Bradley’s Buzz: ESPN likes Tech in Coastal, but not Ga. Tech
On her ESPN.com ACC blog, Heather Dinich makes three predictions regarding Georgia Tech. First, that the offense will be even better. Second, that junior Jonathan Dwyer will turn pro after this season. Third, that the Jackets, even with this upgraded offense and with Dwyer on his farewell tour, won’t finish first in their division. Virginia Tech will.
To be fair, most people pick VPI — we old folks still remember Virginia Tech as the Virginia Polytechnic Institute — to win the Coastal. I’m not among them. (Then again, I’m often wrong.) I’m picking G-Tech over V-Tech because V-Tech plays at G-Tech on Oct. 17. But Ms. Dinich offers a compelling reason for her forecast: The newness of GT’s offensive and defensive lines.
“It’s the most glaring weakness for Georgia Tech,” she writes, “and one that only time and game experience can overcome. Having to replace three of four starters on the defensive line will be no easy task, and the offensive line continues to be a work in progress. That’s something the Hokies shouldn’t have to worry about this fall.”
Elsewhere on her blog, we find a rundown of V-Tech’s defensive front and her ranking of the ACC O-lines. The Hokies are No. 5, the Jackets No. 7.
Loading ...But here are two points I’d make in the form of (mild) rebuttal: Yes, G-Tech lost three of its front four on defense, but the one who returns — defensive end Derrick Morgan — is the best of the bunch. And last season’s offensive line had to learn a new and exotic way of playing. This year’s bunch already knows where to stand, which is no small thing.
And I just don’t believe in Virginia Tech’s offense. I do, however, believe in Paul Johnson’s. On Oct. 17, make it G-Tech 23, V-Tech 16. And pencil in G-Tech for a date against Florida State on Dec. 5 in Tampa. (Plenty of good seating will, I’m sure, be available.)
And another dissenting view: Writing for Sporting News Today, Dave Curtis makes the case for Georgia Tech going — pause for effect — undefeated. Writes Curtis:
“Virginia Tech has emerged as the popular pick to join the 13-0 club. But the Hokies come to Atlanta in October, by which time Paul Johnson’s triple-option attack should be thriving as the nation’s No. 1 rushing unit. Nice knowing you, VT. Georgia comes to Atlanta, too, and there’s not much evidence the Bulldogs will be able to tackle Tech any better than they did last Thanksgiving weekend. Look for Tech in the Orange Bowl with a Top 5 ranking.”
Speaking of Jonathan Dwyer: According to Monday’s live chat at RamblinWreck.com, he sleeps with his eyes open. Which is totally the opposite of me: I work with my eyes closed. Like right now.
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128 comments Add your comment
Sting 'em Buzz
July 21st, 2009
9:07 am
mmjhokiegirl, You didn’t annihilate them on you own field with the offense still new. I doubt you will annihilate them this year either.
Since Bobby Dodd retired in 1968(69)...
July 21st, 2009
9:11 am
…GT has had what – 9 coaches (Carson, Fulcher, Rogers, Curry, Lewis, Ross, O’Liar, Gailey and Johnson)? And you think “Gomer” was worse than Bud Carson, Bill Fulcher and Bill Lewis?
m
July 21st, 2009
9:11 am
TommyP…it is known as a typo.
But thank you for being so anally retentive to point it out.
45-42….glad it STILL hurts so bad.
HokieJim
July 21st, 2009
9:11 am
2 words for you…BUD FOSTER! Once again, Bud Foster will destroy a GT offense. He has done that all but 1 year since VT has been in the ACC and that year was all Calvin Johnson. Hell, Bud was able to stop the GT gimmick last year with 7 guys making only their third career start. Assignment football will stop Paul Johnson’s offense every game. You may rack up 350 yards against the Hokie defense, but I bet you won’t score more than 2 touchdowns and you will have at least 3 turnovers.
DawginLex
July 21st, 2009
9:11 am
The wishful dawgs guy obviously went to Tech since he talks about UGA going for the “allusive” title.
May I suggest a recently released computer program:
SPELLCHECK FOR NERDS
ga_tech_92@yahoo.com
July 21st, 2009
9:12 am
Go Jackets
GT EE '93
July 21st, 2009
9:12 am
Another entertaining article Mark. Appreciate an objective positive outlook on Tech FB.
Heather’s outlook is somewhat of a disconnect.
GT’s offensive line is by no means weak. Top 5 in the ACC. If it wasn’t, Dwyer and Jones wouldn’t have had the success they did last year.
Also, if Dwyer goes pro after this year, it will be because he had (another) fantastic season— translation, Tech wins 9-10 games.
