Georgia Tech wins, but this was nothing to celebrate
Josh Nesbitt had an early 4-yard touchdown run to get Georgia Tech going. Nesbitt ran for two scores and threw for two more, but it turned out to not be such an easy night.
NASHVILLE — When a team has won five straight, launched itself into the BCS bowl picture and generally has left the impression it will skate through the “Nerders Row” portion of its schedule — Virginia, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Duke — it doesn’t expect to have games like this.
Georgia Tech defeated Vanderbilt on Saturday night 56-31. Looks one-sided. It wasn’t. Nor should it have been this sloppy or this difficult.
Expectations on North Avenue suddenly are meteoric. Maybe the altitude got to be too much.
It’s all still sitting there for the Yellow Jackets, everything they could possibly have wanted when this season began. A double-digit win total. An ACC championship. A BCS bowl game. A top-10 ranking. A second season under Paul Johnson to reaffirm that the first season under Paul Johnson wasn’t nearly a fluke.
But this game was a not-so-subtle reminder that there’s still the possibility of the bottom falling out. Vanderbilt entered this game with a 2-6 record. Its only victories had come over Western Carolina and Rice — and they don’t really count.
But where was this game at halftime? Tied at 28-28. When the Commodores drove to a field goal on their first possession of the second half, they led 31-28.
How bad should the Jackets feel about that? Bad enough to inch toward the balcony and maybe seek therapy.
In Vandy’s six previous losses, the Commodores totaled 9, 3, 7, 13 (that against Army, and only because of a field goal in overtime), 10 and 10. One of those 10’s came against the Bulldogs. So you need not wonder why Tech defensive coordinator Dave Wommack is as unpopular on The Flats as Willie Martinez is in Athens.
If the Jackets don’t want to concern themselves with impressing poll voters, that’s one thing. But they can’t give up an 80-yard kickoff return or a 62-yard touchdown run, as they did Saturday night, and expect to skate again. They can’t assume any of their remaining opponents will implode the way Vandy did.
Because there’s only one Vandy.
Jonathan Dwyer gave Tech a 35-31 lead late in the third quarter with a 3-yard touchdown run. Then Vanderbilt turned back into Vanderbilt.
On the ensuing possession, running back Jamie Graham fumbled on the Commodores’ 19-yard line. (It was one of three Vandy fumbles.) Two plays later, Dwyer was in the end zone again from 3 yards out and suddenly it was 42-31 after two touchdowns in a span of 40 seconds.
Early in the fourth quarter, quarterback Josh Nesbitt connected with Embry Peeples for an 87-yard score, and the game looked like a rout. But for most of the night, it wasn’t.
It would be overstating things to suggest this was an “escape.” It was more like a reminder.
After a string of impressive conference victories over Florida State, Virginia Tech and Virginia — two of those coming on the road — expectations surrounding this program skyrocketed. The Jackets had the look of a team that was together and focused, that was following their coach, that seemingly would not be derailed in this home stretch.
Even coach Paul Johnson, while stating he believed Vanderbilt was better than its record indicated, did not anticipate any sort of a letdown. When asked earlier in the week about playing a non-conference game against a lesser opponent, he said: “I think our football team, to be a special one, has to go out and want to win every game. … I’m not worried about [a letdown]. I hope our guys are mature enough to realize that Vanderbilt is a good football team. We’re playing against the SEC. We’re not supposed to be able to compete. It’s a chance for our guys to match up with [an SEC team] again.”
Except that when you think, hear and see Vanderbilt, you don’t think, hear or see SEC. You see a small stadium that’s one-third empty on a campus where football doesn’t matter
It matters again at Tech. When you stumble, everybody notices.
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469 comments Add your comment
GR82BAG8R
November 1st, 2009
12:11 pm
Gen Neyland, agreed. However, the same “an any given day” applies. As much as we all like to think our teams are much better than other teams, upsets do occur. The overall stats of last night’s Tech game show domination. What impresses more about Tech is how they make adjustments at halftime. They don’t have the talent, yet they find ways to engineer victories.
Congratulations on your victory over South Carolina. I have to say, though, those black jerseys look odd. Have you been taking fashion lessions from Georgia?
Retards
November 1st, 2009
12:11 pm
Hey neyland you idiot–gt beat miss st by more than fla and lsu. we put up 56 on vandy. let’s see what fla does next week you moron. my guess is fla 41 vandy 20
" I just want to celebrate" what Tony Barnhart said
November 1st, 2009
12:13 pm
Mr. College Football predicted Georgia Tech would win by 25 points against Vandy and they did so.
