Paul Johnson sticks up for Washington
Greetings-
Your Paul Johnson news conference highlights:
1. Clemson is “probably the most talented team we’ve played since I’ve been here at Georgia Tech, at least in this stadium,” Johnson said.
2. He doesn’t think the sky is falling. “As I said last week, I don’t want to put the L’s down until we lose the games, if that’s O.K. with everybody,” said Johnson, in perhaps an unfortunate choice of phrasing. “I’d like to at least play them and see what happens.”
3. Johnson defended quarterback Tevin Washington, saying the offense’s lack of production in recent weeks is not his fault alone. “I think those guys get too much credit and too much blame sometimes. He’s like everyone else: He’s working hard and trying to correct what needs to be corrected.” Johnson said that Washington is not a guy he needs to push, that he’s self-motivated, hard on himself and holds himself accountable for his mistakes.
4. Part of Clemson’s ability to put up a lot of points is due to the numbers of plays that they run. The Tigers have run 626 plays, the most in the country. In the Clemson-North Carolina game, there were 16 possessions each, as opposed to 10 each in the Miami-Tech game. “That’s almost another half of football, so you’re going to have more points,” he said.
Johnson said further that “When you’re as talented as they are, you can score in bunches in a hurry.”
5. Clemson’s style won’t cause Tech to alter what the Jackets do offensively. “We’ve just got to try to do what we can do,” he said. He felt the same defensively, even though Clemson can run a high number of plays, because the linemen substitute considerably and the linebackers get swapped out on various packages. The secondary plays the entire game, generally, but there isn’t a lot of depth.
6. Johnson was asked about a petition signed by college football players and basketball players wanting a slice of the revenue schools receive from TV contracts. An Associated Press story Monday said that 55 Tech players had signed it. Denzel McCoy, who was recruited to Tech but is not on the roster because of a medical condition, was quoted in the story.
Johnson was not aware of the story or the petition, but said “I’m all for players getting whatever they can get.”
7. Johnson was asked about negative recruiting tactics against Tech from rival coaches who tell prospects that they can’t get to the NFL if they go there.
Johnson said that “I just point out the guys from Tech that are in the NFL.” He added further that if a prospect looks at a college solely as a vehicle to get to the NFL, “he’s probably not coming to Georgia Tech anyway because if that’s his only concern, he’s going to go somewhere where there’s 100,000 people at the game and the school’s not hard.”
8. Regarding special teams, Johnson said that “there’s a lot of things you can do. We try and do it every day.” He noted that Tech has five special-teams specialists on scholarship – punters Chandler Anderson and Sean Poole, kicker Justin Moore and long snappers Tyler Morgan and Sean Tobin – which might be the most of any team in the country
“I don’t care who’s coaching special teams,” he said. “If you punt the ball 13 yards, it’s not good.”
He asserted, more or less, that it’s not as bad as people think and that it’s the focus of attention because the team has lost two in a row. “We’re not good, but we’re about right in the middle,” he said.
9. He said Roddy Jones spoke to the team Monday with the message that there’s still a lot to play for, that the team can still win 11 games. “I want to win every game,” Johnson said. “The reality is the other teams have 85 scholarship players and they pay their coaches and they try to win, too.”
10. Johnson said he was just trying to get the offense going when he put in Synjyn Days late in the game against Miami. “We weren’t operating at a high level,” he said. “Sometimes you just kind of change things up and see what happens. That was it.”
He noted that Days fumbled. “If he takes care of the ball, he’s going to play more. Synjyn, he’s a talented guy. He can do some things, but you’ve got to take care of the ball.”
11. Johnson said he didn’t know how long center Jay Finch will be out. “It’s not near as bad as they thought. It’s a sprain and we’ll see how it goes.”
Links
How Clemson can make the BCS championship game, from the Charlotte Observer.
Tigers quarterback Tajh Boyd is the No. 2 candidate for the Heisman, according to the Sporting News, the Anderson Independent Mail writes.
Clemson defense split up snaps more equally against North Carolina, also in the Independent Mail.
Charleston Post and Courier story on Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris‘ philosophy on coaching from the field rather than the press box.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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270 comments Add your comment
DDPO
October 25th, 2011
4:24 pm
And UGA has won how many titles in the past 30 years?
SEC Teams that have won National Titles since UGA’s title in 1980:
Alabama (Twice)
LSU (Twice)
Florida (Twice)
Tennessee
Auburn
8 National Titles by your SEC brethren since UGA last won their title. That list doesn’t include SEC teams that made it to the National Title game and lost. (Like UF vs. Nebraska)
Face it, Schmedly. UGA to the SEC is what Iowa is to the Big Ten.
