How three points and one man changed football in Georgia
Paul Johnson exulted as UGA fell and the tides turned. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Three points on a rainy day when 87 were scored. Three points that halted a seven-year run of losing for one side and induced an abject reversal for the other. Three points that changed the state of college football in a state that lives for college football.
Georgia Tech beat Georgia 45-42 on Nov. 29, 2008, and never has one skinny victory assumed such heft. Tech is now the champion of the ACC Coastal Division and has been ensconced among the nation’s top 10 teams for a month. Georgia has had its worst season under Mark Richt and could be bound for Shreveport. You can argue that a different result 12 months ago wouldn’t have affected anything that has occurred in 2009, but you’d be wrong.
We stopped seeing Tech as hopeless during the first seven minutes of that famous third quarter. The Jackets went from 28-12 behind to 35-28 ahead in the time it took you to say, “There goes Dwyer!” And when it ended, Tech having won for the first time since George O’Leary was coaching against Jim Donnan, this much was clear: Mark Richt wasn’t coaching against Chan Gailey anymore.
Gailey tried six times against Richt, lost six times. In 2006 he even had the better team. Didn’t matter. There was something about Gailey that made you believe he could go 0-for-100 against the Bulldogs. Paul Johnson needed only one swing. Paul Johnson, as we now know, is different.
The Tech booster (and former co-captain under Bobby Dodd) Taz Anderson tells the story: Not long after Johnson was hired, he and Anderson were playing golf. The format was alternate shot. Johnson stood over the second shot on a par-5 hole. Anderson said, “Might want to lay up, Coach.” Johnson said, “Oh, I don’t know.” And knocked the darn thing on the green.
Just as faint heart never won fair maiden (really old saying), a timid Tech wasn’t going to unhorse Georgia. Tech stopped being timid the day Johnson strode — PJ doesn’t so much walk as he strides — through the door. Here’s a man secure enough to use an offense that supposedly ran its course decades ago, secure enough to run an actual play on any fourth-and-you-name-it. Johnson doesn’t care what you think of him. He’s so secure in himself and his methods that he needs no endorsement.
Nor, to hear him tell it, does he necessarily need to beat Georgia. “I’m not making it out to be the Super Bowl the way you guys are,” he said at his media briefing Tuesday. “I’m not going to let one game define our season.”
And then: “I don’t want to leave the impression that it’s not important. It is important. But I’m going to get Georgia Tech to the point where our program is bigger than one game.”
It helped that PJ won that one game on his first try. (”Been there, done that,” he said Tuesday.) Richt was no longer the scourge of the heated series but the guy who’d lost to the guy with the high school offense. Willie Martinez was the coordinator who couldn’t stop an offense that completed one pass (that on the game’s first snap). Georgia was no longer mighty, Tech no longer meek.
Had Georgia won on Nov. 29, 2008 — the 2009 Georgia media guide, perhaps inadvertently, lists the score of the game as 42-42 — the Bulldogs would have rounded off a disappointing season by at least reasserting their in-state dominance. Instead they laid themselves open to question, and in the succeeding Richt has seemed to have no answers. The guy who works at North and Techwood has hijacked every answer.
And now PJ and his program move from strength to strength, while Richt is under heavy pressure to change something, anything. Johnson’s team could play in the Orange Bowl. Richt’s just lost at home to Kentucky. Johnson’s team is the rising power, Richt’s the fading light. Three points did all that. Three points and one cocksure coach.
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577 comments Add your comment
MisterT
November 24th, 2009
7:31 pm
Alpharettadawg and the rest of you that think that the recent past 15 months has no no bearing on what the future holds for these programs, you have been the ones that pointed to the last decade as what the future holds. I don’t understand how the dawg nation can look to the previous 7 years prior to last year and say they have any indication of what the future holds for these two programs.
Now I am not one that thinks that all of the sudden CMR has forgotten how to coach. He is still very young and dynamic. He still has many many good years ahead of him, but for uga fans to deny that CPJ has turned things around based on how things were before he ever came…just plain silly. CMR had better make some adjustments before next season. He needs to look no further than the “good book” that subscribes to understand that he needs to hold his coaches accountable. They have had more talent to work with than most any scool in the country except maybe USC. they had better produce or the limbs will be pruned.
