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.
\
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
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
186 comments Add your comment
Supersize that order, mutt
December 14th, 2011
2:05 am
yeah, we definitely need some defensive hosses
ccrider
December 14th, 2011
2:06 am
you too SS
Georgia tek is obsessed with nothing but beating UGA
December 14th, 2011
6:31 am
1 out of 11 ? NCAA PROBATION back-to-back in Mark Richt era I presume is also Mark Richt’s fault ? Are their 6 bowl losses all in a row, also Mark Richt’s fault ? It could be argued that it is also Mark Richt’s fault that Georgia tek including Paul Johnson averages the # 51 recruiting class every year while Mark Richt averages the # 7 recruiting class every year all 12 years now for Mark Richt.
Give Mark Richt his EXTENSION Greg McGarity, tennis player. And, get us an indoor practice facility (not a Quonset hut, not even a whole football field.)
31-17. Saw it the other day that that isn’t beat Georgia tek by several touchdowns. Oh, yeah it is.
Kenny Anderson, I see last night was arrested in Pembroke Pines, Florida for leaving the scene of his accident where he ran off the road hitting trees and destroying all 4 tires and wheels, after going to a bar and getting drunk. It is unclear to me if the Police who smelled alcohol actually asked the high school basketball coach if he had been drinking and that the reason for him leaving, other than the statement that Kenny Anderson made that indeed he did drink at the bar with red eyes and slurred speech. Why else would he risk the leaving the scene of an accident ? Nice Kenny Anderson. We haven’t heard the end to this one yet either. Is this too Mark Richt’s fault ?
Wal-Mart Retards
December 14th, 2011
7:52 am
It was Damon Evans’ fault – LMFAO!
Wal-Mart Retards
December 14th, 2011
7:59 am
…who apparently isn’t good enough for Wal-Mart and now works at a Dunkin Donuts! ROTFLMFAO!
http://www.macon.com/2011/07/02/1618248/former-uga-ad-evans-not-talking.html
macrotech
December 14th, 2011
8:10 am
Hey “Obsessed”…wipe your chin….you have stupid all OVER the place! Ken, I think there needs to be a sobriety test administered before posting on these blogs! I KNOW I.Q. tests are out of the question…but, at the very LEAST…make sure folk are sober!
CPJ 2K11
December 14th, 2011
8:13 am
Georgia tek is obsessed with nothing but beating UGA – nice copy and paste there 4.29 GPA. I see you copy and paste the same garbage on multiple blogs under different names. So you’re happy with Kenny Anderson having a car accident? I hope that makes you feel better about yourself. Not sure what it has to do with Georgia Tech football.
Which recruits are you stalking today, by the way? You are up early. Are you going shopping for fragrance today?
juvenal
December 14th, 2011
9:09 am
hope Technically Correct is happier with Carvell today…..Ken, do us a favor & post enough to get that stinking score off the GT masthead, PLEASE! thanks in advance….
Georgia tek is obsessed with nothing but beating UGA
December 14th, 2011
10:13 am
17-31
?
That the score you want removed ?
And,, yes, I am happy that
KENNY ANDERSON
just like
JOEY HAMILTON
both wannabe coaches and both
LEAVE THE SCENE OF ACCIDENT DRINKING
Supersize that order, mutt
December 14th, 2011
10:37 am
…obsessed… are you happy with that UGA student who bilked poor and elderly people out of thousands of dollars in his credit and debit card scam?
Supersize that order, mutt
December 14th, 2011
10:39 am
…obsessed…are you happy with the adulterous running around of your former AD?
Dawg48
December 14th, 2011
10:40 am
Every fan base has one, he happens to ours!
Supersize that order, mutt
December 14th, 2011
10:41 am
48, are you referring to ….obsessed…?
Dawg48
December 14th, 2011
10:43 am
SS
Yes sir
Supersize that order, mutt
December 14th, 2011
10:45 am
ok. just wanted to be sure what you meant. He’s not your only one, but I’m sure Tech has a few like that too. What former athletes did has absolutely nothing to do with what is currently going on. What I retorted with also has absolutely nothing to do with UGA athletics, but somebody needs to fire back at fools like him.
Check out Fox Sports News today, Re: bowl ratings
December 14th, 2011
10:48 am
Out of 35 bowls rated by Fox Sports News today, the Sun was listed at # 27. The Outback Bowl was ranked at # 5. This has been my point the entire period of bowl invitations. I insisted that the Outback Bowl and Capital One Bowls are TWO of the finest. I was right. I also siad that the SUn Bowl was toward the bottom ……………. GT recruits see this and steer clear of CPJ and his losing ways.