GTBob
October 25th, 2011
4:24 pm
But it doesn’t usually go that way.
How is the SEC doing against the ACC in bowl games the last two years?
headley lamar
October 25th, 2011
4:25 pm
No, I haven’t been to Dragon Con, whatever the hell that is. Apparently you have though. So I guess that makes you a total dork as well as a big loser.
Pull the other one.
And just a word for the future. When you are going to lie about something.
Don’t act like you don’t even know what it is. It gives you away.
Delbert D.
October 25th, 2011
4:25 pm
“he’s probably not coming to Georgia Tech anyway because if that’s his only concern, he’s going to go somewhere where there’s 100,000 people at the game and the school’s not hard.”
I wonder who CPJ could be talking about.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:26 pm
And how many titles has the ACC won since 1980. Tech has one, FSU has a few, although I think most of their’s, like Miami’s, might have come before joining the ACC.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:27 pm
Delbert, any number of players who sign with UGA, right?
TampaDawg
October 25th, 2011
4:27 pm
I am prediciting Clemson to win 31-10. Not because I want to bash GT, quite the contrary actually. The last two weeks I have predicted GT to beat UVA (as most of you did) and Miami (as most of you did) and they came up short. So this week, reverse psychology, I am predicting Clemson, with the thought I will be wrong about an ACC game again.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:28 pm
headley, the ONLY thing I know about Dragon Con is what you have said about it on here. Hell, I had never even heard of it till you, and some other mutts (all probably you) brought it up.
headley lamar
October 25th, 2011
4:28 pm
How is the SEC doing against the ACC in bowl games the last two years?
Dunno? not good? Small sample size.
How are they doing over the last Ten? Twenty?
Odds are its heavily in the SEC favor.
How is Tech doing against UGA the last two years.
I loved it after you guys eeeked out a 4 point win and acted like it was a blowout and there was a ” New Sheriff in town ” LOL
DS_CE91
October 25th, 2011
4:28 pm
Headley @ 4:02 pm:
“All elite teams like Bama and LSU and UGA …..”
Headley my friend, you really should give a heads-up when you are going to fire out a gutbuster like that. I almost fell out of my chair! I am sure Tide and Bengal followers just love being grouped with you guys. I can tell how much they respect you by listening to the Finebaum show most afternoons.
I should thank you, though. I screen-grabbed that comment, and will use it as THE textbook example when someone asks me to explain what “riding other’s coat-tails” means.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:28 pm
TampaDawg, I hope you’re batting a thousand after this weekend then. LOL
Ramblin Man
October 25th, 2011
4:29 pm
Headley good points. Here is the problem with that though. I have heard more than one of the talking heads say that IF the LSU vs Bama game is close and the loser only has that one defeat they should and probably would get a chance at the NC due to being in the SEC. I think that is BS since they would have had thier chance and if that’s is the case then people need to jump on board with Slive and Swofford for a playoff.
Delbert D.
October 25th, 2011
4:29 pm
Let’s send a petition to the governor: “Make school hard. It’s supposed to be hard. The U.S is 26th in the world in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).”
headley lamar
October 25th, 2011
4:29 pm
Hell, I had never even heard of it till you, and some other mutts (all probably you) brought it up.
Dont believe that for a second.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:30 pm
LMAO @ DS_CE91
GTBob
October 25th, 2011
4:30 pm
I loved it after you guys eeeked out a 4 point win and acted like it was a blowout and there was a ” New Sheriff in town ” LOL
So you admit that you don’t really know how the ACC is doing against the SEC and you also don’t even know the score of the GT – UGA games. Are we supposed to take you seriously?
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:31 pm
headley, you can believe or disbelieve what you want, but I had no idea whatsoever what Dragon Con is. ALL I know is what you have said. And since you do seem to know so much about it, then you obviously go or take part in it or whatever.
headley lamar
October 25th, 2011
4:32 pm
where there’s 100,000 people at the game and the school’s not hard.”
I wonder who CPJ could be talking about.
Yeah the Tech ahem …. “Management” degree that 98 percent of the Football players major in is soooooo hard.
Reggie Ball. Rebuen Houston and many others like them have graced those halls.
JM
October 25th, 2011
4:32 pm
Hey, who else is posting here as JM? *shakes angry fist*
Anyways, I think Tevin (and Days to a certain extent) have been taking too much criticism the past few weeks. Tevin doesn’t have much he can do when the offensive line can’t be reliable. Yes, his passing could be vastly improved, but I think that could be fixed if nearly every pass we attempt wasn’t a 20+ yard attempt downfield.
And, hopefully, we never see that abortion of a special teams that we saw against Miami.
T3
October 25th, 2011
4:33 pm
Blunt Honesty is what CPJ is all about.
