Paul Johnson says SEC’s superiority all about perceptions
Paul Johnson says the SEC isn't the overwhelming beast it's made out to be. (Johnny Crawford)
The same week that the top of the BCS rankings are punctuated with three SEC teams and the overwhelming shadow beast of Athens prepares to bring its football team to Georgia Tech, Paul Johnson said precisely what we’ve come to expect from him.
To capsulize his thoughts: Whatever.
Johnson, whose weekly news conferences can be relative standup comedy dotted with sarcastic jabs, was unusually low key Tuesday. But afterward, he addressed perceptions of the SEC’s Godzilla to the ACC’s Bambi, which filters down to the annual Georgia-Georgia Tech game. This subject has been one of Johnson’s pet peeves since he arrived at Tech in 2008 (and won at Georgia in his first season, after the Jackets had lost the previous seven in the series).
“It’s all perceptions,” Johnson said. “People will think what they’re going to think. There’s nothing I’m not going to do to change their mind.
“Personally, I think the conference thing is way overblown. How are you going to evaluate? Are you looking at the top two teams in the conference or are you going to take the conference as a whole? There’s four SEC-ACC games Saturday. Let’s see what happens. Who’s favored in the Clemson-South Carolina game? Who’s favored in the Florida-Florida State game? Wake-Vandy? I don’t know. But you see what I mean? Now, if we’re just talking about Alabama and LSU, that’s different.”
Johnson makes a point. While you can make a case that the SEC is the nation’s superior conference, the strength at the top – and certainly five consecutive BCS titles – exaggerates the differences between conferences from top to bottom. Not to diminish the accomplishments of Georgia during this nine-game winning streak, but even the most ardent Dogs supporter recognizes that the East Division is down this year.
Perceptions certainly play into this week. Johnson figures to milk this for all its worth to players. He’ll talk about how nobody’s giving Tech a chance, how Georgia’s already looking ahead to the SEC title game, how the Jackets have punched the Dogs in the mouth before and they certainly can do it again.
“Every coach does something,” he said, without getting specific. “You always take anything you can find or post, things that you think will get your guys ready to go.”
This is Johnson’s fourth season. Tech’s senior class is 34-17, including 1-2 against Georgia. In 2008, the Jackets won 45-42 as an underdog in Athens. In 2009, they lost 30-24 as a favorite in Atlanta. In 2010, as a 12½-point underdog in Athens, they accumulated 512 yards in offense but committed four turnovers and trailed 35-34 (on a missed extra-point attempt) until a touchdown by Washaun Ealey with 1:29 left.
The point being, there hasn’t been much difference between the two programs over the past three years.
Two years ago, Tech was where Georgia is at this week. The Dogs will pay for the SEC championship next week. In 2009, the Jackets had secured a spot in the ACC title game. The Georgia game was secondary in importance (as foreign a concept as that may be).
When asked if that played a role in the loss, Johnson said, “I don’t think that played into it at all. That was the week we had the NCAA [investigators] in here. That played into it a great deal. That played into it far more than [looking ahead to] the ACC championship.”
This year, there’s no question. This is Tech’s final game before a bowl. Johnson spent part of Tuesday reaffirming that while he thinks the Dogs are good, it’s not like Tech has been facing middle schools.
He was asked about the strength of the Dogs’ defensive line. He responded with some praise but added, “I don’t know. We’ve played some really good players. [North Carolina's] Quinton Coples is a first-round draft pick. [Clemson's] Brandon Thompson is a pretty good player. This won’t be the first good players we’ve seen.”
He was asked about Georgia tight end Orson Charles. He responded with some praise but added: “We’ve played against other tight ends who are really good. The tight end at Clemson [Dwayne Allen] is probably an early-round draft pick in the NFL.”
Johnson realizes his words won’t change perceptions. But the last thing you’re going to hear from him is any suggestion that his overshadowed program from the overshadowed conference can’t win Saturday. And, truth is, the past three meetings have affirmed as much.
