Tech notes: No extra prep time for Virginia this time
Thursday notes.
1. One sure way to irritate Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson is to suggest that his offense can be vulnerable if an opponent has more than one week to prepare. Johnson’s typical response is that it also gives Tech extra time and that any defense would fare better against any offense with more preparation.
Having Johnson debate the topic with Virginia defensive coordinator Jim Reid might make for interesting theater, then. Last season, the Cavaliers had an open date before playing the Yellow Jackets and gave them their first loss of the season in a 24-21 victory. In becoming the first team that season to hold Tech under 300 yards of total offense, Reid freely gave credit to the extra time Virginia had to work in practice against Tech’s option-based spread. The two teams play Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
“It is just absolutely a terrific advantage when you can have one extra week or have a preseason like Virginia Tech was able to have,” Reid said this week in a teleconference with Virginia media.
With a standard week of practice this season prior to Tech, Virginia devoted time in spring practice and in the preseason to the Tech offense. An additional challenge is that the Cavaliers defense lost seven starters from last season. Reid was concerned about his young secondary getting reeled in on play-action fakes.
“This is a very difficult offense to duplicate in practice, very difficult,” Reid said. “The speed of the offense is hard to duplicate when you have scout-team players running it.”
The standard rationale for Reid’s line of thinking is that the option-based spread is so rare in college football that players aren’t used to facing it and that it requires a more disciplined style of play that is difficult to learn in a week’s time.
“You’ve just got to depend on your players to fulfill their assignments, and it’s not easy, because this offense conflicts you on assignments,” he said. “It’s really hard to do.”
2. Inside linebacker Daniel Drummond, safety Fred Holton and B-back Charles Perkins will not play Saturday. They were listed as “out” in the injury report released Thursday. Drummond re-aggravated a high-ankle sprain in last Saturday’s game against Presbyterian College, Holton has a lingering foot injury. Perkins’ injury is undisclosed. B-back David Sims (shin) did not practice Thursday and is listed as questionable.
Zach Laskey is listed as the starting B-back on the depth chart, with Broderick Snoddy on the second string. Drummond’s replacement is Jabari Hunt-Days. Safety Jamal Golden will again sub for Holton, who has yet to play this season. Offensive tackle Morgan Bailey, returning from a high-ankle sprain, practiced and is expected to play.
3. Offensive lineman Will Jackson was befuddled by the Jackets’ loss to Virginia last year, saying that he felt the team was mentally prepared, but then he missed assignments that he’d “never missed before in my life” and was completely unable to explain it afterwards when watching the game video.
“That’s kind of how it is for everybody,” he said. “Just kind of anything that could have gone wrong went wrong for us.”
Thanks for reading.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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147 comments Add your comment
Delbert D.
September 14th, 2012
11:29 am
Perhaps more teams will schedule Georgia Southern the week before they play Georgia Tech.
headley lamar
September 14th, 2012
11:30 am
CPJ now 2 – 13 vs UGA, Va Tech, and Bowl Game
Should have read 2 – 11
Delbert D.
September 14th, 2012
11:32 am
As Ken pointed out in a previous blog, Tevin Washington took Computer Science and Finite Mathematics last fall to fulfill his requirements for graduation.
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
11:49 am
Well look at headly lamarr. A dwag bringing up academics and making fun of Tech’s supposedly easy management majors. Even a genius like WnE had to take crib courses to maintain his average and keep his scholarship as a management major, so he claims. I still doubt he went to Tech, but if one has to take crib courses to maintain a GPA, then either the core courses must not be easy or he must have poor study habits.
WnE
September 14th, 2012
11:52 am
re:
Delbert D.
September 14th, 2012
11:32 am
As Ken pointed out in a previous blog, Tevin Washington took Computer Science and Finite Mathematics last fall to fulfill his requirements for graduation.
____________
Now you should tell the rest of the story:
That Finite Math Class should have been taken as a TRUE FRESHMAN, 2nd semester in fact and that Comp. Sci course should have also been taken as 2nd semester FRESHMAN!
Those were 1st year courses, yet Tevin was taking them during his FOURTH YEAR at GT.
