Tech goes for fourth game-opening TD
Greetings-
Sorry I haven’t had anything up . Friday’s kind of supposed to be my day off (not complaining) and I’ve got some projects I am trying to get to. (Anyone want to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Buckhead?)
Anyway, I hope you’ll accept this story about Georgia Tech’s streak of touchdowns on the first play of scrimmage as my blog for the day. It’s going in Saturday’s paper and will be up online before too long. Hopefully you also read a story posted Thursday about the Ramblin’ Wreck. (The newspaper’s style, I’ve learned, favors Wreck over Reck. My apologies to the Reck purists. I think history favors your spelling.) Another story should be coming up this afternoon about Paul Johnson’s practice of inserting three or four extra plays into the game plan designed to be momentum changers.
To put Georgia Tech’s first-play success into context, consider that Virginia Tech is the only other team in the ACC, SEC and Big 10 that has reached the end zone on its first play from scrimmage in any game this season, a combined 1-for-104.
The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, are 3-for-3. Tech will try to make it 4-for-4 against North Carolina Saturday. Tar Heels coach Everett Withers said he won’t be thinking about the streak. Defensive coordinator Art Kaufman said he wouldn’t approach it any differently than any other play. But Withers said he thought his players would be more heightened to avoid becoming the fourth consecutive victim.
“I don’t think you have to mention it” for them to be aware, Withers said.
The first score was a relative gimme, a 5-yard toss to A-back Orwin Smith after Tech had forced a turnover deep in Western Carolina territory. The second was designed with the intent to score, a 73-yard touchdown pass to A-back Tony Zenon against Middle Tennessee State. The third, a 95-yard run by Smith against Kansas that became the longest run from scrimmage in Tech history, was a good play call bolstered by superior execution.
“You always have an expectation (a play will break open),”coach Paul Johnson said. “Was I counting on it? No.”
Georgia Southern coach Jeff Monken, who was an assistant to Johnson for 13 years, thinks Johnson’s option-based spread offense might be more conducive to opening strikes. First, the offense has big-play capability and second, teams often aren’t prepared for the speed with which Tech runs it because it is difficult to simulate in practice.
It doesn’t hurt that Tech has home-run hitters like Smith, Zenon and wide receiver Stephen Hill.
“We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve hit some big plays,” Johnson said. “I think we all know that [streak] is probably coming to an end.”
Whatever the reason, it’s a curious and mind-boggling streak. Several FBS schools queried haven’t scored on the first play of a game in several years.
Asked Wednesday, Johnson said he already knew what play he was going to call first.
“You’ll be unimpressed,” he told reporters.
The more important opinion will be rendered by North Carolina’s defense.
What do you think? Does Tech go 4-for-4?
Thanks for reading. Please follow on Facebook and Twitter.
By Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech beat
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304 comments Add your comment
Ol'JacketFan
September 23rd, 2011
6:36 pm
@RT, everything I could find on the quote relates back to Robert Neyland though as I posted earlier it has been attributed to a number of coaches.
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
6:44 pm
So 2 of 3 things could be bad with a pass?
1.) She says NO.
2.) Her boyfriend kicks your butt.
3.) You get laid.
I think I could take those chances on making a PASS.
Ol'JacketFan
September 23rd, 2011
6:45 pm
LMAO!!!!!!!! Those odds are pretty good!
Ramblin Man
September 23rd, 2011
6:45 pm
The streak is nice, but I could care less how many plays it takes as long GT has more points than UNC in the end.
For the record down the sideline to Hill.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
7:07 pm
yes, 5150, but I will try to spot you at the bus before the game
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
7:10 pm
SUPER…………………Super.LOL If you don’t see me just yell I need to SUPERSIZE that. LOL
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
7:10 pm
Is anybody here fired up?
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
7:12 pm
damn, my response got blocked. 5050, I was just going to look for somebody Uing on a dawg. LOL
Ol'JacketFan
September 23rd, 2011
7:13 pm
Supersixe, I am so ready for kickoff! I’ll get a little fix tonight at my son’s game
1 4 GT
September 23rd, 2011
7:14 pm
Bob Smash–tell that guy that’s bee struck by lighting over 60 times (66 if my memory is right) the last I saw him on TV telling about it a few years back.