By Jeff Schultz
Follow me on Twitter (@JeffSchultzAJC). Friend me on Facebook (Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC).
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
1,026 comments Add your comment
TEEDawg
November 22nd, 2011
4:45 pm
Yeah, I would agree with this order as well:
1. 51-7
2. Reggie Ball 4th and Dumb
3. Stafford to Massakwa
4. Tony Taylor recovering Ball’s fumble for a TD
5. Minter and Oliver stone-cold locking Calvin “2-Catch” Johnson down?
6. Justin Houston’s INT last season to seal the Dawgs’ 42-34 win
7. Reshad Jones picking off Jayblow Shaw to secure the latest win in ATL
8. Reggie getting kicked out of the second half while David Greene lit up the Tech D
9. DJ Shockley struggling but Greene coming in to relieve him and wrap up yet another Dawgs win!
We Run This State!
George Stein
November 22nd, 2011
4:45 pm
The entire concept of bulletin board material is flawed, I think. At some point, they’ll all settle in and it’ll be a football game. I would disagree strongly with anyone that thinks that because someone said something means Jarvis Jones is going to go extra hard or ease up a bit when the ball is snapped.
old dog
November 22nd, 2011
4:45 pm
We’ve whipped Tech’s butt so often lately that all is moot; that high-school practice field thay call a stadium is a joke, and while I admire the school, the football team will do like always; slip up on UGA once in a blue moon, and thats about it. Hopefully, the fans will make it home safely from “Thugville”!
Dan the man
November 22nd, 2011
4:46 pm
Nothing like Jeff Schultz getting this rivalry heated up already. He will do whatever it takes
Won’t matter. Tech wins this Saturday.
George Stein
November 22nd, 2011
4:46 pm
Who is “Massakwa?”
SEC West Teams
November 22nd, 2011
4:47 pm
All joking aside, I just hope these rivalry games are fun to watch. It is one of the things that makes college football special.
SEC Least
November 22nd, 2011
4:47 pm
GT would likely be 9-2 with UGA’s schedule. Heck SC beat every team in the SEC East including UGA and still does not represent the Sec East because of UGA’s schedule(avoiding the big 3).I agree that the SEC West top teams are great.The rest of the SEC is average to bad this year.
George Stein
November 22nd, 2011
4:48 pm
I think you hit on all the usual talking points, old dog, except for calling us nerds.
True Tech
November 22nd, 2011
4:48 pm
whooped Tech’s butt so often? Not exactly old dog. But thanks for the reminder that you’re old
Actually Bobby Dodd is a great Stadium and atmosphere. Better than 90,000 drunk idiots throwing garbage everywhere. We actually take care of our campus.
Goldenrod
November 22nd, 2011
4:48 pm
You leghumpers quit posting all of these ancient scores and highlights about the “Mark Richt” era – that was in the past and nobody, and I mean nobody, gives a dayum. We’ll start a new chapter on Saturday and then see what you have to talk about after the Jackets will RUN THIS STATE!
you can't spell red
November 22nd, 2011
4:50 pm
without Redneck
Reggie Ball's the reason for the streak!
November 22nd, 2011
4:50 pm
UGA fans always want to say “who have you played” but why don’t you look in the mirror! No LSU, no Bama, no Arkansas. Boise even lost at home and South Carolina beat you with a quarterback that they kicked off the team. Your defense is good but offense has trouble scoring. You could not put away Vandy or Kentucky, and Tech would beat both of them. GT 34 UGA 28
Billy Bennett
November 22nd, 2011
4:51 pm
George Stein, “Massakwa” was what the immortal Larry Munson shouted for Mohammed Massaqoui after Stafford threw him a 4th quarter TD & 2-pt conversion as the Dawgs beat you in 2006.
