Notes: Johnson calls loss ‘my fault’
1. Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson held two fingers inches apart.
“We’re about this close to being 4-0 and everybody ranting and raving,” Johnson said Monday. He then spread his arms wide. “But we’re also about this close because we haven’t done the little things to make it happen.”
Following the Yellow Jackets’ practice, Johnson shared his disappointment in his team’s performance in its 42-36 overtime loss to Miami on Saturday and accepted responsibility for the loss. Tech plays Middle Tennessee State Saturday.
“It’s like I told the team [Monday],” he said. “You get beat like that, it’s my fault. I’m ultimately responsible.”
After playing fairly well in the first three games, Johnson said he thought the defense’s giving up 609 yards to Miami was “an aberration” and called the fourth-quarter play more of a concern than any specific defensive shortcomings such as the pass rush or secondary play.
“And I’m also concerned that we didn’t score any points in the fourth quarter,” he said.
Addressing the possibility of fatigue playing a role in the team’s fourth-quarter failures in losses to Utah in the Sun Bowl and this season to Virginia Tech and Miami, Johnson brought up third downs as a contributing factor.
Saturday, Miami converted 11 of 16 third downs. In the second half, the Hurricanes were 8-for-11 overall and 6-for-7 when they needed seven yards or more. Last season, Tech was 83rd in the country in defensive third-down efficiency at 42.4 percent.
“If you can’t stop ’em on third down, your [butt] is going to be on the field for a lot longer,” he said.
As might be expected, the loss did not sit well with Johnson. After the game, he returned home and “replayed the game in my head 40 times” before falling asleep at 4:45 a.m. and getting up 30 minutes later to come to the office.
“You just want to punch somebody or go hang yourself or something,” he said.
2. Punter Sean Poole is out after suffering an injury making a tackle Saturday. Poole was in a sling with ice on his shoulder/collarbone area after the hit. He was replaced by Ryan Rodwell, a true freshman who was the first punter in Johnson’s tenure to come to Tech on scholarship . Rodwell became the third true freshman to play this season, following wide receiver Anthony Autry and defensive lineman Adam Gotsis.
Johnson said he expected cornerback Louis Young, who left the game with an upper-body injury, and guard Will Jackson, who didn’t finish the game after injuring his leg, to play Saturday. Johnson said that safety Fred Holton (foot) ran Monday and is improving, but he wasn’t sure about his availability for Saturday.
3. Wide receiver Jeremy Moore has been reinstated to the team after leaving for personal reasons last Tuesday. Johnson said Moore came to him Thursday and told him that he had made a mistake in leaving and wanted to come back. Johnson left it up to the team’s seniors, who accepted him. Moore practiced Thursday but did not dress for the game. He apologized to the team Monday.
“Young guys, they do rash things sometimes,” Johnson said.
4. Johnson said that there is not a “hard-and-fast rule” regarding the number of audibles that the quarterback can make at the line of scrimmage. Following the game Sunday, quarterback Tevin Washington said he is coached to only make one “check” at the line, which helped lead to a 4th-and-1 play in overtime resulting in no gain. Johnson accepted responsibility, saying that Washington may have misinterpreted being told to not get in “a checking contest.”
5. Defensive end Izaan Cross will wear the No. 40 jersey Saturday in honor of former linebacker and captain Julian Burnett, who suffered a career-ending neck injury in the Sun Bowl. Different seniors have worn it each game. … Tech will play its Oct. 6 game at Clemson at 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on either ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. Tech’s home game Saturday against Middle Tennessee State will be a noon kickoff and be televised on regional sports networks, including Fox Sports South in the Atlanta market.
In case you missed it…
The meaning of Tech giving up 609 yards
After Miami loss, Tech tries to regroup
Mark Bradley: Johnson’s approach hurting Tech
Thanks for reading.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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305 comments Add your comment
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:22 am
“if tevin goes 0-10 with 3 ints he is going to start over Vad” – Silly Mutts
so wise. so smart. makes sense now! Tevin for Heisman!
