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
just pointing out
July 21st, 2009
3:15 pm
VT will probably get waxed by BAMA, but still win the ACC.
Dwyer for H
July 21st, 2009
3:45 pm
just pointing out – yes, further embarrasing the ACC
Not Disappointed
July 21st, 2009
4:11 pm
I don’t recall VT being that good on Offense last year…..
So, let me understand a few things……..”Mark, our new friend, believe the Jackets will beat VT, but lose to Vandy? Oh boy, Mark, you make me more nervous than my wife & flaming decorater downstairs remodeling our kitchen. “I’m sure the BUDGET IS SHOT!”
I do appreciate Mathew H as well. Ramblin Wreck & Go Jackets!
East Cobb Hokie
July 21st, 2009
4:15 pm
enough of the smack talk, self included. GT and VT offenses should be improved. But the late hit call (legit or not) last year was and is not the issue. In that same game GT put the ball on the carpet 3 times. Hopefully, CPJ can reduce the turnovers this year. If so game on. Then it becomes a matter of how the 2 improved offenses (both of which were strugggling in Sept 2008) stack up against the opposing defenses.
juvenal
July 21st, 2009
4:47 pm
if uga was1/2 as good as they thought they were, & tech 1/2 as bad, then uga ever losing would be footballs greatest upset, & all of uga should consider seppeku
Not Disappointed
July 21st, 2009
4:49 pm
I will give you that “East Cobb Hokie!” If memory serves me right, it was two calls within the same series. OY! It should be a good game, East Cobb Hokie and I’m pulling for Georgai Tech!” Ramblin Wreck!
East Cobb Hokie
July 21st, 2009
5:17 pm
Not disapointed… I pull for the Jackets 11 games a year. What I would like to see is the GT fanbase get behind their team. I believe that is more of the previous problems that what any GT coach has or has not done. These comments complaining about a zebras call, blaming the lack of fans in the stadium on the national distribution of alumni, competing with falcons/Braves/hawks/Thrashers. ATL traffic congestion, academic rigor, etc is all bogus IMO.
Look how Clemson, Alabama, Tennessee, etc fans in their down years still support their team. Just get behind your team, show up and cheer loudly regardless of how they do. Be part of the success, don’t create the problem.
HokieJim
July 21st, 2009
5:48 pm
Hey Dwyer for H – had you not gotten absolutely waxed by a bad LSU team in the Chick-fil-a bowl, you could talk about embarrassing the ACC. But because you got destroyed, you would be best suited not evening mentioning embarrassing the ACC.
PS – if you thought that LSU’s defense gave Paula Johnson fits, wait utnil Bud’s boys hit the field!!!
Blue Ridge Hokie
July 21st, 2009
9:25 pm
VT could lose two close games in Atlanta and still win the coastal and the ACC; in fact, I think that’s what will happen. But, if we win one or the other it’ll be a great season. VT knows how to play the GT offense; take away the inside run; hit the QB hard on every play; make him pitch a lot; GT will break a few big plays outside but they will have to pitch under pressure and turn it over a few times as well (where that happens on the field will be the difference) Somebody has to pick the QB up in the 3rd and 4th quarters after each play.
PhiladelphiaVT
July 21st, 2009
11:08 pm
East Cobb Hokie is correct about the need for greater GT fan support at home games. Yellow Jacket fans (with the help of VT fans) need to fill Bobby Dodd on Oct 17 for what should be the ACC game of the year. BTW, how is it that UGA can fill a 90,000-seat stadium located in the small remote city of Athens while GT can’t fill a 55,000-seat stadium located in a city with a metro population of three million? Georgia Tech represents the ACC in the very heart of SEC country, so c’mon GT fans, show the nation that Atlanta is also ACC territory!!
GT babe
July 22nd, 2009
8:27 am
I hope the entire world predicts Va Tech to win the Coastal and the game at Ga Tech. I do not want to see GT predicted as the favorite from any media source whatsoever. Oh by the way, every year Clemson comes out every season with some running back that is suppose to be the premier RB of the ACC and Heisman hopeful and every year, the GT backs end up with better results. LOVE IT! Dwyer for Heisman …I cannot see how the Jackets will be anymore fired up that the VT game so GAME ON
Not Disappointed
July 22nd, 2009
8:53 am
East Cobb Hookie, you’re alright in my book! Ramblin Wreck!
juvenal
July 22nd, 2009
12:29 pm
according to the new york times, quoting payscale,in grad salaries, GT#32, VT#65, UVA#68, uga…#219
East Cobb Hokie
July 22nd, 2009
2:28 pm
GT babe…..no way the Jackets fly under the radar this year. The question is, how will they respond with a target on their back?
GT Falcon
July 22nd, 2009
3:10 pm
At FSU is the game to really worry about.
GTTerrific
July 22nd, 2009
8:15 pm
Mark, Nice blog! Enjoyed the read and the comments!! It’s getting close to the real deal!!!
Tech fans, can we not make excuses for getting beat @ VT last year. It wasn’t the refs that cost us the game. It was us not getting it done. VT won the game! Take it as it is!
Think this VT/GT game should be a great one. VT is the team to beat in the ACC. Any fan that doesn’t think so hasn’t been around. This has the makings of a GREAT VT team. They should be solid everywhere by the time they meet up with us. The only ? I see is if Taylor goes down.
I feel GT will be better on offense and defense. Our ? is on special teams. Big unknown there, and we all know how good VT is.
It’s still early to see, but it’s fun to predict. Feel this will be one heck of a ball game.
