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
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
305 comments Add your comment
tedgtfan
September 25th, 2012
12:30 pm
These words from his own mouth. This man is so intent in his own ambition of proving that the triple option will work that he has tunnel vision and unable see anything else.
DOC 51
September 25th, 2012
12:36 pm
GT Joe:Did you see the GT/UTAH BOWL GAME? CPJ went very conservative our last 2 or 3 series.The UTES shut us down,and it allowed them to attack our lousy defense.He has 3 basic running plays and the long pass.It’s PEPPER R. all over again.NO DEFENSE AND NO PASSING ATTACK.With his big salary GT FANS deserve more than 6-7 WINS.
formerGT1990Player
September 25th, 2012
12:37 pm
All that matters is that we have lost 2 games and it doesn’t look good for us against Clemson, BYU, and I don’t even want to think about UGA. CPJ is wondering why people are up in arms. Miami lost by 50 points to Kstate. VT lost to struggling Pitt team. That is why people are concerned. We have lost to teams that are not good. Quite simply, when you are paid the type of $ that CPJ is paid, he needs to win PERIOD.
ibidGT
September 25th, 2012
12:39 pm
Should play Gotsis more. See what his potential is. There is no time to see potential in our current D line made up of Juniors and Seniors. They have showed time and time again they can’t get to the QB. There is no upside or potential that can realistically be reached with them. Why not invest in young kids like Gotsis that will be around for 4 more years?
GT Fan
September 25th, 2012
12:40 pm
3 of GT’s last 5 games have gone to OT … all resulting in Ls
Let’s see:
vs Utah, the D gave up 2 TD passes on 4th down
vs VT, the D couldn’t stop the Hokies in the final 44 seconds, giving up a 20+ yd 4th down pass
vs Miami, the D allowed a 91 yd drive to the Canes with just over 2 minutes remaining
Oooh, IDK, but it looks like GT might have some issues on the D side of the ball?
GT Fan
September 25th, 2012
12:43 pm
formerGTplayer ……
I think you might want to check out K-St’s season so far ……. they’re pretty darn good. And Bill Snyder, K-St’s HC, has a knack for putting go DEFENSES on the field.
GT Fan
September 25th, 2012
12:56 pm
Izaan Cross, 3-Star 79 grade (one more grade pt and he’s a 4-star)…
“Cross has good size and potential value on both sides of the ball. He is physical at the point of attack. Makes good contact out of his stance and can play with leverage. Flashes a good get-off, but needs to be more consistent in this area…” Scouting report on Izaan
It’s 2012, Cross is a senior … he has been pretty much non-existent for the Jackets in his career. To this point in his GT career, from ESPN, I.Cross has recorded a whopping 3.0 sacks!
Dawghater
September 25th, 2012
1:31 pm
Nice try CPJ. Your a lot further away from being 4-0 than you think. You are missing a Defense, in need of a new special teams coach (even though you just hired one) and in need of some common sense when it comes to play calling! Exactly why would you kick on 4 and 1 in the 4th when making it meant running out the clock and winning the game vs. 4 and 1 in overtime when missing it meant only 3 pts means you lose anyway? Poor coaching and a lack of talent is why you are not 4-0.
Mad Dawg
September 25th, 2012
1:36 pm
UGA fan here. I think GT should have won the UM & VT games because you guys have the talent. It’s the coaching that’s ostensibly holding you back. It’s time to get mean & nasty on both offense & defense the rest of the season. I hope you guys fix whatever is wrong and begin to kick some butt on the field – except for the game in Athens! Good luck.
mark twain
September 25th, 2012
1:42 pm
i thought for sure P>J> was going to blame it on BUSH.
GT Joe
September 25th, 2012
2:18 pm
Doc 51: no passing attack because Tevin can’t throw.
CPJ’s biggest mistake is not playing Vad. Vad probably should have started LAST year. This would be a special season if Vad started last year.
Nobody disputes that Vad is WAY more talented than Tevin in all facets. Let the kid play and learn on the fly.
Fair n Balanced
September 25th, 2012
2:19 pm
You give up 609 yards and 42 points and are not concerned about defense? That’s great! We Dawg fans hope this kind of thinking prevails at Tech!