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:23 am
What you STILL REFUSE TO SEE is that we are not saying that Vad would not have done a better job. We don’t know whether he would have or not, and you don’t either. But during the second quarter and first 10 minutes of the third quarter, regardless of how many yards HE gained, and regardless of how many passes HE completed, Tevin DIRECTED the offense in scoring those 36 consecutive points. You apparently are not even willing to give him credit for doing that. What happened after that, other than his bad decision in OT was certainly not entirely because of him. As I have said MANY TIMES ALREADY, I think most of the problem with the offense in the final 25 minutes of regulation was that Johnson was apparently content in sitting on the lead and not letting Tevin run the same kind of offense he had done up until that point. Remember, if you can, that the QB, no matter who he is, does NOT call ALL the plays that the offense lines up to run; he only does what the coach tells him to do., be it good or bad. It well could have been the very same thing with Vad in there, because I doubt that Johnson would have run the offense any differently at that point with Vad in there than he did with Tevin in there.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:24 am
GT Joe….NOBODY averaged 4+ yards in those last 25 minutes. If they had, then we would have had enough first downs to keep Miami’s offense off the field.
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:25 am
SS: you can’t give TW credit for the 36 points and not blame him for the last 25 minutes and the OT.
Silly Mutts
September 25th, 2012
12:25 am
It was the coservative play calling. If not why was tw succesful for the 36 points?
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:27 am
Oh, I certainly can and do, Joe. TW didn’t design the plays that were run in those last 25 minutes…..Johnson did, just like he designed the plays that were run in that 36 point barrage. TW executed the plays that he was given, and he wasn’t given anything in the last 25 minutes that were designed to do anything other than eat up the clock.
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:27 am
SS: look at the play by play. zenon and godhigh averaged 5+. Laskey was getting yards every carry. Tevin had negative yards on like 3 of 5 rushes, got sacked, and was 0 for 1.
Need any more stats?
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:30 am
Joe…..and who do you think told TW what to do during those 25 minutes? Surely you don’t think any QB in the country, no matter what the offensive scheme is, actually says, “well, I think I will run the pistol this time,” or “I think we’ll run the option this time.” If you really think that, then there’s nothing more anybody can say to you.
Silly Mutts
September 25th, 2012
12:30 am
Joe….yes you can because the coach called the plays and got coservative in his play calling. Tw didnt all of a sudden decide to quit playing offense. Pj tried to milk the clock with less risky plays. Otherwise he would have called deep pass plays on 1st down instead of 3 and 12 after straight running plays.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:31 am
I questioned why Laskey wasn’t being given the ball, but again, I don’t think that was TW’s decision…..It was Johnson’s
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:31 am
blaming play calling on the last 25 minute performance? how about 3rd down sack. 3rd down pass incomplete. 3rd and 2 in OT, TW gets 1 yard. 4th and 1, TW gets zero.
All of our TDs were run plays, and that’s what we did in the last 25 minutes.
DOC 51
September 25th, 2012
12:32 am
GT doesn’t have one player(on either side of the ball) that is playing CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL.—–NOBODY!—The veterans make the same mistakes that they made as freshmen.
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:33 am
SS: again, look at the play by play. Laskey got the ball more than half the plays in the last 25 minutes. What game were you watching?
GT Fan
September 25th, 2012
12:34 am
Yes Joe, 400+ yards & 36 pts by the offense is more than enough to win the game. Especially considering that when the 36th pt was scored GT then had a 17 pt lead.
Defensive letdown.
IDK if you saw the OT, but even if TW gets the 1st and GT then scores a TD, but the Miami RB scored, untouched, on a 25 yd run. The D showed no signs of being able to stop Miami at this point so GT would’ve eventually lost.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:34 am
So why was TW able to run for a TD early, but not late? Do you think he suddenly lost the ability to do that? Do you think he quit trying??? Are you aware that Miami scored on 4 of their 5 possessions in the final 25 minutes? Was that Tevin’s fault too?
