Georgia Tech heads into N.C. State week
Greetings-
Hope you were able to watch the game Saturday. If not, you can catch the replay here on ESPN 3.
Anyway, I imagine you’ve re-hashed the game a good bit, so we’ll try to look forward here.
1. With North Carolina out of the way, it’s not difficult to imagine that the Yellow Jackets could be 7-0 in a month’s time. (Unless your imagination is not very good.) Obviously, if coaches and players start thinking along those lines, that’s probably not wise. But, as fans, I’d say you’re welcome to do so. Unless something drastic happens, Tech should be favored in each of the next three games against N.C. State, Maryland and Virginia.
If Tech can continue its improvement, execution and focus, I’d rate its chances of winning each fairly high. Certainly, weird things happen and counting on a group of 20-year-olds to stay consistent at most anything can be a foolish proposition. But, somebody’s got to win those games.
If you’re wondering, and I know you aren’t, my laborious research tells me that if Tech reaches 7-0, it can reasonably expect to be ranked somewhere between 10th and 20th in the country. I checked all the top-25 polls going into Week 8 through 2002 for the lowest-ranked undefeated BCS-conference team. The high was No. 8 and the low was No. 19. Most were No. 14-16. I suppose I could also look at the teams ahead of Tech and figure out how many head-to-head matchups there are that would drop the loser beneath the Jackets or see what teams have a tough schedule in the next four weeks, but there are limits to my laborious research.
While we’re on the topic of projections, you could make the case that in this 7-0 scenario, Tech might be a little high, as they would be 7-0 with (possibly) only one win over a “quality opponent.”
2. A troublesome number for the N.C. State. The offense is averaging 2.8 yards per carry. The N.C. State school paper pointed out that, if you take away wins over Liberty and South Alabama, the average is 1.5 yards per carry. Aiyee.
Wake Forest and Cincinnati’s passing numbers against N.C. State: 48-for-70, 600 yards, four touchdowns, two interceptions.
One other factoid: The Wolfpack’s linebackers coach is … Jon Tenuta.
3. Hopefully you read the story I wrote for Monday’s paper about statistical differences between the 2010 team and the 2011 version after four games. As you might imagine, the most obvious difference is the passing game. Other facets of the offense, as well as the defense, are improved (penalties are down 38 percent, for example), but the efficiency of the passing game is what has improved the most.
I think one way to capture is that, last year, Tech had completed 33 percent of its passes through four games, on its way to finishing at 38 percent, lowest in FBS. This year, Tevin Washington’s completion rate is 64 percent. With one more completion, he’d be slightly ahead of the single-season school record for completion percentage (Joe Hamilton, 1999, 66.6 percent).
It’s easy to make this a Joshua Nesbitt vs. Washington matter and, obviously, some or maybe even a lot of the difference lies there. Protection, route running, catching efficiency (if such a thing exists) and the situations (throwing off of play action vs. throwing because the team is behind) all play a role.
I’d be curious for your thoughts.
4. Game time for the Maryland game at Bobby Dodd Stadium Oct. 8 should be announced Monday. I’ll have it up on a blog as soon as I find out.
5. Some links from Saturday’s game.
Charlotte Observer report from the UNC side, as well as Wilmington Star News.
Jon Cooper’s story about Stephen Hill’s efforts for Sting Daily.
Matt Winkeljohn’s game story and various pontifications for Sting Daily.
David Friedlander’s report for the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Stan Awtrey’s story in the Macon Telegraph.
6. I’ll have post-practice notes up 9-ish. My guesses for Tech players of the game: Jeremiah Attaochu, Darren Waller (special teams) and either Stephen Hill or Jay Finch.
Thanks for reading. Please follow on Facebook and Twitter.
By Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech beat
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276 comments Add your comment
Ted M
September 26th, 2011
11:52 am
Yep – the defense is looking better. VT & FSU are not looking that great either if we beat Clemson I say we win the conference.
5150 UOAD
September 26th, 2011
11:52 am
SUPER
My handles were Hi-Jacked a few times over the weekend on the Tech and UGA blogs. UGA fans are getting a lil testy and sensitive these days.
They Dawgs could be real nasty after this Saturday.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
11:53 am
Clemson needs to beat VT, and then we need to beat Clemson. If we win the others, then a loss to VT (if it happens) would not kill us.
