Can Georgia Tech avoid a Dog hangover against Clemson?
Paul Johnson's next challenge is helping Josh Nesbitt and others get past the loss to Georgia. (Johnny Crawford/AJC)
Paul Johnson told everybody who would listen last week that the Georgia game would not define Georgia Tech’s season. Now all he has to do is convince his players.
The Jackets won eight straight games and had a chance to finish the season with a top-5 ranking. But they blew that by losing at home to Georgia Saturday, 30-24, creating the ACC’s worst nightmare: a championship game between two teams, Tech and Clemson, coming off losses to pedestrian SEC teams. The ACC title game now matches No. 12 (Tech, which fell from seventh) vs. No. 25 (Clemson, which fell from 15th).
But the bigger issue for Johnson is making sure his players get past what just happened. This easily is the biggest defeat the Jackets must bounce back from since he took over. It’s bigger than last year’s loss at North Carolina, and the even the early season defeat at Miami.
Three years ago under Chan Gailey, the Jackets were 9-2, then collapsed and lost consecutive games to Georgia, Wake Forest (ACC title) and West Virginia (Gator Bowl) to close the season.
Asked about a potential hangover, Johnson said Sunday: “It’s always a concern. When you have a big game like that one and you come out on the wrong end, and certainly it was a game we all wanted to win and we took seriously, you have to turn the page. We talked about that for eight straight weeks [during a winning streak]. We talked about it in the locker room [Saturday] night. We have to move on. The regular season is over. We finished 10-2, and that’s better than a lot of people probably thought we could do. Now we have a chance to play for the conference championship. We’ve earned it. Now let’s go play.”
Those were the right words. We’ll find out about the actions soon enough. I’m inclined to think Tech will bounce back. Question: Are you confident the Jackets can avoid a collapse similar to the one we saw in 2006?
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565 comments Add your comment
where is the option?
November 29th, 2009
8:23 pm
When Johnson waited until three seconds to call time @ the end of the first half, that was to preclude uga from having a chance to get the ball back…a great coaching call.
With approximately two minutes plus timeouts, uga would have had time even if Tech had scored on one of the bombs. If Tech runs the ball as they have the entire season (ranked near the top nationally!) and then passed for a TD (or even scored a running TD), dogs would have had much less time. I was not the only one in my section that was wondering about the calls.
Mr Keno, I assume you would have also passed four times in a row…and lost. Correct?
We Own You
November 29th, 2009
8:24 pm
Man-Boobs Johnson vs Georgia 1-1 Mark Richt vs Tech 8-1 Surely all the mathmatical geniuses at the North Avenue Trade School can figure out the disparity in those two records. Tech is a second class program in a fourth class conference. The Nerds can pretend all they want that this game doesn’t matter—but everyone knows they are dying inside. Get used to it Tech….Oh, I forgot….you ARE used to it.
pedestrian dawgs are STRUGGLING for attention
November 29th, 2009
8:24 pm
……………..ORANGE BOWL for Jackets
Papa John’s Bowl for Clemson and uga.
bugsquacher
November 29th, 2009
8:24 pm
Lets see ACC Championship, #12 vs #25, SEC championship #1 vs #2…….. bahahahahahhahahahah
GT is a 4th rate high school team
November 29th, 2009
8:24 pm
GT LOST TO STRUGGLING FOR ATTENTION AND PEDESTRIAN DAWGS . HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AND MORE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH fOREVER AND EVER
bugsquacher
November 29th, 2009
8:26 pm
oh, I almost forgot…. hey saint simons…. 30-24,,,hahahahahaha
Eat It St. Simons
November 29th, 2009
8:26 pm
((30-24)) hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Palmetto State Dawg
November 29th, 2009
8:26 pm
2009 (7-5) Georgia Bulldogs = 2009 ACC Champions. 30-24 HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GJW
November 29th, 2009
8:26 pm
GATA!
GT is a 4th rate high school team
November 29th, 2009
8:27 pm
GT LOST TO TEAM GOING TO PAPA(PAULJOHNSON)JOHNS BOWL. HOW SWEET. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHHA FOREVER AND EVER
Asheville Dawg
November 29th, 2009
8:27 pm
ACC Championship Game= Loser Bowl. Boy did the ACC take one to the chin or what! Surely , Paul Johnson can beat Dabo or it will be a nightmarish finish….. How did Tech finish last year…..oh yea a lose in the bowl game. Can not resist for St. Simon’s
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((30-24)))))))))))))))))))))))))) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
TECH
November 29th, 2009
8:27 pm
bugsquacher, GO TO HELL!!
TECH
November 29th, 2009
8:28 pm
Asheville Dawg, You can GO TO HELL too!!