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:35 am
Okay, so Tevin was told what to do in the last 25 minutes, right SS? Told to throw an incompletion? Told to take a sack on 3rd down? Told to lose yardage on 3 of 5 carries? Told to audible out, and then told to run into the worst possible hole? LOL.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:36 am
If Laskey got the ball more than half the plays in the last 25 minutes, then why didn’t we get more than a couple of first downs? Was that Tevin’s fault that Laskey didn’t gain more yards???
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:37 am
Once again, SS, if Tevin can’t get us 1st downs, can’t win the field position game, he can shoulder some blame of giving up points to miami.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:37 am
Joe…..I sure hope your son, if you have one, never plays QB in a football game and has to listen to somebody like you blame him, and him alone for a loss. No, on second thought, I hope you do have a son in that position, so you will feel the sting of vitriolic criticism from fools like you.
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:38 am
Again, SS, when we needed TW to make a play he did the following:
took a sack on 3rd down
incomplete on 3rd down
1 yard on 3rd and 2
0 yards on 4th and 1
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:39 am
Joe…..you just supported everything we have been saying all along…”he can shoulder some blame of giving up points to miami.” Yes, he CAN shoulder SOME of the blame, but you are placing ALL the blame on him. The rest of us are not.
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:39 am
Ah, so now i see it. You are concerned about Tevin’s feelings, so you can’t blame him. How cute.
news flash. Kid is not a kid. he’s like 23 now. this isn’t peewee football.
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:40 am
yea, he can shoulder SOME of the blame for giving up points to miami. He can also shoulder ALL of the blame for the stupid decision on the most important play of the game (against VT AND Miami)
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:41 am
And is it Tevin’s fault, and his alone, that he was sacked? I guess there was no line in front of him given the duty of protecting him or blocking for him. Is that right? I don’t remember now the pass play, so I don’t know if it was a poor pass, a risky gamble, or good defense by Miami.
Silly Mutts
September 25th, 2012
12:42 am
Im dOne with this from joe. He just doesnt understand. Next year he will be calling for the nackup when gts defense gives up 1000 yards to unc and vad lee or else scores 40 and gt loses 41-40. Sometimes someone else has to help! The coach, the line and the DEFENSE. 600 yards joe! 600 yards!
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:43 am
SS: point is, tevin makes no plays when we need it. Period. Ever.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:43 am
Joe…..I am not concerned with Tevin’s feelings. I am sure he is man enough to take criticism from jerks like you. I just hope if you have a son in that position, that he (AND YOU) will be man enough to do the same. I am done with you, and I am outta here for the night.
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:43 am
600 yards because Tevin can’t keep the ball from Miami.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:44 am
@ Silly Mutts…..I am done with him too. If he is indeed a Tech fan, then I wish he would just go ahead and change his allegiance to some other school. We don’t need fans like that.
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:46 am
SS: I hope, if you have a son, and he plays QB, that you will have a higher standard for him than you have for Tevin Washington.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
12:47 am
I would let my son set his own standards and hope he lived up to them, But whether he did or not, he would still be my son, and I would still love him, and I would defend him to the hilt against fools like you. Good night !!!!
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:49 am
I hope and pray that you would raise your son to have higher standards than to be like Tevin as a QB.
Silly Mutts
September 25th, 2012
12:50 am
Yeah joe tw gave up 600 yards too! He plays defense! Lol. Oh and pj thinks vad is better qb and purposely put tw in the game and told him to lose, let the defense not tackle, get a safety on a kickoff and be behind in the game by 19….oh and he told tw to purposely call indian on the coin toss too!
DOC 51
September 25th, 2012
12:50 am
I would rather lose the rest of our games w/ VAD LEE PLAYING AGGRESSIVELY than with TW PLAYING SCARED.LET SNODDY split p/t @ B-BACK ,AND let S.DAYS SPLIT one A-BACK with BOSTIC.OS and GODHIGH CAN SPLIT OTHER A-BACK.IT’S TIME to find out who the real playmakers are.This season is over.Put these last 2 yrs. under the underachievement label.
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:54 am
you know what, silly mutts: you have now convinced me that Tevin is a great QB. Forget Vad lee. Tevin is going to lead us to our greatest 6-6 season ever. His passing is amazing. His decision-making is perfection. His speed is unmatched. AND he’s a great dude.
