Lee, Snoddy angling for playing time
A few notes that went unused in the notebook posted online.
1. Quarterback and B-backs coach Brian Bohannon said B-back Broderick Snoddy is getting closer to being able to play, but has to keep working on his blocking.
“He’s made some improvements, but that’s an area that’s still a little bit of a concern for us,” he said.
Bohannon was encouraged by Snoddy’s improved work rate in practice in recent weeks.
Said Bohannon, “We’ve got to keep working, see if we can get him out there.”
As for quarterback Vad Lee?
“I think we’d like to get him in the game (Saturday),” he said. “Every time he’s gone in, he’s done some good things. So we’ll just kind of have to see how the game goes and, obviously, that’s something you’d like to do.”
2. Rather remarkably, A-back Orwin Smith said he didn’t receive any nasty posts on his Twitter or Facebook accounts after his safety in Saturday’s game. Kind of unfortunate that this is actually unusual, but so it is.
“If anything, it was, You guys stay strong,” Smith said. “One guy actually messaged me and said, ‘You guys stay positive and stay strong because my third-graders look up to you guys.’ I thought that was real nice.”
Smith hasn’t relinquished hope that Georgia Tech can still win the conference. It is a longshot for Georgia Tech to win the Coastal Division and play for the ACC title – Virginia Tech and Miami would both have to lose three games – but Smith hasn’t given up hope.
“You never know, because one thing about the ACC, there’s always something surprising happening,” he said. “You have a team like Maryland beat Clemson just randomly. … You just have to keep going hard because you never know when that team on top can take a loss.”
3. Center Jay Finch has maintained his weight, which was a struggle last season as the season wore on. He was 284 or 285 pounds Tuesday before practice. He is trying to eat square meals “all day, every day.”
“Just eat what I can see and see what I eat,” Finch said. “Just shove it in.”
Tuesday, Finch had eggs and bacon for breakfast and a turkey burger and a sub sandwich with a Powerade and chips for lunch.
More Finch trivia – he met Waffle House president and COO Walt Ehmer (a Tech grad) at an on-campus speaking engagement Tuesday (Ehmer’s, not Finch’s). Ehmer asked if there were any football players in attendance. When Finch raised his hand, Ehmer commiserated with him over the Miami loss.
“He was like, Hey, come talk to me when you graduate, which was cool,” Finch said.
More notes posted tonight, 9ish. Please follow me on Twitter.
In case you missed it…
Tech rebounding after Miami loss
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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157 comments Add your comment
Sam
September 26th, 2012
2:48 pm
You know what’s really cool is the fact that CEOs and COOs come knocking on doors of Tech Football Players!
1 4 GT
September 26th, 2012
2:49 pm
YOU GOT THAT RIGHT SAM!!!!
OK, GT 1 4...
September 26th, 2012
2:55 pm
…thanks for the video link – what you are confusing is a “pure” counter play with what Tech is running some of the time, which is a counter “option” play – in the video the QB is going one way and then handing off to someone going the “counter” way, usually led by a pulling guard or tackle –
In the the GT counter “option” the QB goes one way (90 degrees from the center), usually faking a hand off to the B back, then spins180* and sprints down the line to a) run it himself; b) pitch it to the A back who has gone in the same direction as the Q; or C) drop back to pass after going down the line like a “pitch” option –
The QB run and the pitch part are true options for the QB, depending upon who he is “optioning” off (the DE or ther OLB); the pass part of the equation is a true pass play that just looks like an option to “freeze” the defensive backs so that thhe leave the receiver (either the split end or the other A back, and sometimes even the B back) open down the field…
Teddy Roosevelt
September 26th, 2012
2:59 pm
Thanks, I always wondered about that too, since it seems we are the only ones running plays involving our qb spinning that much
headley lamar
September 26th, 2012
3:01 pm
You know what’s really cool is the fact that CEOs and COOs come knocking on doors of Tech Football Players!
That is awesome.
Wonder which one knocked on Reggie Ball’s door ? Or Stephon Marbury’s ?
They are probably both executives with Coca Cola or NASA by now.
So awesome too that 95 percent of the Tech players are majoring in ahem ,… ” Management ”
That wouldn’t be a coincidence would it ?
The truth is most of the UGA players qualified to go to Tech also.
Aaron Murray would have. Keith Marshall would have and most of the others.
As long as Tech fans insist they cant win because of Academics.
They wont.
Let's see...