7-5 pedestrian dogs are STRUGGLING for attention
November 29th, 2009
8:29 pm
8-5 Clemson vs 7-5 uga in “who cares” bowl.
……………….
Jackets will be 12-2 Orange Bowl Champions.
GT is a 4th rate high school team
November 29th, 2009
8:30 pm
GT FANS SAYS GO TO HELL, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA AND MORE HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA FOREVER AND EVER
30-24 GO DAWGS
November 29th, 2009
8:31 pm
AHAHAHAHA 30-24 SUCKAS! I DON’T SEE ANY MORE OF YOUR 45-42 BULLSH*T! HOW WAS THAT ONE GAME “WINNING STREAK” GnaTS?? JONATHAN DWYER..33 YARDS LOL
HERE’S TO CLEMSON KICKING YOUR AZZ IN THE ACC “CHAMPIONSHIP”.
GO DAWGS!
All Cupcakes Conference
November 29th, 2009
8:31 pm
LOL @ playing a 25th ranked team for your conference “championship”. What a joke.
7-5 pedestrian dogs are STRUGGLING for attention
November 29th, 2009
8:32 pm
Take your 7-5 record and cram it up your shreveport !
petewrigley
November 29th, 2009
8:32 pm
Go Tech! Let’s go to a BCS bowl and make Georgia jealous.
JET
November 29th, 2009
8:33 pm
I’m a Dawg fan and am so proud of our team/staff for defeating a good Tech team last night! Give ‘em hell on Saturday Tech and most fans will be rooting for you guys over Clemson!
Go Dawgs!
matthew
November 29th, 2009
8:33 pm
Schultz – stop peeing on a weed and trying to call it a daisy. Tech sucks and their supporters, you included, are delusional morons.
GT is a 4th rate high school team
November 29th, 2009
8:33 pm
ORANGE BOWL TRYING TO GET LSU OVER GT OR CLEMSON. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
Dawg5
November 29th, 2009
8:33 pm
Man, the Techies are pretty quiet these days….
GT is a 4th rate high school team
November 29th, 2009
8:35 pm
GT LOST TO JEALOUS UGA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH
mark p'''richt is an idiot
November 29th, 2009
8:35 pm
cant believe that idiot actually talked smack to one of techs players…not much of a man to jaw with a teenager, i said the same thing a few years back when reggie ball went after a uga coach…i hated richt before but in my book hes a piece of trash
30-24 GO DAWGS
November 29th, 2009
8:35 pm
HEY… YOUR FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICK GOLDEN BOY DWYER…. 33 TOTAL YARDS HAHAHAHA
WHERE’S YOUR NEW RINGS FOR THIS GAME TECH?!
jay
November 29th, 2009
8:36 pm
30-24 hahahahahahahahahahaha
Michael
November 29th, 2009
8:36 pm
When I saw SC running all over Clemson I thought Tech could possibly run Clemson out of the stadium. But Tech didn’t run over UGA, and Georgia’s D is nothing to write home about. I’ll be pulling for Clemson, but I’d call it a tossup.
GT is a 4th rate high school team
November 29th, 2009
8:37 pm
QUIET TECHIES LOST TO NOISY DAWGS. JUST SOUNDS APPROPRIATE. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH AND ANOTHER HA.
30-24 GO DAWGS
November 29th, 2009
8:37 pm
HA YOU CAN TALK ABOUT BOWL GAMES ALL YOU WANT… REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR IN “UNSTOPPABLE” TECHS BOWL GAME?
LSU KILLED YOU! 38-3!!!!
cattle dawg
November 29th, 2009
8:37 pm
Anyone notice how stunned the techies were after the game. LOSERS!! They wanted this game sooooooooooooooooooooooo bad.
bulldawghuff
November 29th, 2009
8:39 pm
tech rep the state of ga just like my dogs so my dissin ga tech is over but the next time you beat us and you will one day(hopefully not soon) be a better winner because regardless of your coach you will never win two in a row unless ray goff is the coach.so lets all pull for tech to beat the tigers cause it wouldnt look good to be the 4th best between uga,usc,clem,and ga tech.and for those who say wait till cpj get his players in,know this to run his offense it will take guys with skill and he will get them but will he get good linemen to come and only run block and never get a chance to pass block,which means they will look less appealing to pro scouts,linemen in high skool dream of going pro also,just food for thought.
joe cox will be fine
November 29th, 2009
8:39 pm
Georgia has better players than tech. That will be true almost every year. Bigger school bla bla.This win was not a fluke-Techs #7 ranking was a fluke. That said I bet tech will win a little more often than they did under other coaches. CPJ is a good coach-i think- has tech winning, no easy feat..
cattle dawg
November 29th, 2009
8:39 pm
The nerd behind me started crying.