Ol'JacketFan
September 23rd, 2011
7:14 pm
LOL@Supersize
1 4 GT
September 23rd, 2011
7:14 pm
left out a n sorry
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
7:16 pm
OJF, I’m waiting for 5150 to come back to this blog and see that.
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
7:19 pm
I see IT………….I have had to change my P.O.A.D name to U and on Bill Kings to Still@theBar. It was not PC enough. HAHAHHAHHAHAAHH
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
7:21 pm
I will save the REAL U.O.A D for thanks.giving and do it from the upper deck rail.
Ol'JacketFan
September 23rd, 2011
7:21 pm
5150 I love it! Supersize take care, heading out for my son’s game. I;ll check in when I get back.
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
7:22 pm
I bet I could UOAD on Russ because he is worthless and hardly moves. He looks like a big fat painted pet rock.
Gr8 2B aFuzzyB
September 23rd, 2011
7:33 pm
I’m not expecting a TD on the first touch. Stewart Mandel (sportsillustrated.com) has us winning by the count of 24-20. Stewie, I got news for you. If we only score 24, UNC wins. The Heels defense will slow us down a little, but from 59 a game to 24? oh no. I see it 41-28 Tech. Go Jackets!
1 4 GT
September 23rd, 2011
7:33 pm
GT 93–believe Vince Dooley said that 1st not long after he took over the Mutts. I have to give him his due. Remember Pepper beating ND in S Bend with his “Vanilla Wishbone” w/out even attempting any passes at all?
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
7:35 pm
5150, if you by any chance you watched the TV show “Wilfred” this summer on the FX network, you will understand this next remark. If not, remind me and I will tell you tomorrow…….Take a jar of peanut butter with you and Russ will be in heaven. And you will be feeling pretty good too.
1 4 GT
September 23rd, 2011
7:36 pm
flounder–love that leghumper nickname–I’m still laughing
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
7:36 pm
1 4 GT, you need to catch up, that quote goes WAY BACK to General Neyland at UT.
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
7:38 pm
Wilfred didn’t like the Doggy Daycare very much after that did he? LOL
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
7:39 pm
AHHHH, you DID see it. Is that not the screwiest and (I think) funniest show ever? I LOVE IT !!!!
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
7:40 pm
5150, I got in trouble on the blogs one day a couple of months ago literally describing what happened on that show as a favorite pastime of mutt fans. Ken had to delete it. LOL
1 4 GT
September 23rd, 2011
7:43 pm
Supersize–if you’re referring to me giving Dooley credit for the pass/bad things quote, I know he was the b1st I heard say it–as for calling me a UGA fan–I was came into this world with aGT pennant in my hands & I’ll go out the same way
Dostoyevskiy
September 23rd, 2011
7:45 pm
The thing about Carolina is that not only is this one of their best defensive teams (Tech played against their scrubs last year), but this is the best overall offense they’ve had in at least 13 yrs. I don ‘t know who will win, but I guarantee that UNC will give Tech all they can handle.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
7:49 pm
1 4 GT, I never said you were a UGA fan. However, even though Dooley might have said it, he was definitely not the first GOOGLE it and you will see that Woody Hayes and General Neyland said it long before Dooley ever did, although it has also been attributed to others as well. I originally thought that Heisman said it, but apparently that was incorrect.
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
7:49 pm
If you have a pet dog you wonder what goes through his mind at times and WILFRED is funny at showing it. A buddy in college had a rat dog of some breed that would knock over beers and get drunk. he was a S.O.B in the mornings when he was hungover. HAHAHA No kidding.
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
7:51 pm
Dostoyevskiy…..I will believe that about their Offense once I see it. Butch lived on Defense. i know they got some players.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
7:52 pm
That’s funny, 5150. I loved the scenes when Wilfred chased his tail, the laser pointer, and the bubbles. But the scenes of him with those stuffed animals is just priceless, especially the giraffe. And OMG, what he did with that woman in the car crash……what can I say? LOL
GT70
September 23rd, 2011
7:55 pm
@14GT
That was a great game against ND. But I believe it was at home. Gary Lanier was QB if not mistaken. Of course I could be.
