Georgia Tech bowl practice continues
Greetings-
Sorry for the absence. I was taking a short breather and recovering from sort of virus. I’ll be here the rest of this week, be in and out next week and then start it up heading into the Sun Bowl starting the 26th. Onward.
Georgia Tech had its seventh bowl practice Monday. They’ll have three more this week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, taking off for finals Thursday and Friday. Then two more next week Monday and Tuesday and then three more in El Paso.
Players and coaches seemed to be genuine in their excitement about playing in the game, despite the fact that it doesn’t mean a whole lot by itself.
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1. Guard Omoregie Uzzi, who on Monday was named a third-team All-American by Rivals.com and who will receive his degree Saturday in 3 ½ years, said he is “very motivated” to end the bowl losing streak. “I know the last guy that told me he won a bowl game was (former offensive tackle) Andrew Gardner (in his) freshman year (2004). It’d be a great compliment to send these seniors out with a ‘W,’ something that hasn’t been done here in a long time.”
2. Some notes from Paul Johnson’s post-practice interview:
The team is well into bowl-game prep after spending time early last week giving younger players more repetitions.
There were players who’d caught his eye, but none he wanted to name and put a target on their back. What these practices accomplish for younger players, he said, was to give them a base to help them compete in spring practice. “You have your ideas on what people are anyway,” he said. “You’ve watched them all fall, even if they’re on the scout team, so you kind of know what they are.”
The speed will be a bigger adjustment for players who’ve been on the offensive scout team, since they haven’t been going full speed like the scout-team defense has.
I asked Johnson if any loss from the season would eat at him in particular, and he said they all do, but mentioned that the “Virginia Tech game here, we were a couple plays from being in Charlotte. But they all eat at you anytime you lose.”
On what ending the bowl losing streak would mean to him and the program: “Me, personally, that’s something that we’ve got to do here to put an end on the season. I think I was 2-2 in bowl games at Navy. That wasn’t great, either, but you want to win every time you play. We’ve drawn a couple really good teams (in bowl games). We should have won the game last year and didn’t. The first two years, I’m not sure the better team didn’t win.”
(2008 was LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl and 2009, of course, was the Orange Bowl loss to Iowa. Last year’s loss was to Air Force. Interesting answer, I thought.)
3. Bowl ticket sales are predictably slow. As of Friday, the school had sold about 2,000 of its 8,000-ticket allotment. About half of the tickets purchased are being donated to soldiers stationed at Fort Bliss, located outside of El Paso. It’s one of the largest military installations in the country, with more than 30,000 troops stationed.
The team will visit Fort Bliss during its bowl trip and the school is encouraging fans to purchase tickets to donate to the troops that will be presented during the visit. Link here.
(Of some degree of interest to the department also is having fewer tickets to eat.)
Thanks for reading. I’ll have something up Wednesday morning.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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186 comments Add your comment
Actually...
December 13th, 2011
3:18 pm
…and so is Old Gold Britches…
juvenal
December 13th, 2011
3:19 pm
would Uzzi have to get into grad school to stay?
Actually...
December 13th, 2011
3:19 pm
…just yesterday there was a story on TWO commitments to Tech…
Actually...
December 13th, 2011
3:20 pm
…just yesterday there was a story…
GT Man
December 13th, 2011
3:21 pm
I was stationed at Fort Bliss, i hope thats not all the sights the players will see, take them to Juarez to a cat-house, maybe it will perk them up to play better. Take Groh to the drug cartel for a trade, pretty sure those drug lords can come up with better defensive schemes than Groh.
Shug
December 13th, 2011
3:21 pm
I’m glad to learn Tech’s playing in the Sun Bowl. Who’s the opponent?
hey juvenal...
December 13th, 2011
3:22 pm
…Not necessarily, but he would have to NOT graduate and declare another major pursuit in order to be eligible – or, as you suggest, he could enroll in grad school…
dry dirt road
December 13th, 2011
3:25 pm
Any sucker who falls for the PJ triple option offense as acceptable for Georgia Tech, and disregards the Heisman trophy won this year by a shotgun passing quarterback, is a football fool. This trip opt off could be used on some plays, but the shotgun should be used on most of them. That means it’s time for PJ to find some sucker school who believes in him. Not even high schools believe in his offense. They believe in the shotgun, like Vad Lee’s hs did. Those who would fall for his offense would be somebody working against Tech such as a Georgia double agent, or working against Tech’s athletic program in favor of showing off it’s academic programs instead in hopes of attracting math and science interest in high school students thinking of going to Tech like I decided to do 38 years ago. I want to see a shotgun coach at Tech who can get passes off quickly w/o rushers breathing down the qb’s neck.