5150 UOAD
September 26th, 2011
11:53 am
SUPER…………My handles were Hi-jacked a few times over the weekend by testy dawg fans too
carolinajacket
September 26th, 2011
11:54 am
When you start taking other teams too lightly it can lead to disaster. Remember last year. And though this is a completely different team, it still must realize that a poor performance can cost them. I’m sure the coaches aren’t taking State lightly.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
11:55 am
5150, didn’t realize that. Just can’t understand why some people can’t get a life
5150 UOAD
September 26th, 2011
11:55 am
SUPER…………Clemson is in the Atlantic. We need to beat VT. we could lose to Clem&Sons and still meet them in the ACC CG.
5150 UOAD
September 26th, 2011
11:57 am
Super Doug is a Dawg and he is a European Soccer fan. American Football is not even close to his passion. i was on his Facebook page and all he talked about was soccer.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
11:58 am
5150, I realize that, but if Clem’s son beats VT, it still counts against VT in the race for the division lead. However, I guess I WAS wrong about the need to beat VT. They would win the tie-breaker if they beat us. So either we need to beat VT no matter what, or they need to lose two, one of which hopefully will be to Clem
PerimeterCenterJacket
September 26th, 2011
11:59 am
What I do plan on doing, instead of bragging about 4-0 and hanging my hopes on a season of greatness, is place myself on GT’s campus at least 4 hours before game time every home game. I will then proceed to mingle with my friends and family whilst consuming varying amounts of caffeine, alcohol, and meat. I will then place myself in my seats within the stadium a solid HOUR before kickoff and prepare myself to expend every last tailgating calorie screaming, clapping and otherwise raising Cain for my Jackets the entire game. I know my section found me obnoxious at the outset of this last game, but by the 3rd and 4th quarter they had all pitched in and were very much contributing to the uncharacteristically high stadium noise this game. I know UNC’s O-line heard it, and hopefully every other team coming to BDS will hear the same. THAT’s a fan’s duty if we’re hoping for a continued win streak of any kind. It’s make-your-own-momentum when fans get in the game like that, and it usually pays off.
GO JACKETS!
Playsomebody
September 26th, 2011
11:59 am
GT has beat nobody! Please get excited when you actually beat a top ten opponent…
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
12:00 pm
5150, I thought for the most part Doug provided FAIR coverage (fair as in balanced and mostly objective), but he just didn’t provide ENOUGH coverage. Ken’s coverage goes beyond just fair and balanced; it is plentiful and THOROUGH
PerimeterCenterJacket
September 26th, 2011
12:02 pm
Playsomebody, which top ten opponent has your team beaten?
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
12:02 pm
Sounds like the rantings of a mutt troll. The mutts haven’t even beat a top 25 opponent. UNC was ranked 25 in the ESPN/USA poll, so we HAVE beat somebody.
GIVE ME A BREAK
September 26th, 2011
12:02 pm
This is turning out to be a perfect schedule. Clemson and VT knock heads before Tech gets to them. Will show some flaws in both teams. Just stay focused Jackets. Let it come to you.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
12:03 pm
Perimeter, which section are you in? I am in 225, and it gets pretty enthusiastic, even from the beginning of the games. But I am sure it could be even better.
Ramblin Man
September 26th, 2011
12:04 pm
Guys give O’Brien a break. There was no telling what Wilson was going to do at the time he released him and Glennon probably would have asked for a release if he kept him. Tough decision no martyrdom what he did.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
12:04 pm
GIVE ME…., this was the PERFECT schedule for this rebuilding year. It could not possibly have been set up any better.
RICHT IS WRECKED
September 26th, 2011
12:06 pm
I think Paul Johnson is proving a LOT of people wrong.
http://coachesbythenumbers.com/coach-profile/?coach=Paul+Johnson
DawginLex
September 26th, 2011
12:06 pm
not to rain on the parade here but:
UNC 24
rutgers 22
UNC 28
UVA 17
USM 35
UVA 24
Even if you win out, your schedule won’t warrant anything but playing the lowest rated champion from another BCS conference.
You know what your best scenario is? Have us win out, win the East, lose to y’all(yuck) and then upset LSU or Bama in the SECCG.
Y’all win the ACC and get into a better BCS bowl game or maybe sneak into the title game if others lose.
Hey, I’m dreaming of SC and Florida losing this weekend and us winning so why not?