" I just want to celebrate" something GT
November 1st, 2009
12:18 pm
Can we re-name the Cynthia McKinney Parkway after Josh Nesbitt.
ga is worst team in the sec
November 1st, 2009
12:20 pm
per the espn analysis crew. lmao.
i find it sad (not really) that the only adjustment that coach richt knows how to make is an adjustment in the dawgs uniform. by the time they play us i fully expect richt to have them playing in pink panties.
as far as those that disparage our d… give me a freakin break already. some points…
-we lost a ton of talent from last year on d so we knew we would be in a learning curve.
-obviously coach w and j both knew we needed more talent on the d at the begining of the year. look no further than our current recruits. almost all of them are d players.
- tenuta the coach that never met a game day adjustment that he liked aint looking all that stellar at nd. even though nd is a senior ladden team of 4 and 5 star players.
-insider had it right. we have a ton of injuries on d and we are still performning well enough to win and win big.
-we have no senior leaders on d.
-of 31 points, 3 came after the half. great adjustments on both special teams and on the d as a whole.
-the d really only gave up 17 points when you consider the run back and the hail mary tipped pass that vandy was gifted.
-anybody else notice that we ’shut’ down the ko returns after the half? shut them down. shut down a guy who tied will gaults return record.
i am way happy with coach w. those of you who whine an cry about him need to look at the facts before you prejudge the guy.
if he isnt doing his job than cpj will toss him out on his can (unlike chan) after the season is over.
something that coach richt has never had to do in his entire head coaching career.
Give me a break
November 1st, 2009
12:23 pm
We win by 25, which is double the friggin spread and this crap is written???
We put up 600 yards of offense against what was the 34th best defense, that plays in the mighty SEC and we get this?
What a load of crap. Football is TWO halves JEFF. Not one. If the Yankees were tied with the nationals 3-3 in the 5th and went on to win 10-4, would you say oh my they have issues? If Duke was tied with Coastal Car in bball at the half and went on to win 88-60, would you say oh my issues?? Of course not. Yet you write this garbage. What should have been written if you were truly a good sports writer would be something like—
Tech pulls away from Vandy as expected. Game was close early but gt’s dominant running AND passing pulled them away from a slow start. That is FAIR and ACCURATE. Not the crap you wrote. You really are a joke at analyzing. You sound like a liberal politician trying to justify pelosi and obama’s grand trillion dollar soon to be 4 trillion health care bs. Pathetic man.
Tech82
November 1st, 2009
12:25 pm
Mike Lum writes: “Tech scored 21 points off four Vandy fumbles. Without those, it’s a 4 point game (if my Tech calculus/math is right).”
Using the logic of that brilliant commentary, I could say, “Without the tipped pass, 62 yard run and kickoff return, it would have been 56-10.” What a ridiculous statement. You don’t get to analyze a game by removing the plays that didn’t go your way. If you could, then UGA would actually have a winning record right now.
GT65
November 1st, 2009
12:28 pm
600 yards of total offense and an 8-1 record are certainly reasons to celebrate. Win –I don’t get this article
coach smith
November 1st, 2009
12:31 pm
Tech’s mouth runners better hope they can score 50+ points on UGA becuase it is going to take that many to beat the Dawgs
Tech cannot stop the pass, UGA will throw the ball all over the yard
Todd
November 1st, 2009
12:32 pm
If 600 yards of offense and 56 points against a top defense in the sec isn’t something to celebrate, then I don’t know what is.
As others have written, we made adjustments at the half. Football is 2 halves you know. This article makes no sense.
coach smith
November 1st, 2009
12:32 pm
Tech fans who are being hard on JEFF,
remember when you were making fun of UGA for beating VANDY “only” 34-10?
Todd
November 1st, 2009
12:34 pm
coach smith
lol. yeah that joe cox and logan gray is real scary. you are too funny man. ga will likely be close in the first half, like they were against fla, but we pull away easily like we’ve done 5 times this year.
we beat the crap out of your sorry team 51-30
Booger
November 1st, 2009
12:35 pm
I feel sorry for CMR having to suffer through the alumni who force his hand on filling skill positions.
GTville
November 1st, 2009
12:36 pm
Jeff: I could not agree more. While offence was as usual spectacular, we can’t fumble on the 5 yard line, give up kick return TDs, and our D has a hard time stopping the shorter passes. Still deserve to be in the top 10 and if a few teams can lose, I think a title shot ahead of undefeated Boise State will be justified.
Duke, Wake and UGA will be able to hit open receivers and score a lot of points. My prediction is the Clemson FSU winner will take on GT in the Championship game….most likely FSU and they will head to the Orange Bowl at 7-5.
coach smith
November 1st, 2009
12:36 pm
Todd
give me a break! You want a pat on the back for beating another 2-7 team?
