They get no respect, I tell ya
I played this game on my facebook page a few weeks ago (yes, that was a shameless plug, it’s AJC Ga. Tech).
I’m going to give you the stats of two players. You tell me whose stats are who’s:
Player A: 175 carries, 1,148 yards, 8 TDs, 5 100-plus games
Player B: 169 carries, 1,093 yards, 9 Tds, 5 100-plus games
One of these players is a Heisman candidate. One’s not.
So, can you tell me who are the players, and which one is the Heisman candidate?
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Since some of you may be making travel plans to Tampa for the ACC championship game, here are the home and aways in the next few years for Tech football. Dates haven’t been set:
2010
ACC Home: NC State, Virginia, Miami, Duke
ACC Away: Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Nonconference Home: South Carolina State, Middle Tennessee State
Nonconference Away: Kansas, Georgia
2011
ACC Home: Clemson, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia Tech
ACC Away: NC State, Virginia, Miami, Duke
Nonconference Home: Kansas, Western …
CPJ wants a playoff system
I’ll have more on this later, but Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said a playoff system would be the way to go in Division I-A football.
However, he said he understood why some schools and conferences are fine with the status quo.
Paraphrasing what he said, if a team wins the Big Ten, for example, it’s almost guaranteed a spot in the championship game. Why would they want to change?
Johnson said he’s not saying it now because his team is ranked No. 7 and may not get a chance to play for the title this season. He said he brings it up because it makes the most sense.
Had teams not been slotted into spots before a game was even played, today’s rankings might look a lot different.
This is my take on it: LSU is a top-10 team, even though it has two losses. It’s two losses came to Alabama and Florida. There’s a lot of teams that would lose to the Tide and Gators, so who does that make them a top-10 team?
Backups, Sports Illustrated, and practice
I asked coach Paul Johnson on Monday if he was at all concerned that his team hadn’t blown out an of their opponents, which would have given him a chance to give some meaningful snaps to some of the backup players, such as quarterback Jaybo Shaw.
Johnson gave a two-part answer, with both responses true to form (and paraphrasing begins now):
1. We’re winning. Nothing else matters.
2. We’re not good enough to blow any one out.
Johnson had talked about last week how beat up his team was. They have been particularly on defense, with numerous players on the two-deep having to miss games.
On offense, Tech has been a bit more fortunate, particularly at the skill positions. Wide receiver Kevin Cone was lost for the season, but I’m not entirely sure his playing time wouldn’t have eventually eroded throughout the season once Tyler Melton came back from his injury.
Tackle Austin Barrick is out for the season, but Tech had quality depth on the line.
Jonathan Dwyer was able to play through …
Continue reading Backups, Sports Illustrated, and practice »
Tech No. 7 in BCS
A few tidbits so far today:
Tech is up to No. 7 in the BCS, AP and coaches poll. The Associated Press crowns its own champion. The coaches’ poll is a component of the BCS standings.
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Saturday’s game against Duke will kick off at noon.
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Heather Dinich of ESPN.com is picking Clemson to beat Georgia Tech in the ACC championship game. I know this, it’s going to be a heck of a game.
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There’s still a shot Tech could play in national title game.
Florida would have to beat Alabama in SEC championship game. Texas would have to lose, likely to Texas A&M. Cincinnati could lose to either West Virginia or Pittsburgh.
Then, Tech would have to hope that wins over Duke, Georgia and Clemson would give it enough points to leapfrog unbeatens TCU and Boise State.
And beating Clemson again will be no easy task.
Why Paul Johnson is right
First, before we get going I should point out that Coach Johnson, nor his assistants, players, etc. need for me to point out when they’re right.
Having said that, I hope you read the story on ajc.com right now about why no one tries to copy Paul Johnson’s spread-option offense.
The usual silly reasons are thrown out by Texas coach Mack Brown and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, both of whom are smart enough to know that rallying isn’t difficult when the offense can strike as quickly as it does, and that Demaryius Thomas is exhibit A why recruiting isn’t difficult for the offense. Perhaps the only position, the only one, that a player could play in Johnson’s offense that wouldn’t translate to the NFL, would be quarterback. Now, that doesn’t mean that Josh Nesbitt wouldnt’ get drafted, or couldn’t get on with a team. It’s just the particular body of work a quarterback has in the offense would make it hard for an NFL team to gauge whether his skills would work well in the NFL.