The BS in Business Admin curriculum that GT FB players have to take:
http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc409/OlWrecks/Screenshot-bsba_credit_sheetpdf.png
BTW, the SURVEY of Calculus & FINITE MATH sequence allow GT FB players to AVOID taking the same calculus that Engr. Majors take, it was not like this at GT 30 or so years ago.
They can also take EARTH SCIENCE instead of Chemistry or Physics to satisfy their ONE YEAR of science requirement.
The GT BS in Business Admin is a lot closer to traditional Business Admin programs at schools that GT alums like to criticize.
GT fans like yourself should tell BOTH sides of the story if you want to have any credibility at all!
yeller bug
September 14th, 2012
11:52 am
@GTGirl—anyone quoting Johnny U has to be cool! He was my hero growing up.
As for the extra prep time—it’s a false correlation. LSU and Iowa would have beaten us with 5 minutes prep time—they were just better teams. USAF didn’t need prep as they run the offense and see it against Navy—we lost by fumbling 3 times. Utah—up by 17 and then lose the game—what Utah “figured” it all out in 4th Qtr? Sounds more like poor execution down the stretch by both GT O & D. I think in 2008 UGA had two weeks to prepare and it didn’t help them. I may be mistaken but I think they had a bye the week before.
Despite all the detractors, the TO is a very complex offense and it is very difficult to defend when executed properly. Currently, Tech is not running it efficiently—mostly by poor blocking or missed blocking assignments. It takes precision timing and quick thinking/reading by the QB which is why Vad isn’t on the field much yet. The GT race machine isn’t hitting on all cylinders, but we should get ugly wins these next two weeks and then I hope we start to see it settle out and run well. We’ll see if our D is real the next two weeks. If so, we’ve got a lot to look forward to.
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
11:55 am
Good point, yeller bug. Positive correlation does not establish cause and effect.
Frustrated Jacket
September 14th, 2012
11:55 am
While CPJ may not be lowering the standards he is certainly doing nothing to raise them either! My biggest fear as a Tech fan is that if some sort of action is not taken quickly the football program will fall into a mire of mediocrity that we’ll never dig ourself out of. It is not the same sport that it was 20-30 years ago when you could suffer through 5-7 years of bad coaching and make a spectacular resurrection. I was not on board with the immediate salary raise after the ACC championship because it was based on insufficient evidence. The one thing that I continue to complain about was not given the opportunity to be effectively evaluated… his recruiting ability! I ask this one question to all true Georgia Tech fans… Is the caliber players brought in under his tenure worth 2.6 mil? If you, in your heart of hearts believe so, then I’ll hold my peace.
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
11:58 am
That might be an interesting study, Frustrated Jacket. Where does CPJ’s salary rank compared to coaches with similar recruiting rankings and similar W/L records?
5150 UOAD
September 14th, 2012
12:04 pm
Does ANYBODY read Headly Lamar or WnE’s posts?
Feed the Trolls Red Pan T Hash Browns!!!!!
Delbert D.
September 14th, 2012
12:04 pm
Students who intend to graduate will obviously take all of the courses required. Another example from a couple of years ago is Kris Durham, the former starting WR at Georgia. His major was Education, and the Spring of his 4th year he did his one semester practice teaching assignment at a middle school in Oconee County.
Delbert D.
September 14th, 2012
12:05 pm
Not me, 51. I’ve got those posters on auto-skip.
headley lamar
September 14th, 2012
12:09 pm
Does ANYBODY read Headly Lamar or WnE’s posts?
Somebody is. Really doesn’t matter.
I get called all sorts of names but you know what nobody every does.
Dispute my comments. Because they cant.
WnE
September 14th, 2012
12:17 pm
re:
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
11:58 am
That might be an interesting study, Frustrated Jacket. Where does CPJ’s salary rank compared to coaches with similar recruiting rankings and similar W/L records?
_______________
You also have to consider GT’s small stadium size, relatively small attendance, relatively low Merchandising Income, and the smallish overall Athletic Budget.
When you take all those things into account, the GTAA paying CPJ $2.6MM hurts us more than it hurts Bama to pay Nick Saban $5.5MM per year.
Our GTAA doesn’t have the deep pockets that other Athl. Depts. have at their disposal.
