact same courses (on the M train or in History of Science and Technology) from the exact same professors annually.
They diminish the recruitment of a kid like A.T. Barnes, who could not qualify at a single SEC institution. They diminish the academic careers of student-athletes like Stephon Marbury and Kenny Anderson.
They diminish having a former head coach who could not get hired at another institution because of his lack of resume integrity, and totally gloss over the fact that the resume was just fine for their university, and that he oversaw the academic scandal referenced above.
There are quite a few alums who believe that what has gone on in the AD at UGA the last few years is an eyesore and needs to be fixed. Unfortunately, when a company is making millions of dollars in profit every year, people tend to ignore a lot of things that are wrong. Maybe if UGA ever digs as huge a debt in its budget as the one that Tech currently has, things will be more closely monitored?
Let’s just remember that nobody is perfect.
coachx
November 22nd, 2010
12:08 pm
It looks like the off week matter a lot when it is a decent team (NC St. & V. Tech). The other teams suck (SC State. Midd Tenn, Duke, UNC missing half their roster.) Those teams could not beat Tech if they has a year off to study them.
What a crappy article.
RambleOn84
November 22nd, 2010
12:10 pm
“[Joe Hamilton] was actually ineligible to play football his entire career.”
“A.T. Barnes … could not qualify at a single SEC institution.”
ANY evidence on these claims?
Burdell
November 22nd, 2010
12:19 pm
dawgfan… “On O we’ll just keep throwing to AJ and there won’t be a damn thing Tech can do about it.”
For once we agree about something!!!
DawgFacedBoy
November 22nd, 2010
12:37 pm
Tech is awful. UGA takes Tech to the wood shed for a historic beatdown!!
DawgFacedBoy
November 22nd, 2010
12:41 pm
15 points is waaaaaayyy too low.
This one is over by half time, probably sooner.
Cheeks Johnson.
November 22nd, 2010
12:46 pm
Shut up or I will punch you in the face!!
BillS
November 22nd, 2010
12:49 pm
Several bloggers got it right: this is a game matching a pair of losers, and whoever wins has little to be excited about. UGA’s offense probably too strong for GT, and while UGA’s pass defense is shabby, Tech can’t throw the ball. I’d guess 38-24 UGA in a game most fans on both sides would as soon forget. And that includes the bowl games these two will go to.
Zing
November 22nd, 2010
12:57 pm
Doug:
Interesting, but you’ve got a big statistical error there. That is, you assume that the teams that had an extra week to prepare were the same as the teams that didn’t. Obviously, that’s not true. Of course, you can’t really get a perfect test of this theory. The only thing you could do to get a decent comparison would be to either (i) try to match up a group of teams that had a week to prepare with a comparable group of teams that did not, or (ii) compare the same teams year over year; for example, how did UNC do, say, last year without extra time to prepare versus this year with extra time?
Neither of those modified comparisons would be perfect, but they would be closer to something useful.
Zing
November 22nd, 2010
12:59 pm
My hypothesis would be that the extra time helps, because the offense GTech runs is quite a bit different from what most defenses see, even with the proliferation of spread/option offenses.
Eddie Ivory
November 22nd, 2010
1:00 pm
If Tech wins…it’s because Johnson is a genius..if Tech loses…it’s the players fault!
FullMetalJacket
November 22nd, 2010
1:03 pm
With all due respect, Dawg gone, the “old fashioned hate” well had been dipped into so many times it’s pretty much empty by now. Unlike some rivalry games, this game yields very few upsets historically, and while it means a lot to those of us on both sides in our daily lives, it’s still just a game. My threshold for genuine “HATE” is a lot higher than any football game could evoke. It’s a good rivalry, but when one school outspends the other school 4 to 1 in football operations, it’s more of a regional thing.
Doug Roberson
November 22nd, 2010
1:12 pm
I thought about that, but each year’s teams are so different I wasn’t sure if that would be a good comparison either. That’s why I went with the season averages for this season.
GTSteve
November 22nd, 2010
1:12 pm
It’s hard to “hate” the other team when you are as bad as these 2 teams are this year..If one of the 2 teams comes out and plays up to potential, they will win, if both play like they have this season, it will be sloppy, ugly, and not entertaining…but I really can’t see Tech winning…of course I said that in 08
Ramblin Man
November 22nd, 2010
1:31 pm
Colin I would love to see something other than your biased opinion to back that statement up.
Ramblin Man
November 22nd, 2010
1:33 pm
The newspaper studied 55 of the countries largest public universities and found that the preferences given to special admits at many schools was disproportionately favoring athletes, particularly football players. For example, in 2004 the University of California reported that 95% of freshman football players on scholarship were special recruits while 47% of all freshman athletes on scholarships were special admits. In contrast, only 2% of all freshman students were special admits. At the University of Georgia and Texas A&M University, 94% of freshman football players were special admits.
wesleywhatwhat
November 22nd, 2010
1:40 pm
“Colin Kaepernick for Heisman”
wrong on every count.
how’s it feel to lose to BOTH national champs from 1990 this year?
