Johnson: ‘Lack of competing’ in loss to UGA
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said he could have handled losing 42-10 to Georgia if he thought the effort was worthy. That was not the case.
Johnson said the Yellow Jackets were guilty of a “lack of competing” in their loss to the Bulldogs in Athens, Tech’s 11th in the past 12 years to its archrival. This season, Johnson has been critical of the team for missed assignments, poor tackling and lack of focus. However, his public challenge that the team lacked competitiveness – against an archrival, no less – compared only to his statement that the Jackets “no showed” in the 21-point loss to Middle Tennessee State. While hardly palatable to Johnson, the MTSU effort could be more understandable, given that Tech was facing a team it had blown out in each of the past two years and was seven days removed from an emotionally crushing overtime loss to Miami.
“You’ve got to play hard,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to sell out.”
From watching the game video, Johnson said coaches handed out “a lot” of efforts – demerits for not giving full effort on a play. Johnson said the offense, defense and special teams were all at fault. He did say B-back David Sims played perhaps as hard as Johnson had ever seen him play. But overall, he was confounded by what he saw from players in one of the biggest games of the year, if not the biggest.
“You get beat in life, you get beat in sports,” Johnson said. “Sometimes that happens. But what you want to do is give it your best effort and you want to compete from start to finish.”
By Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog
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339 comments Add your comment
GT Lee
November 27th, 2012
3:00 pm
“Usually when someone resorts to that it just shows they really dont have much to say anyway.”
And when someone resorts to trolling they don’t have much class.
BYU Fan in FL
November 27th, 2012
3:02 pm
Thanks for the info I know I only met you guys once but I sure dont have an ill thing to say about you that if for sure. Wish him well when you see him for me if you would and go get them Seminoles!!!
GT Lee
November 27th, 2012
3:03 pm
“And if we keep things in perspective, we realize after all the debating and bickering are done, that there are more important things out there.”
Well said, TampaDawg
1 4 GT
November 27th, 2012
3:05 pm
Since so many GT guys have met while tailgating & knew him, I see no objections to sharing his name. Several here had exchanged comments with him from both sides. He had a daughter about 8 to 10 years old & he brought her to some of the games. A young man too = about 35 I guess. “Michael Velli, Jim Donnan’s Former Financial Advisor”. I’ll withhold his name for now. I too thought a lot of this young man and am saddened by his passing, but he was a “Believer” and we shall see him again.
GTBEE
November 27th, 2012
3:12 pm
Why we are not competitive against uga??
CPJ has 10 plays that he calls on offense…thats right 10 plays max!
Of those 10 plays, the line blocks them exactly the same for 7 plays and they use a slightly different blocking scheme for the other 3 plays.
Now boys, how hard is it to defend that? You only need to know 4 different blocking schemes which are dictated by the way the offense lines up. Even uga’s scholor 2.5GPA atheletes are smart enough to learn those 4 different plays!!!
1 4 GT
November 27th, 2012
3:14 pm
TampaDagw…..sorry to read that you lost your Mom recently! Prayers & thoughts! I lost mine in Feb 1997 and whil it got easier with time, I still shed a tear at certain remembrances. Nobody ever loves you like your Mom!
GTBEE
November 27th, 2012
3:14 pm
Looking at my spelling, I must be a scholar athlete too.
TampaDawg
November 27th, 2012
3:19 pm
Thanks 1 4
dap01
November 27th, 2012
3:21 pm
UGA may have had a soft schedule but the Tech game was by far the lowest level of competition.
Florida Atlantic was more competitive. GA Southern is the no. 2 team in the state.
1 4 GT
November 27th, 2012
3:22 pm
SELAH…..that is how a recently departed sports columnists for “The Atlanta Journal” ended his daily columns. He was Jewish I do believe. Anyway, selah is an ancient Hebrew word. It is found at the end of quite a few of the Psalms. Some modern theologians say it means = “pause and think about that”.