Agree with you about VT’s offense. Watching that unit makes me want to close my eyes….And apparently I’m not the only one.
The officials closed their eyes last year when VT had the ball, in the bogus late hit call, that gave the game to VT.
GT EE’93
GT EE’93
MatthewH
July 21st, 2009
9:15 am
TommyP- You are correct that Darren Evans rushed for 1200 yards last year. Maybe counting on him to fail is too much to “hang my hat on”. I don’t thnk it will happen again this year, especially since their O-Line is in transition.
m
July 21st, 2009
9:15 am
Under the circumstances, and with the caliber of the program when chan gomer gailey took over…it is NOT possible to have done a worse job than he did.
THEREFORE…chan gomer gailey is the WORST coach in the history of the world and any TECH fan or any journalist (sic) that tolerated chan, or heaven forbid, supported him, (and you know who you are) you SUCK to the nth degree…just like gomer.
Thank God and Greyhound that chan gomer gailey is gone forever. Halllleeeedamloooyah for Paul Johnson.
Wes
July 21st, 2009
9:18 am
Hey Mark, this might have been discussed above, but with your comment about Dwyer’s “farewell tour”, are you that certain he’s jumping to the NFL after this year? -@wbarker
HokieJim
July 21st, 2009
9:21 am
MathewH – you need to do some research before making statements like our “O-line is in transition”. By all accounts, this should be VT’s deepest and most talented O-line in the last decade. Our O-line has absolutely killed us the past 3 years, but everyone in Blacksburg is confident those issues are behind us. VT has NEVER had the kind of talent that it will have this upcoming year. Hopefully it will show in the field.
GTDhoo
July 21st, 2009
9:22 am
Both teams are pretty much the same this year as they were last year as far as personnel goes. And GT almost beat VT (and arguably would have had it not been for a suspect call) despite having virtually no clue how to run the offense yet. I think we’re in for one heck of a game on the Flats this year with GT edging VT in a high scoring game.
As far as UGA goes, they’re getting all their preseason hype based on reputation. When you look at the keys they lost last year, there’s no reason to believe they’re going to be a top 15 team. Of course we should be used to bogus preseason rankings by now. Last year at this time UGA was #1 and Tech was only going to win 3 games. This is year UGA is 14 or 15 and we’re one or two spots behind them. I like our chances…
College football notebook: Michigan lineman who ripped Rodriguez was… | Betting Football Coaching Club
July 21st, 2009
9:27 am
[...] Bradley’s Buzz: ESPN likes Tech in Coastal, but not Ga. Tech On her ESPN.com ACC blog, Heather Dinich makes three predictions regarding Georgia Tech. First, that the offense will be even better. [...]
Otto
July 21st, 2009
9:27 am
VT offense was just hitting stride last year against GT. IMO both teams are improved but VT has fewer questions on defense.
RB
July 21st, 2009
9:31 am
M, O’Leary was mediocre. He only beat Uga when Freigen was here. If the Tech AD had been smart, he would have kept O’Leary’s pay low so he would leave and Freigen could be promoted before Maryland grabbed him.
Chris
July 21st, 2009
9:35 am
I’m pretty confused by saying that Tech wont be able to stop Tyrod Taylor due to their inability to stop QB’s like Woody Dantzler. Given that Woody played against George Godsey. I’m pretty sure there is absolutely nothing similar about our 2001 Tech team and the current one. I don’t doubt your comment, just back it up with something more recent than Woody Dantzler.
Dang, m...
July 21st, 2009
9:35 am
…does “gomer” owe you money or something?
If he never had a losing season, even if he did “under coach” while the players “under achieved” then, yes, he could have done a worse job, much worse, to be exact. But, hey, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good rant!
MatthewH
July 21st, 2009
9:36 am
HokieJim:
Here is why I said what I did about an O-Line in transition:
Sergio Render (left guard) had off-season shoulder surgery and will be playing left guard this season after being moved from right guard. His back-up (Nosal) has played both guard and tackle. Warren will be starting at center to replace Shuman who has departed. Warren is a Jr who has started all of 3 games. His back-up is a redshirt freshman.
The stating right guard (Brooks) has started one game -the Orange Bowl, and his back-up is another redshirt freshman.
How’s that for research?
m
July 21st, 2009
9:36 am
Otto….what????
VT offense wasn’t hitting stride. They had lost to East Carolina and immediately did an about face on Tyrod’s redshirt. They were struggling like crazy. But it was early in the season and Ga Tech was just learning the offense and turned the ball over 3 times and got the worst home-cooking call in the 4th quarter that LITERALLY gave Poly the game.