7-5 pedestrian dogs are STRUGGLING for attention
November 29th, 2009
8:40 pm
10-2 you wish.
Unranked “trembling” 7-5 is very quiet and pedestrian.
Jerome
November 29th, 2009
8:40 pm
Wow, is TECH really St. Simons? It must hurt. Yeah, it hurts. I know all of you techmites are hurting. That’s good. Oh, I loved watching the 75 yard RUN against the cut-blocking team. Now how does your cut/chop blocking help you? Huh? I can’t hear you techies. NOW how does it feel? GT is the 2nd class team from Georgia and always will be. Clemson will run all over you clowns and go to the OB. I cannot get over the shocked look on the ugly faces of the GT fans last night – priceless!!!! The UGA domination continues. Number 7? Ha!!!! NOT!!!!
mark p'''richt is an idiot
November 29th, 2009
8:41 pm
we will see how uga plays saturday….oh wait a minute, they dont play saturday…..7 and 5 hahahahahahahaha
45ACP
November 29th, 2009
8:41 pm
Willie Martinez out coached the Mighty, Godly, Esteemed, Kingly CPJ.
30 – 24.
15 of 19
November 29th, 2009
8:41 pm
Playing for 5th place in the SEC east….. wait i mean playing for the acc title. Yech would finish no better than 8th in the SEC. Enjoy the ACC losers.
JacketFan
November 29th, 2009
8:42 pm
Well, I like my crow blackened … with some hot mustard.
Dawgs took us to the shed and deservedly so. We got beat. I don’t know if the hype was too much, I hated that we had that week off, but no excuses, we got beat. Now, let’s hope that is motivation enough to pull it together for Clemson next weekend and accomplish that little goal of earning an ACC championship.
Brutha Dawgs, I am not looking forward to hearing from y’all for the rest of the year, but heck I know I will.
Go Jackets!
To Hell With Georgia!
30-24 GO DAWGS
November 29th, 2009
8:42 pm
WHO CARES IF TECH IS IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA? THEY ARE A BLEMISH TO OUR GREAT STATE. THE JOKE NEXT TO COKE CAN SUCK IT. 30-24. RICHT VS TECH 8-1. CHEW ON THEM HEDGES GnaTs!
sdfhsdfh
November 29th, 2009
8:43 pm
Tech would be doing good to be 7-5 in the SEC.
good luck in Tampa
November 29th, 2009
8:43 pm
I also hope there will be a change with the defensive coordinator position after the season. You know, it would be great if GT could get Tenuta back from Notre Dame. Despite ND’s record, Tenuta was a great fit at GT and could be again. Hope CPJ will consider that or at least someone else.
30-24 GO DAWGS
November 29th, 2009
8:44 pm
HAHA YEAH THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIP IS GOING TO HAVE TWO TEAMS THAT JUST LOST TO MIDDLE OF THE ROAD SEC TEAMS THIS YEAR! WHAT A GREAT CHAMPIONSHIP THAT IS GOING TO BE! HEY TECH, HOW DOES 30-24 FEEL?!? HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR 45-42 TRASH TALK FOR THE YEAR, IT’LL BE SIX MORE BEFORE YOU MAY BE ABLE TO SAY THAT AGAIN.
ONE YEAR WINNING STREAK. HA!
GT is a 4th rate high school team
November 29th, 2009
8:44 pm
GT READY TO TAKE CHARGE. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHHHAHAHHAHAHHAHHA
mark p'''richt is an idiot
November 29th, 2009
8:45 pm
thank goodnes I get to keep my buddy willie another year
UGA cr@p
November 29th, 2009
8:45 pm
rather be a joke next to Coke than an inbred next to the woodshed in Cesspool land.
45ACP
November 29th, 2009
8:46 pm
JacketFan – Well said. Glad you are here.
A lot of us will be pulling for the Jackets to beat clemson.
GTfanfromSC
November 29th, 2009
8:46 pm
I think it’s funny how uga fans keep referring to tech fans as nerds. 1. It’s not high school anymore and 2. these “Nerds” will make more money than you
I give it to uga for winning last night, esp when no one thought they would. We didn’t come out to play like we should’ve. Cant wait for the next few years of the rivalry though, none of these games are guaranteed wins anymore.
Can’t wait to see my jackets in Tampa though! Beat Clemson!! And win the championship (at least we have an opportunity for a championship and bcs bowl…)
GT is a 4th rate high school team
November 29th, 2009
8:46 pm
APOLOGIES FOR MY LAST COMMENT. MY WORD WAS TOO LONG HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH FOREVER AND EVER.