We’re live from Tech, Jackets have chance to take charge
The Jackets need to wait another year for a BCS title shot, but not for bragging rights.
Welcome to Opportunity Night.
Georgia Tech’s ability to become a national program is dependent in part on the ACC’s ability to develop elite teams and elevate itself significantly higher than it has been this season. But the Yellow Jackets never will have a better opportunity to take hold of their local rivalry.
Georgia fans don’t want to hear that. They view the Jackets’ 45-42 win last season and their ensuing hedge assault in Athens as some sort of aberration. All evidence is to the contrary.
This season has confirmed what we suspected last season: Tech is a program on the rise and Georgia is the one sliding. The Jackets are scrambling to keep their head coach, Paul Johnson. Mark Richt is not in trouble at Georgia but is expected to make changes to his staff.
Even if Tech had beaten Miami earlier this season and was entering tonight’s game undefeated, there’s a pretty good chance it would rank no higher than fourth in the polls, behind Florida, Alabama and Texas. That’s because of perceptions of the ACC. The Jackets would be sitting in that cluster with TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State, screaming for a playoff.
But let’s focus on the local landscape for now. The Bulldogs won seven straight games in this series (2001-07) before last season, and 14 of the last 17. But what happened last season at Sanford Stadium was not a fluke. If the Jackets win tonight, it also won’t be a fluke (they’re favored by 7 1/2).
The 2010 season is months away. But Georgia probably will be starting a freshman quarterback and Tech will return Josh Nesbitt and a blur of running backs in an offense that just keeps getting better. If you had to guess right now, which school do you suppose is going to be favored when the teams meet again next season?
This is Tech’s chance. It is the cliche statement game. Nationally, the Jackets certainly can make this a special season and say something about the program by defeating Clemson in next week’s ACC championship game and then winning the Orange Bowl. But closer to home, this is their chance to take charge locally.
Tonight’s game comes down to one thing for me: I don’t think Georgia’s defense can stop the Tech offense. The Jackets’ have defensive liabilities but I don’t see the Bulldogs matching the Jackets when they have the ball.
Do you agree? Weigh in and I’ll be back shortly.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,373 comments Add your comment
GT IS OVERRATED!!
November 28th, 2009
11:48 pm
I remember Tech fans saying they would be the 3rd best team in the SEC….what a friggin joke
puff
November 28th, 2009
11:48 pm
Hoo Hah … declaration of GT dominance looking sort of premature
weston
November 28th, 2009
11:48 pm
If the dawgs hadn’t missed so many tackles, you yellow wig bunch of weaklings wouldn’t have gotten 20 yards let alone 24 points.
charles
November 28th, 2009
11:48 pm
8 OUT OF 9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Baba O'Riley
November 28th, 2009
11:49 pm
Tech Tony- I don’t think UGA is a bad team, just an underachieving one. If they’dplayed smashmouth this entire year, they’d have 10 wins.
ellis
November 28th, 2009
11:50 pm
Georgia Bulldogs #1 in State Enough said
fcmr
November 28th, 2009
11:50 pm
Sure is quiet here!!!
Chan Gailey
November 28th, 2009
11:50 pm
jimbob
November 28th, 2009
11:47 pm
lowcountry,
Under Gaily, Tech football did actually suck. Now? We’re the much better coached team.
You were not the better coached team tonight….BOY. Your coach was out coached and proved it by getting away from the run game on the last drive. Don’t forget the uncatchable pass where you got a interference call.
weston
November 28th, 2009
11:50 pm
“Fire Johnson!”
ROTFLOL
Jimmy
November 28th, 2009
11:50 pm
COWARDS!
Saint Simons
Yellow Fuzz
Ramble On
JERKS!
dawggirl
November 28th, 2009
11:50 pm
oh my . . . the great CPJ and Tech just got drilled by the worst GA team ever!!!! Oh, yea . . . so sick of hearing about the “Tech Dynasty”! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. I would like to vote for the best coach that AJC had on line yesterday . . . I would have to take Richt on this one! OUT COACHED AND OUT PLAYED!!!! HA HA HA HA!!!! 30-24 30-24 30-24 30-24. If I’m right, I think that we beat Tech more this year than they beat GA last year!!!!!!
GT IS OVERRATED!!
November 28th, 2009
11:50 pm
Wow, I’d wish you nerds luck next week (that would be the proper thing); but I hope Clemson kicks your a$$
Stadawg
November 28th, 2009
11:50 pm
Tech Tony, we don’t matter to you??? That is why you have us in your fight song!! Idiot!!
3ebDawg
November 28th, 2009
11:51 pm
HA!HA!HA! 30-24! At least Texas Instruments Inc. is happy. I’m sure they have a truckload of calculators headed to North Ave. That’s all you NERDS had to throw at each other in disgust over your -nobody can stop the triple option- POS team! You geeks still couldn’t muster a win at home, at night , in our down year. YOU SUCK!