GT is very lucky to have him as the Head Coach.
I stand by my pre-season prediction: GT will beat UGA this November.
we are young.....
October 25th, 2011
4:33 pm
i keep reading these blogs and i dont see enough thought given to the fact that we are the SECOND youngest team in the nation.
we have players playing that are light in the pants that only time in the weight room can fix.
we have players playing that need more experience to live up to their billing.
yet we are 6-2.
if could be worse. we could be the dawgs, they have no excuse.
Delbert D.
October 25th, 2011
4:33 pm
The only thing I’ve read about Dragon Con is that the founder or leader or whatever he is called has been arrested. Front page on Yahoo the other day.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:33 pm
GTBob, interesting isn’t it that Tech “eked out” a win in 2008, but the mutts “beat Tech’s butts” in 2009 and 2010 (as well as several years prior to 2008) with more-or-less equal winning margins. Can you say HYPOCRISY???
headley lamar
October 25th, 2011
4:34 pm
Football Graduation Rates: ACC
Duke 96%
Boston College 91%
Wake Forest 81%
North Carolina 80%
Miami 75%
Florida St. 73%
Virginia Tech 71%
Virginia 68%
Clemson 67%
Maryland 60%
North Carolina St. 57%
Georgia Tech 49%
Football Graduation Rates: Pac-10
Stanford 89%
Washington 69%
Cal 64%
Washington St. 62%
Arizona St. 58%
USC 58%
Oregon St. 57%
UCLA 51%
Oregon 49%
Arizona 41%
See Stanford is an fine Academic Institution that also plays big time sports.
Something Tech just claims to do.
Tech graduation rates are deplorable.
But you will say. Its because our Academics are so hard.
Doesn’t stop Stanford.
Delbert D.
October 25th, 2011
4:35 pm
headley has attended Georgia Tech?
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:36 pm
Headley, you know as well as anybody that the Management school at Tech is harder than any school at UGA in which the majority of the mutt football team in enrolled. Hell, who are you to be talking about academics anyway, when all you have is a correspondence degree from Troy.
and standford
October 25th, 2011
4:36 pm
has phy ed courses etc. something tech does not.
you fail head giver.
headley lamar
October 25th, 2011
4:37 pm
Can you say HYPOCRISY???
I can say 9 out of 10.
If you have 10 things and 9 of them are just alike.
Which one is the odd one out? The fluke if you will.?
headley lamar
October 25th, 2011
4:37 pm
yet we are 6-2. *
* in the ACC
TampaDawg
October 25th, 2011
4:38 pm
Ramblin Man, of the 90 wins UGA had in the last decade, many came against ranked teams and I believe 8 against top 10 teams. The whole “down year” argument is kind of weak. Every conference has teams in a down year (see FSU and Miami). Bottom line, the last time the Dawgs won the SEC, you say the conference was down but there is nothing to back that statement up.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:38 pm
Headley, the FALLACY in your argument is that of all the colleges you named, they ALL have liberal arts programs; Tech has ZERO liberal arts programs. If you think that a liberal arts program is harder than an engineering-based program (and yes, that included Industrial Management), then you are a bigger fool than I took you for.
Ramblin Man
October 25th, 2011
4:39 pm
headley again you show ignorance and bring up old things like Houston all the time. Trust me GT fans do not support aything about Houston. He had to sue to get back on the team and to his credit he did actually graduate. Do you really want to start the whole who has the most idiots to attend what school game?
Let me ask you this since you are such a big SEC guy. Why do you think so many coaches and ADs had a fit when Slive wanted to up the GPA to 2.0 and do something with the SEC academic standards? I would also ask you to check your facts as the number of players taking the M Train is closer to 85%. You are keeping me entertained though.
Marietta Buzz
October 25th, 2011
4:41 pm
We MUST play 2 QBs ALL the time. Now that the defense locks down every other player, not even the vaunted Joshua Nesbit could handle that pressure. 50 to 60 hits a game! Washington is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Like my Facebook page about pulling the red shirt off Vad Lee.
Like my Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pull-Vad-Lees-Redshirt-Coach-Paul-Johnson/212675438800719
Ramblin Man
October 25th, 2011
4:44 pm
Headley you have tried that argument over and over and still refuse to actually look at facts for those numbers. Stanford is a very fine instituton, but it was recently caught steering athletes towards easy classes and majors along with Vandy. I agree with you that GT needs to get those numbers up and they have, new numbers should be released soon, but they are also in line with non-athletes. My question to you would be what do those graduation rates mean if the degrees the athletes are getting are worthless in the real world?
TampaDawg
October 25th, 2011
4:44 pm
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:28 pm
TampaDawg, I hope you’re batting a thousand after this weekend then. LOL
—————————————
If not, that game could get ugly. Best bet is GT keeps it close and pulls out the late win. Clemson is the best in the ACC this year.