Mike Smith
November 22nd, 2010
1:40 pm
This analysis is completely rigged. Why should an extra week matter for SC St., MTSU, and Duke? You could give those teams a month to prepare for Tech and still not expect to lose. UNC was in the midst of an NCAA nightmare and was missing 13 players. They had to play their second string defense. Seriously, get some perspective here.
Ramblin Man
November 22nd, 2010
1:43 pm
FOOTBALL SAT SCORES:
THE TOP 10
School, Average
Georgia Tech, 1028
Oregon State, 997
Michigan, 997
Virginia, 993
Purdue, 974
Indiana, 973
Hawaii, 968
California, 967
Colorado, 966
Iowa, 964
oh and Colin the special admit rate for Ga. Tech. in the same study was 9% compared to UGAs 94%. I wonder how it is UGA always ranks so high in recruiting while GT stays midlevel at best. It also makes you wonder how UGA leads the rivalry I mean with all those scholars having to study hard for lawn motor maint. and proper pine straw placement theories.
Doug Roberson
November 22nd, 2010
1:45 pm
How is it rigged? It is what it is…
Ramblin Man
November 22nd, 2010
1:51 pm
I mean no disrespect to anybody that has a real degree from UGA, but please do not tell me that UGA recruits student/athletes. I hate to even discuss this again or even bring it up and I have more than one friend who went to UGA and will tell you that most of your football team was lucky to get out of high school and if not for football they would have been lucky to get near a college let alone a major university. Yes GT fans love it when GT does beat UGA but most know that usually GT will lose and find it funny how some UGA fans live by that alone all year. UGA will probably win saturday and UGA fans will brag all year while saying how sorry of a program GT has yet fail to remimber that they had to rely on this advantage just to get to a bowl game.
Bamajacket
November 22nd, 2010
1:52 pm
I have watched ALL the Tech games this year (poor me) and most of UGA games. As I have said before, GA has an uncanny ability to throw games away, who knows why. Their defense is poor, at best average. But, they have played better competition. They have better players. If AGA finally finds a way to get their head out of their ***, it will be ugly quick. They will beat us, as last year, because their line on both sides will dominate what we throw out there. Tech has no leadership, can’t execute a basic tackle or block. They have demonstrated absolutely no heart. I knew we were in for a long year in week two. Kansas, for God’s sake. We couldn’t beat Kansas. It has gotten no better all year. We can’t stop Duke. Duke! This week may be worse than 51-7. Not because CPJ is not a good coach, but because they have better players, who can make plays. Despite all the trash on these blogs, GA has nothing to feel good about this week. They have performed awfully this year, but we are worse. Whoever makes the least stupid mistakes will win. A sorry commentary on both teams. We are simply better at lack of focus and making stupid mistakes. We will make at least one more than they do. Bottom line: UGA can score. They can’t stop anybody, but they can score. How many points have we left in the red zone because of fumbles or dumb penalties? We can’t outscore them this year. If we play a perfect game, and GA is GA, we can win. But, we haven’t done it all year, why now? Sadly, this will be a replay of UGA vs Tenn or UGA vs Kentucky. Don’t take the points.
Tech82
November 22nd, 2010
1:55 pm
Brock @11:08 writes: “Now tech does have a way of making horrible defenses look great.”
Really? Tech LEADS THE NATION in rushing offense. We average more than 405 yards per game in total offense. Please tell me what horrible defense we managed to make look great.
If you want to suggest we have made some horrible offenses look great, you will get no argument from me.
Ramblin Man
November 22nd, 2010
1:55 pm
Well so much for the last post I wrote trying to be diplomatic, as it is lost in AJC blogging space.
DScottGT91
November 22nd, 2010
1:57 pm
I am not typically the Chicken Little type, but I have a really bad feeling we are going to get KILLED in this game. Unless Richt is an idiot the only passes Murray will make are (1) 3rd and 8 or longer, or (2) Play-actions on a couple of occasions looking for the home run to AJG. I mean, if you can swipe 6+ yards per carry, why would you do anything else?
And one more thing. I said last year we needed to stop the deification of CPJ. I like our coach a lot, but he is not above criticism. And going for it EVERY TIME on 4th down near midfield is @#$@#$@# moronic, no matter who you are. I like guts; I don’t care as much for stupidity.
BSCE 1991
Tech82
November 22nd, 2010
1:58 pm
Eddie Ivory – CPJ has cited lack of effort from the players in several losses but please direct me to ONE time when he has credited himself for a win.
DScottGT91
November 22nd, 2010
2:15 pm
Ramblin Man,
Can you post a citation for your SAT/Admission stats? I’ve heard these anecdotally before, but never seen the source material.
Thanks,
DS CE’91
Colin Kaepernick for Heisman
November 22nd, 2010
2:30 pm
Wow, so Cal has 95% special admits, but the 8th highest SAT scores?