GT Fan
December 13th, 2011
3:28 pm
dry dirt road:
Would you be OK with a pistol offense? I think this is what Vad ran in high school.
Supersize that order, mutt
December 13th, 2011
3:46 pm
Old Gold Britches, thanks for your support of Tech and our armed services members. I too bought a couple of tickets to donate to the servicemen stationed at Fort Bliss, in addition to what I bought for myself. Tech needs the ticket sales and the GI’s deserve the opportunity to start off what will hopefully be for them a good New Year’s Eve. GO JACKETS !!!
juvenal
December 13th, 2011
3:46 pm
getting into Tech grad school not automatic….funny thing is, shotgun is in the playbook, used once last year & once this year….
Supersize that order, mutt
December 13th, 2011
3:47 pm
Actually Tech only runs the triple option a fraction of the time in a game. They do not run it every play. I think the shotgun would be a great optional formation. I don’t recall seeing it myself, but somebody posted early in the season that we DID use the shotgun at least once in one game. Whether that is true or not, I don’t know, but we never used it again.
Supersize that order, mutt
December 13th, 2011
3:48 pm
juvenal just confirmed what I had heard
dry dirt road
December 13th, 2011
3:50 pm
also even running plays can be effective in a shotgun offense; don’t get suckered into believing that Tech is leader in rushing b/c of a rush-based offense; holes can be opened for runners in a shotgun backfield lined up way back there; look at Oregon, their shotgun and LaMichael James in their backfield
dry dirt road
December 13th, 2011
3:52 pm
Super, you’ve been hypnotized by PJ and his southern accent and your loyalty to Tech. The trip opt is the ONLY play Tech runs.
dry dirt road
December 13th, 2011
3:54 pm
call it pistol, wildcat or shotgun, just give the qb distance between dl rushers plz so he can find enuf time to pass it
Supersize that order, mutt
December 13th, 2011
3:55 pm
dry dirt road, you are incorrect. Look at the games, and the OFFICIAL triple option is run only a fraction of the time. A toss sweep is NOT an option in the Triple Option. Most of the passes that TW attempted to throw were not thrown out of the option. I wish they had been though, because passing out of the option is a beautiful play; Friedgen used it frequently.
GT Fan
December 13th, 2011
3:55 pm
CPJ is learning that a one dimensional offense only works against struggling defenses. He is planning to use Vad to open up the offense in the air which will create the second dimension!!
GT Man
December 13th, 2011
3:56 pm
Dry dirt road, i agree with you, why does PJ not run the offense Oregon runs, he has the running backs, if Washington runs over 20 times its an automatic loss for us. While in El Paso, i’d still send Groh over to Juarez to learn from the drug lords how to run a defense, it works for them. I’m 62, i hope we beat Ga. at least once more before ya’ll bury me.
GTBob
December 13th, 2011
4:09 pm
The trip opt is the ONLY play Tech runs.
You have no idea what the triple option is do you? Supersize is right. We actually don’t run the triple option that often when you look at our overall play calling.
Ramblin' and Gamblin'
December 13th, 2011
4:22 pm
So Uzzi is graduating this fall? Does that basically mean he gone next year? He is good enough to have an outside shot of getting draft by the NFL and I hear its almost impossible to get into GT’s MBA program without any work experience. My guess is that he will be playing somewhere else next year.
GT Fan 4Ever
December 13th, 2011
4:22 pm
Add another to the list of graduating in 3.5 years, Steven Sylvester. Did not use his red shirt, played as a true freshman.
GT1971
December 13th, 2011
4:48 pm
Welcome back, Ken. I’m glad you are well. Please tell AJC that the Tech bloggers want you in El Paso. I look forward to your Tech basketball coverage. But first… The Sun Bowl.
Thanks for the entertainment, headley. Your sarcasm and insults only succeeded in humoring me. May this holiday season bring you a new and improved outlook on life complete with more humor for the Tech fans.