GT Fan
September 14th, 2012
12:20 pm
dawgfan
September 14th, 2012
8:58 am
“One sure way to irritate Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson is to suggest that his offense can be vulnerable if an opponent has more than one week to prepare.”
0-4 in bowl games. This guy is a total clown. Unbelievable.
——————————
You’re absolutely right, dawgfan. It’s was AF’s & Utah’s “EXTRA PREP TIME” that caused GT to lose 3 fumbles (2 on punt returns) vs. AF, and miss 3 FG’s vs. Utah.
PJ is 4-1 in season openers. The L vs. the team with by far the most talent (VT). Other than that FACT, all 4 of the other teams had the same “extra prep time” that VT had in stopping GT’s O. By your account regarding this extra prep time theory, PJ & the Jackets should be 1-4 or 0-5 in season openers b/c teams that have this EPT usually beat GT.
CT_Jacket
September 14th, 2012
12:23 pm
There are nine SEC coaches making more money than Paul Johnson. If you want National Championship results, pony up!
WnE
September 14th, 2012
12:23 pm
re:
Delbert D.
September 14th, 2012
12:04 pm
Students who intend to graduate will obviously take all of the courses required. Another example from a couple of years ago is Kris Durham, the former starting WR at Georgia. His major was Education, and the Spring of his 4th year he did his one semester practice teaching assignment at a middle school in Oconee County.
___________
The HUGE DIFFERENCE is that in Durham’s case a 4th year Student is supposed to do his student teaching, whereas at GT according to GT’s own course catalog a BS in Business Admin Major was supposed to take those courses that Tevin took as a FRESHMAN, yet Tevin was taking them in his FOURTH YEAR.
I wonder do non-FB players at GT also get to take their courses so far “out of sequence” like Tevin was able to do?
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
12:27 pm
“I wonder do non-FB players at GT also get to take their courses so far “out of sequence” like Tevin was able to do?”
————————————————
You would know the answer to this if you were ever a student at Tech. A course that is required for graduation but is not a prerequisite for another required course can be taken at any time prior to graduation.
WnE
September 14th, 2012
12:32 pm
re:
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
12:27 pm
“I wonder do non-FB players at GT also get to take their courses so far “out of sequence” like Tevin was able to do?”
————————————————
You would know the answer to this if you were ever a student at Tech. A course that is required for graduation but is not a prerequisite for another required course can be taken at any time prior to graduation.
____________
The truth is, is that I have NEVER HEARD of any MGT. Major that I knew, even those that played FB that were able to push a FRESHMAN course to their FOURTH year at GT!
I never did it, and I don’t know anyone that ever did it, frankly I was shocked when I read that TW did it!
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
12:32 pm
Good point CT_Jacket. Only three of those nine have coached teams that have won a national championship. Clearly the other six are kung fu panda failures not worth their salaries.
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
12:38 pm
“The truth is, is that I have NEVER HEARD of any MGT. Major that I knew, even those that played FB that were able to push a FRESHMAN course to their FOURTH year at GT!
I never did it, and I don’t know anyone that ever did it, frankly I was shocked when I read that TW did it!”
——————————–
I remember as a freshman and sophomore having seniors in my classes who needed to meet the requirements for graduation. It is not that odd based on scheduling or procrastination. Where did you go to school, if at all?
WnE
September 14th, 2012
12:39 pm
re:HighTech
September 14th, 2012
12:32 pm
Good point CT_Jacket. Only three of those nine have coached teams that have won a national championship. Clearly the other six are kung fu panda failures not worth their salaries.
____________
Compare their W-L records and their SoS’s (strength of schedules) to CPJ’s strength of schedules & W-L record and then see if they are failures.
What do think CPJ’s record would be if GT played in the SEC?