September 26th, 2012
3:04 pm
…not many knocked on Reggie’s door (that I know of), yet there were many major players lining up for Marbury, and he was only here one year, kind of like Bill Gates at Harvard…Marbury only made about 40 mil off his Tech attendance – not a bad return…
GTPhenom
September 26th, 2012
3:05 pm
Headley, you mean the management program that is considered one of the best in the nation and is best in the state? The management program, that I can tell you from personal friends of mine I know who are in the program have to do almost as much work as engineering majors? You mean that management program? Don’t twist reality. GT Management is a challenging and top flight program in the nation.
RambleOn84
September 26th, 2012
3:07 pm
First of all, let me say this: No matter what happens from this point, I will appreciate Paul Johnson for what he has done. He has shown us Tech can compete with the big boys. No, we can’t always BEAT the big boys, but we CAN compete. And once in a while, we can win some hardware.
I also think he is building something good here. Look at the team right now. There is no doubt in my mind that, top to bottom, it is the most talented team we have had here. We have some stud underclassmen at important positions. Just to name a few, Jeremiah Attaochu, Louis Young, Brandon Watts, Quayshawn Nealy, Shawn Green, Jabari Hunt-Days, Vad Lee, Justin Thomas, Francis Kallon, Broddy Snoddy. Plenty I’m leaving off here, including several good young O-linemen.
With this said, I have to agree with the sentiment that Vad should be getting more playing time. Not necessarily starting, but getting more meaningful snaps. Because of all of the young talent here, we need to be playing for the future. I don’t want to completely give up on the season, but I think it’s important to look ahead as well.
2013 could be a very good year for us, as the schedule falls right, and we return a TON of players.
Tevin is a good QB, but Vad has the potential to be special.
GTPhenom
September 26th, 2012
3:07 pm
And to the person I was having a conversation with, I have zero problem with differing opinions, lol. I simply took offense to the fact that your response was at first basically saying I’m an idiot without offering any reasoning as to why. Apology more than accepted. Most of us are GT fans who are more than ready to support the program and simply want to see it succeed. And going back to my previous idea, I’ve actually altered it a bit. I do give Tevin til he loses another conference game. Technically as long as he doesn’t lose another conference game, there is still a chance I suppose.
RambleOn84
September 26th, 2012
3:09 pm
Don’t wrestle with a pig…you’ll just get dirty, and the pig likes it anyway.
Teddy Roosevelt
September 26th, 2012
3:09 pm
32>57
GTPhenom
September 26th, 2012
3:09 pm
That was my point RambleOn84, I simply didn’t convey it correctly. No reason to put all our chips in on a season that already has us behind the eight ball with 2 division losses early. No reason we can’t start preparing for next year, which, with the advantageous schedule you mentioned, could be very special
GT Fan
September 26th, 2012
3:13 pm
1 4 GT … re: your post about TJ Barnes … I’m with you there! I don’t think I’ve ever seen him record a sack. His DL mate Izaan Cross, as I posted on another blog, only has 3.0 sacks to date in his career. Give me a minute, and I’ll go to ESPN and look up TJ’s career sack totals ………….
Okay, I’m back. TJ, according to ESPN (and the games they had stats posted/recorded), has ONE (1) career sack! It came vs. Clemson last season.
So, per ESPN, TJ & Cross, both SRs, have combined for 4.0 sacks in their careers!
GT needs some DLmen …. bad!
1 4 GT
September 26th, 2012
3:14 pm
OK GT 1 4….I will make one more post on this subject….I have looked at several videos on Google under “counter option play football”….Ga Southern with a CPJ acolyte as HC….& GT with Nesbitt as QB….in none of what I looked at did the QB do the spin move that I tried to explain in my 1st post on this subject….I am not posting a link because I looked at more than one & don’t see that it would make much difference anyway….so you are free to do your own research or not….you are free to think you are correct or not….all I know is what I have already posted….I guess we will just disagree….BTW….not that it matters much….my blog name is 1 4 GT
GT Fan
September 26th, 2012
3:27 pm
About my previous post and GT needing DLmen ……
A Wikipedia find shows Derrick Morgan recorded SEVEN (7) sacks in 2008 (his Soph season) and TWELVE (12) sacks in 2009 (his Jr.and final season). His Freshman season in 2007 it’s reported that he played in 12 of 13 games recording NINE tackles but doesn’t specify sacks.
So, as I posted above, here we have TJ Barnes & Izaan Cross, both in their Sr. season, and COMBINED they only have 4.0 career sacks! Derrick Morgan played 3 season and record NINETEEN (19) sacks.