PerimeterCenterJacket
September 26th, 2011
12:08 pm
UNC is not a top ten team, granted, but read up on their talent in the trenches. Their D-line has at least 2 guys who will be playing on Sundays next year, but their O-line was also gigantic. I’m sure your team has large, talented linemen, too, Playsomebody (whoever you root for), but watch the replay of the game or even just some highlights. Watch as Tech’s “undersized” lines handle business against these “SEC-like” lines of UNC. Who won, Playsomebody? Even with ~17 points left on the field due to a fumble, INT and missed FG…who won the game? I’m pretty sure UNC will be ranked again this season. That’s a good football team. GT’s more real than people want to admit, and let’s just say your team has us on the schedule…I’m pretty sure you’d be sweating it.
DawginLex
September 26th, 2011
12:09 pm
also, Temple’s slaughter of Maryland, Maryland beating Miami and Miami losing to K State don’t help the cause either for the ACC champion
GIVE ME A BREAK
September 26th, 2011
12:10 pm
I’d like to see UGA win out and be ranked for Tech game. No excuses.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
12:12 pm
DawginLex, IF Tech makes it to a BCS bowl, it would be the Orange Bowl. Not sure who the opponent would be, but it would probably be a team ranked higher than Tech
PerimeterCenterJacket
September 26th, 2011
12:14 pm
DawginLex, yeah Maryland and Miami are making ACC fans sick to their stomachs right now. We seemingly cannot help being in the ACC, so all we can really do is pray the teams we beat do better and then just try to keep winning. Clean, Old Fashioned Hate needs to be a ranked vs. ranked contest, so I agree with a lot of what you’ve said.
GIVE ME A BREAK
September 26th, 2011
12:14 pm
Dawg, Clemson did defeat the defending national champion. Nice ACC win.
Brock
September 26th, 2011
12:14 pm
a handfull of questions concerning this team in the spring but now I see 3 things, that if cleared up, will make the difference in winning the next for and competing with Clemson and VT.
1- we need a kicker. period. end of story.
2- 3rd down defense is killing Tech. Saturday they had 3 and 15 & 3 and 17. Then blew it. Fix this and we will beat teams by a wider margin by getting the ball back and scoring quickly. Defense wears themselves out by continuing to crap their pant on 3rd downs.
3-punt returner. Laskey ain’t getting it done. We need a fast, quick guy like Zenon. Not sure why Paul doesn’t use him or Wright. He used Hill saturday and look what happened.
With saying this, it looks like these 3 things could be cleaned up rather quickly. Not too shabby for all the question marks at the beginning of the season.
Oh, and a shout out to the O line. Those guys did a great job against those mammoths for NC.
1 4 GT
September 26th, 2011
12:14 pm
Hi to all–the optimism here is palpable–I too have visions of getting to the Clemson game undefeated & even further–but we all know how hard that can be even for the very best teams–so I take a grain of salt & pepper too with these high hopes..But ain’t it grand after suffering thru the post Bobby Dodd years. Carson was a coulda been. Fulcher had flashes. Pepper was some home cooking that came close. Curry was headed up when he betrayed us. Lewis was a total F/Up. Ross did great & can’t fault him for trying the NFL. O’Leary did pretty good with “the Fridge” as his O/C. Gailey was average. Johnson is the real deal & has done real well wherever he coached. Things look good for the future! I believe he can get our 5th NC! I might 1 or coaches, but that all my memory can recall off the top. Anyway, GO JACKETS & THWG!
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
12:15 pm
I don’t think Saturday’s game was a matter of the Jackets MAKING the Heels look good. I thought the Heels, to have only had their coach for like 6 weeks were actually a well-coached team. They definitely had size and talent. But they could not stop the Jackets when it counted, and Tech fortunately DID stop them when it counted.
Burdell 90
September 26th, 2011
12:16 pm
DawginLex…even though I can’t stand the mutts, always want you to win out and then have us win. As you know that will only help us. I agree, after last year it will be hard to get into the Big game even if we go 13-0 because I am sure they have that in the back of their mind when voting…and we need the votes to help with the computer rankings.
1 4 GT
September 26th, 2011
12:17 pm
darn it left out something. I might have missed 1 or 2 coaches, but that is all my——————-
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
12:19 pm
Most of you guys probably don’t even remember Fulcher, but he COULD have been the ideal coach for Tech. He had the links both to Tech (former player and former GREAT freshmen coach) and to the state of Georgia (Augusta boy). I don’t know what happened to him to cause him to quit, but in my opinion it was a big loss for Tech when he did. The rumors in Augusta were that his marital problems screwed up his life. I don’t remember the story of his divorce, but his second wife was a TOTAL FLAKE.
i wouldnt say that ...