GT Fan
September 25th, 2012
2:28 pm
FYI folks,
GT is 2-2 this season, and 0-3 in the past 3 OT games b/c of the inconsistent/underperforming defense.
In the past 3 losses, ALL OT losses, the OFFENSE did enough, and gave the D a lead. Yet all 3 times the D couldn’t come up with a stop, and lost the lead. Heck, vs. Utah & Miami, the D couldn’t hold 14pt, 4th quarter leads.
GT Fan
September 25th, 2012
2:37 pm
Exactly Fair n balanced!
Some of these idiots think that if a team were to have 400+ yds offense & score 36 every game that they would be lucky to win each week b/c the D doesn’t matter.
36 pts will win 95% of team’s games as long as its D can play.
GT Fan
September 25th, 2012
2:44 pm
Take 2011:
Had GT’s D given up 42pts each week they would have been 4-8 … No bowl game.
Had GT’s O scored 36pts each week they would have been 12-1 … ONLY VT scored more than 36pts (37) vs GT last season.
400+ yds & 36pts was NOT the problem on vs Miami.
Jacket Dad
September 25th, 2012
3:08 pm
First of all, thanks Coach Johnson for taking some of the responsibility of these losses. I personally asked for it and am glad to see it.
Overall, I think there are many pieces to this puzzle, but one of the most glaring is our going too conservative when in the lead – on both offense and defense. It’s like a broken record that just keeps playing over and over! Another is mental preparation. Our guys tend to read their press and if it’s fairly good or the previous week was a positive one, they tank the next. Both these situations at least partially fall on the coaches.
I’m bummed about the season so far, but not giving up. Get Vad more playing time. Add more variety to the offense. Get some leaders to put some life into this team and go out there and do your best. That’s all Jacket fans want.
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
3:30 pm
Supersize quoted a friend on the sideline who said Miami was not called for penalties like holding.
Well that’s on Groh too.
We need a young, strong, get in the refs face, D coordinator and that is not Al(zheimer) Groh.
If Miami was as dirty as this fan attest, then Groh should have been all over the refs.
He is too old.
He was wrong from the start.
And just why should he get three years to produce when we were unhappy in 2009 with a winning team’s D coordinator mainly because we lost to Uga?
Well he has had 3 years and the time is up.
While Groh is on the sidelines, I’m staying home or hitting the links.
Blaming Tevin for CPJ’s and CAG’s mistakes may make me rethink basketball tickets too.
Tevin has been the hero in the 3 OT games in regulation and looked bad in OT because the momentum had shifted. None of the three games should have gone to OT.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
3:31 pm
@ Jacket Dad……if you have time, page back and read my post to GTBob at 10:32 this morning. I make reference to some comments emailed to my by someone who was on the sideline at the game. His observations may surprise you a little; they certainly did me
MC
September 25th, 2012
3:33 pm
Joe ever thought Vad might just be dumber than a box of rocks and PJ doesn’t trust him? That’s what I’m hearing.
GT Fan Since 56
September 25th, 2012
3:35 pm
It just doesn’t need to be as complicated as some of you are making it. There’s more analysis going on here than at the Federal Reserve. He is the HEAD COACH. Not the OC(although that seems to be his natural position). Not the DC. It’s NOT “his” offense, it’s his TEAM. Offense AND defense. And his body of work as a HEAD COACH the past three seasons is poor, and declining. Miami is not the issue, it is just a symptom. It is a single, simple question: do you believe that it will get better, or get worse, under Paul Johnson? You are entitled to your opinion, and I respect it. My answer is that I do not believe it will get better in the long term, based upon the evidence I have seen last season and this season. There may be good moments, nice wins, a fine recruit here or there, but long term, Paul Johnson is not the head coach I thought he was, and I do not think he is the best person to lead Tech’s football program. If you agree with that, then waiting to see if it gets better is a wasteful and foolish strategy. The logical next question is, how to effect change as professionally, gracefully, and quickly as possible.
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
3:41 pm
@GT Fan Since 56.
Agreed.
I do not like being at odds with Supersize because he is a good guy but if his source is accurate, our coaches should have been yelling at the refs like Al Golden did the whole game.
Bobby Knight won three NCAA basketball championships and it was not from getting along with the refs.
The refs hated him.
But you sure as heck weren’t going to cheat his team and not get an earful.