Nate
November 28th, 2009
11:51 pm
For those of you talking about Tech messing up Georgia’s hedges. I saw Georgia players taking a buzz and stomping on it in the middle of the field. Please don’t bring up material like that. You won fair and square and I congratulate you but don’t go hissing on Tech fans and players for class. Just don’t. It’s a two way street and we all know it.
weston
November 28th, 2009
11:51 pm
Hey Yellow Wigs, how about giving ole Johnson another contract extension.
LMAO
8 of 9
November 28th, 2009
11:51 pm
Gotta LOVE it! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!
All you maggots want to talk about show class – I read all your comments last year, the players putting the score on their rings….
Well, tough Sh%t! You want to call us rednecks, fine. Heck, I bleed red and black, so it doesn’t bother me.
We stomped your pencil necks to the ground and farted in your faces!
8 of 9 bitches, 8 of 9!
JDM
November 28th, 2009
11:51 pm
Also, request for AJC web development team:
Implement a filter to cut through all the annoying flamer posts. Maybe there can be a way for legitimate posts to have their own section… ideas?
ellis
November 28th, 2009
11:51 pm
Florida gatros would have Beaten Georgia Tech 75-0
Bobby Houseman
November 28th, 2009
11:51 pm
Dave Wommack and Willie Martinez, two real buttholes.
GT IS OVERRATED!!
November 28th, 2009
11:51 pm
http://www.firepauljohnson.com
weston
November 28th, 2009
11:52 pm
We matter so little to the Techies that they put last year’s score on a ring. LMAO
Tech Tony Bl0w me
November 28th, 2009
11:52 pm
Tech Tony
Your team got slapped on it’s own field after talking trash. ROTFLMAO at you.
treaddawg
November 28th, 2009
11:53 pm
All your fuzz are belong to us
Baba O'Riley
November 28th, 2009
11:53 pm
Chan…that was at least defensive holding and would’ve been a 1st down anyway. The better team won tonight. It was won in the trenches. You can’t blame CPJ for the playcalling when the 1st down was DROPPED. Those incomplete passes stopped the clock
Racine Dawg
November 28th, 2009
11:53 pm
The better team won. Quality matters! Join a real conference bugs—the SEC is tough every game—remember that, while you play some meaningless “championship game” against a mediocre clemson team before 20,000 fans!!!!!
ellis
November 28th, 2009
11:53 pm
Georgia Tech is going to get killed by Clemson
Cautiously Optimistic
November 28th, 2009
11:54 pm
Tech Tony, so does that mean that Nesbitt is a thug or redneck since he is from the Athen’s area?
GT IS OVERRATED!!
November 28th, 2009
11:54 pm
Good game: Dawgs, CMR, and yes, Willie too. As for Tech, you suck and you are bunch of nerds. Break out your calculators, but we doubled up your margin of victory from last year
1eyedJack
November 28th, 2009
11:54 pm
This is to Yellow Fuzz, M, Saint Simons, Ramble On, Trade School Junkie and all your other lame aliases. To the rest of the civilized Bee Nation..good luck next week.
We stomped a mud hole in the Bumble Bees!
There goes Caleb King walking into the endzone!
Washaun Ealey rumbles for another first down!
We kick that azzzzz!
That was a beatdown of Mythical proportions.
Paul Johnson is NOT a god, he got out coordinated by Willie!
340 yards rushing….HAHAHAHA!!!
We are by default, the ACC Champions!!! I guess that settles the strongest conference argument.
Great to be a DAWG!!!!!
weston
November 28th, 2009
11:54 pm
Implement a filter to cut through all the annoying flamer posts. Maybe there can be a way for legitimate posts to have their own section… ideas?
Welcome to our world JDM. Your little teenage girlfriends M, Yellow Fuzz, and Ramble On have made our blogs nothing but trash for the last year. So eat your payback with a little ketchup.
Baba O'Riley
November 28th, 2009
11:55 pm
Chan…that was at least defensive holding and would have been a 1st down anyway. UGA deserved the win. They won in the trenches. Can’t blame CPJ for the playcalling. If we run and get 5-6 yards, the clock rolls. The first down was DROPPED.
ellis
November 28th, 2009
11:55 pm
georgia bulldogs this makes up for a mediocre season. Nerds go back to the books now. Your lesson for this year is over.
Threeandoh
November 28th, 2009
11:55 pm
It was a great win. But I hate to throw the proverbial wet blanket – some of our tackling (particularly our corners on Thomas) was horrendous; and we again had horrible kick off coverage. What does today prove? Tech still has a chance to play in a BCS game and that accomplishment should not be overlooked. I for one would love to be planning a trip to see the Dawgs in the Sugar or Fiesta Bowls. Today proved that mediocre SEC teams can and usually will beat the best ACC teams.
Unless we change (1) defense (2) special teams (3) play calling and (4) our overall toughness, we will be looking at this game every year as our “big” game because the Gators and Vols will be kicking our arses.
GT IS OVERRATED!!
November 28th, 2009
11:55 pm
Goodnight, and God Bless the Bulldog Nation. F the Techies!
Baba O'Riley
November 28th, 2009
11:56 pm
sorry for doublepost
Chan Gailey
November 28th, 2009
11:56 pm
You can’t blame CPJ for the playcalling when the 1st down was DROPPED.