September 26th, 2011
12:20 pm
telling an all american qg to take a hike is buffoonery. i would say that is a coach that is trying to establish a ‘we’ mentality vs a ‘me’ mentality.
i am also a buckeye fan and i wish we would never had recruited me first prior.
instead of a leader at qb we got a ‘ringleader’.
look at what that got us.
i do believe that cpj would do the same thing.
patience
September 26th, 2011
12:21 pm
Where’s “WnE”? Haven’t seen him on here in quite some time
Sam Houston
September 26th, 2011
12:24 pm
One thing hurting the defense if the offense has been scoring so fast on long plays.
The longer the drive lasts the longer the defense is off the field. Time of possesion
helps the defense as much as anything. Can’t tell the offense to stop scoring so
fast, but keeping the defense off the field is the key.
headley lamar
September 26th, 2011
12:25 pm
Its the ACC. Who cares really ??
7-0 in the ACC will get you 4-3 in the SEC
We have seen this time and time again.
headley lamar
September 26th, 2011
12:26 pm
ACC is 2-11 in BCS games.
Winning the ACC makes you a big fish in a really really small pond.
spider
September 26th, 2011
12:27 pm
NC took every kick off past the 35. our kick offs are terrible..my as well kick off out of bounds everytime and take the penalty..no risk then of someone going all the way against us and might save an injury or two.
DawginLex
September 26th, 2011
12:27 pm
I could see South Florida as Big East champ playing ACC champ in Orange Bowl. The crowd would be monstrous.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
12:28 pm
better to be a big fish in a small pond than to be a small fish (like UGA) in the big pond of the SEC.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
12:29 pm
spider, I had the same thoughts
DawginLex
September 26th, 2011
12:29 pm
I still like our chances because of our defense.
But if florida beats Bama this weekend, all bets are off.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2011
12:30 pm
DawginLex, WHAT DEFENSE???
DawginLex
September 26th, 2011
12:32 pm
The one that held Ole Miss to 183 yards total offense and only 34 yards rushing. Without our 2 best players.
I know. It’s Ole Miss.
But they only scored on a trick play on a punt and a trick play on offense.
We have NFL coaches on that side of the ball.
There is definite imporvement and they should only get better.
i think we have a perfect situation
September 26th, 2011
12:34 pm
to compare apples to apples when talking about what josh would do in this offense.
he would do the exact same thing that days is doing now. they are almost clones of one another.
josh while being a great talent was not much for being a great distributor. on the other hand tevin has shown that he is a great ‘point guard’ type of qb. rather than look to take over a game and do to much like josh would do…. tevin looks to get everybody involved and picks his shots.
there is no comparison between the reads that josh made vs tevin. tevin is a big upgrade in that area as well as in his pass accuracy.
Ol'JacketFan
September 26th, 2011
12:36 pm
Tech can only control what it, as a team, does in the remaining games on the schedule. If they take of business and win out then what will be, will be. It hasn’t helped national perception that Maryland and Miami has struggled but it is what it is. It will tough for Tech to finish undefeated but we will see what transpires. If this team winds up with 10-12 wins then it will be a great season and set the stage for the next few years. A lot of folks either don’t know of have forgotten just how young this team as a whole and given its youth the 2012 and 2013 seasons are looking very good. Give Tech 2-3 years of 10 plus wins then the national pollstes/media won’t be able to overlook Tech.
I am very excited about this season and possibilities but I am equally excited about the future of the program!
Go Jackets!
College Football Expert
September 26th, 2011
12:37 pm
lol @ uga fans putting down tech in the comments of this pro-tech article and bragging about their team’s performance. I know fans are fans, but come on.
hey dawg in lex
September 26th, 2011
12:37 pm
no offense but this is a gt blog. if you want to talk dawgs go to your own blog.
i could give a rats ass about how ‘great’ uga is and how many nfl coaches they have on your team.
speaking of nfl coaches. look no further than chan gailey to see how well the nfl mentality works in the college game and vice versa. the old ball sack sucked as an nfl coach but seems to have found his rythm at gamecrock u.
Luke
September 26th, 2011
12:38 pm
Just an FYI for everyone, the kick-off time for the Tech-Maryland game is at noon on ESPNU.
And secondly, Mark Schlabach of ESPN has us going to the Orange Bowl against South Florida in his weekly bowl projections. Would be a GREAT game with a huge crowd!
Luke
September 26th, 2011
12:40 pm
@hey dawg in lex.
I actually enjoy what DawginLex has to say. Unlike you, he speaks in a great demeanor and adds intriguing points to the discussion at hand. He doesn’t just ramble off on about Chan Gailey or Steve Spurrier.