The Sun was listed way down near the ery vbottom. Please …………..look this report up. It says it all. GT is at the bottom by accepting this sad bid.
Outback and Capital One and the Cotton ( yes, the Cotton Bowl………this is what I have been saying) and the Sugar Bowl of course, the Rose Bowl and then the mighty SEC SHOWCASE for BIG BOY TITLE of National Champion.
The problem with this is that any decent football players see this and steer clear of GT.
Dawg48
December 14th, 2011
10:51 am
SS
Give it back to him…….
If do right, no can defense
December 14th, 2011
10:52 am
Really pleased (to say the least) with the new QB recruit from Alabama. Washington is serviceable, but lacks Lee’s genuine dual run/pass threat, and Thomas’s playmaking & speed.
Consider this – out of all rushing attempts this season (661), the QBs (Washington, Days, Dickey) have rushed about 41.3% of the time. Thats a little too much, in my opinion. Ideally, the offense we run should have ~40% A-back carries (split between 2 or 3 fast A-backs, either as pitches or tosses), another 30% on B-back dives, and the remaining 30% on QB runs. Our balance was off this season, and seeing that Washington was neither a playmaker, nor a great rusher, nor a great passer, I’m not surprised.
If we’re gonna have the QB hold the ball 45-50% of the time (including dropped pass attempts), then it had better be a great runner/passer combo (Lee) or a playmaker with speed (Thomas) under center.
Supersize that order, mutt
December 14th, 2011
10:55 am
@ ratings, it didn’t seem to bother the 4-star QB recruit who just switched from Bama to Tech. And it certainly didn’t seem to bother the so-called Dream Team from signing with the mutts after they played in 2 pathetic bowls in a row, and losing one of them to UCF. You don’t know much about facts and logic, do you?
FYI
December 14th, 2011
10:55 am
Dawg48…obsessed is the same troll that pollutes the UGA blogs, too. His handle there is 4.29 GPA. He experiences malicious glee at other people’s misfortune. His life must be pretty pathetic.
Dawg48
December 14th, 2011
10:57 am
4.29gpa = obsessed = ratings
Dude if your going to trash talk, be a man and stick to one name!
Stop being a coward!
Dawg48
December 14th, 2011
10:59 am
FYI
Yea I know
CPJ 2K11
December 14th, 2011
11:00 am
Georgia tek is obsessed posts under many different handles. He stalks football recruits and harasses them on twitter. He lurks mostly on Georgia Tech, Georgia, and Kentucky football blogs. He likes fragrance and casual conversations.
Dawg48
December 14th, 2011
11:15 am
SS
I’m trying to talk 5150 into driving the WRECK to el paso with me!
Lol
Al Bundy
December 14th, 2011
1:00 pm
Why do so many of you mindless drones want to turn a discussion about GT bowl practice into a discussion about UGA vs. GT. This is about GT bowl practice and the discussion should remain on subject. If you want to waste time trashing each others, schools, students, coaches, players and former players, why don’t you create a message board for that kind of crap and have at it. Now back on subject. I hope our team is taking Utah seriously, if not we will take a beating. Utah has a quarterback who can pass and receivers who can catch. Our last few games have exposed us to the world that we can’t stop a team that can pass the football. Al better have something or I would make it his last game.
If do right, no can defense
December 14th, 2011
1:14 pm
Good point, Al.
Utah is a very run-heavy team. They have a couple of very mediocre QBs, so i wouldn’t be too worried about their offense. That being said, if Duke can hang 31 on us, then anything is possible. I was not that displeased with our defense until the last 2-3 games, when I think our inexperience in the secondary really showed. Until then we held our opponents to 24 points or less, and our secondary was so good (talent wise) that opposing teams started rushing the ball to exploit our weakness on the D-line and inability to get a pass rush. However, since our secondary was inexperienced, they eventually broke down and then teams like VT, Duke, uga opened up their passing games and killed us.
I would be more concerned about our offense performing against that stout Utah defense. We all know our offense sputters big time in bowl games (combined 17 offensive points since 2008), which I think is the major reason we’ve been losing in bowl games under CPJ. Come with some trick plays, or use different personnel, or whatever, but our offense HAS to perform in order for us to win. Our defense hasnt performed too badly (excepting the LSU game), so I’m not worried about the D.
