Live blog: It’s Tech-Georgia
Whatever Georgia Tech’s chances were coming into Saturday’s game against No. 3 Georgia, the Yellow Jackets’ chances took a direct hit with A-back Orwin Smith sideline with an ankle injury suffered in the second half of last week’s win over Duke.
A couple thoughts
This is going to be a tough, tough climb. As I noted in a couple stories, I think it’ll take a near-perfect game for Tech and then a couple breaks on top of that. Georgia isn’t unbeatable, but the Jackets haven’t faced an offense like this since Clemson. The second-half run has been built on teams with mostly ineffective offenses.
Boston College (98), BYU (65), Maryland (120), North Carolina (17), Duke (87). Georgia is No. 25.
Similarly, the Tech is definitely improved offensively, but, again, Georgia will be a different kind of test.
Boston College (104), BYU (No.3), Maryland (No. 15), North Carolina (No. 55) and Duke (No. 95). Georgia is No. 20.
That said, I think Tech’s got a chance. The team is confident and, regardless of opponent, is playing well. I think it means something that Johnson said the offensive line is playing the best he’s seen in his tenure. Tech will have to win this game on the linemen’s backs, I think.
It might be oversimplifying, but Tech needs to get ahead early, control the ball and get some stops.
Enjoy the game.
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349 comments Add your comment
Old Dawg
November 24th, 2012
3:41 pm
Sad to say, Tech had a terrible game today. Yes, the offense moved the ball but in the clutch it faltered badly.
A 6-6 record shouldn’t place a team in a conference championship game and Tech has backed into.
Paul Johnson has a lot of soul searching to do if he is to resurrect the program. 1-4 against UGA isn’t a good place to start.
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
3:41 pm
don’t see CPJ going anywhere after backing into the ACC championship game.
unless he lays another turd, however
cpj
November 24th, 2012
3:42 pm
Time for the fish fry, who’s coming with me?
dr.dawg
November 24th, 2012
3:43 pm
stop blaming the refs. they were/are from the acc, after all. such sour grapes. the far, far better team and coach won, again. suck it up, techies.
hit a single
November 24th, 2012
3:44 pm
michael – As a Ga. Southern graduate you better wish you could compete against UGA like Southern did. Don’t compare the two. Bottom line is that Johnson was too loyal to Groh and he is still paying for it. He won at Navy and he will win at Ga. Tech in time.
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
3:44 pm
that 6-6 gets you into the Charlotte, it says two thing.
-Miami must have done much worse than publically know
-Costal is the weak sister of the conference
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
3:46 pm
too loyal to Groh? in what universe?
not only did he toss him under the bus, CPJ made a point of backing over Groh’s corpse publically for days.
kingster
November 24th, 2012
3:49 pm
Every team in the nation cut blocks, not as much as Tech does but EVERY TEAM, even UGA! If you don’t believe me, then you don’t know a d_m thing about football, just keep flapping your gums UGA fan.
ignition
November 24th, 2012
3:50 pm
CPJ NEEDS to make changes Now !!!!
An offensive coordinator who has experience with the pistol.
A QB coach who can coach up a qb and teach him the fundamentals of qb passing techniques..
Expand the offense and include a TE dammit .!!
Blow up the defense entirely, I don’t give a damn if it’s a 3-4, 4-3, 4-2-5, or whatever but a guy who can coach X’s and O’s but most importantly get the Joes down on fundamentals, sound execution, toughness, and damn PRIDE !!!!
Lastly Recruit, RECRUIT, RECRUIT !!!!!! GO National if no one available locally hell go International .. Didn’t CPJ coach in Hawaii lets get some Somoans, anybody, GT needs a huge talent upgrade.
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
3:52 pm
no quality QB will come within 100 miles of this offense.
Former Georgian
November 24th, 2012
3:53 pm
GT better be glad they didn’t play Vandy this year!
Buford T. Pusser
November 24th, 2012
3:53 pm
Cannot believe I drank the kool-aid and bought tickets to the ACCCG. The embarassment today was not so much the result of bad offensive or defensive schemes but can be traced to the lack of atheletes, i.e. five years of poor recruiting.
CPJ has to put more emphasis on recruting or face the fact that he may soon be calling games from the booth as a broadcaster.
It pains me to say this but UGA was the better team today because they have superior athletes who fly to the ball.
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
3:57 pm
the only way I would allow CPJ to say would be under the following
-hire an offensive coordinator
-hire a QB coach
-hire a special teams coach
-hire a whole new set of defensive coaches
-man up and admit of some of this disaster is his making
but Dan Rat rolled the dice with CPJ and put Tech in a hole it may not come out of for a decade. then he managed to get a ACC championship vacated, saddle Tech with a huge fiscal hole, alienate
a mess of season ticket holders, then run like hell for Clemson
so nothing is gonna happen
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
3:58 pm
I’ll own it. the better team won, and won big.
and deserved to.
kingster
November 24th, 2012
3:59 pm
Ok, ok, I’m back on my horse again, Tech will not beat FSU and any team(bowl team) they play that has 3 weeks to prepare for Tech’s offense is going to lock them down, Tech’s defense cann’t barely stop anybody, its a bad 6-8 team, that backed into a conf playoff that had nothing to do with winning. Looking out on the game today, the bigger UGA players, the more aggressive UGA players, won the game, it makes me mad when CPJ says he only recruit guys to fit his offense, a excuse? The new AD(incoming) need to pay attention now before its too late!!
