Tech’s Paul Johnson: A coach who dares to be great
Josh Nesbitt after scoring the game-winner in overtime. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
The surprise wasn’t that Paul Johnson went for it on fourth-and-inches with Tampa on the line. The surprise was that, for half a minute, it seemed Paul Johnson wasn’t going for it on fourth-and-1 with Tampa on the line.
Down three points in overtime, ball nuzzling the 5: What else would PJ do? “If we can’t get half a yard,” he said, “we don’t deserve to win.”
First Georgia Tech faked everyone out. The Jackets lined up as if to run a play but did the ol’ draw-’em-offside bit to no avail. They called timeout and trotted to the sideline, and your first thought was, “PJ just chickened out.” But PJ doesn’t chicken out. He talks the talk and goes on fourth down.
“If you ask the kids to play to win,” he said, “you’ve got to play to win.”
He’d asked his quarterback what he thought, and Josh Nesbitt, who’s as bold as his coach, said: “I can make it.” And PJ said: “I know you can.” And then Nesbitt did, and one play later he was in the end zone and Tech had climbed a couple of rungs up the BCS standings and drawn within one win of the ACC title game. So you can’t say there was nothing at stake. But PJ’s way is to play to win no matter the consequences, no matter the history.
Four times Tech had gone on fourth down already, and four times it had failed. Nesbitt had fumbled the snap and slipped in the backfield and gotten stopped at the line and thrown a pass Anthony Allen dropped. One more slip and Tech would lose. But this time nobody slipped. This time Nesbitt ducked his head and got the yard.
Tech wobbled Saturday. It started nicely but began to commit penalties at a Georgia-esque rate, and a quick 10-point lead became a 17-10 halftime deficit. It could have been worse, but Dave Wommack’s underwhelming defenders stopped Wake Forest at the end of the first half and then limited the Deacs to one first down over the next 25 minutes.
And then, even after Wake tied it, the D made a stand near the end of regulation to force overtime, and once beyond 60 minutes, PJ and Nesbitt weren’t going to let the Jackets lose. “You just will your way to win,” Johnson would say, and that’s what happened here.
Derrick Morgan had three sacks, all essential. Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 189 yards, 59 coming on Tech’s first snap of the second half when he burst up the middle on a tweaked play for the tying touchdown. (”Something I saw,” said Johnson, the archduke of adjustments.) Wake being Wake, it would never simply slink away into the gathering dusk, but Tech matched the Deacs in heart and trumped them in skill and gall.
Into overtime. Tech held Wake to a field goal and the game was the Jackets’ to win or lose, which meant it was PJ’s and Nesbitt’s, and was there ever any doubt how it would end? Said Johnson: “I don’t think [his players] expected anything else [than going for it on fourth down]. Our defensive guys knew we were going for it.”
Said Dwyer: “Who wouldn’t want to play for a coach like that?”
Before the game, Johnson had given his men an impassioned speech. He told them “not to put the horse before the cart” and ponder what might be waiting down the road. This prompted someone to ask: Doesn’t the horse generally go before the cart?
“Horse before the cart, cart before the horse,” Johnson said. “Maybe that’s why we came out flat.”
No matter. It all worked out in the end. PJ dared and Nesbitt made it work and Tech’s cart and horse, in whichever order you prefer, drew another hundred miles closer to a title game in Tampa.
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552 comments Add your comment
Lee
November 8th, 2009
8:05 am
Get off his nuts man!! Wake Forest is a below average team in one of the nations worst conferences. I guess your memory goes blank around Chick-Fil-A Bowl last year when LSU whooped that ass!
Brock
November 8th, 2009
8:06 am
yellow fuzzy-kinda like alabama and tenn game? can you believe alabama didn’t even score a touchdown. I mean, I can’t believe Saban let the game come down to a blocked field goal to win. against tenn!!.