Wow! I knew GT needed DLmen, I just didn’t know how bad.
fuzzybee78
September 26th, 2012
3:31 pm
With respect to Twitter and the players, I expect CPJ banned POSTING on Twitter not seeing what others have posted.
headley lamar
September 26th, 2012
3:38 pm
Headley, you mean the management program that is considered one of the best in the nation and is best in the state? The management program, that I can tell you from personal friends of mine I know who are in the program have to do almost as much work as engineering majors? You mean that management program?
Yes that management program,
I find it funny and convenient that almost every football player ( and I would imagine a lot of other athletes ) list this as their major.
There wouldn’t be a reason for that would there ?
Ken Sugiura
September 26th, 2012
3:39 pm
I’d suspect the ban covers posting on Twitter but not reading it. It’d be kind of the same distinction between a person being banned from posting on the blog but not following the discussion.
this is only my opinion, but i don’t think “playing for next year” is going to happen. my thinking would be that coaches (at tech or anywhere else) wouldn’t do that to the team’s seniors or themselves. i don’t think there are many coaches who would willingly sacrifice wins like that, even if it may have a benefit down the road. it’s the nature of the beast.
Give me a break – that is incredibly kind. thank you.
Grinch
September 26th, 2012
3:41 pm
Teddy is right. TW was thrown to the wolves. CPJ should do that with Vad. The only way you learn game speed is to play against game speed. No QB is every “full proof ready” if he’s never started a single game. You have to play them and play them against top competition. They will learn trial by fire. It’s that simple. He either sinks or swims and I have a feeling that the kid can eventually swim and swim very fast. He just needs to be on the field to make mistakes and learn how to avoid them down the line.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2012
3:47 pm
@ Ken…..my name thief is back on your “fount of hope?” blog
CT_Jacket
September 26th, 2012
3:52 pm
It would have been nice if we had gotten Tuitt. He has 6 sacks for ND this year. However, Tuitt plays in a 4-3 defense.
I’m no football expert, but typically, the LBs get most of the sacks in the 3-4, so I don’t think the comparison from Morgan to TJ and IC is quite fair. Also, Morgan was a very good 4-3 DE, which is why he was drafted in the first round. But to your point, TJ is in the most important position on the defense, and, while he has worked hard to improve his strength and conditioning, he isn’t getting it done.
DS CE'91
September 26th, 2012
3:54 pm
If we start “playing for the future” every year when we can’t reach our top goals, we will NEVER be playing for “this year.”
My word, people, we still have some shot at a 10 win season! As such, I want CPJ to field the team every week that has the best chance to WIN THE %@#$& GAME!. We have played 4 games, folks. Can’t we at least wait until mid-season before throwing in the towel?
And I just love how folks toss the Seniors under the bus. “We no longer have a reasonable shot to be national/ACC champs anymore, so you guys hit the bench. No, you can’t try to beat UGA, BYU, go to a bowl game, etc. But thanks for your efforts, crappy as they were.”
Georgia Tech is more than that. It has to be; otherwise, I’m wasting my time as a Jacket alum and fan.
1 4 GT
September 26th, 2012
3:56 pm
I started out after Saturday leaving the game angry, disappointed & distraught. The anger faded throughout Sunday as I examined the game in a rational way. I am still very disappointed however. Let’s create a little theory here. I have no doubt that CPJ cares about his “boys”. I have no doubt that he cares about the program. It is, after all, his “baby”. I have no doubt he cares about losing. He is a proud & competent man. He wants to win as much as “most” of us want him to win, if not more. Allow me to build a scenario to base my theory on. GT plays UMiami (notice I will not call them the “u”..how stupid & arrogant..they have not been worthy of my respect since the days of Jimmy Johnson & Warren Sapp with their thugish style of play). GT falls behind in the 1st quarter 19-0. They mount a charge & flip the score around to 36-19. This was accomplished with relative ease. The team got kinda complacent and thought they had beaten the hurricanes and relaxed. But Miami had some fiery coaches and lit a fire under their hind quarters. CPJ saw this “relaxed” attitude taking hold in his team & tried to head it off. I can see how this could play out. This is no more than human nature. You begin to see the “light at the end of the tunnel” being to your benefit. The group sees it. “Mob mentality” anyone? The win is within your grasp. But the other side fights back & pulls victory from our hands. Sound familiar? Sun Bowl? VT? I am using just the most recent examples. We have been thinking it is/was CPJ going conservative. One side builds a comfortable lead with little apparent resistance. The game is winding down. “Our” side thinks, we got this one & begins patting themselves on the back. Then lightening strikes. The other side catches a break or two & scores a TD. The other side starts thinking this ain’t over. They start playing harder while our side has gone a bit soft in their efforts. The score flips & the other side wins. Sound possible? Sounds perfectly plausible to me. These are really just”kids” with mercurial emotions. I really can see some of our losses playing out just like this. Could it be possible for the offense to score too easily & too fast at times? I say yes! Could it be that the better teams mount a comeback ala Miami, VT & Utah in my scenario? Reach your own conclusions. Just saying. Selah.