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
4:00 pm
Gene Chizik is about to be available.
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
4:01 pm
what I’m scared of is Tech managing a win over FS.
how do you dump a guy who won two ACC titles in 4 years?
dr.dawg
November 24th, 2012
4:04 pm
hey, techies, don’t blame richt. he pulled his starters out for the fourth quarter. otherwise it would have been worse that the 51-7 beatdown of ten years ago. give thanks for mercy.
BAMA and DAGGIE KICKER
November 24th, 2012
4:06 pm
UGA you blow, your schedule is sooooo week. The only halfway decent team you player you got blow out by…………And dont say UF is good, they bite. Here little doggie doggie, get ready for a beat down. Know how you can tell a UGA person? They think dog is dawg……just their cheerleaders and fans….Awful….We are gonna blow UGA away and let them see a real to team. See, when we got beat by LSU we still stayed ahead of the pups because of our schedule compared to the pups. UGA plays dirty, half their team from Clarke Detention Center. ROLL TIDE!
BackyardBrewery
November 24th, 2012
4:07 pm
Dooley is looking for a gig. He’s a small time coach who could do some recruiting.. and further that, fire up players who’ve been trampled on for years… ala Tech.
CPJ wouldn’t even be considered for a job at Kentucky…
The time is...
November 24th, 2012
4:07 pm
9:18.
dawg4life
November 24th, 2012
4:08 pm
Stalin- Tech didn’t win the ACC in 2009… Look Techies, Vad Lee should give you some hope. Not to mention, Smith was hurt today. UGA would have still won the game, but it might not have been as ugly. UGA is a darn good team this year, and firing CPJ would set the program back even further because of the recruiting. It will be a 3-4 year process getting back to a pro-style offense. Stick with CPJ, be relevant in the ACC, and make it to BCS bowls every 2 or 3 years.
Silly Mutts
November 24th, 2012
4:10 pm
Paul johnson is a loser! Hire anyone else!
BackyardBrewery
November 24th, 2012
4:10 pm
I like the Bama person in here getting all worked up at UGA, in a Tech blog. Shows they have less brain cells than teeth.
Bama got eaten by TAMU.. the new kid on the block, with a freshman QB.. AT HOME. The same team that lost to UF and LSU…
Hows that trip down memory lane, Bama?
WillGT
November 24th, 2012
4:13 pm
Hate to say it but Daw4life is correct. I have been a long PJ fan since the days of southern, and sarting to have serious doubts about the program. But look if Richt who the fans were screaming to be fired just a few seasons back can turn things around again, PJ can do the same. One thing is for sure, the D is a nightmare and the offense needs to play with more intensity. I watched the weekly press conference, and the team and PJ were pretty fired up, didn’t show at all on the field. Paul Johnson isn’t going anywhere because of the buy out and how long it would take to get back to a Pro Style offense. Techies we just have to live with what we have for now and pray that we have a good offseason with recruiting.
godawg
November 24th, 2012
4:13 pm
When oh when are you going to just shut down your football program? It’s a joke. Buffalo and Kentucky gave us more game. Please stop taking a spot on our schedule. Just pave over The Joke at Coke and build a repair shop to fix our broken crap. That might actually attract some people and generate some revenue. What a waste of time and money your program is….
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
4:17 pm
Tech did win the 2009 ACC title.
it was Dan Rats SEC style cover up of a relatively minor imfraction which resulted in the title being revoked.
Buford T. Pusser
November 24th, 2012
4:19 pm
@ godawg
Just how much Jack Daniels have you had today? Please don’t stumble down the steps of your trailer and hurt yourself.
godawg
November 24th, 2012
4:21 pm
So you won in 2009 but cheated to do it…nice…Why not call Curry and see if you can combine programs and form 1 decent team. The Atlanta Cooperative Team…
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
4:22 pm
comparing Richt to CPJ is a major stretch and act of delusion.
MR was a highly sought after asst. coach . until GT, nobody was pestering Navy about CPJ.
MR has brought in tons more players who excelled vs CPJ
MR has won nearly (or over?) 100 games against the best competition in the country. CPJ….
MR is a game away for playing for the national championship. CPJ….
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
4:23 pm
UGA really isn’t one to talk about bad behavior.
and as usual suffer from major comprehension issues
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
4:24 pm
very telling…..
the FAN is not carrying a post game call in show.
godawg
November 24th, 2012
4:24 pm
Thanks for your concern Pusser…I’ll be careful…try to dodge the 18-wheelers when you throw yourself off the North Ave. overpass…:)
ignition
November 24th, 2012
4:24 pm
Get Nevada’s offensive coordinator/qb coach Nick Rolovich and add a TE, infuse the pistol into CPJ’s spread option attack.