Al Bundy
December 14th, 2011
2:06 pm
If do right, no can defense… I can’t disagree with you on any of your points. I haven’t been that disappointed by our secondary except for missed tackles. Where I see a huge weakness is in or D-LIne. They simply cannot put pressure on the quarterback. So even a mediocre QB who has all day to throw can have success. My other huge concern is Al’s lack of ability to make adjustments at half time. I cannot think of one game where we came out in the second half and put the lights out on defense.
If do right, no can defense
December 14th, 2011
3:10 pm
I agree that our D-line has been our undoing this season. That’s because we simply don’t have the personnel for the 3-4. Logan Walls for example, he plays his heart out but he’s just too small. TJ Barnes brought pressure in some games, but otherwise our D-line, including Izaan Cross and Jason Peters (while great athletes and students in their own right), are just not built for the 3-4.
They’re not able to beat double or triple teams (or at least hold their own), so our linebackers can come in and get pressure on the QB. Hopefully with some good recruiting we can get good linemen… it will take at least one more season.
As for the missed tackles, that’s again down to inexperience in our secondary as well as poor technique. They have somehow got it into their heads to strip the ball first rather than tackle the ballcarrier, and undersized as they are, it always results in 3-4 extra yards. They need to be told that you only try to strip the ball if you’re coming up in support to finish tackling a guy who is already in the process of being tackled (or breaking it). If you try and strip the ball in the open field, one-on-one, from a guy who has likely secured it by then (fumbles rarely happen in the open field) and is a good 30-40 pounds heavier than you, there’s something wrong.
And then there’s another thing. Because of our undersized line, we had to keep bringing in run support from the secondary. I saw at least three teams respond to that by the toss-and-pass trick play, where the WR or RB strings out the play to the side and then passes downfield for a big gain on an open receiver.
Bottomline: we need a better defensive front. We have a good LB group capable of putting pressure, and a talented (if young) secondary, but they fall apart if the line doesn’t do its job, or has the wrong personnel.
gt4ever
December 14th, 2011
7:54 pm
Hmmmmm,
They have drawn some good teams in the bowl games….. Airforce SUCKED…. What was the problem there…
Albert
December 15th, 2011
10:35 am
When was the last time Tech won a bowl game? How many bowl games has CPJ won at Tech?
GTBEE
December 15th, 2011
3:46 pm
headley lamar you are the winner! You are the 10,000,000 UGA fan to log on to the GT Fan Blog!!!
Come on GT Fans…UGA fans have logged onto our site 9 million more times that we have. Why do they worry about our “irrelavant” program so much???
Anyway Mr. headley lamar , to claim your prize…just come to any GT home game and have the public address announcer page George P. Burdell, and you will receive your prize from the hearts of the 50,000 faithful GT fans on hand that day.
Come on Tech fans! The GT blog login stats show that UGA fans are more interested in GA Tech football than GA Tech fans???
Be proud of yourselves UGA bloggers, by posting here you have made us the #1 Fan Blog in College Football!
Man, we love you gals!!
Albert
December 15th, 2011
7:15 pm
Everyone likes to do a little bit of slumming every now and then.
General Wood
December 15th, 2011
8:09 pm
Albert, did you crawl out of your dumpster in the slum? Did you find your pickle? Nevermind!
Cdub
December 16th, 2011
8:22 am
Just want to say my grandfather graduated from tech and my best friend was a season ticket holder.may they both rip. My uncle played for tech in the late 70s, but I pull for uga always have and always will. I will be pulling for gt in the bowl game. I hope gt wakes up and realizes this is big boy football and that offense cpj runs does not work when the other team has more than a week to prepare for it and the other problem is the top offense recruits don’t want to play in it if they want to make it to NFL . Hope you’ll win and go dawgs we put players in the NFL
Albert
December 16th, 2011
12:17 pm
I know and you should know that there is no excuse for losing this many bowl games.
old dog
December 16th, 2011
4:41 pm
GTBEE,
Thanks! We gotta go somewhere to maintain the rivalry; it is apparant that the football field ain’t the place right now, so the blogs will just have to do! By the way, the teckies go to our blogs all the time!! We can’t talk too much….we have Isaiah “I can’t poor p*ss out of a boot” Crowell who is helping all other backs to look like super-heroes and decent people. Ya’ll hang in there….get some defensive backs, and get enough QB’s so the cripple-option doesn’t make’em chair-bound at 40, and ya’ll will be just fine! You may want to get a some D-linemen bigger than your kicker…..