Tech’s wins
JAX st (get real)
Clemson 5-4
UNC 5-3
VaTech 5-3 your biggest win is over a 3 loss team
Miss St 3-6
Virginia 3-6
Vandy 2-7
Flat St 3-5 or 4-5
Tech’s wins are over teams combined 26/27 and 35
Give me a break and play somebody
coach smith
November 1st, 2009
12:39 pm
Todd
That “joe Cox” still passed for 2 TDs against Florida’s defense
don’t think you can hang your hat on what UGA did against Florida beacuse it doesn’t translate to Tech
Tech’s defense is not in the same breath as UTs, USCAR, Florida, AzSt, LSU or most of the teams that UGA has played
G Man
November 1st, 2009
12:39 pm
Jeff, kudos to you for writing an article that creates controversy (and draws comments), even if it’s wrong. You always celebrate wins, no matter the score, margin of victory or the “luck” of the play or plays that made the difference. Granted, you dont celebrate long, because there just isn’t time – another game looms next week. The most bothersome thing to me about the Tech season is exactly what this article demonstrates – media bias. Tech gets almost no converage on the national halftime shows. Why is this? We lose to LSU last year; so what? LSU outplayed Tech. We lose to UM this year, for the same reason. Hey, it happens. Anybody can lose one game. You write a negative commentary, after Tech wins by 25. OK, the hell with it. All we can do is keep playing, keep winning (hopefully) and eventually we will get some positive press. (I prefer Mark B. anyway; he’s more of a straight shooter and never mixes politics with sports).
Booger
November 1st, 2009
12:41 pm
i love when doggs have nothing to crow about.
V8 Cat
November 1st, 2009
12:41 pm
Jeff,
I am a huge Tech fan (season ticket holder/contributor) and have been for decades.Some of our fans just cannot “stand the truth” which is what I think you gave them. The defense and special teams play are ultimately going to bite us if they don’t improve. It is absolutely amazing we can over-come these problems which is primarily because we have one of the top head coaches in the nation. Yes we lost some very good defensive players from last years team, and we have had some injuries this year, but we gave-up a ton of points to UGA in last years game.
Go Jackets!
Make sure you heap some more misery on the dogs this year.
coach smith
November 1st, 2009
12:42 pm
Booger
yeah but it is not too often is it?
enjoy it while you can
Booger
November 1st, 2009
12:42 pm
i love reading crap posted by fans who look for the perfect game and can’t find it anywhere.
Booger
November 1st, 2009
12:44 pm
live in the now bubba dogg. what are u doing for us now? thats why you hate CMR.
Easy Charlie
November 1st, 2009
12:47 pm
O was NOT fantastic. Forget that. Hello, Tech was playing a 2-6 team called Vandy. Big Orange fans call Vandy “Possum.” Why? Because they get run over on the road and die at home. Tech needs to step way way up. BCS team? Nah. Hey guys — worry about Weak Forest and Dook. One of these ACC “weak sisters” will beatcha.
W&Ws
November 1st, 2009
12:52 pm
“Celebration” also means the fan has a team they enjoy rooting for, win or lose. Most of the pain in the Dawg camp is over this issue.
Texas Wreck
November 1st, 2009
12:55 pm
What game did you watch??? Tech won the game LARGE. Turnovers count. 8 touchdowns was a season’s worth of points under Gailey. And the tv announcers (SEC Shills!!) had the nerve to say the Tech offense is not built to come from behind. Obviously they know nothing about which they speak. This offense makes very big plays both on the ground and in the air. Vandy is not a great team but they played hard and lost again. A football game is 60 minutes long and it ends after the 4th quarter. Cutting performance into segments means nothing: The final score counts….
Give it a rest.
Todd
November 1st, 2009
12:55 pm
smith
you are on here evey week saying the same thing with this and other aliases. you’re a pathetic loser just like your ga team. enjoy every loss as i will laugh at every one of them. looks like 6-6 and you talk trash about a 8-1 team. ps you haven’t beaten a RANKED team this year. GT has! Get it? of course not. you are a loser. adios perdedor.
Todd
November 1st, 2009
12:56 pm
easy charlie = coach smith and im sure more will pop up throughout the day. what a waste of a life this sicko has.
BravesFan79
November 1st, 2009
1:07 pm
Didnt Vandy also challenge florida for a half? This article is overly pesimistic. Everyone knows our defense is weak this year compared to last year. Wait till we get some of these top recruits in here, GT’s defense will be dominant again!
One tin soldier rides away
November 1st, 2009
1:16 pm
Not long til the til the rubber meats the road at Grunt Field Dudd Stadium. Dogs will roll on this one. Keep it up Jackets, great team play.
One tin soldier rides away
November 1st, 2009
1:17 pm
So Tech ran it up in the 4th quarter. What is different about that.