THWg!
so they don't go to school at Navy
November 24th, 2009
7:32 pm
what do they do , swim all the time, Lmfao
Wade_Marquette
November 24th, 2009
7:33 pm
so your saying usc, ark, aristate, vandy , tenn TECH, and auburn are good? howcome none are ranked? unc, clemson, va tech, all are ranked? yall some dummies! go get your education at ugay then come back and talk. GO JACKETS!
i'm just saying......
November 24th, 2009
7:35 pm
dawgs win in a slight upset ..oddsmakers must think dawgs have a chance just making them a 7 point dawg against the mighty jackets…make sure ya’ll put in flag boy at the half..lmfao
tech played mary and william
November 24th, 2009
7:37 pm
are you sure about that bulldawg, i thought that was virginia?
too funny..tech loses its last two games then a bowl to finish 15th in the country
November 24th, 2009
7:38 pm
i’m just saying
Football Fan
November 24th, 2009
7:53 pm
I will say this, Georgia will always be the undisputed top football school in the state. Georgia owned Tech for the better part of a decade and Tech wins one game and we have to listen to this garbage. Kudos for Tech for a nice season, but even Tech alum and 680 the Fan personality Matt Chernoff admits that Georgia Tech can never pass Georgia in the state of Georgia. Georgia will always get better recruits, bring in the most money, and generate more interest than Georgia Tech. Georgia just signed a huge media contract which is the biggest in history dollars wise. Money talks and gimmick offenses walk over time.
Football Fan
November 24th, 2009
7:54 pm
Also, Wake Forest should have beaten Georgia Tech if not for a low percentage stupid play call by Paul Johnson. Georgia will most likely win this game and lay the 7 points and have Techies crying in their pocket protectors.
Diggity Dawg
November 24th, 2009
7:58 pm
Would a column solely about Tech draw six pages of comments? No way. The ONLY way to draw a crowd for a Tech story is to throw in something about the Dawgs — regardless of the records of the two teams. And that’s the truth.
Diggity Dawg
November 24th, 2009
7:59 pm
What do Georgia and Georgia Tech fans have in common? A 24/7 obsession with the Dawgs.
Solid Gold Dancer
November 24th, 2009
8:03 pm
Say whatever it takes to ease your pain Football Fan. You’re only in the first step of recovery for your “Bad Season Syndrome”.
Solid Gold Dancer
November 24th, 2009
8:04 pm
That goes for you too Hot Diggity!
Warren
November 24th, 2009
8:05 pm
Wade, how about GT’s record if it had played UF, LSU, USCe or even UT? Those teams have very good defenses (wish I could say the same for UGA) and would have given GT all they wanted. GT would be 8-3 now at best and you know it. GT is nowhere near a BCS championship – heck, Boise State, TCU and even Cinn are ahead of them at this point. The ACC is very weak and you know it. That will all be exposed in the bowl games this year. You’d best get ready for Clemson because I think they’re the better team.
Wade_Marquette
November 24th, 2009
8:12 pm
I will be at clemson and im ready. 30 yard line tickets!
GT Rules State
November 24th, 2009
8:16 pm
Diggity, sorry to kill your ego … but this weekend isn’t our most impt game to win. No different than Jax State. Just give us braggin rights. Gonna squash you on way to to ACC championship. After Saturday night, UGA will be a distant memory.
revwreck
November 24th, 2009
8:16 pm
well I know I am convinced now, we should not play Saturday at all, and if we do we should not run the option it will never work on the mutts. I have a great idea, maybe we should just run that one bootleg play…seemed to work for UT…
techie on the coast
November 24th, 2009
8:18 pm
I just hope we run them right out of town……Tech 60—-GA 9 ……That’ll do ……THWG ….and I have tickets for Tampa…can’t wait, see all you guys at the Game…
James
November 24th, 2009
8:19 pm
It is quite humorous to read when the football factory fans get defensive. All those top flight recruits- they are too good to listen to coaches. They get in trouble and Urban and Mark will downplay it- don’t want to upset the fan base who lives for the them. I can’t guarantee a win, but I will guarantee you that Dwyer will hand the football to the ref and run to the sideline after he scores.