Now, do you see how stupid your post was?
buzzman
November 8th, 2009
8:11 am
At least we won, I had the feeling we would be in for a close game, on watching for the past few weeks we have let our guard down, hopefully this close game was a wakeup call, we still have to beat Duke, and they are not a pushover like they used to be, then there is the good old Dawgs, Just take one game at a time and don’t get cocky. This is what kills good teams.
egghead
November 8th, 2009
8:15 am
CIRCUMVENT THE OPPONENTS STRATEGY TO ADVANCE THE LEATHER SPHEROID INTO DOMESTIC TERRITORY!! ONWARD INSECTS!!
81BME
November 8th, 2009
8:17 am
I thought the holding call on Thomas and the roughing call on the kicker were legit calls. Bay Bay was pulling the jersey of the defender to keep him from turning as the runner went behind him. On the roughing call, two Tech defenders were in the backfield and the downfield defender bumped into the upfield defender; pushing him into the kicker. It was accidental and due to effort – not a “stupid penalty”, but it cost us 4 points. Had we lost, it was not a game that we could blame on the refs. As it is, we won and the drama at the end was priceless. Wake Forest played well and our offense did not have their best game. Our defense played great against the run and as we have come to expect against the pass. I hope we play better at Duke, but I really enjoy watching GT this year. The FSU shootout, the win over VT and the end of this game will be remembered for years. I hope the rest of the year is as memorable. Go Jackets!
booger
November 8th, 2009
8:22 am
Louis, I guess we did forget that Wake Forest is not on par with the SEC, which as we know is the best conference in the country. God bless the doggs for having it so bad. And maybe they’ll win 6 so they can go to Nashville for a country Christmas. And then maybe doggs might get to play Wake. That would be cool.
booger
November 8th, 2009
8:25 am
egghead, you sound like a dogg.
DICK ESKEW
November 8th, 2009
8:25 am
DOES ANYONE KNOW IF I CAN CARRY WATER ON THE SIDELINES FOR THE TAMPA GAME? iF NOT, CAN I CARRY CPJ HEADSET CORD?
Navigator
November 8th, 2009
8:32 am
Staying out of the fray, I feel the schedule the rest of the year is going to be tough for Tech to win out. Next week, an away game with improving Duke, followed by a holy war with Georgia, and then another game with Clemson (probably the second best team in the league with their body of work). They may be the best team in the ACC at this time. I don’t see how Tech can keep it up with this many back to back games against tough competition. It has been a good run, and nobody who’s being honest will say that it was expected. I thought 8-9 wins with a shot at beating Georgia was the best the fans could hope for. The idea that PJohnson (and Womack) could push this team to a possible 11-13 win season was too soon without the lines (offense & defense) to support it.
Big Ten Sleeper
November 8th, 2009
8:40 am
I cant wait for next year when Pj will be up here @ Purdue!
Tim
November 8th, 2009
9:01 am
We are the highest ranked one loss team in the country. That says it all right there. We just made a big leap to get to the title game.
All we need now is a cincy, texas and possibly a tcu loss and we are there. It can happen folks.
LP
November 8th, 2009
9:04 am
I see there was another horrendous call in an sec game. Funny how espn isn’t even showing replays of it. They need there top teams in the sec game. What a joke this has become. Who wants to play fla or bama when the refs are on their side.
GT Alum
November 8th, 2009
9:04 am
For all of you Dawg fans saying it was just Wake, you do realize Wake would likely beat ya’ll by 3 touchdowns, right? I was at the game and that is a good team. We shouldn’t have made it that close but the refs certainly didn’t help our cause. Its a good W and they’re a much better team than the one in Athens.
GT Alum
November 8th, 2009
9:06 am
Little Ten Sleeper, you are hands down the worst conference in the country. The Little 10 is an absolute joke.
Woodstock Jacket
November 8th, 2009
9:06 am
Old ‘Jacket -
CPJ salary is $2.3M with a 7 seven extension after last year. That doesn’t include incentives which I would assume include BCS and others. He is 2nd only behind Bowden at $2.5M. BTW he would only be ahead of 5 SEC coaches. Mark Richt is $2.8M. He would be 4th highest in Big Tenjust slightly behind RR at $2.5M.