See if this jogs your memory – http://youtu.be/YgbVTm59C7A
Mad Dog One
November 22nd, 2011
4:51 pm
tek-mites you should look at the great teams you have played this year before you let that gator mouth over load that humming bird a$$. Bring on your high school O and lets see what we have at the end of the game. As always GO DOGS & GATA AND THWGT
Dawg48
November 22nd, 2011
4:52 pm
If any one wants to know what the can looks like that whoop A$$ comes in………
It’s red and black with a 29 on it!
George Stein
November 22nd, 2011
4:53 pm
I’m sorry, but the individual in that video is named “Massaquoi,” Billy. Who is this Massakwa they are speaking of?
Goldenrod
November 22nd, 2011
4:53 pm
You’re a real smart {you know what} Billy Bennett – I told you NOBODY cares about the past history – we beat Duke last week – does that matter to you? On Saturday we’re going to send Helen Hunt-Richt into the mission field! Bring your body armour ’cause we gonna shoot do down with our new aerial assault! Go Jackets!
1893 Reporter
November 22nd, 2011
4:53 pm
The day was November 4, 1893. A little history for you. The first match between Georgia and Georgia Tech.
I remember it like it was yesterday. We were gathered at Herty Field with our finest clothes, hats and smokeable tobacco. The ladies wore their shiniest of scarves and fluttered about like butterflies. Excitement was in the Athens air awaiting our rival’s arrival and the battle that was to take place.
The Georgia School of Technology (that’s what they called Georgia Tech at the time) Blacksmiths led by coaches Stan “Devil” Borleske and “Cheap” Casey Finnegan arrived by train and entered our fair city with arrogance and disregard for our lady residences. A few of Athens prettiest ladies drew faint at the sight of these bothersome and boorish city foot-ballers. They arrived to play our dear honest and trustworthy Georgia boys coached by Ernest Brown.
And so the game began. At one time early in the last half of the game, a Tech player announced to the crowd that he was the man of the match and that he would take the local woman of his choosing. A stone was hurled at this player, striking him a cruel blow to the head. He immediately ceased such announcements. At another time, after the coaches of the Tech team lifted the skirt of one of our fairer lady observers, one of the Athenians drew a knife and threatened revenge. The Tech coaches hurried themselves back to the game offering apologies and coins. Because of their vile nature, the Techs were poked and gouged with canes on plays toward the boundary lines. Some of the crowd had the privilege of the gridiron equally with the players.
True, that day the Blacksmiths defeated Georgia 28-6 on four scores by Leonard Wood, a thirty-three year old who did not matriculate at the Technology school. Travesty was called and agreed up.
The Techs as they departed our fair field announced loudly and to all that they had used a heterogeneous collection of Atlanta residents – a United States Army surgeon, a medical student, a lawyer, and an insurance agent among them, with here and there a student of Georgia’s School of Technology thrown in to give the mixture a Technological flavor. The scoundrels!
For this callous yet frank admission, our dear fans defended the integrity of the University by hurling rocks and other debris at the offending Tech players and chased the ill-mannered Blacksmiths back to their awaiting train.
Ahh, the days. A loss is made better by a hurled stone. I had not hurled any in quite some time. I will take a loss every eight years just to launch a few at the scoundrels.
SupremoDawg
November 22nd, 2011
4:54 pm
Super Size, No I haven’t been since 2005 and don’t intend to put my family thru enduring that dump! What did it take 50 years to get the posts and overhang moved? Probably had to get a Dawg to do it. Now you might want to get a little game day security around your HOOD, or do you brag about your Sigma Nu alley?
DesignerJacket
November 22nd, 2011
4:54 pm
There’s so little respect for our stadium it seems. Is anyone in red and black aware we STILL play on a field that John Heisman commissioned and helped to build with his own sweat? That was in 1913. 98 years on one field. Forgive us if it’s not a modern marvel of up-to-date seating layouts. It’s still the oldest and winningest stadium in your sport. Yes, yours holds 90k people and ours can hold 57k when brim-packed. But it’s not like there’s nothing to be said for the legendary nature of the place itself. I hope we NEVER move to another site just to build a bigger stadium. There are some advantages – our fans are closer to the field than nearly any other stadium…especially in the North endzone. It can still get painfully loud (ask Clemson.) We love it.