This year the game is at the real TECH and, although it should be a great game…for anyone to assume that Virginia Poly is going to just show up and win is CRAZY.
Sting 'em Buzz
July 21st, 2009
9:37 am
By no means did our Jackets whip the Bulldogs. It was a 3 point win. A win yes, but not a whipping.
I bet m...
July 21st, 2009
9:37 am
…voted for Obama – facts are for “spinning”!
m
July 21st, 2009
9:43 am
RB….O’leary inherited a team that had gone 1-10. He built TECH up to FINISH the season in the TOP 25 for 5 YEARS IN A ROW. He also beat ugag 3 YEARS IN A ROW. And he was smart enough to hire good assistant coaches.
gomer inherited a TOP 25 team and then NEVER EVER finished in the TOP 25 and NEVER EVER beat ugag….and hired mostly lousy assistant coaches.
So what was your point again???
HokieJim
July 21st, 2009
9:54 am
MathewH:
With all due respect, those are things that just about every single team has to deal with every single year. Considering that we play you all in the 7th game of the season, I hardly consider that an O-line transition. By the time our game with you comes around, Warren will be at least on par with Shuman and there’s no question that Brooks is already an upgrade over Marshman (as was evident during the Orange Bowl). Render and Wang should have monster years and BDC should be much improved after his freshman season last year. The good thing about our line this year is that we have depth on the O-line like we have never had before. A lot of that depth is untested but I feel a heck of a lot better about them than I have many of our starters for the past couple years.
An O-line transition is what happened to our O-line over the past 2-3 years. We weeded out all of the fat arses who couldn’t move in favor of smaller more mobile O-linmen. Now that this is complete, the VT offense will be greatly improved.
Huh?
July 21st, 2009
9:58 am
Dinnich hit the nail on the head. VT is the more complete team. Its not about that one game on October 17th. Its about the whole season. Georgia Tech doesn’t have the horses to play at a consistently high level all year long and that’s what wins champoinships. They’ve got a flashy offense and that’s all it takes to get the clueless media goobs like Mark Bradley on the bandwagon. Soon he’ll be trying to bet back on Georgia’s bandwagon, but I’m not sure we will be able to make room for you this time around. There’s only so much bandwagon hopping we can take before enough is enough.
GT is the real deal
July 21st, 2009
10:02 am
HokieJimmies, you’ve forgotten about your precious Hokies having home field ALMOST EVERY YEAR against GT. All but one of your wins were in Cracksburg. And the one win in Atlanta was brought to you compliments of Sham Gailey. We were pounding the Hokies and Chan came out with his ultra-conservative play not to lose strategy in the second half.
You also don’t have the refs on your side like you did last year in Cracksburg. That helmet to helmet call was a joke.
MatthewH
July 21st, 2009
10:06 am
HokieJim-You may be right, and the depth is something that the Hokie fans are talking about. My original point was to respond to GT’s young defense to say that VT’s line will be just as young and inexperienced, and to say that Evans probably won’t get 1200 yards this year.
But hopefully, by the 7th game it won’t matter on either side of the ball. Thanks for bringing facts rather than just emotion.
PMC
July 21st, 2009
10:12 am
GT should beat Va Tech if only to equalize that BS that happened on thursday night several years ago at Grant Field when Brian Randall and co scored 24 unanswered in the 4th quarter when Reggie Ball decided to back his way out of the end zone. GT OWES them one for that.
That game and the one they gave away to NC State also on thursday night are two of the worst losses Tech has experienced at least in giving games away… at least this is the new regime so we should expect better.
Mark Bradley
July 21st, 2009
10:13 am
I’m not certain Jonathan Dwyer will leave, Wes. Just a guess.
Oh, and I’ve updated the post to include Dave Curtis’assertion in Sporting News Today that Georgia Tech will go undefeated. (Even I’m not willing to go that far.)
Otto
July 21st, 2009
10:15 am
m, Exactly IIRC Tyrod’s redshirt came off and they were just getting started on the new offense. VT’s offense will be better just as GT’s will be but VT will have the better defense.
Chris
July 21st, 2009
10:17 am
Is ‘mediocred’ also a typo or a new verb?
Otto
July 21st, 2009
10:19 am
m, UGA has been in the Top 25 in atleast one poll since ‘97. The only year in that span UGA didn’t make both polls was the ‘06 coaches poll.
Tenuta wasn’t lousy.
RB
July 21st, 2009
10:20 am
Oh I get it.
M is O’Leary’s son.
Ok,ok he was the greatest ever.
How’s he doing at Central by the way.
Otto
July 21st, 2009
10:20 am
I can see mediocred as verb in the same sentence as GT but that would imply that they had been something more than mediocre since Bobby Dodd.