G.P. Burdell
September 26th, 2012
3:57 pm
14 GT and Yes, the triple option/bone/veer offenses all incoporate the QB rotating or “spinning” the opposite direction of the play…it always has, we did this running the veer in HS in the 80’s. As Yes GT said, it’s usually a 270* rotation. This also provides a slight delay, to set the play in motion which is how this offense is designed to run. This is not a counter play. A counter play usually precipitates a fake movement by the running back and then a “counter” move the other direction. Also, the rotation by the QB is supposed to provide some sort of mis-direction as to where the play is going, but like we said, this has been part of this offense for many years so I don’t think it makes that much of a difference. I tend to agree that sometimes it seems to take too long for our plays to develop and result getting stuffed for no gain or a loss. Hope that helps.
George Stein
September 26th, 2012
3:57 pm
Co-sign, RambleOn84.
George Stein
September 26th, 2012
4:00 pm
Good news, Headley. We have a name for the logical flaw in your comments. It’s called argument by selective observation. Get back to us when you overcome it.
Regards,
Everyone with a functioning brain
DOC 51
September 26th, 2012
4:03 pm
KEN,ask CPJ to specifically address his (W-L RECORD for the last 4 yrs.) against VT,UM,UGA,AND BOWL TEAMS.I would love to hear his answer.THANKS!
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2012
4:05 pm
@ DOC 51……I can tell you right now what CPJ will say. He will say something to the effect that it is what it is. I know some people don’t like an answer like that, but why should he say more, and what would he say anyway? Only people like Mark Bradley ask stupid questions like that. I am sure that Ken has more sense and more class.
George Stein
September 26th, 2012
4:08 pm
Guess what, DOC51? If you have the stones, you can ask him the question yourself. His call-in show is at 7:00 EDT Wednesdays. Pick up the phone if you like.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2012
4:10 pm
@ George……I didn’t know he had a call-in show. I bet that’s a hoot
George Stein
September 26th, 2012
4:11 pm
Every Wednesday evening, Supersize. They might not have it in your neck of the woods, but you can listen online at 790’s website.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2012
4:13 pm
They don’t have anything dealing with Tech in Augusta on the radio other than the broadcast of the games, and they don’t even carry the pre-game or post-game shows…..just the games. I need to remember to bring it up online tonight
Teddy Roosevelt
September 26th, 2012
4:14 pm
I by no means want us to give up on this year and start playing solely for next year, I merely want to avoid next year being a rebuilding year with a new qb running the offense. Tebow saw the field significantly as a freshman backup, and look how that worked out.
DOC 51
September 26th, 2012
4:14 pm
CPJ may not get asked the question,Supersize,but he is accountable.Any top CEO would have been fired already with that record.
Sorry 1 4 GT......
September 26th, 2012
4:16 pm
…my bad for calling you GT 1 4 –
And while you do not want to believe it, what TW does on the Tech counter option is exactly as it is designed – there is no error on TW’s part i n doing what you call the “spin move”, he is not going the “wrong” way and then correcting it.
And while I did not want to get too technical re: your video research, what you showed was basically a misdirection play, and not a “true” counter play – what you showed is what is referred to as a “trap” play, with no counter motion by the QB at all – and what you described as TW stepping back, then going 90* left or right, then spinning 180* is the design of a counter play, and it is run by ALL option teams, whether it is Tech, GSU, Air Force, or anybody – what you seemingly have not observed is the “one step back” by the QB, but this is by design to freeze the ILB’s and safety while they try to figure out which way the QB will go, and then they fly to which ever way he initially goes, before he spins, thus leaving them vulnerable to the down blocks…and it has been run this way since the creation of the option back in the 60’s and modified by TX, AL, OK, OR, FL, WVU, and others…
I really do not mean to be technical, but now you can appreciate WHY the defense has such hard time with the TO, and why QB’s have a difficult executing the offense to perfection, and why Vad is not playing…
crackbaby
September 26th, 2012
4:18 pm
@RambleOn84 – “Don’t wrestle with a pig…you’ll just get dirty, and the pig likes it anyway.”