FORMATION 4 SUCCESS
September 14th, 2012
12:39 pm
Here is the horror in what I am seeing, hearing and learning. Money is King and it is ok to be mediocre as long as we make money. So, it’s ok to have mediocre employee’s as along as you are making money. That has always been a recipe for disaster. Sooner than Later, it will all come crashing down. i.e. Stock Market, Economy, Government, the Tech Program and the ACC. The last two really hurt to write. The SEC is making great money, has awesome attendance and yields the National Champion every year. It has been labeled as the best conference in football. The top teams in that league are Ala, FL, LSU and UGA (4). That’s it. Wow a power house. The ACC has VT, FSU, CLEM, GT (4) That it. And we all know its not enough. The SEC’s top 3 win Titles. our top 4 wins/and lose Bowl games. How did the SEC Get to this lofty position. Here’s the horror. The ACC has become complacent we would rather schedule and play a schedule to make a bowl game instead of building a powerful competitive conference that will get stronger because it plays tough schedules. People want those games and guess what pay the ticket price to see those games. So, Stadiums fill up, TV trucks roll in, talent increases and respect is earned. The ACC needs to play nothing but Grade A talent all 11/12 games a year. Create their own identity and make itself relevant again. According to the SEC and ESPN, to play an SEC Schedule with 2 to 3 cupcakes and win your conference places you in the NC title game automatically. If you win the ACC does it get you a spot in the NC Title game automatically? No. The ACC needs be more concerned about building more competitive teams in the ACC, playing a strong out of conference schedule and building a brand that the best athlete’s would want to be associated with. Once that is established and the stadium’s are full and TV contracts are hefty. Just like the SEC, you can then scale back to more than one cupcake a year. Ask any kid playing D1 football if he is excited about playing the cupcakes. A top caliber athlete always wants to play in the big games. It is only the Coaches and the AD and Presidents that sellout for a chance to make a nice bowl game. I have always learned from successful people that you speak and act on the things you want in life not those things you don’t want. So, you can’t become a team or conference of champions if your focus is locking in consolation prizes.
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
12:43 pm
So you’re saying a losing record against a stronger schedule is worth more money? Where do I sign up?
GTBob
September 14th, 2012
12:44 pm
GT had 450 yards of offense and 27 points against Utah last year but apparently they shut our offense down with their extra prep time. We actually had more points and yards against them then USC did and they had much less prep time against USC. Maybe USC should abandon their offense.
WnE
September 14th, 2012
12:45 pm
re:
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
12:38 pm
“The truth is, is that I have NEVER HEARD of any MGT. Major that I knew, even those that played FB that were able to push a FRESHMAN course to their FOURTH year at GT!
I never did it, and I don’t know anyone that ever did it, frankly I was shocked when I read that TW did it!”
——————————–
I remember as a freshman and sophomore having seniors in my classes who needed to meet the requirements for graduation. It is not that odd based on scheduling or procrastination. Where did you go to school, if at all?
____________
Don’t be stupid!
I’m not talking about Poli-Sci or History or English, I’m talking about CORE CLASSES like math or comp. sci.
I never saw any friggin’ SENIORS in my MATH or comp.sci. courses that I took as a FRESHMAN, at a school like GT those are CORE COURSES and you don’t see SENIORS in classes like that are “scheduled” to be taken as FRESHMEN!
You’re the kind of @-h0!e that would rather “win the debate ” than be honest!
WnE
September 14th, 2012
12:49 pm
re:
FORMATION 4 SUCCESS
September 14th, 2012
12:39 pm
Here is the horror in what I am seeing, hearing and learning. Money is King and it is ok to be mediocre as long as we make money. So, it’s ok to have mediocre employee’s as along as you are making money. That has always been a recipe for disaster. Sooner than Later, it will all come crashing down. i.e. Stock Market, Economy, Government, the Tech Program and the ACC. The last two really hurt to write. The SEC is making great money, has awesome attendance and yields the National Champion every year. It has been labeled as the best conference in football. The top teams in that league are Ala, FL, LSU and UGA (4). That’s it. Wow a power house. The ACC has VT, FSU, CLEM, GT (4) That it. And we all know its not enough. The SEC’s top 3 win Titles. our top 4 wins/and lose Bowl games. How did the SEC Get to this lofty position. Here’s the horror. The ACC has become complacent we would rather schedule and play a schedule to make a bowl game instead of building a powerful competitive conference that will get stronger because it plays tough schedules. People want those games and guess what pay the ticket price to see those games. So, Stadiums fill up, TV trucks roll in, talent increases and respect is earned. The ACC needs to play nothing but Grade A talent all 11/12 games a year. Create their own identity and make itself relevant again. According to the SEC and ESPN, to play an SEC Schedule with 2 to 3 cupcakes and win your conference places you in the NC title game automatically. If you win the ACC does it get you a spot in the NC Title game automatically? No. The ACC needs be more concerned about building more competitive teams in the ACC, playing a strong out of conference schedule and building a brand that the best athlete’s would want to be associated with. Once that is established and the stadium’s are full and TV contracts are hefty. Just like the SEC, you can then scale back to more than one cupcake a year. Ask any kid playing D1 football if he is excited about playing the cupcakes. A top caliber athlete always wants to play in the big games. It is only the Coaches and the AD and Presidents that sellout for a chance to make a nice bowl game. I have always learned from successful people that you speak and act on the things you want in life not those things you don’t want. So, you can’t become a team or conference of champions if your focus is locking in consolation prizes.