@SEC least
November 22nd, 2011
4:57 pm
Tech doesn’t have the talent of Vandy, Florida, Miss. State,Auburn, big talk form guys who have won 15 times in 54 years. Tech 5 wins against teams with 10 total victories. Tech talking about anyones schedule is a joke. Clemson was way overrated and VT , who have they beat. Tech LOL. Thinking tech is a good team is your first mistake.
truth be told
November 22nd, 2011
4:57 pm
georgia has won the majority of the games and the majority of the games lately.
but, with that being said, they probably should.
because
1) they have easier recruiting due to the academics.
2) they play in the almighty sec
3) they have top 5 recruiting classes year in and year out (but don’t more championships)
4) their athletic association is flush with $’s
5) their student body is three to four times larger than techs (thus a larger fan base)
with all that being said, if you don’t win…. you’ve underachieved.
I’ll take our four NC’s to your one anyday!
and
Go Jackets!
Stanley
November 22nd, 2011
4:57 pm
Life at my house is the pits. My wife found out I have a girlfriend.
Stinger2
November 22nd, 2011
4:57 pm
To all who a predicting a UGA rout of GT. Why play the game? Do you whant to continue to play a team you beat so easily like 9 of last 10? Find yourselves another patsy.
Red & Black
November 22nd, 2011
4:58 pm
I am just trying to figure out how UGA with a team with consensus top 10 recruiting classes is only a 5 point pick against a school with perenial top 50 classes??? This is similar to USC vs Washington State; Oklahoma vs Kansas; Alabama vs Kentucky or Vandy and yet we are only 5 point favs!!! We desperately need a new coach! Winning the SEC East not with standing.
old dog
November 22nd, 2011
4:58 pm
George S.
Nobody says ya’ll are nerds; you just do not beat us very often, and your stadium will never be full unless you plug all the exits and fill it with WATER! The topic was SEC football, and even a weak east is better than much of the ACC. We ain’t talkin’ roundball,where the ACC comes back strong! Ya’ll may slip one in on us, but the SEC is the real deal in football, period! Alabama, LSU, Arkansas (all west, granted) and a much-improved UGA team will help carry the SEC while some teams are down……but comparing the ACC and SEC in football is like comparing a plow-mule and a thoroughbred in a horse-race. Forget the weak sisters….ain’t an ACC team out there that could beat any of the top 3 SEC teams.
Sarah McLachlan
November 22nd, 2011
4:58 pm
I just made this video to comfort all of you Rambling Wreck fans out there, please watch it. Dog fans you night enjoy it too!
http://youtu.be/yerKM6YWu0k
Sourgrapes
November 22nd, 2011
4:59 pm
SupremoDawg – how astute of you to point out that the city of Atlanta’s crime problems are Ga Tech’s fault. It’s so logical, I have no idea why we didn’t think of it before.
Ron Swanson
November 22nd, 2011
4:59 pm
Goldenrod, you would cite your record against UGA if it were not so embarassing. Because you cannot debate the facts, you must always resort to what you think is going to happen. Unfortunately, though there seems to be a pattern. Just reference the Mark Richt era that nobody cares about.
Doc Hollidawg
November 22nd, 2011
5:00 pm
Which one was the game when Greg Blue decleated the maggots’ receiver?