Big Ten Sleeper – nice try but CPJ will be rewarded again at GT for his efforts. Quote from CPJ “I look forward to continue being a part of the Georgia Tech family for years to come”. Not to mention he loves the state of GA and is having great efforts on recruiting.
http://www.coacheshotseat.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3777919
j
November 8th, 2009
9:06 am
to the dawg nation remember to dress in black when you visit bobby dodd for your final rites in three weeks.
Time to bury the disgraceful mutts and their fans once and for all. you folks will be history after the game.
GT Alum
November 8th, 2009
9:07 am
Clemson did look good last night. But to be the man you gotta beat the man.. And we all know they haven’t done that in a long time.
j
November 8th, 2009
9:08 am
Is UGA ranked at all anymore? does anyone really care about that program off highway 29?
kff
November 8th, 2009
9:13 am
Wake beat stanford. stanford beat oregon who beat usc last week. wake led miami by 13 last week late in the 4th quarter. whenever you have an acc first team qb, you have a good team. skinner has nfl written all over him.
GT FAN UP NORTH
November 8th, 2009
9:15 am
Awesome game yesterday and exciting-Tech needs to focus on Duke at this point-then a week off and the pups come to town! I just hope this “high school offense” can hold up- I crack up everytime I see or hear that- Like CPJ says I’ve been doing this for 20+ years- Watching Navy beat ND yesterday was awesome as well- same “high school offense” Defense…well they do what they have to do- I wish DW would bring these corners up to the line- if they get beat they get beat but forget this 10 yards off the ball-Duke will dump the little pass again and again. But being 9-1 is a good place to be at this point- Cincy looked beatable to me last night and still has UWV and PItt on the schedule. Go Jackets!!!!
GA Tech Insider
November 8th, 2009
9:15 am
Some quick Wake Forest post-game notes
Orange, Champs, and Chick-fil-A Bowl officials were present
On Jonathan Dwyer’s TD run, it was his 3rd straight, 5th overall 100 yard game of the year and put him over 1000 yards for the season. He has the 6th most consecutive 100 yard games in GT history. Dwyer’s 195 yards bests last week’s career high (186 yds) set vs Vanderbilt.
Preston Lyons had his 1st TD of his career and his longest carry. It went for 31 yards.
Scott Blair hit the longest FG of his career with his 45 yarder.
Phil Smith and Mario Edwards both made their first career starts.
Steven Sylvester got his 1st career sack.
Derrick Morgan had a career best 3 sacks. That gives him 11.5 this season. That’s 5th best single season in GT history.
GA Tech made 5 changes on special teams. Morgan Burnett, Roddy Jones, Mario Edwards, Quentim Sims, and Julian Burnett all returned.
Josh Nesbitt added 2 TD’s to give him 22 TD’s. That’s 6th best in GT history and the most by a QB. He has 15 TD’s for the season. That’s the second most in a season in history.
Paul Johnson’s win makes him 18-5 for a .783 winning percentage. That’s now highest in GT history edging out John Heisman.
The team rushed for 412 yards. That’s the 3rd time this year going over 400 yards.
The 9-1 start is the best since the won the National Championship in 1990.
GA Tech’s 6 ACC wins is 3rd best since they’ve been in the ACC.
GA Tech has clinched a tie for the Coastal Division.
The Yellow Jacket’s 7 game winning streak is their longest since 2000.
ACC refs
November 8th, 2009
9:15 am
Go and watch how SEC officials call their FLA and BAMA games! They do whatever possible to back them into the BCS games. I’m not asking you guys to call the game one-sided in GT’s favor, just call it fair.
Pre
November 8th, 2009
9:19 am
Hey you stupid redneck dawgs that were on here saying hey duke it leading your conf. Look at the standing you idiots. They were never leading and now look. They are 4th. Stupid loser uga program.
William Casey
November 8th, 2009
9:24 am
Wake Forest is a well-coached, stout team in spite of the record. I’m proud that the Jackets defeated them. How much better would UGA be with Riley Skinner at QB and Jim Grobe as coach? Just asking.
Newnan Jacket
November 8th, 2009
9:35 am
36 years old and I need to see a cardiologist after this one. How bizarre is it that after fighting tooth and nail all night long, Wake gave Georgia Tech the QB Sneak? Wake was “hat on a hat” the first time they lined up.