I would deduce from that that the general student population at Cal is so good that to even be a special admit, one must do really well academically, because we are directly correlating SAT scores with academic prowess.
Conversely, if only 9% of the Tech players are special admits, but the average SAT score is only 1028, does that mean that Tech’s entrance standards for general students are not as high as most of us have been lead to believe? One would think that if 91% of the football team would have gotten in on their academic merits alone that the average SAT score of the team would be somewhere closer to 1200.
Interesting.
Observer
November 22nd, 2010
2:32 pm
Colin – It’s a good thing you don’t make a living as an analyst.
Jeff
November 22nd, 2010
2:46 pm
Enter your comments hereNo
what matters is the size and speed and discipline of the opponent
Mike Smith
November 22nd, 2010
2:52 pm
Its rigged because of the strength of the opponents involved in Tech’s wins (outside of UNC). SC St., MTSU, and Duke are not good enough to beat Tech given a month off, let alone just a week. On top of that, the UNC game was heavily handicapped in Tech’s favor thanks to nearly all of UNC’s defensive playmakers being ineligible for the game. Tech cant lose in this scenario.
It’s a lot like last year when Paul Johnson downplayed the strength of the SEC because Tech beat Miss St. and Vandy (the two worst teams in the conference last year).
Jekyl and heckel
November 22nd, 2010
2:56 pm
hey ‘yea butt’
GT has the crystal football that goes with their national championship, same as UF, UA, LSU, USC, UT, etc. WHERE’s uggie’s crystal football, you aomeba brain idiot???
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2010
3:00 pm
Colin Kaepernick – Beat Boise St. and you should get an invitation to the Heisman shindig.
gt84
November 22nd, 2010
3:00 pm
LETS ALL JUST RELAX A LITTLE BIT , THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS THE TEAM SOPPOSE TO WIN DID NOT, IM A TECH FAN ON PAPER GA SHOULD WIN EASILY BUT TECH GA GAMES NEVER ARE A BLOWOUT, I THINK IF TECH PLAYS MISTAKE FREE WE WIN 38-35, BUT IF WE DONT EXECUTE IT WILL BE A LONG GAME GA WINNING 35-17
David
November 22nd, 2010
3:02 pm
This is the 2nd time I have ever responded to one of these, but the statistics were so incredibly skewed and biased, I couldn’t help myself.
2 of the tech wins discussed were SC State and MTSU. Shouldn’t those be guaranteed wins even if the opponents had a month to prepare?
Duke has been arbitrarily declared “like a bye.” Only problem is, um, they WEREN’T COMING OFF A BYE WEEK!
So, with the 3 legitimately comparable games, Tech is 1-2, with the one victory coming against a UNC team missing 11 starters. Silly to argue that extra time doesn’t help. It ALWAYS helps
Mike Smith
November 22nd, 2010
3:06 pm
Let me be a bit more clear. If you want to make a point about how a week off doesn’t matter against Tech, you have to look at opponents that could legitimately beat them. That means teams like NC St., Va Tech, UGA, Clemson, Miami, FSU, bowl games, etc. So far this year, Tech is 0-2 in that department.
That is how you determine what a week off does for Tech’s opponent, not using “paycheck” games like SC St. and MTSU.
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2010
3:08 pm
Ramblin Man – “The newspaper studied 55 of the countries largest public universities ”
What’s the source on that?
Rockdale Jacket
November 22nd, 2010
3:08 pm
It does not matter this year if UGA had an off week or played two games last week. This is a pitiful GT team
that does very little right on defense or special teams and has virtually no passing game. Record wise, UGA will end up the same for the regular season although they
have had a bad year. UGA scores at will any way they choose. UGA 48 GT, if lucky 17.
Delbert D.
November 22nd, 2010
3:09 pm
Ramblin Man – Never mind, I found it via Google.
FrankinDawg
November 22nd, 2010
3:10 pm
Watch some game tape and take heart Tech fans!!!
The Tech offense should take a knee on first and second down. Then on third and long, Todd Grantham will ensure the DBs are out of position for a long gain on a wheel route to keep the drive alive.
On offense, remember that UGA has Mike Bobo calling moronic drive killing plays at the most inopportune times and loads of schemes to keep the ball away from AJ Green for quarters at a time.
UGA will find a way to overcome the Tech deficiencies and find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
gt84
November 22nd, 2010
3:11 pm
AGAIN LETS ALL JUST RELAX A LITTLE BIT , THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS THE TEAM SOPPOSE TO WIN DID NOT, IM A TECH FAN ON PAPER GA SHOULD WIN EASILY BUT TECH GA GAMES NEVER ARE A BLOWOUT, I THINK IF TECH PLAYS MISTAKE FREE WE WIN 38-35, BUT IF WE DONT EXECUTE IT WILL BE A LONG GAME GA WINNING 35-17