George Stein
November 27th, 2012
3:23 pm
All you need to know is headley was trolling at 4:00 AM on New Year’s Day. He’s a lonely man, and he has my sympathies for that. Understand he isn’t attacking Tech; he’s attacking boredom.
1 4 GT
November 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
The sports columnist I referred to was Furman Bisher, who passed on not too long ago.
Supersize that order, mutt
November 27th, 2012
3:25 pm
Not on here today to talk trash or rivalries……Like GT Lee said, there are more important things in life, and hearing this morning about the tragic death of a fellow blogger and personal friend has made me realize that more than ever. I appreciate the kind things already said by those of you who didn’t even know the guy other than a name on the blogs, as well as by those who didn’t even know that but appreciated the loss. BYU Fan, thanks a lot for your kind comments; it was a pleasure to meet you too, in spite of the outcome of the game. And TampaDawg, thanks for your comments also. Sorry to hear about your mom. Both 5150 UOAD and Jacket Detective lost their moms this Fall. Michael Veli was only 32 years old, and I still don’t know the circumstances or date of his death. But I was talking to him on the phone about 3 weeks ago when we got suddenly disconnected. I hadn’t heard back from him since then, so I can only assume he was involved in an automobile accident. I have emailed his brother to try to find out the details and to express my condolences to the family.
TampaDawg
November 27th, 2012
3:27 pm
1 4 GT – Cool, makes a lot of sense now. My wife and I took our kids last night to “The Story”, a really cool Christian concert with some of the biggest names in Christian music and a great layout of music inspired by many Biblical icons. There is a musical couple that call themselves Selah that performed in it and have tremendous voices, great pipes and range.
Ga Dawg81
November 27th, 2012
3:31 pm
There is obviously a talent difference between the two schools. I think this level will continue to grow unless CPJ is willing to make some changes. Richt was a gentleman, he could have ran the score up. Johnson needs to update his offense and hire a good defensive coach. He also needs to change his attitude. He is always sour and every now and then he needs to man up and say hey I just got outcoached. The man rarely smiles. He needs to lighten up and change his ideas. Quit blaming your players for everything that goes wrong. Recruiting 18-19 year old men takes a special skill and these kids are looking for a winning a program, a coach they like and trust and their parents are looking for a coaching staff that will look after their children.
I truly believe most young men and their parent do not see this in CPJ. You have one of the finest academic school in the country that is located in the south’s largest city. Their are plenty of positives for CPJ to show recruits. He just needs to change. What worked at GSU and Navy is not working at a higher level. Good luck to you in the ACC championship. Hope my Dawgs can beat Bama.
Skeptic
November 27th, 2012
3:32 pm
I’m going to open a ‘culture’ can of worms.
Apathy rules Tech athletics now because few native Georgians (I’m talking at least 3 generations) attend Tech anymore. And after graduation, students hi-tail it elsewhere. There’s been little allegiance found in the native populace for Tech since ‘90 football / final 4. The UGAs tend to be deep-rooted.
headley lamar
November 27th, 2012
3:36 pm
Michael Veli was only 32 years old, and I still don’t know the circumstances or date of his death.
Sorry to hear that man. I recently lost a friend to cancer. He was only 38.
32 or 38 is way way way too young to die.
My condolences to you and his family.
Skeptic
November 27th, 2012
3:38 pm
1 4 GT,
Bisher was not Jewish; he simply used SELAH as a literary device in the same way it’s used in Psalms–as a pause or temporary closing of a thought.
No one ever lined a birdcage or wrapped a fish in Furman Bisher’s columns, nor will anyone ever fill his shoes.
1 4 GT
November 27th, 2012
3:43 pm
My error then skeptic. I made the assumption from his use of a Hebrew term in closing his columns. Knowing what assume spells out!
Supersize that order, mutt
November 27th, 2012
3:43 pm
@ headley lamar……THANKS !!!
1 4 GT
November 27th, 2012
3:44 pm
The word selah also has musical connotations.