Whatever, though: A helluva call. A helluva game. A helluva team. I’m glad to be a helluva, helluva, helluva engineer!
GA Tech Insider
November 8th, 2009
9:36 am
I forgot to mention that the Head of ACC Officials was at the GA Tech game yesterday, and, well, let’s just say he’s had the opportunity for a “personal” review of some of the calls. I’ll leave it with that.
GA Tech Insider
November 8th, 2009
9:37 am
Or lack thereof…
Doc
November 8th, 2009
9:43 am
3 teams lost that gt needed to lose. Now we just need to keep winning and let the chips fall. It’s time for a new column on how gt WILL get to the title game. Only need 2-3 more losses.
Very Impressive!!!
November 8th, 2009
9:44 am
A last minute, come from behind win against Weak Forest and the Techies are crowing like they’re NC material! You geeks are so delusional. You have a gimmick offense, no defense, and a relatively weak schedule. We’ll see how you do IF you make it far enough to draw the #2 (or 3, or 4) SEC team… another beat down just like last year when LSU pounded your A$$es.
Flowery Branch Yellow Jacket
November 8th, 2009
9:44 am
After yesterday’s game, the Yellow Jackets have a larger margin of victory than Florida against both Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. There are still two common opponents remaining (UGA and FSU), but right now the Jackets have a pretty good chance of claiming the title of SEC East Champion!
snellville jacket
November 8th, 2009
9:49 am
Any one else notice the mighty SEC for the most part everyone played the sisters of the poor yesterday. Only three in conference games.
The officiating in the game last night left a lot to be asked for. There was a completed pass where the Wake defender was on the back of the tech recevier. No flag even though the pass was completed. This was not the usual crew that works a Georgia Tach Game.
It is very hard for a center to get two chop block penalties usually the guard has already engaged the defender.
Are we misisng Taylor Cooper more than we wnat to admit? Seems very little pass rush against a team that could only pass, and was there ever a blitz?
jacketbacker
November 8th, 2009
9:50 am
I disagree with some post i’ve read about bad defense yesterday…i counted 5 straight possessions that we stopped Wake and forced punts….that is normally more than enough for our offense…..the D also came up big at the end of the 4th quarter with wake at midfield……some miscues by the O and questionable calls by the refs is the only thing that kept Wake in the game…..
Scott
November 8th, 2009
9:54 am
Sec officials
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_staples/11/07/lsu.alabama/index.html?eref=sihp
old Tech fan in NC
November 8th, 2009
10:05 am
The Wake game caused my blood pressure to go from mild hypertension to almost pre stroke!
Glad to see CPJ play to win.
Wonder how many passes Duke will attempt next Sat? 60? Even 70? They surely know they cannot run against Tech. As GTcoaches said, hopefully Tech studies the UNC plan and has about a wheel barrow load of picks. (Wheel barrow….Johnson has one!)
Rick
November 8th, 2009
10:08 am
Of course, if they hadn’t made the fouth down play, MB’s headline might have read,
“Tech’s Paul Johnson: What was he thinking ?”
Life is full of risk & reward opportunities-you just got to see one of the rewards.
secret recruit
November 8th, 2009
10:10 am
Said Dwyer: “Who wouldn’t want to play for a coach like that?”
Exactly! The legend of CPJ earns another stripe. Those who think he won’t be able to recruit don’t understand how his consistent actions will attract talent. He earns the devotion of his troops under fire. He’s the most authentic coach I’ve seen in my lifetime….
GA Tech Insider
November 8th, 2009
10:11 am
I had one last point I’d like to make about the Jackets before I go. I just wanted to remind everyone that the team has been going non-stop since August – no breaks like most teams that have been playing.
The boys are coming off of a 5 game stretch in October where they had 5 wins in 5 different states, and they’re a bit tired and nicked up. The fact that they pulled this game out; especially against a team that should have beat Miami last week (they would have beat Miami had Skinner not gotten knocked out with a concussion), well, I think that speaks volumes about the inner strength of this year’s team.