Sure I can. Just like UGA coachs are blamed for the turnovers and penalties. Don’t forget UGA dropped a TD pass in the first half and settled for a FG. They also missed FG in their next to last possession. GT also put the ball on the ground and it bounced right back to them twice. Once in the last drive. So take your ass whipping like a man. No excuses.
Tech Tony
November 28th, 2009
11:57 pm
I will not blow you. That’s for your dad to do for you and your mom to do to me. But would you call her home now please? Her teeth keep falling out.
Pi$$onatechie
November 28th, 2009
11:57 pm
again our D is a mediocre tackling team it shouldn’t be that close, half of the fruit flyz points because of Prince Miller
ellis
November 28th, 2009
11:57 pm
Nice play calling CPJ. Guess that Triple option does not include passing 101.
Baba O'Riley
November 28th, 2009
11:57 pm
No excuses genius. Did you read my post? I said I can’t blame CPJ. Re-read the post.
Techmites Suck
November 28th, 2009
11:57 pm
It’s time to pay the piper Saint SImons and all you other Tech Mites that come out of the woodwork once a decade to show your “pride.” You have talked crap all year, we have read your BS rants and then, when it comes time to put your money where your mouth is, your worst nightmare came true. YOU COULDN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!! The thing that will really suck is you could still lose three in a row to end the season, finish with four losses by the time the bowls are done and finish maybe near the bottom of the Top 25. And this is your BEST season in how many years? Whatever. Your conference sucks, your high school offense sucks and finally……… you suck. So for the next 365 years just remember, order is restored and when it all shakes out, it’s still better to be Red and Black than it is to be some geeky lookin, pocket-protectin, goofy-a$$ football wannabe who can only hope to have a real team to root for on a yearly basis. So take your yellow pom-pom shakin, skanky lookin girls and your horned rim glass-wearin scrawny 125- pound “men” and crawl back to the woodwork that you came from and crawl back into your technically designed two by four and just remember…..from the immortal legend Rick Flair’s well-put motto: In order to be the champ, you have to beat the champ. Remind me a again how well that worked for you? And finally, if by chance you beat Clemson next week………………… who cares. You play in a second-rate conference,have a second-rate stadium and are cheered on a by a second-rate fan base. Have a freakin Merry Christmas – you idiot.
rez
November 28th, 2009
11:58 pm
what happened to shultz??? what happened to CPJ being outclassing CMR and having surpassed his coaching abilities??? I thought this was the TECH team of the era and UGA was going into the toilet… looks like a bad UGA team can still beat the best Tech has to offer…
Nesbitt for heisman??? how about getting up over a 50% completion rate first?
jimbob
November 28th, 2009
11:59 pm
Chan,
CPJ definitely blew it at the end. The only reason that UGA is so lousy this year is because all the 5 star recruits mostly played well below their abilities. Tonight, they played well. This should have been a better season for UGA.
As far as the PI call, it was not a high overthrow, it’s possible bebe could have come back for it except for the PI. The calls evened out. UGA got a huge break when Shaw was put in. But GT should have gotten 7 pts early on, when it was 4th and 2.
Chan Gailey is gone. Tech couldn’t quite pull it out this year. But the days of UGA owning this series are over. You’d best keep including the Chan years to make yourself feel better about things.
Chan Gailey
November 29th, 2009
12:00 am
Baba O’Riley
November 28th, 2009
11:57 pm
No excuses genius. Did you read my post? I said I can’t blame CPJ. Re-read the post.
Your God coach got away from what his team does best and lost because it. UGA took away the run and forced him to play their game and GT was not good enough to do it. A good coach would have found a way to use their strength. Blame the coach for the loss.
dawggirl
November 29th, 2009
12:01 am
Last year when Tech won for the first time you would have thought that it was a National Championship (rings and all), you need to realize that you can’t talk the trash that has been going on all year unless you win at least two in a row!!!! NUFF SAID! Get ready techies . . . it is coming back to you this year! I still hope that you beat Clemson! By the way, how did the ACC fair against the SEC today? HA HA HA HA HA HA . . . 30-24 30-24 Get used to hearing that for a year. What does Coach think about that score??????
Baba O'Riley
November 29th, 2009
12:02 am
jimbob- the pass hit the receiver in the hands…but CPJ blew the game. I disagree. You can whine about 1st thru 3rd downs, but the fact is when the chips were down, our best receiver DROPPED the pass.
Chan Gailey
November 29th, 2009
12:03 am
Tonight, they played well. This should have been a better season for UGA.
UGA tackled bad all night and all year. The reason for their mediocre record is because the play against quality defenses. GT defense is as bad as I’ve watch UGA play against this year. GT would have 4 losses if they played UGA’s schedule. FL, TN, OSU, LSU. No doubt.
dawggirl
November 29th, 2009
12:03 am
I’m thinking that the “option” that Tech plays works out pretty good!!! GO DAWGS!!!!!!
Baba O'Riley
November 29th, 2009
12:03 am
No…we lost because our lines were thoroughly whipped and we couldn’t catch a ball.