Groh’s time is up and he should not have gotten a 3 year pass to produce.
I expect lots of empty seats for the last 4 games.
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
3:44 pm
Those blaming Tevin must be watching a different game.
He has played good enough to be the hero in all three OT losses and I hate it for the guy that the defense has stolen the pats on the back he should be getting.
Al will not be owed millions if fired.
He needs to be shown the door sooner rather than later.
As a fan, I doubt I will be missed but while Groh is here, I’ll be somewhere else.
MC
September 25th, 2012
3:46 pm
Anybody that keeps up with GT knows the Story on Groh. It was money. GT only had to pay peanuts the first 2 years because UVA had to pony up 2 mill per. GT can’t afford to pay a top notch DC.
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
3:48 pm
BTW I’ll be glad to run the D for free and show some of u how to get in a refs face.
If the other team plays dirty to my team, the sideline ref will hear more cusswords than he knew existed. I will not come unhinged but he will think I just might.
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
3:49 pm
Yea I heard that MC.
Well then we should not have thrown the prior D coordinator under the bus.
MC
September 25th, 2012
3:50 pm
Fire Johnson. Hire a hungry young NFL assistant or up and coming college coach. Pay the new guy 1.5 mil or less and hire and pay a good young DC that wants to make his bones and is hungry. THen PLEASE GOD….go back to a pro style offense.
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
3:54 pm
We can’t afford to fire Johnson. We just got finished paying Gailey off and now have years more of paying Hewitt 1.7 mil a year for 5 years.
Don’t like paying Hewitt?
That was one great reason not to hire Groh because he is doing that to Virginia.
If the coach gets to tear up the contract when they want to, the AD should be able to as well.
Eisendawg
September 25th, 2012
4:37 pm
Could someone please suggest if PJ feels the need to punch someone, could he make it GTBob?
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
4:42 pm
Funny Eisendawg.
I would like it to be the fans who knock our players instead of our overpaid coaches.
billyBobjacket
September 25th, 2012
4:47 pm
fuzzybee 78: His “approach” is pretty new, usually he says the players lose the games despite his obviously superior coaching ability and scheme.
blackandwhitestripes
September 25th, 2012
4:51 pm
Lets see, your offense scores 36 points and your defense gives up 42. Game over. Who do you blame for the loss? The offense for scoring 36 points or the defense giving up the 42? CPJ for both.
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
5:06 pm
This reminds me of when I was a teenager and my dad stopped taking me to the games.
Or maybe I stopped asking to go.
This was during Bud Carson’s three straight years of 4-6, a losing record Tech fans were not at all used to after the Dodd years.
My dad was like a broken record, telling me after games that he had never seen so many angry Tech fans.
The worse loss is one where you are thinking you will win.
To have three of those out of the last five games and you get fans as angry as those Bud Carson years.
old dog
September 25th, 2012
5:09 pm
Thats what is fun about blogs; watching people dance around the real deal which is: Y’ALL AIN’T GOT A DEFENSE! If you had a defense, you would be okay. You’re dog-gone (no pun intended) near beating these folks with the worst defense in the history of organized athletics! You’re puttin points on the board, and I know that there is more strategy to a game than JUST defense. However, your defense blows one as long as a rail-road track…period. Even us ‘Dawgs that pull for ya except against us know that! And you can do better………………..for example until you get better recruits, run a D that does not require the best athletes in the country, which is what your offense is doing! (Can’t run a 3-4 w/o studs, guys….sorry!)
old dog
September 25th, 2012
5:10 pm
“Come on, man!” Help me out here, Supersize………….
Big Crimson 75
September 25th, 2012
5:21 pm
I would like it to be the fans who knock our players instead of our overpaid coaches.
—-
Detective — I would agree with that, in theory.
Sometime, the fans only recourse is to point fingers at a player rather than the Coaches or a particular System.
Lets cut to the chase, the player in question would be Tevin Washington.
It’s fair to legitimately criticize a College player.
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
5:38 pm
Tevin said he was coached not to change a play twice.
In all three games, he played good enough to win without an OT if he was backed up by a decent D.
When I see a coach go conservative – how many times have we seen that – and allow a beaten team to make a comeback, sneak into OT and win, then in my book, it is not on Tevin but the coaches.