1. 51-7
2. Reggie Ball 4th and Dumb
3. Stafford to Massakwa
4. Tony Taylor recovering Ball’s fumble for a TD
5. Minter and Oliver stone-cold locking Calvin “2-Catch” Johnson down?
6. Justin Houston’s INT last season to seal the Dawgs’ 42-34 win
7. Reshad Jones picking off Jayblow Shaw to secure the latest win in ATL
8. Reggie getting kicked out of the second half while David Greene lit up the Tech D
9. DJ Shockley struggling but Greene coming in to relieve him and wrap up yet another Dawgs win!
Eddie
November 22nd, 2011
5:01 pm
“And, truth is, the last three meetings have affirmed as much.”
Are you serious? They have one win in three tries. And even fewer looking at the past decade … when UGA beat Florida a few years back, where you saying the same thing? Until they are able to beat UGA consistently, then they are inferior. Just like, it pains me to say, UGA has to beat Florida many more times to make up for the past 18 years. If anyone from Georgia spoke the way PJ does, I believe your articles would be very negative about his behavior. This guy is an embarrassment as the leader of the team.
DesignerJacket
November 22nd, 2011
5:02 pm
truth be told,
#5 is erroneous. Tech has 21k students. UGA has 34k. I’m tired of ppl thinking GT is still so tiny!
Goldenrod
November 22nd, 2011
5:02 pm
Is Sarah McLachlan really a Dawgs fan? That video made me throw up in my mouth a little bit!
Dawgfan79
November 22nd, 2011
5:03 pm
I like CPJ but he sounds like a clown here……SEC dominance is obvious reality and not perception……that is unless you believe the results on the field are simply a perception and not reality.
WnE
November 22nd, 2011
5:04 pm
You failed Jeff.
I graduated from GT, an ACC School and when Coach Kung Fu Panda started to talk his smack about “perceptions” you should have asked him about the ACC’s Record of never sending 2 Teams in the same yr. to BCS Bowls, and then you should have followed up with another Question about the ACC’s paltry record 1-12 (estimated ?) in BCS Bowls with many coming in Blowout fashion.
I guess in order to get access to snarky, smarmy guys like Coach Fish Fry you can’t really ask them any tough questions.
SupremoDawg
November 22nd, 2011
5:04 pm
Sour Grapes, If you’re so smart and knew you had a problem, why don’t you hire a little security? I guess you Tekkies could get an app for that?
Ron Swanson
November 22nd, 2011
5:05 pm
1) they have easier recruiting due to the academics
Can we stop with this nonsense? Tech is not a service academy where the athletes are truly students first. The players have lower standards like every other school and majors geared for the players
Stinger2
November 22nd, 2011
5:05 pm
To all those predicting a rout: Why play the game?
Go play Georgia State. You may never lose to them.
Sam
November 22nd, 2011
5:05 pm
Amazing video of a high school senior from Columbia TN who kicks the ball dead straight 75-80 yards in the air. He was successful on 54 of 54 attempts this season….100%. Now he needs a college team. Wants to go to Georgia Tech.
Watch for yourself…it is unreal!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_JKwgwFY3g
DesignerJacket
November 22nd, 2011
5:06 pm
Before anyone rebuts my numbers: UGA has 26k undergrads while Tech has 13k. So there…maybe for THAT stat you could say GT is “half the size” of UGA. But Tech is just not some tiny little science-only school while UGA is the huge liberal arts school anymore. They’re both getting bigger every year, and they’re both rising in academic prestige (although the point-spread on SAT scores is a widening margin in favor of Tech).
Gus in Marietta
November 22nd, 2011
5:07 pm
Hey, UGALY: I think you have a point. Other than the two losses to Boise and So Carolina, UGA’s schedule has been pretty weak. They have beaten a 7-4 Auburn, a 6-5 UF, a 5-6 MSU/Tenn/Vandy, 4-7 Ky/New Mex State, and 2-9 Ole Miss. Tech at 8-3 and nationally ranked is the best team UGA has faced since the two losses….
I hope the “good” Jackets show up and play. If the “bad” Jackets (see UVA, Miami games) show up on Saturday, it could be ugly…
What's the Good Word?