If they can get by Duke next week, they’ll FINALLY have a week off before they have to play Georgia. The guys really need to get some rest and start getting healed.
Pi$$onaDawg
November 8th, 2009
10:13 am
Dawgs enjoy your victory and we will enjoy ours. UGA 2 out of 3 in the state of Tennesse that is a great record aginst all those monsters.
BOOGER MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 8th, 2009
10:16 am
FINAL SCORE FROM ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ………CLEMSON 45- TICK 3……SHOULD HAVE KICKED YALLS A$$ LAST TIME……DABO WILL MAKE IT WORK THIS TIME…….C J SPILLER WITH 385 ALL PURPOSE YARDS……OH YEAH…….DAWGS END ONE GAME SKID, REBOUND AND SQUASH BUGS ON WAY TO ANOTHER 7 YEAR OR MORE BEAT DOWN……..
Pi$$onaDawg
November 8th, 2009
10:17 am
I thought the saying is “go for the tie on the road and the win at home”. Paul just followed the RULE, be it on a dangerous 4th and 1 he did have the CROWD in his favor.
Pi$$onaDawg
November 8th, 2009
10:21 am
BOOGER I see you still have not sobered up from last night. I think you need to get to church. I an not going to make it today, but you need to try. Spiller was beat on pretty good last night and Clemson has 3 games in a row still to play and then the ACCCG if all works out. That will be a tired Clemson. I think USC will give Clemson a game.
Gailey Can't Coach
November 8th, 2009
10:38 am
GA Tech Insider: Even though the Head of ACC Officials was at the game, he may have seen it called “perfectly” from his vantage point…But ONE THING he could never escape is the WRATH of the crowd at BDS!!
MAN!!! There was more BOOING over and over and over at that game than when Willie Martinez went Trick or Treating through the UGAy football players’ dorms dressed as an SEC Team Defensive Coordinator…LOL!
Another GREAT CROWD at BDS! A twin F/A-18 Hornet flyover at 200ft to start the game! A HISTORIC 4th and 1 call made in OT and executed by the Offense WITH THE SEASON ON THE LINE!
Anyone finding a reason to complain about THAT atmosphere and THAT game just isn’t a true college football fan…Or they follow a team on the decline down the Atlanta Highway!
VOTE for CPJ once a day: http://www.coachoftheyear.com
BOOGER MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 8th, 2009
10:43 am
TOO BAD WEAK FORMOST DIDNT STUFF THE GREAT ONE ON 4TH AND 1 …………….DAWGS AND CLEMSON KICK TAT A$$ THIS TIME
no knee
November 8th, 2009
10:44 am
chop chop chop.
GT For You And Me
November 8th, 2009
10:51 am
Booger man:Your an idiot……….Go play with your tinker toys…
BOOGER MAN FROM HARTWELL GA
November 8th, 2009
10:55 am
TO GT FOR YOU AND PEE…..TELL YOUR GRANNY TO PLAY WITH MY TINKER TOYS
Beano Cook
November 8th, 2009
10:56 am
Paul Johnson can coach better than Urban, $aban, and Beamer put together.
HARTWELL TIGER
November 8th, 2009
10:58 am
HARTWELL is sissy CLEMSON territory !
#1 GT fan
November 8th, 2009
10:58 am
This article says it all. Coach PJ is just what Tech needed. He is what every offense player wants as a coach. BUT the only reason he showed those guts was because he does not trust his deffense or special teams.
But after the way there deffense and special teams has played this year, YOU CANT BLAME HIM.
Last thing, it better not happen again. A team ranked in the top ten can not have games that close( with unranked team atleast).
All in all, it was an okay game. could have been better but okay.
GO JACKETS!!!!!!!
Pi$$onaDawg
November 8th, 2009
10:59 am
Booger: I see you still have not sobered up from last night. Clemson has 3 L’s already with a beat up spiller and 3 more games to play with the ACCCG being a 4th game. Bring on the DABO boys. TECH just has to worry about DUKE and rest. I want to beat the Dawgs, but I would take resting guys for TAMPA over a so-so win over the also-ran mutts.