TampaDawg
November 27th, 2012
3:48 pm
Hey Super, hanging in there I hope?
Supersize that order, mutt
November 27th, 2012
3:54 pm
@ TampaDawg….barely, yes. I’m actually a little surprised at how this has affected me; it has not been a good day. It’s not like he was a life-long friend, since I had never even heard of him till about 2 months ago and had only met him in person maybe 3 times. But we just sorta connected from the start. It’s possible that we were talking on the phone when he died, since we got disconnected and I never heard back from him. I hope his brother can provide some details about it.
1 4 GT
November 27th, 2012
3:56 pm
There have been way too many personal & family losses lately. I know of at least 5 myself, including me. Times like this cause a guy to examine priorities more closely. All of this football stuff, while fun, is actually pretty trivial in the grand scheme of life. We really should quit all this jabbing at each other. But, I know that won’t happen. It’ll be business as usual before long & things will return to as much normalcy as we can dredge up. GOOOOO JACKETS THWGeorgie
Rick James
November 27th, 2012
4:05 pm
@GTBob
Of course we pull for Tech Bob
No you don’t. You just enjoy being condescending a few days after beating the crap out of us.
————————————————————————————————————————–
Why didnt you copy my entire comment? I also said that we dont need to root for other teams that play Tech because we own them.And it does not benefit Georgia’s strength of schedule to play Tech if they have a losing record.
Buzz2011
November 27th, 2012
4:11 pm
Enter your comments here
Buzz2011
November 27th, 2012
4:14 pm
These Dog posters are comic!!! They will fall to Bama as they did to LSU.
Bama will also ring up 450 yards or more like GT against their weak defense
and then hold leghumpersd under 14 points. SEC had better get behind
Bama as the only hope theu have to maintain a National Champion.
Buzz2011
November 27th, 2012
4:14 pm
These Dog posters are comic!!! They will fall to Bama as they did to LSU.
Bama will also ring up 450 yards or more like GT against their weak defense
and then hold leghumpersd under 14 points. SEC had better get behind
Bama as the only hope theu have to maintain a National Champion.
Buzzed
November 27th, 2012
4:20 pm
14-year-old GT: Don’t even think of stealing Bisher’s closing. The only thing you have in common is you like(d) tek.
jacket backer
November 27th, 2012
4:21 pm
How the heck does this happen? This team was totally unprepared to play in Athens and I blame this on the coaching staff. The effort I saw from this team on Saturday was embarrassing. I was a big supporter of PJ for a long time but this was the last straw for me. We need new leadership in our football program. It is clear to me that the lack of recruiting is really starting to show. He was pretty good with Gailey’s recruits in 2008-2009. Since then he is 20-18. He is 1-11 against the better teams on our schedule ( VT,Miami, Clemson, UGA) since 2010. Clearly, this program is trending in the wrong direction.
I hope the new AD takes a long look at what’s going on with our football program and sees that changes will need to be made very soon. The play of our team on Saturday( against our biggest rival no less) looked totally uninspiring and pathetic in my opinion. Tech is a hard place to win big in football. We all know that. However, we can be better than this.
Go Jackets!!
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
4:24 pm
And it does not benefit Georgia’s strength of schedule to play Tech if they have a losing record.
You are in the SEC. If SOS mattered at all then you wouldn’t even be in the top 10 right now.
1 4 GT
November 27th, 2012
4:25 pm
And would you mind telling me why I can’t honor a good man that brought me many enjoyable times reading his thoughts and for whom I had a great deal of respect. Mr. Buzzed Smart AZZ!
Buzzed
November 27th, 2012
4:26 pm
We’re right in there with Bama’s SOS. Guess they wouldn’t be in the Top 10, either.
Buzzed
November 27th, 2012
4:28 pm
You just think you ‘honor’ Bisher by stealing his line. What about people who don’t know about Bisher? Why, they might think it’s 1 4’s cute send-off. You had to explain it, didn’t you?