In all three, the nearly defeated team had momentum because they knew they were beaten but were given new life by Tech’s coaches playing it safe on both O & D.
U get in an OT with teams u had beaten, u r probably going to lose even if u had Peyton.
slimG
September 25th, 2012
5:39 pm
After the jacket nation and local media blasted CPJ, he finally took the blame. No more of chan’s studs=another nobody cares bowl. Time to hit the road.
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
5:41 pm
The buck stops with Tevin?
No it stops with the guy making over two million who was a P.E. major at some small NC college.
If this humbles him, maybe he will get the team back on track.
Most on here seem to doubt that will happen.
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
5:46 pm
That’s a confusing sentence of mine Big Crimson 75 picked out.
Two years of English at GT did not improve me enough.
Jacket Detective
September 25th, 2012
5:49 pm
I do not think Bradley and Bisher did CPJ any real favor by making him out to be the second coming of Bobby Dodd. Ted Turner liked to quote a saying of his dad’s: “pride goeth before a fall”.
slimG
September 25th, 2012
5:56 pm
All I heard for the first few weeks was how great our defense was? Now that we’ve played a couple of decent offenses it sucks? Who’s in charge down there? Vad is not ready for the big time obviously and I’m not hearing any big time recruits signing……This looks bad for years to come. Let’s cut our losing and move forward with a 21rst century program.
Paul Johnson, fount of hope? | Georgia Tech
September 25th, 2012
5:58 pm
[...] Johnson calls loss ‘my fault’ [...]
Supersize that order, mutt
September 25th, 2012
6:08 pm
@ BillyBobJacket…..WHEN has CPJ ever blamed a player for a loss? NEVER. Unlike O’Leary who threw Joe Burns under the bus in PUBLIC comments after a game in Atlanta against Maryland.
DawgNole
September 25th, 2012
8:02 pm
George Stein
September 24th, 2012
10:25 pm
You must’ve had a pleasant Saturday evening, DawgNole, which would make it the exact opposite or ours.
____________________
Yah, it was good–capped by Falcons’ and Braves’ victories. Clean sweep.
Hated to see GT lose such heartbreaker. Hoping y’all go on a run now–and come to Athens 9-2.
mike borders
September 25th, 2012
8:28 pm
Blame is on the defense. 52 pass plays and no sacks, and barely a couple of hurry’s. Miami and VT’s last drives in regulation were similar – they killed us with pass plays over the middle to WIDE open receivers. We continue to get out coached on defense in the 4th quarter. Badly need an attitude on defense and better coverage in the middle. With Gailey we couldn’t score, but held teams to low points. With PJ we score, but can’t stop anyone when we have a lead. Bring back Tenuta and get some fire on defense.
stony
September 25th, 2012
8:47 pm
We don’t need Tenuta back. We are starting to get better players( Hunt-Days, Nealy). What we need is flexible strategizing during games, and for our coaches to make on the fly adjustments to game conditions.
UGA = Yawn
September 25th, 2012
8:51 pm
I thought I counted at least 8, if not 9 – 3rd down conversions in a row for Miami. No?
UGA = Yawn
September 25th, 2012
9:00 pm
0-4 vs Miami (last 4 games)
0-3 vs VT (last 3 games)
0-3 vs UGA (last 3 games)
0-4 in bowl games (last 4)
0-3 in OT games (last 3 overtime games)
0 – 17 or 0 for forever!!!
What exactly do you we base our coach’s merits? Wins vs Duke and a church school??
And how on Earth do we ever expect to fill the seats? I expect 20,000 or less at the next game. This loss did more to damage the Tech fan’s spirits then any I can remember for a long, long time. To recover, will be next to impossible.
I watched the FSU / Clemson game last night. They’re just like GT – only TEN times faster!
We are not Alabama or Oregon. We can not recover from bonehead execution and coaching. The safety? OMG. Seriously. Add 9 pts to Miami and the game basically.
bp
September 25th, 2012
9:09 pm
We go 7 and 5 another crap bowl another loss.Rinse, repeat
Burgess
September 26th, 2012
7:36 am
Don’t worry about it, Paul. Remember, it just wasn’t meant to be. LOL…..damndest quoter ever by a D1 coach after a game.