I’m getting a TW jersey. And anyone criticizing TW is un-American, or a UGA fan, or a troll, because they really don’t want what’s best for GT.
Silly Mutts
September 25th, 2012
12:57 am
Im done with joe supersize…the only person he is convincing is himself. Al groh must be paying him some hefty dough to spot his nonsense over and over. Thing is i dont really like tw but to blame him on these losses and many others is just not reality. I do like vad but nothing will change until the defensive issues are solved!
tedgtfan
September 25th, 2012
12:57 am
This one statement pretty much sums it up
“Johnson said he thought the defense’s giving up 609 yards to Miami was “an aberration” and called the fourth-quarter play more of a concern than any specific defensive shortcomings such as the pass rush or secondary play.”
Definition of aberration:4. mental irregularity or disorder, especially of a minor or temporary nature; lapse from a sound mental state.
Wtf? Are you telling me that you are not really concerned with the defensive play the whole game in comparison to One QTR> of play by the offense? That it was just a minor miscue for the defense. Oh it was just a shortcoming that we didn’t have a pass rush or that the secondary got stomped upon all day. My Bad I didn’t know it was just a mistake. WAKE UP PEOPLE
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
12:58 am
silly mutts: what?!?! you don’t really like TW? What are you, satanic?
Nah, a QB can’t change anything. Not even Cam Newton at Auburn…
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
1:07 am
Can’t blame the refs tonight for the Packers losing. They shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place, right? I mean, if the offense could have scored more points, this would have never happened.
so I’m blaming the packers offense for this loss. LOL.
tedgtfan
September 25th, 2012
1:17 am
Forget about the Defense ” I’m concerned we didn’t score any points in the 4th qtr.”
Silly Mutts
September 25th, 2012
1:23 am
@ted….this is why the defense sucks and why gt loses games! He doesnt care about defense! Nail in the coffin for pj i think!
tedgtfan
September 25th, 2012
1:26 am
Great concept duh hey if we score more points rhen we won’t need a defense. Hey yah and we could be like the first team to not have a defensive unit, Hey Hey boo boo looks like we found us a pic a noca basket
tedgtfan
September 25th, 2012
1:28 am
Think so Silly Mutts
tedgtfan
September 25th, 2012
1:56 am
See Gt Joe gets it….If we score more points than the other team then everythings cool.
Silly Mutts
September 25th, 2012
2:09 am
Nah everyone loves pj!!! Gt cant recruit so he givea gt the only chance to win! Therefore 7 -5 and losing to good teams and every bowl game doesnt matter. Gt should even be happy to be in a bowl game. Winning one doesnt matter! Just highlight his unstoppable offense! See i told you it works!
tedgtfan
September 25th, 2012
2:19 am
Maybe Vad can start when he’s a junior. Till then he’ll just have to sit and wait cause I got more important stuff to do like, figure out how to get TW in on the dive too, or maybe we could have a double end around option with a QB boot, now your talkin, I’ll bet that will put more points on the board. Then everybody will bow down and tell how great my triple diple option with a bootleg twist is.
lewisbuzzard
September 25th, 2012
3:43 am
Agreed the man in charge has to take the heat for the way the season is unraveling but believe me there is plenty of blame to go around.
ENGRGT
September 25th, 2012
3:48 am
Truly it was defense not able to stop on many 3rd and longs, offense not able to move the ball in fourth quarter, safe play calling by PJ in 4th Q, not going for it on 4 and 1 in regulation when you know your D is gasses. The QB should have stuck with the play as blocked, but if he made a touch down I would be singing his praise. Now if the QB threw 1 int. had 1 fumble in the 4th quarter and did not recheck his play in OT, then I would blame him.
Burgess
September 25th, 2012
5:23 am
WOW….Johnson takes the blame for a loss, that’s a first. Usually he throws his players under the bus.
uafuneman
September 25th, 2012
5:54 am
Where’s Big Al Groh’s responsibility in all this mess?