______________
BEAUTIFUL POST!
I could not have said it any better!
Bravo!
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
12:50 pm
I had seniors in my computer science (programming) class. Who’s being dishonest? If the course is required for graduation but is not a prerequisite for any other required class, what is the harm in waiting until one can conveniently schedule it?
If the debate is about honesty, I win.
FORMATION 4 SUCCESS
September 14th, 2012
12:55 pm
@HighTech. Your question is the problem. You believe that if we up the competition, we lose. That is a definition of a losers mentality. So, you want the easiest schedule playing nobodies all the way to a NC? It won’t happen and what good is that. If that is the case we should drop to FCS and win all the Titles. What does that pill taste like. Here is the irony. The lower 2/3 of the SEC do exactly what you just asked.
yeller bug
September 14th, 2012
12:59 pm
@WnE: I took my 1 required computer science class my senior year and it was either a freshman or sophmore level class and I didn’t play football. It’s not typical, but not that uncommon either and certainly not worth foaming at the mouth and calling people names.
Back to football: Red Shirt Question to Ken or anyone: Can you be red-shirted two years? What if Holten’s injury just keeps him out the rest of the season? Can he get a medical waiver or does he just burn this year?
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
1:00 pm
FORMATION 4 SUCCESS…my question was in response to WnE’s comment about SEC coaches and strength of schedule. You are making assumptions about my beliefs which are not true. Your last two sentences, however, do capture the point that I was trying to make. That is, coaches in the lower 2/3 of the SEC have a higher salary than CPJ. Are they earning their pay?
DOC 51
September 14th, 2012
1:01 pm
CPJ doesn’t care about bowl games.Basically all he cares about is how much yardage the triple option gains.
GT Lee
September 14th, 2012
1:04 pm
yeller bug :
A special case involves the eligibility of a player who loses the majority of a season to injury. Popularly known as a medical redshirt, a hardship waiver may be granted an athlete who appears in fewer than 30% of his or her team’s competitions (with none coming after the midway point of the season), then suffers a season-ending injury. A player who is granted such a waiver is treated for the purposes of his or her eligibility as though he or she had not competed in that season.
from Wikipedia, but I think it is pretty much correct.
fuzzybee78
September 14th, 2012
1:12 pm
@WnE
Utah’s defense was one of the best in the PAC12 and we still almost won.
We stunk it up, turnovers etc at Air Force— plus there D practice against the option everyday.
Tech’s defense wasnt the subject, however it appears to be better this year, we loose Cross, Barnes, and Sweeting to graduation and have all the rest back with Kallon, Gotis, and others ready to come on next fall.
Big Crimson 75
September 14th, 2012
1:16 pm
High tech — WnE’s a Ga Southern drop-out.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that!!
Que Judge Smails famous line……
yeller bug
September 14th, 2012
1:18 pm
Thanks GT Lee, guess I could have looked that up and it does say you can red-shirt for multiple years if necessary—-how do the schools handle that? Do Red-shirts get 5 years of scholarship money? Could they get 6? If Holten red-shirts again, he may be close to his PhD by the time he leaves.
JustinSyder
September 14th, 2012
1:18 pm
Ignore the trolls. They’re morons who have nothing better to do.