One tin soldier rides away
November 1st, 2009
1:17 pm
So Tech ran it up in the 4th quarter. What is different about that.
One tin soldier rides away
November 1st, 2009
1:19 pm
Texas Wreck, what do the announcers have to do with Tech running up the score in the 4th quarter? Same old same old from the ACC crybabies.
Native Son
November 1st, 2009
1:25 pm
Has anyone seen Jeffrey?
Milt 1951
November 1st, 2009
1:28 pm
Just as was wriiten a few weeks ago, Tech now has the coach that Georgia used to have. Georgia will be back but right now I would not trade coaches. I still remember Chan Gailey.
Tech Geezer
November 1st, 2009
1:29 pm
The best defense is a good offense. For Tech, it may be the only defense. It is a good thing Tech’s offense is a truly great offense.
Booger
November 1st, 2009
1:31 pm
bubba doggs. CPJ has the formula. Its called time of possession. And get a big strong qb (a tim tebow knockoff) and a big strong back or two or three and a big strong receiver and if you keep the ball away from the opposition, good chance you will make the spread or better.
now tell us what CMR has to match up.
GTMike
November 1st, 2009
1:31 pm
For a win that was apparently so unimpressive, the ESPN commentators were sure impressed…
Dunno if anyone else caught this, but during SCar./UT game on ESPN they cut to an update on our game in the 4th qtr. right after we had just scored on the long pass. While they were showing it one of the commentators remarked “I can’t believe that these guys aren’t in the top 10″
Starring Paul Johnson as Sheriff Buford Pusser
November 1st, 2009
1:33 pm
stiggywiggy: “At least his damn column wasn’t 1990 pages.”
Stiggy,
I enjoy a good read. I’d like to see him write a few long columns in the future. One that is 2010 or 2011 pages and one that is 2012 or 2013 pages.
Rick
November 1st, 2009
1:37 pm
Jeff,
Do they actually pay you for your “insight” on college football? The way this crazy year is going, any win is a good win (see Iowa). And you do know that Tech rolled up 600 yards of offense on a team from the SEC – where we always here from UGA fans and AJC writers that every game is tough? Better luck on your next article.
Buzzfan
November 1st, 2009
1:38 pm
An ESPN radio guy here in LA saiBd the 2 offenses he lks best are Oregon & GT.
Starring Paul Johnson as Sheriff Buford Pusser
November 1st, 2009
1:41 pm
I watched the game on CSS. It was billed as an SEC football game. Yet the commentators constantly complemented Tech on it’s offensive prowess.
They fairly much knew that it was going to be a beat-down.
P.S. There’s a tin soldier that needs to ride away.
acc still athletically challenged conference
November 1st, 2009
1:42 pm
maybe tech would fare better against florida, alabama and Lsu, not! lmao, the Acc is a joke with one team in the top 20, you’ll always be second rate buggies!!!!!
trainbuilding U.
November 1st, 2009
1:45 pm
nice win nerdos, you have officially beat nobody ranked in the top 20 , lmao
trainbuilding U.
November 1st, 2009
1:49 pm
well va. tech was, lmao
Buzzfan
November 1st, 2009
1:50 pm
sorry for the typos-using my daughter’s laptop
Buzzfan
November 1st, 2009
1:54 pm
The SEC TV guys said they thought Tech was the best 1 loss team in the country. I was surprised because they were SEC
homers for most of the game.
StingDoc
November 1st, 2009
2:01 pm
To: “acc still athletically challenged conference ”
Uh – where did the dawgs go to get their head coach? Isn’t FSU in the ACC?
GT 4-1 against the SEC the past 2 years.
Texas Wreck
November 1st, 2009
2:13 pm
One Tin Soldier Rides Away: You are an idiot. I said the SEC announces made the ridiculous statement that the Tech offense is not capable of coming from behind. It has everything to do with the fact that these announces do not know what they are talking about. They had not seen Tech play nor done their homework. Tech’s offense makes big plays or long drives- they do both. Unlike you, I did not think the UGA helmets looked good; in fact, they looked a lot like Grambling, except Grambling usually has a good team.
Wreckmaniac
November 1st, 2009
2:20 pm
Team success can’t be based on the attitude that no matter what the defense dosen’t do, the offense will take care of it. Wrong. This defense dosen’t seem to be able to learn and continues to let marginal
opponents score big. A strong defense is the surest route to football
success and can carry a marginal offense a long way. The converse is not true. After QB, running back and wide receiver, you put your best atheletes on defense. Coach Spurrier seems to be learning this lesson.
Wreckmaniac
November 1st, 2009
2:23 pm
Lets hope we run up the score when we play the mutts