But …
Why behind the whites, and records watch
The No. 10 Yellow Jackets have worn white jerseys for every one of their home games since Paul Johnson was hired, but Wake Forest declined Tech’s request to be allowed to wear white for this weekend’s game. (NCAA rules say that the visiting team is supposed to wear white, unless it grants the home team permission to do so.)
Deacons coach Jim Grobe said there were two reasons behind that decision:
No. 1, Grobe said he prefers his team not wear black because of the higher temperatures in the South. That’s carried over to this game. Temperature at kickoff is predicted to be 66 degrees.
No. 2, he said he usually leaves it up to the team to decide which jersey they will wear. The players wanted to wear white.
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The weekly records watch from colleague Matt Dempsey:
Things were a little tighter than people wanted against Vanderbilt but I think fans are pretty happy about a solid win against an SEC opponent. A huge game for Jonathan Dwyer on the ground led the way. Let’s see how …
Paul Johnson transcript
Courtesy of the fine folks in Georgia Tech’s sports information department, a transcript of portions of Paul Johnson’s press conference on Tuesday.
Opening Statement:
“We’re back into conference play this week against Wake Forest, who is a good football team. Anyone that had the chance to watch their last game with Miami saw that they kind of dominated the game. It was a tough way for them to lose. They’ve had a few games this year where the ballgame came down to similar situations. The Boston College game, they fought back and got the game into overtime, and then on first and goal from the two-yard line, they dropped the ball and ended up losing the ballgame. Against Navy, they played in a driving rainstorm and had some chances. Then last week, they probably should’ve been able to win the game. They’ve got a good team. The game is really important on both sides. Wake Forest is fighting to become bowl eligible and to get back in their race and we’re fighting to stay alive in …
What would the dude from Project Runway say?
As was in today’s notebook, Georgia Tech may have to choose between its Old Gold jerseys or its blue ones for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game against Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons have exercised their NCAA-given right to wear their white jerseys on Saturday. Every other team that’s visited Atlanta since Paul Johnson was hired has graciously agreed to let the Jackets wear white.
I would guess these are the choices that Tech has for Saturday:
Gold tops and white pants.
Blue tops, (slightly) gold pants
or
Blue tops, white pants
So there’s a few of the choices Tech has for the weekend. Personally, I like the blue tops and white pants. But I can understand why some may not, considering that blue isn’t one of the official school colors.
What say you?
Continue reading What would the dude from Project Runway say? »
Who is No. 1 of the one-loss teams?
Three teams in the BCS’ top 10 teams have one loss: No. 7 Oregon, No. 9 LSU and, of course, No. 10 Georgia Tech.
The Ducks got the nation’s attention at the beginning of the season for losing at Boise State. That loss lingered after one of its players punched one of the Broncos after the loss.
Most recently, the Fightin’ Quackers defeated Southern California on Saturday, rather handily, to move up two spots this week in the BCS.
They average 398.8 yards and 35.6 points in offense. On defense, they give up a respectable 300.88 yards and 17.13 points per game.
Best win: No. 5 USC.
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LSU hasn’t really done anything to earn the nation’s attention, other than to get a win against Georgia when the refs locked up, and to play Florida close. They are benefitting from starting the season No. 9 in the coaches’ poll, and No. 4 in the Harris poll after the season’s third week.
Having said that, they’ve still won seven games.
They average 325.1 yards and 26.4 points per game. They …
Weekly records watch
From esteemed colleague Matt Dempsey:
[First, don't forget to join the AJC's Georgia Tech page on facebook at http://bit.ly/T16am for breaking news about the Yellow Jackets, and other observations]
A big win over Virginia keeps Tech in the race for the ACC Coastal Division title. Plus big numbers from the big guns keeps them on the march to the record books. Let’s see how they stand with four more games to go.
Rushing Records
Most rushes in a season
Name Rushes Year
1. Tashard Choice 297 2006
2. P.J. Daniels 283 2003
3. Joe Burns 282 2001
4. Robert Lavette 280 1982
5. Eddie Lee Ivery 267 1978
6. Tashard Choice 261 2007
7. Robert Lavette 260 1984
8. Jerry Mays 249 1989
9. C.J. Williams 245 1995
10. Lenny Snow 202 1966
NR Josh Nesbitt 172 2009
With four games left to go, it’s hard to see how Nesbitt won’t end up in the top 10 for most rushes in a season. If he averages 24 carries a game the rest of the way, he’ll end up in the top five.
Most …
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