If GT is looking to play the same team they played @ VT last year, they’ll be mistaken. If VT feels they’re playing the same GT team they played last year, they’ll be mistaken. Both these teams should be much improved.
The most improved team wins. That’s why I’m picking GT!!!
GO JACKETS!!
BTW. Dang M, It’s getting really old.
GTTerrific
July 22nd, 2009
8:26 pm
As a GT fan I certainly want VT to kick the crap out of Bama in game one!
VT has been a great program for many years before they came to the ACC, and they’ve certainly been a great addition. Their record speaks for itself.
You’re going down in game 7, but PLEASE BEAT BAMA!!
GT9
July 22nd, 2009
8:29 pm
Went to Blacksburg for the first time last season and for people who love college football – there is no other experience like it. Right before the team takes the field the entire stadium becomes one ecstatic energy force which reminded me of the time I saw an Apollo liftoff in person at Cape Canaveral. God bless the Hokies. You can see mountains from the upper deck. It’s really beautiful. (Don’t go if you’re vegetarian, you’ll never see more turkey legs being grilled in your life.)
Bud Foster is an excellent defensive coordinator.
I hope that VA Tech is undefeated when they come to Grant Field this season. It could be a really good game.
George P
July 22nd, 2009
8:39 pm
I’m glad I’m not the only one that still calls the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University “VPI”. While the “VT” logo on their helmets goes back to the beginning of logos on helmets, their fight song and their “Hokie” cheer call the school “VPI”, so that’s what I go with.
GTTerrific
July 22nd, 2009
8:50 pm
GT9, Was there last year as well. It’s a GREAT college football experience!! Was beyond sad at the outcome, but had a great time up there. Some VT friends invited me to join them and got me a ticket. The tailgate was awesome. I was the only GT fan at the tailgate, and their fans really treated me well! Awesome time up there. They know how to do it on Saturedays!! There is definately a different overall passion for their team at VT on game day!
GO JACKETS!!
Trade School Junkie
July 23rd, 2009
2:50 pm
Bradley, for the record:
I have been saying GT goes 12-0 for the past 2 months !!
As for VT, GT is gonna pound them this year.
In 2008, VT beat UNC…ONLY…becuase UNC QB Yates went down, and UNC back-up QB was AWFUL. UNC was winning…handily…until Yates went down.
The week before GT routed Miami, Miami beat VT, and UVA was one bad pass from upsetting VT in the last game. If GT had played VT in second half of season, GT would have CRUSHED VT. GT gets VT on Oct 17th. We’re gonna crush’em.
The two ACC games that will matter the most for GT will be the Miami and UNC games. The UNC game will likely be the most important. It will likely determine the ACC-Coastal champ. In GT’s favor, UNC plays NCSt and the end, and NCST DESTROYED UNC last year.
VT got VERY lucky last year against GT, UNC, and UVA. That same luck wont appear this year.
Oh, and BTW, as it regards, Chan Gailey. No, he didnt care. It was obvious to the fans. He was arrogant, rude, abrasive, and insulting…TO THE FANS. Way too many personal Gailey encounters to detail those facts.
It is well known that the GT team was split along the Off & Def lines, with each “calling out” the other about not doing “their” job. There were reports of Off & Def player confrontations in the locker room. There were reports of Off & Def coaching “stand-offs.” The entire team unity had completely dissolved. That would have NEVER happened if, as you say, Gailey card.
He didnt, and EVRYONE knew it.
Trade School Junkie
July 23rd, 2009
3:20 pm
The most glaring weakness in the GT coverage by Heather Dinich…is Heather Dinich.
Her “journalism” is below medicore, WAAAYYYYY below mediocre.
Dinich was among those media outlets that totally drank the Clemson kool-aid.
Hell, those that followed the ACC knew Bowden was incompetent as a HC, and that QB Harper was a complete pretender. And, an ALL FRESHMEN O-Line. C’mon. They were gonna get creamed right fromthe start of the season.
Jim
July 23rd, 2009
4:01 pm
Go Jackets!
Georgia Tech: 45
Georgia: 42
“For those who care”
Trade School Junkie
July 23rd, 2009
4:51 pm
I look at that picture of CPJ and think…now THAT’S a coach !!
Last year, after the Jax State game (the FIRST game of the year), there was an AJC picture of CPJ who had Embry Peeples by the front collar of his jersey, chewing him out, and I thought…
CPJ is a BAAAAAADDDDD MAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN !!
Yeh, we DEFINITELY hired the right guy !!
ATTITUDE! ATTITUDE!! ATTITUDE!!!
North Avenue Dude
July 23rd, 2009
5:00 pm
VT is not better than Miami or UNC. Werent last year, wont be this year.
Everyone is gonna be REEEEEAAAAAALLLLLL surprised when VT finishes 4th in ACC-Coastal behind:
1. GT
2. UNC
3. Miami
4. VT
5. Duke
6. UVA
If GT beats Miami and especially UNC early….then we are going to
absolutley C-R-U-S-H VT in October.
Why? VT barely beat GT(early) and UNC last year, and lost to Miami. And, VT has to play NCST, who IMHO, will win the ACC-Atltantic.
GT will beat NCST in ACC-CG.
Big Bee
July 23rd, 2009
7:39 pm
HEY, HUH!!! On July 21st were you describing GT’s team or UGA’s team. Seems your comments fit either team. And for you UGA people that want to know if you go to a game at grant field, I guess it depends on who your date is to determine if you need to take protection!!!
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