Amen, brother…
1 4 GT
September 26th, 2012
4:21 pm
Thanks G.P. Burdell….I played in an offense in the 60’s under a coach that told us our offense was based on the Houston Veer. I do know that our QB (who signed a scholarship with Bobby Dodd in 1961 & destroyed a knee his freshman year & beat Billy Lothridge their senior years in high school) never made that spin move immediately after the snap from center. I watched parts of 6 videos from Google “research”. In none of them did I see a QB “spinning” in place. Nebraska….Ga Southern….GT….all running some variation of an option offense. Y’all say that the QB makes the “spin” move. The videos I have watched & my memory say different. Maybe my memory is wrong. Maybe the videos are wrong. I dunno.
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2012
4:22 pm
@ DOC 51…..Although I would love for us to have a better record, I DO believe that CPJ is doing everything that could possibly be done to produce a winner at Tech, other than PERHAPS his choice of a defensive coordinator. If I were a CEO for whom he worked, and I observed his work ethic and promise, then I would certainly not be ready to fire him……YET
ibidGT
September 26th, 2012
4:22 pm
CPJ also said Perkins would get more playing time. He played him on 3 plays then pulled him…
So not sure how many more plays, if any, Snoddy, Lee, and others will actually have…
crackbaby
September 26th, 2012
4:25 pm
Not that anybody should listen to anything I post, but…
Tech has a lot to play for THIS SEASON. Win all (remaining) home games. Get better every week. Go to Athens in Nov. and shock the world.
After only 4 games, anybody who says play for next year doesn’t have much first hand experience with competitive team sports. There is a lot of talent on the field. Tech barely lost those two games. The future is bright…
That explains a lot, 1 4 GT......
September 26th, 2012
4:25 pm
…you are a child of the 60’s and most for of us, if we didn’t have flashbacks we would have no memory at all, based on everything that was happening back then…
George Stein
September 26th, 2012
4:26 pm
You can ask him, DOC51!
That explains a lot, 1 4 GT......
September 26th, 2012
4:27 pm
…”for most of us” – see, I cannot even remember how to construct sentences…
Teddy Roosevelt
September 26th, 2012
4:27 pm
Perkins is also out for the year
ibidGT
September 26th, 2012
4:28 pm
Perkins wasn’t out for the year when he started a game, played 3 plays, then wasn’t seen again.
DERP
G.P. Burdell
September 26th, 2012
4:29 pm
14 GT, check out this video, this is what we’re talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nmh1zCBlKw&feature=related
Watch at :40, :47, and :56 and you will see TW “spin” or rotate out from under center the opposite direction the play is actually going, resulting in a 270* rotation. There are a few examples where he doesn’t, as those are simple play-action plays with a pitch/pass option.
The vast majority of the plays you’ll see in this video show TW pulling out from center the opposite direction the play is actually going resulting in the rotation the other way. Look closer and you’ll see. On one of the first examples, they’ll show a slow-mo of the play and you should be able to catch it there.
crackbaby
September 26th, 2012
4:34 pm
Like coach said, Snoddy is not going to play much if he keeps missing blocks. He should learn from Robby Godhigh – that kid erases his man.
What are all the Vad Lee lovers going to do next year when he starts – call for Justin Thomas to start?
Go Jackets. Win NOW!
A Ray of Hope in This Bleak Football Season
September 26th, 2012
4:36 pm
[...] Ray of Hope in This Bleak Football Season Lee, Snoddy angling for playing time | Georgia Tech Prince Vad will save you starving GT fans! Hang in there! Reply With [...]
Supersize that order, mutt
September 26th, 2012
4:36 pm
@ ibidGT…..since those were the last 3 plays which Perkins played, I would say it is safe to assume he got injured on the 3rd one and is now out for the year as a result of it.
crackbaby
September 26th, 2012
4:39 pm
BTW – is it just me or does TW give up on the play after handing the ball off to a B-back?
He doesn’t “finish” the play by continuing to run hard with the A-back trailing/leading. In fact, he mostly looks back at the B-back hitting the line.
If memory serves, Joshua didn’t do that. He kept running hard east-west.