THWG
headley lamar
December 13th, 2011
4:52 pm
Report: Former Tech player Anderson arrested
Another black eye for Tech.
headley lamar
December 13th, 2011
4:57 pm
CPJ record against the three legit teams he plays all year.
Va Tech, UGA and Bowl Game
He is 2 – 9
Tech is overall 14 – 11 over the last two years in one of the easiest conferences to win in.
Not exactly a stellar record.
Ill wait for the grammar police to respond.
headley lamar
December 13th, 2011
4:58 pm
What are the Sun Bowl tickets going for ?
6 bucks
Any free hotdogs or cokes with the tickets ?
Supersize that order, mutt
December 13th, 2011
5:02 pm
headley, I’m sure the Clemson people will totally disagree that they don’t have a legit program. It’s as legit as the one in Athens
Practice is very good
December 13th, 2011
5:05 pm
Maybe THIS TIME, Tech can practice a bowl win for a change. CPJ hs no ACC titles, no major wins ( UGA in 09 was lousy, right?) beyond the one Clemson game ( they are like 7-4) and no bowl wins and HE IS ON DOUBEL SECRET PROBATION for Tech, their SECOND TIME in less than 7 years!
No, GT needs to win, or CPJ will continue to be on the HOT SEAT. His rushing yards are just empty stats ………………..he needs to win an only gain 189 yds BUT WIN !!!!
Another ARREST
December 13th, 2011
5:08 pm
Althought not a GT alumnus, Kenny Anderson, a GT basketball player of the 90s, was arrested. This legacy of CONTINUING arrests is embarassing the GT Fund boys.
Sun Bowl?
December 13th, 2011
5:13 pm
Uh oh,. Um, y’all had better buy some Kevlar clothing with all of the stray gunife coming from Mexico due to all the gun running Obama and that thug Eric Holder have been doing.
DUCK !! Awwwwwww, nah, that was a car backfire ………………..wasn’t it?? Wasn’t it???
Do not go out at night. Order room service. Wear a disguise out on the street and keep your Delta airline tickets close at hand. In fact, de plane, then re board the plane and get outta there.
Duck!!
Supersize that order, mutt
December 13th, 2011
5:13 pm
It’s no more or less embarrassing that an actual UGA grad being arrested for credit and debit card fraud. How many poor or older people did he bilk for millions in that scam?
Supersize that order, mutt
December 13th, 2011
5:14 pm
Sun Bowl? actually El Paso itself is one of the safest cities in the States. Just don’t cross the border; that’s where all the crap happens.
bulldog steve
December 13th, 2011
5:21 pm
Pretty impressive any college student graduating in less than four years, being an athlete with all the time constraints and graduating in less than four years is amazing. Congrats to the young man for having his priorities straight.
hey supersize...
December 13th, 2011
5:22 pm
…tell that to the widow whose husband was shot and killed by drug runners while riding his waverunner…
bulldog steve
December 13th, 2011
5:27 pm
Now only having 1000 Tech fans in the stands, not so impressive. Other bowls notice when teams don’t travel well and getting better bowls to recognize you with so little fan support is tough.
Paddy
December 13th, 2011
5:28 pm
headley……..we are out of mustard, pls pass the muster. Thanks! lol
Supersize that order, mutt
December 13th, 2011
5:32 pm
hey, hey supersize…..tell that to the family of Terreal Bierria’s drug deal gone bad too……
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/091023&sportCat=nfl
Hayseed Dixie
December 13th, 2011
5:36 pm
Headley,
grammar and spelling are two different things. Look them up.
While you’re at it look up the definition of ‘ignorant’ and ‘pathetic’.
Regardless of who you root for, you slobbering all over our board is pretty funny, sweetheart. Thanks for the chuckle.
Hayseed Dixie
December 13th, 2011
5:37 pm
Hey Ken,
Have you asked CPJ about the HBO special that’s going to feature the Naval Academy’s football program? Is he going to be involved in any way?
GTBob
December 13th, 2011
5:40 pm
Other bowls notice when teams don’t travel well and getting better bowls to recognize you with so little fan support is tough.
Doesn’t really matter much when most of the ACC doesn’t travel well. Especially to Texas. They have to take somebody. Personally, i’m surprised we sold 1000.