Lance Thompson Co Defensive coordinator if Kelly is kept. (gawd I hope not)
Utah St’s defensive coordinator Dave Aranda who has just been nominated for the 2012 Broyles Award would be a better choice. And gets some RECRUITS !!!!!!
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
4:28 pm
I’m curious what the people calling for patience for CPJ can use to justify the request.
-he has gotten worse every year.
-he has alienated most local HS coaching staffs
-he runs an offense no one wants to play at this level
-he has shown he will throw anyone under the bus at any moment to save himself
-he refuses to hire coaches who might make his players better.
I wouldn’t get anywhere near that program if I were an athlete at the level. I could go to
Wake, Vandy, or Northwestern
Buford T. Pusser
November 24th, 2012
4:32 pm
No, thanks for your concern @godawg. Unlike many of your delusional fan base I do not live my life vicariously through a group of teen-agers. The better team won today. No denying the obvious. Be prepared for a beatdown against Bama, their domination of Auburn at the moment is wrse than the Tech-UGA game.
stalin's ghost
November 24th, 2012
4:40 pm
yeah, but Auburn’s players are playing with more life than Tech’s did.
godawg
November 24th, 2012
4:41 pm
Buford…Remember we put our scrubs in against Auburn when it got to 31 – zip…then the scrubs scored too…I wouldn’t read too much into the AL-AU game…
wrecked again
November 24th, 2012
4:42 pm
Love the offesne LOL. 10 points. The Savior Vad was 4-12 65 yards. Johnny Unitas couldn’t make this offense good against a decent team.
Buford T. Pusser
November 24th, 2012
4:47 pm
@ stalin….and your point is?
@godawg….read what you want or interpret any way you want. The game will open with Bama as a 10-point Vegas favorite and the Tide will win by 14-21 points as Aaron Murray disappears as he always does againt superior defenses.
godawg
November 24th, 2012
4:51 pm
Like he did against the No. 1 SEC Defense of Florida? hmmm….
godawg
November 24th, 2012
4:54 pm
The A-She-She’s No. 1 D ain’t look’in so good either…how would you like to see another All-SEC MNC game?
Sore losers
November 24th, 2012
5:00 pm
I am a typical Tech fan. I have had years to perfect my excuses for being a total loser. Luck, the Refs, thugs, academics, the breaks, etc. I have a long list of excuses. When they don’t work it’s Roll Tide!! I just pretend to be a Bama fan. Then I go play Halo or watch porn.
Ice eater 1969
November 24th, 2012
5:30 pm
Did not blitz so we lost. Gt nose tackle got one tackle in 4th. No push on d so must blitz
whiskey clear
November 24th, 2012
5:34 pm
roll tide!!
disappointed tech fan
November 24th, 2012
6:20 pm
Turkey neck needs to go! He has gobbled too many times. Tech should get a refund. At least Chan Galy recruited some top notch players.
ATLXMAN
November 25th, 2012
10:04 am
gtbob—what nd team have you been watching? they have looked like a weak little acc team . only game they looked half way decent was against okl..other than that they havent been more impressive than uga. uga will crush nd when the 2 teams play.. nd defense is pretty good at linebacker but uga has face way better defensive lines already this year and ND hasnt faced 1 defense as good as uga or ala for that matter. you seem like a poor loser with you execuses why tech is really bad and the rest of the acc is awful
Tech Fan all my life
November 26th, 2012
8:56 am
Tech will never again be a legitimate “rival” to GA, pure and simple. Hate to admit it but the reality is that Tech “may” beat GA once in every 7-9 years. That is not a rival. What 4-5 star player wants to go to an inner city school where students are likely to get mugger the minute they step off campus? The curriculum does not offer majors that many students want. Tech is the Vanderbilt of the ACC. The worst thing, Tech is not a “destination” job like GA, Tenn, Auburn, FSU, Clemson, etc are. They couldn’t keep Curry, Ross or O’Leary. Every time Tech does get someone who can win one or two against GA, they leave for another program. Ross went to San Diego Chargers, Curry went to Alabama, O’Leary went (for a day) to Notre Dame. These are facts, not excuses. Personally, I’m tired.
Tide/Dawg
November 26th, 2012
10:10 am
Either Paul Johnson should go back to Navy, Ga. Southern, etc or Ga. Tech should get out of the ACC. If he can’t win in the ACC he should make a change. Georgia State would be ideal for PJ and his offense and his ego. He keeps trying to prove that his offense is the new wave in college football and defense is a waste of time. Notice how all of the colleges are scrambling to adopt his offense? I have some good friends who are Tech fans….I feel sorry for them when the good teams have to humanely pull their starters in the 3rd quarter to avoid further embarrassment of Tech. How do you think the Orange Bowl feels about having the possibility of a 7-6 Tech team in their BCS Game? They couldn’t sell all of their tickets to the Ga. game. Tech scored 68 points in a game and PJ says “Hoo-rah” look at my offense. But they gave up 50 points. It came down to who had the worst defense. I don’t want to see PJ fired….I want him to find a more suitable job.