November 22nd, 2011
5:07 pm
UGAg fans realize the Jackets would EASILY win the SEC East and probably would put a licking on LSU or Bama. Just look how Georgia Southern’s offense torched Bama’s D for over 300 yards last week with Div. II athletes!
Just think what Paul Johnson’s Perfect Option would do to an SEC School????!!!
Ron Swanson
November 22nd, 2011
5:07 pm
Paul Johnson says physical fitness is all about perception.
GT
November 22nd, 2011
5:09 pm
NO NO NO, we have no chance. I am surprise the spread is just 5.5 points. I heard someone on that Georgia 680 broadcast with Buck Belue last Saturday say all Georgia had to do against Kentucky is get on and off the bus to the stadium and they would win. And by golly he was right they tore Kentucky a new one He knew they would before the game even started as did the paper. Tech was fighting for its life against Duke while Georgia got off the bus with no problem. I am suggesting that Tech never get on the bus, leave em standing at the Dodd and save us the embarrassment, like house guest let em have the run of the place. The NCAA is good at punishing you for showing up with more than nature or their silly rules intended, I wonder what they do to ya for not showing up at all. The opposite of pay to play would be pay to stay away. Maybe they will reverse that sentence and give us back our ACC title that we are now pretending we didn’t win. A team this bad and this scared of the mighty Georgia ,surely hasn’t resorted to cheating, or is doing it so poorly it has little if no results. My daddy use to say if you going to cheat in a fight you sure better make sure you win it.
Ron Swanson
November 22nd, 2011
5:09 pm
Paul Johnson’s Perfect Option is 1-2 against this SEC school, thats would has done.
DesignerJacket
November 22nd, 2011
5:09 pm
Good Word, that argument has SOME (only some) truth to it, except GT hasn’t shown a worthy defense to go with it. Do we put up decent numbers on Georgie? Yeah. Do we still win when we do it? Well, when running that offense it’s 1-2 until Saturday. 2009 and 2010 were largely on the defense.
BiggdawgK
November 22nd, 2011
5:10 pm
Here are some of cpj’s comments
“They’ve got a heck of a team,” Johnson said. “Won nine in a row, SEC East champs. Hopefully we can stay with them.”Johnson interrupted a question about his players not needing much motivation this week by saying they are “probably scared.” And why would that be SaidJohnson, “We haven’t beaten them in a long time.”
All those comments suggest cpj is a realist.
RammerJammer
November 22nd, 2011
5:12 pm
Listen here “Good Word” – if you think for one second that GT could even compete with LSU or Bama you are sadly mistaken! If I recall, the last time LSU faced your Paul Johnson led team they shut ‘em down 38-3.
Georgia’s defense is THIRD in the SEC behind only the almighty Bama and LSU. Careful what you wish for, SEC defenses are for real – this ain’t Wake Up Forrest or Boston College!
dan
November 22nd, 2011
5:14 pm
There should be no debate about the SEC anymore. Until another conference can win a National Title, the SEC will be the best. And it isn’t just about 2 teams, 4 different teams from the SEC have won a National title.
The ACC can hem and haw all they want, but until they can put forth a team like how FSU used to be in the 90’s, they will be a second tier conference in football. This is not perception, this is reality!
As for UGA’s schedule: there is nothing that can be done about that. Schedules are made 4-5 years out. At that time, there was no way of knowing that Tennessee, Florida, and Auburn would be this weak. Also, it’s not like Tech has played a lot of juggernauts this year. Oh yeah…UVA, Duke, Kansas, Miami….real powerhouses!! At least UGA has beaten most of the teams on their weak schedule. The same cannot be said for Tech.
GTBob
November 22nd, 2011
5:15 pm
The players have lower standards like every other school and majors geared for the players
Please tell us what majors GT has that are geared for players. Also, what is the special admissions rate at UGA compared to GT? How many JUCO players does GT admit?