Bob
July 21st, 2009
10:29 am
“Paul Johnson is one of the very best football coaches. He is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. Picking Virginia Poly over the real TECH is just plain lazy and lacking in the understanding of what Paul Johnson is building.”
Are you kidding??? Checkers and Chess?? The last guy that said that was Al Groh when he came to UVa in 2001 when touting his defense and NFL experience. Guess what….Al Groh is 1-7 against VT.
VT’s offense will be much improved. (Better OL…more experienced WRs…addition of RB Ryan Williams [and maybe some other freshman like Logan Thomas, DJ Cole and David Wilson. 4 & 5 star offensive talent.] GT’s offense will be better too. (A full year under a new scheme. Remember experience counts both ways.)
The biggest question mark is some key positions in VT’s defense. GT’s scheme requires a defense to play very displined and mistake free defense. VT has some new and inexperienced LBs coming in. Very talented…but unproven. To me…thats the key of the game.
VT is confident (right or wrong) because we won the ACC last year [for the third time in 5 years] with arguably our worst team in many years. Certainly the worst offense in more than 15 years. VT returns 18 starters from the OB game.
Despite the confidence, VT fans universally feel that GT will be VT’s most difficult ACC game.
HokieJim
July 21st, 2009
10:29 am
GT is the real deal :
VT has actually traveled down and beaten GT in Atlanta twice. 2004 and 2007.
And by the way, say what you want about the helmet to helmet call. The game was tied so who knows how it would have ended up had the call not been made. You all still had a chance to win and couldn’t do so.
Sting 'em Buzz
July 21st, 2009
10:31 am
Oh if Dave Curtis is right….please be right
just pointing out
July 21st, 2009
10:42 am
I need to point out that untill GT wins the ACC again, a feat the Hokies have accomplished a few times in the last five years, VA. Tech is “The Real Tech”, you kids are just the jackets.
Melinda
July 21st, 2009
10:53 am
I look just like that when Tech is losing!
Huh?
July 21st, 2009
11:05 am
So just to summarize, Georgia Tech should beat Virginia Tech this year if Chan Gailey, Reggie Ball, and the refs don’t steal the win from them. Those pesky head coaches, QBs, and the rule book are always stealing well deserved wins from the poor Techies. Its such a sad situation.
Tuesday (7/21) reading « The Chapel Bell
July 21st, 2009
12:01 pm
[...] also says Georgia Tech will win the ACC Coastal Division, a pick I have to agree [...]
GTBee
July 21st, 2009
12:28 pm
Nice job Mark. GT will win this one. VT better wins against Bama or their season will be over before it even began. Nice job on the sewer dawgs. Crap coming out of Athens. Nothing new.
Go Jackets!
Bradley's Buzz: ESPN likes Tech in Coastal, but not Ga. Tech … | Georgia Today
July 21st, 2009
12:44 pm
[...] See the original post here: Bradley's Buzz: ESPN likes Tech in Coastal, but not Ga. Tech … [...]
Bob
July 21st, 2009
12:51 pm
GT Bee….why would VT’s season be over if we lost to Alabama? In 2007, we lost (badly) to LSU to open the season and still won the ACC.
If we come out of Sept. undefeated (Alabama, Miami, Neb. and Marshall), VT will have a lot of Mo.
n
July 21st, 2009
12:56 pm
m is the Chan Gailey of blogging. Where the hell is that Greyhound when we need it?????
Mark Bradley
July 21st, 2009
12:56 pm
Thanks, GTBee.
Mark Bradley
July 21st, 2009
12:59 pm
By the way, “MatthewH” is indeed Matthew Harrison, who did such a fine job as Guest Blogger last week. I thank him again.
Jimmy the Tech Fan
July 21st, 2009
1:32 pm
Mark Bradley, overall I agree with your article. The bit about good seating made me laugh. However, if you are predicting FSU to win the Atlantic, then that most certainly will not be true. If they can fill Doak Campbell, then they can fill Raymond James.
just pointing out
July 21st, 2009
1:34 pm
How would losing the opening game f the season, to a top ten team end Tech’s season? They will probably lose to Bama, but once again, win the ACC.
Bob
July 21st, 2009
1:46 pm
Jimmy…FSU didn’t fill Jacksonville’s stadium in 2005. (Thats with many VT fans in attendance). Lots of empty seats and scalpers giving away tickets. 1 week notice is a tough thing. Charlotte, NC would be a better site for the game.
Dwyer for H
July 21st, 2009
3:04 pm
VT is gonna get waxed by Alabama, once again embarrassing the rest of the conference..