Supersize that order, mutt
December 13th, 2011
5:52 pm
hey, hey supersize… I don’t like to make light of other people’s problems or failings, whether they be victims or perpetrators, but don’t come on a Tech blog with some high-and-mighty attitude that because 2 one-and-doners at Tech have turned into criminals without realizing that your precious UGA athletes are every bit as prone to doing stupid and criminal things. I feel sorry for all the victims involved, and I feel a certain level of sorrow in knowing that potentially good kids, no matter what school they attended, have gone bad.
UGA Student Masterminded Fraud
December 13th, 2011
5:53 pm
From the AJC:
KNOXVILLE — A doctoral student at the University of Georgia has been sentenced in Knoxville to about six years in prison for his role in an identity theft and credit card fraud conspiracy.
.Federal prosecutors said 25-year-old Carlton A. Lewis of Lithonia provided credit and debit card skimming devices to waitresses in restaurants across the Southeast who used them to unlawfully obtain credit and debit card account information.
Prosecutors said he uploaded the account information to his computer and used a re-encoding device to transform prepaid money cards into counterfeit credit and debit cards, which were used to make purchases at retail stores.
Investigators said the case was broken when devices were found in his vehicle following a traffic stop by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
In a plea agreement entered in July, Lewis admitted that he masterminded a scheme that stole credit card numbers from hundreds of victims and netted about $150,000, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. Lewis had been enrolled in a UGA psychology doctorate program.
Headley is a UGA lawyer and WnE is a psychology major. They can help!
Stay strong.
superDawg
December 13th, 2011
6:17 pm
UGA may have discovered a cure for cancer.Now that is good news for every one.GO DAWGS!
CPJ 2K11
December 13th, 2011
6:22 pm
Mastermind and UGA student do not belong in the same sentence.
Ramblin Man
December 13th, 2011
6:35 pm
Bulldog Steve try again. GT has seldom been a great travel team as far as filling the seats goes and it has never hurt what bowl we are picked for. A bowl game usually has more to do with how the two teams will do against each other and record. The bowl presidents could care less about how many people show up because the schools have to buy any tickets that were not sold out of thier allotment.
ty webb
December 13th, 2011
7:03 pm
Granted, this isn’t as bad as masterminding fraud…but then again it’s not terrorism either…
FROM the AJC:
Former Georgia Tech basketball standout Kenny Anderson was arrested after allegedly leaving the scene of a south Florida wreck.
Broward County Sheriff’s Department Former Georgia Tech guard Kenny Anderson, 41, was charged with leaving the scene of a Miramar, Fla. crash.
.Anderson, 41, faces a misdemeanor offense for walking away after hitting a curb and crashing his white Cadillac Escalade into two trees Sunday in Broward County, Fla., according to a Miramar Police Department report obtained by the AJC. No one was injured.
A witness reported seeing a man walk away from the vehicle, Miramar police asked officers in nearby Pembroke Pines for help in locating Anderson, the Escalade’s owner, according to the complaint affadavit.
A police officer met Anderson at his home and advised him to return to crash scene, which he did, police said.
Anderson told police a blown tire caused him to lose control of the SUV, according to police.
“All four tires were blown out and the rims were bent,” a police officer stated in the report.
When talking to police, Anderson smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and red eyes. He allegedly said he’d been at a bar and had a “few drinks” before the crash, the report states. Anderson was not charged with any alcohol violations, according to police.
carolinajacket
December 13th, 2011
7:27 pm
So you guys are really serious???? A Tech guys gets into a wreck. An UGA guy gets into some illegal problem. So this really has anything to do with the quality of either institution. Not at all. Anybody who would make an issue out of these situations is an idiot — regardless of which team they support. Can we not get a little more class than that, again on both sides???
Old Blind Dawg
December 13th, 2011
7:30 pm
Enter your comments here
Old Blind Dawg
December 13th, 2011
7:35 pm
Ramblin Man hate to break it to you but you are completely wrong. The bowls look for fans to drive the hospitality industry (that means restaurants, bars and hotels in case you don’t know). True the schools have to buy any unsold tickets but the cash infusion into the local economy is the driver. TV money provides the funds to distribute to the teams.
Oz
December 13th, 2011
8:08 pm
31-17