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
7:55 pm
My mom has a photo of me in a baby chair at my first Christmas wearing a red G sweater. She has kept it hidden so I can’t burn it. My father’s family gave it to me. When mom married my Dad in 74 & we were going to tech games since 72 i wised up and became a Tech fan. Mom says she is going to pass it to my sis so if i die it has to be added to the Picture Collage just because NOBODY would ever believe that it could be true. LOL
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
7:57 pm
Yeah, that game was in Atlanta in 1974, the same year we slaughtered the mutts in Athens in the freezing rain. We attempted one pass against the mutts, but it was incomplete. We didn’t even attempt one against ND.
wolfman
September 23rd, 2011
7:59 pm
Has any team ever scored on the first play in the first three games in a season? I wonder if anyone keeps such records…
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
8:00 pm
LMAO @ 5150
I have no pictures, nor have there ever been any taken, of me wearing any kind of Georgia garbage. The only time I even wear red at all is at Christmas when I usually wear a red sweater on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. The husband of one of my nieces won’t even go that far…..he refuses to wear anything red ever.
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
8:01 pm
1 4 GT at ND was the RUDY game and we lost. At Tech was was G. Lanier Win.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
8:02 pm
wolfman, that stat has probably never been kept, which means in all likelihood there was no reason to, meaning it never happened before. I guess that makes Tech a trend-setter
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
8:03 pm
Rudy was a damn enjoyable movie, but I hate like hell that it was the Tech game that he had his day of glory.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
8:08 pm
5150, if it helps, I will be wearing a yellow shirt with “Georgia Tech” across the front, light colored shorts or cargo pants, and a white Tech cap. I have a gray goatee and glasses.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
8:11 pm
by the way, 5150, do they park the bus on Techwood? Like between the A E Pi house and the Sigma Chi house? That stretch of road?
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
8:11 pm
Super……Super………..Dilbert is on Bill King’s blog some tonight. He just posted. he is so nice and rational it really is SCARY. People don’t hate him. LOL
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
8:12 pm
Dilbert??? You mean Delbert? or the comic strip character? LOL
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
8:14 pm
SUPER………….YES. If at the Stadium and facing down Techwood it is the 2nd bus on the Right. Both buses are in the group, but the 2nd is the old 50’s bus painted with BUZZ and the tent is out back.
1 4 GT
September 23rd, 2011
8:16 pm
Supersize–Not old enough to recall Gen’l Neyland quotes–anyway they are all correct..didn’t mean to open such a can of worms
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
8:17 pm
The bus is less than 30 yards from the Edge Center Entrance.
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
8:19 pm
You guys keep talking about the QUOTE so i had to re-post a response.
5150 UOAD
September 23rd, 2011
6:44 pm
So 2 of 3 things could be bad with a pass?
1.) She says NO.
2.) Her boyfriend kicks your butt.
3.) You get laid.
I think I could take those chances on making a PASS.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 23rd, 2011
8:27 pm
1 4 GT, the only reason I pointed it out to you is that it was discussed earlier, right after somebody made the post attributing it to Pepper. Although I had already been born when Neyland was coaching, he quit (or died or whatever) before I was old enough to know anything about football.
OK, 5150, I guess I should be able to find it. Assuming I park in the Spring Street area, I will be coming down Techwood from 5th Street. Leaving Augusta at 8AM, so should be there no later than 11….HOPEFULLY
I’m going to go watch some TV for awhile. I can’t sit at this computer all night long.
1 4 GT
September 23rd, 2011
8:28 pm
supersize..are you sure? my memory says we beat ND under Pepper up there with no pass attempts–low scoring game
1 4 GT
September 23rd, 2011
8:31 pm
OK–seen more than 1 of ya’ll say ND was here so I apologize==I had a senior moment again–maybe a brain fart