1 4 GT
November 27th, 2012
4:29 pm
Buzzed is just another dwag troll! Oh BTW, I’m much older than 14. And my handle is 1 4 GT = One Four GT! Doofus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dawgster
November 27th, 2012
4:29 pm
@GTBob…the load of crap you put out is nothing short of childish, and thats being kind…You come on any blog regarding UGA and dish out insults after insults, and then you wonder why no one respects anything you say…Yes I know there are dawg fans that do the same, but with you, regardless of the situation your continued lectures on how well we should be doing basically shows your mentality…My problem with you is that you feel the need to criticize everything UGA and say we should be doing bettter than we are…Why in the world would you as a Tech Fan not want
There are alot of great GA Tech Fans and unfortunately you are not one of them in my opinion. I wonder sometimes if you reallly believe the stuff you post….Whats amazing is that your obsession with UGA…I get the hatred and all that…but seldom, heck never do you bring anything constructiive to the table based on comments I have read of yours….Why not turn your hatred of UGA into something more positive and actually try to help your program succeed. There is absolutely no reason for some of the performances your team had this year in some games…All teams will have seasons or games where nothing goes right for whatever reason, but it seems they are becoming more prevelant with CPJ’s program, just a perspective from someone looking from the outside…..I really would like to see Ga Tech succeed and then each year we could brag about how bad one school would whip the other….I guiess all I am trying to say is, I just don’t get your attitude about your program…Its taken a defeatest attitude when you make excuses and and say that your fanbase should just accept 7 or 8 wins as a norm…Really?…thats acceptable for Ga Tech…I just don’t buy it….but look forward to seeing your insults regarding the dawg program with the next UGA article….
old dog
November 27th, 2012
4:33 pm
@Supersize,
Sorry for the loss. My best bud died of pancreatic cancer a few years back….ain’t fun losing a friend. As you know, I am one of the few Dawgs who want Tech to do well, in spite of GTBob’s comments. I realize there is nothing bloggers can do, but its not as much the system as it is the talent level..your D-talent is terrible, and what you have now cannot by any stretch be coached up to a top level. I hope ya’ll will address it…….and again, sorry for your loss.
dawgster
November 27th, 2012
4:34 pm
ok part of post above is missing…should read: Why in the world as a Tech Fan would you not want or expect your team to be competitive against UGA or others year in and year out…and why can’t you be….I think other GA Tech Fans would want and expect that….
1 4 GT
November 27th, 2012
4:34 pm
Well, dummy, I didn’t understand it either when I first started reading Mr. Bisher, until I did a bit of research & learned what it meant. After he died, I thought I might honor his memory in a small way thru the use of his term. Just as I honor Bobby Dodd with “Georgie” because that is what he called y’all, even though he had no trouble saying “Georgia Tech”. You don’t like it, stick your dislike and your head where the sun don’t shine. Oh wait, your head is already there! Selah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DC
November 27th, 2012
4:35 pm
Ken, I think that it would be an interesting read if you could interview former and current players of CPJ’S to find out what the players really think about him and his system. Don’t use their names, or at least their real names, so that the player or players won’t have to worry about CPJ going off the deep end on them. Ask them how the feel about getting called out and yelled at on national TV.
Supersize that order, mutt
November 27th, 2012
4:35 pm
@ old dog……THANKS !!! And I DO know the difference between “old dog” and “OLD DOG”
dawgster
November 27th, 2012
4:40 pm
@old dog…I don’t really understand someone like GTBob either…not sure what makes him tick…its hard for him to grasp that everyone doesn’t have that hatred inside that he seems to display against UGA…others may have friends, kinfolk, and such, which I do that attend Ga Tech, and though we are not supporters of the football program, maybe, just maybe we would like to see them have success for there fans except against our dawgs…Unfortunately GTBob will never grasp that and only sees what he wants to see…very sad…
Italian_29
November 27th, 2012
4:46 pm
I just wanted to let you guys know that I hope that you beat the overrated Criminols to death, a trip to a BCS bowl game will help get some of the bad taste of the season. Just for the record, I am a Dawg fan and not all of us spew garbage and I only root against you guys one game of the year. I wish all the GA teams well.