Delbert D.
October 25th, 2011
4:46 pm
98 percent of GT football players ar Management majors? So what?
Misc. info on some of 2011 the 2-deep players:
Quayshan Nealy – 1st team LB Computer Science major
Tevin Washington – 1st team QB Management major, pre-law
Emmanuel Dieke – 2nd team DE Biomedical Engineering major
Preston Lyons – 2nd team B-back History major ACC Academic Honor Roll 2010
Will Jackson – ACC All-Academic Team, 1st Team Freshmen All America in 2010
Trey Braun – 2nd team OL Mechanical Eng major
Synjyn Days – 2nd team QB biology major
Chandler Anderson – Punter Biology major
David Scully – kicker Biochemistry major
Morgan Bailey – Physics
Morgan Carter LB special teams r-So – Business & Public Policy – US Supreme Court Intern 2011
Darryl Dickey – aerospace engineering #3 QB
Jamal Paige – Industrial Engineering – special teams player
Roddy Jones – 1st team A-back grad student, 3-time Academic All-ACC
Logan Walls – 1st team NT grad student, 2-time Academic All-ACC
Jason Peters – 1st team DE Grad student-member of Ga. Tech Student-Athlete Advisory Board
TampaDawg
October 25th, 2011
4:47 pm
Ramblin Man “My question to you would be what do those graduation rates mean if the degrees the athletes are getting are worthless in the real world?”
I hate this type of statement. First off, no one on here, GT or UGA has anyway of proving the “worth” of their favorite colleges degree. Second, if we are all pinning SUCCESS on a college degree from any institution, I would challenge you to find a true definition of success and see if lines up with someone working a job based on their college degree. The whole football/academics argument is just old and tired.
carolinajacket
October 25th, 2011
4:47 pm
You are right, Tampa, but if Tech gets some breaks, which we haven’t had lately, you never know. Thats why they play the games.
headley lamar
October 25th, 2011
4:48 pm
Well gotta go.
Headley wins again.
Will be on vacation in the North Georgia mountains. I know youll miss me.
Time for Oktoberfest.
headley lamar
October 25th, 2011
4:49 pm
The whole football/academics argument is just old and tired.
Yes it is. But its the first crutch the Techies reach for when they start losing.
You can count on it every time.
Jetbuzz
October 25th, 2011
4:50 pm
Gotta admire the team’s perseverance and backbone after several tough weeks. It would be easier to back down than step up, with Goliath coming to town Sat.
With the D much improved, if Tevin & Co. can find the groove again, along with mistake-free ST play, this could be a fun game. Let’s remember that these guys are in college – and still learning a thing or two.
Also, might’n the Athens crowd have enough to worry about this week, rather than waste time here? Guess not….so far.
White and Gold!
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:51 pm
Delbert, terrific post there on the majors of various Tech football players. I’m sure there are some at UGA with decent majors, but it would be interesting to see a rundown on them. Regardless the easy majors at UGA are all easier than the management major at Tech
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:52 pm
Facts are not crutches
19
October 25th, 2011
4:56 pm
Headley, you’ve been holding water? There’s medication for that. There’s also medication for your mental condition. Look into it.
Go Jackets!!!
JM
October 25th, 2011
4:57 pm
The Management major requires two classes of calculus, as does every other major at Tech. I don’t think any other school in D1 has that.
Supersize that order, mutt
October 25th, 2011
4:58 pm
JM….CORRECT !!!
Tech '10
October 25th, 2011
4:58 pm
Well aside from that 1 Saturday during 1 season, he’s just kind of a petrino or a saban wannabe.
Hayseed Dixie
October 25th, 2011
4:59 pm
Good lord, I bet you headleys typing one-handed with all the attention you guys have given him.
Like I said, he ain’t here to talk football, he’s here to work out his mama complex in public. Mighty nice of you guys to help him, I suppose.
Ramblin Man
October 25th, 2011
5:01 pm
Tampadawg I hate you for making me look all this up for 05. This does not look like a difficult schedule and so I stick by a down SEC year.
UGA 10-3 lost bowl game
USC 7-5 lost bowl game
Miss St. 3-8
Tenn 5-6
Vandy 5-6
Ark. 4-7
Fla 9-3 UGA loss won thier bowl game
Aub. 9-3 UGA loss lost bowl game
UK 3-8
GT 7-5 score 14-7 by the way
LSU 11-2 good win to UGA and only other win over a team with a winning record
sugar bowl lost to a 11-1 W. Va team.
crackbaby
October 25th, 2011
5:02 pm
Just beat Clemson. Go Jackets!