WnE
September 14th, 2012
1:19 pm
re:
HighTech
September 14th, 2012
1:00 pm
FORMATION 4 SUCCESS…my question was in response to WnE’s comment about SEC coaches and strength of schedule. You are making assumptions about my beliefs which are not true. Your last two sentences, however, do capture the point that I was trying to make. That is, coaches in the lower 2/3 of the SEC have a higher salary than CPJ. Are they earning their pay?
____________
Miss. State’s Dan Mullen has to play these teams each year:
Bama
LSU
Arky
Texas A&M
Auburn
Ole Miss
Then you add in 2 “crossover teams” from the SEC East:
Tenn
UGA
Florida
USCe
Mizzou
Kentucky
Vandy
For playing that kind of gauntlet for 8 games each year do you think he has a tougher job than does CPJ?
Do you think he deserves a bigger paycheck than does CPJ?
WnE
September 14th, 2012
1:21 pm
re:
fuzzybee78
September 14th, 2012
1:12 pm
@WnE
Utah’s defense was one of the best in the PAC12 and we still almost won.
We stunk it up, turnovers etc at Air Force— plus there D practice against the option everyday.
Tech’s defense wasnt the subject, however it appears to be better this year, we loose Cross, Barnes, and Sweeting to graduation and have all the rest back with Kallon, Gotis, and others ready to come on next fall.
_____________
Almost won?
Should I call you Capt. Moral Victory?
FORMATION 4 SUCCESS
September 14th, 2012
1:24 pm
@HighTech:
My apologies
Big Crimson 75
September 14th, 2012
1:28 pm
Do you think he deserves a bigger paycheck than does CPJ?
——-
With the amount of $$ he’s paying recruits, maybe so!!
fuzzybee78
September 14th, 2012
1:30 pm
@WnE
if you cant defend what you wrote then throw a bomb or attack me,— really? I answered your post without the BS you throw out– Utah’s D was loaded, very good. Air Force was self inflicted. Recruits are in place and our D looks better now and should be even better next year.
To the original point- I disagree with CPJ—extra time does help, studs on D help more! or in the case of AF, practicing against the option everyday helps, especially if we turn over the ball.
GT Lee
September 14th, 2012
1:34 pm
yeller bug, several kids have done 6 years with medical redshirts. I assume that as long as the student stays in school his scholarship remains in place the whole time.
GTBob
September 14th, 2012
1:45 pm
Almost won?
Should I call you Capt. Moral Victory?
UGA fan: His offense is terrible and doesnt work when there is time to prepare.
GT Fan: Not true, here is proof of a game where the team had plenty of time to prepare and we didnt struggle on offense at all.
UGA Fan: Yeah, but you lost so its the offenses fault. Fire CPJ!
CT_Jacket
September 14th, 2012
1:46 pm
I think Dan Mullen deserves more money if he wins with that schedule. He doesn’t and yet he gets the same pay as PJ.
GT Lee
September 14th, 2012
1:53 pm
anybody else have S Fla beating Rutgers for their Sack Schultz pick? Bad week last week, now this this week’s off to a shaky start……..dadgummit
yeller bug
September 14th, 2012
1:53 pm
Pretty good ROI to get 6 years of education for 4 years of playing.
GT
September 14th, 2012
1:55 pm
I think playing against an ex Virginia head coach help em too. Notice Miami, Al Golden, ex UVA coach under Al Groh, in the same situation beat Tech in Miami the next week.
Tech scored 21 points enough to win, it just let UVa score 24.
Big Crimson 75
September 14th, 2012
2:00 pm
Lee — tip of the week :
Ole Miss covers vs Texas!!
Bank it.
CT_Jacket
September 14th, 2012
2:00 pm
Until recently, the SEC, other than UGA, didn’t schedule tough OOC games on the road. LSU and Alabama has in the last few years and that’s about it. All of the rest are played on neutral sites in the South, e.g. Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas. One or two good teams would stand on the shoulders of the rest of the conference and then lift the whole conference up. If FSU and Miami had continued their winning after joining the ACC or if VT had won their BCS games, I think we would be in better shape.
And to answer the question, where would Tech be in the ACC? I think we would be in the middle, below Alabama, LSU, UF and UGA and above Ole Miss, Vandy, Kentucky and Mississippi State.