AlabamaRamblinwreck
November 27th, 2012
4:57 pm
My feeling is that these “efforts” or lack of effort should be kept between the coach and the players. I believe that all CPJ needs to say publically is that he and his staff did not get the players ready, and they take the blame for that. Nuff said…..
Players will run through walls for guys who have their backs, but I just don’t think this is PJ’s personality. I believe he expects them to automatically have motivation and competitive drive without him or his staff providing the leadership and impetus to creating that type of environment. As you have seen, there are really NO vocal leaders within the team itself, and I don’t know if PJ understands that this is also something that is needed.
Anyway, I really thought PJ was right for GT, but I am now having extremely negative thoughts the other direction.
Go Jackets!!
1 4 GT
November 27th, 2012
5:08 pm
AlabamaRamb…………. I too think as you do. This should have been left at the locker room doors. Chew ‘em out in private & publicly take the fault for shortcomings on yourself. I also bemoan the lack of any team leader pumping up the guys before the kickoffs…..Vad may be that…we’ll see. A lot of us find our support wavering, I would think. Mine is. I look down the road & see some good ball players coming up. I had hopes for a much better year, but also thought next year would be the year Tech starting regaining some luster.
Rick James
November 27th, 2012
5:32 pm
@GTBob
You are in the SEC. If SOS mattered at all then you wouldn’t even be in the top 10 right now.
—————————————————————————————————————————
Nor would Notre Dame be ranked number one but it is what it is..Strength of schedule matters which is why the ACC will never have it’s champion in a national title game.
Wardo
November 27th, 2012
5:35 pm
Every year it is another step backwards. I don’t look for anything to be different next year. If the head coach can’t accept responsibility why should he expect his players to do so?
Rick James
November 27th, 2012
5:52 pm
@GT Bob
You seem to have all the solutions for Georgia’s problems.Why dont you take a one dollar a year job at Tech as a consultant?
ignition
November 27th, 2012
6:02 pm
More from the article:
So what can Georgia Tech learn from Notre Dame’s return to the National Championship stage? Answer: Notre Dame’s recruiting of a richly and geographically diverse team of football talent. Less than 11% of Notre Dame’s players come from within its own state of Indiana. Compare that number to Georgia Tech’s roster of local in-state Georgia players that has climbed from 52% in 2007, at the close of former head coach Chan Gailey’s era, to a whopping 65% for this 2012 season, the fifth under coach Paul Johnson. But why is Georgia Tech’s 65% home-grown roster necessarily not a winning formula for success, compared to Notre Dame’s more geographically diverse roster? The answer is simple.
While the state of Georgia is rich in football talent, as we all know located in the middle of football country, the southeastern United States region, the state of Georgia’s public school system ranks 48 out of 50 for its primary and secondary education. Hence, Georgia Tech’s challenging academic setting is an automatic turn-off for most highly developed local football recruits, eyeing the NFL as the promised-land and their golden goose.
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
6:09 pm
Why in the world as a Tech Fan would you not want or expect your team to be competitive against UGA or others year in and year out…and why can’t you be….I think other GA Tech Fans would want and expect that….
Because its not possible. It is simply not possible for GT to recruit the level of talent that would be needed to compete with UGA on a regular basis. Here is a trend for you. Wins against UGA by decade:
50s: 7
60s: 4
70s: 3
80s: 3
90s: 3
2000s: 2
2010s: Zero so far
This is a clear trend over 50 years and there is an obvious reason for the trend. All UGA fans seem to think if we fire CPJ that we will all of the sudden be really competitive against UGA. It isn’t going to happen. Our issues are bigger than one coach. Do I want to beat UGA and win the national championship every year? Of course. I try to stay somewhat realistic though.