Warren
November 24th, 2009
8:20 pm
Wade, I hope you know that the game will not be at Clemson. Now you know that, don’t you? Please tell me that you’re not going to drive up to SC just to check into a hotel and watch the game with your 30 yard line tickets in hand. If you’re that dense, sell your tickets and get back to cleaning gutters or whatever.
revwreck
November 24th, 2009
8:21 pm
warren
its good to see you say if we played the same teams ugay did that we would have a better record…we’ll take that….and another thing is we could lose 2 out of the next 3 and have a better record..
techie on the coast
November 24th, 2009
8:28 pm
if these boys are smart and stay in school …..12-0 NATL. CHAMPS 2010…not one team on the schedule we can’t beat and Bring on TX…..(I think Florida will be the last SEC team for a while…exposed as overrated in 2009)…
Wade_Marquette
November 24th, 2009
8:28 pm
its in tampa you dummie. raymond james
techie on the coast
November 24th, 2009
8:34 pm
if this thing gets really big….we don’t have to start selling our swag at Wal-Mart and Dollar General along side that UGA crap….does it?
techie on the coast
November 24th, 2009
8:37 pm
tell me thats not what it means or will come to…
will we lose the ability to think freely and act as individuals…..copy and paste…..
revwreck
November 24th, 2009
8:41 pm
will we lose our teeth?????
Limelight
November 24th, 2009
8:56 pm
As someone said above, watch Dwyer and Nesbitt hand the ball to the ref after they score, then run to the sideline. The Dawgs, if they score, will act like idiots along with their fans, then hit someone late on the next series to draw a penalty. Win or lose, I’d much rather be a Tech fan, but thanks for all the amusing comments.
Seattle Jacket
November 24th, 2009
9:04 pm
Let me start by saying that I wish the best for UGAy. CMR is a fine man and a devout Christian. That is something that is lacking in Major sports these days. That being said, however, some things being said by the Dawg nation are really putting a craw in my saddle. Lets start with the great NFL talent Georgia puts on the field every year. Stafford has 42 million Moreno and Muhammad have money. ALL CAME OUT EARLY. That equals no Degree. But look at Stafford. Busted shoulder. Moreno; suspect knee What do they have to fall back on? Ten years from now when those dawg boys are out of football and delivering pizza (oh wait, no drivers license) or having to look at the nametag sewn to their shirt pocket to remember there name, most Tech GRADUATES will be making upwards of $100,000 yearly developing something that makes life easier or a drug to cure cancer. And lets not forget Michael Johnson and Vance Walker, oh yeah, and a receiver up in Detroit named Johnson (Who by the way, finished at GT early) Besides, the fact that Tech had few big names NFL picks should humble UGAy even more. We beat you with inferior players. Given the choice of talent or Heart, I’ll take heart ANYDAY! I’ll take Dwyer over Moreno or Ealy, Thomas over Green, and Paul Johnson over Mark Richt. Tech very rarely will land the 5 star recruits. Truth is most 5 stars can’t get into Tech. And of those that can, and are somewhat assured of an NFL career, how many really want to make the sacrifice it takes to be a student at Tech. I’m just sayin’. Besides, this sets up perfect for you dog breaths. Derreck Dooley is doing damn fine at La. Tech. Dad can hire him as soon as Richt is gone. Bring on Herschal, Jr and Buckie Baleu
revwreck
November 24th, 2009
9:06 pm
Limelight
Well put, I have a teenage son that is an athelete and it amazes me at how he points out the difference in the way that these two teams act. He knows if he ever pulled some of the crap he see’s some players doing his coach would be the SECOND one to get to him. It is plain and simple dicipline.
The Ghost Of Erskine Russell
November 24th, 2009
9:13 pm
That dang ol’ Paul Johnson kind of reminds me of……..well, ME.
Limelight
November 24th, 2009
9:17 pm
And it works. I can’t say for sure that Tech will win Saturday, but it’s nice to see a disciplined football team with some class, not clowns, for the most part. Unless you’re Florida, you’re not going to win the NC every other year, so let’s not make it all about winning or losing. It’s been 20 and 30 years since Tech and UGA (respectively) have won the NC. Winning is great and I’m certainly enjoying this season, but tailgating with friends and family, watching a good game, and enjoying the booz I sneak in is enough for me. Go ahead Dawg fans, pile on, I don’t really care.
doggiedooo
November 24th, 2009
9:18 pm
but we have a bigger stadium, and our recruits have more stars, and we are in the SEC, and we we we have a PRO offense, and we could have recruited any tesh payer but we didn’t want them and and and……
The Ghost of UGA VII
November 24th, 2009
9:24 pm
Great writing Brad.
Up here where I am now, I’ve discovered a coffee club among the coaches. The regulars are Bear Bryant, Lombardi, Landry, Bud Grant….to name a few. They have definite opinions…such as the fact that Barbara Dooley would have kicked more a## than Vince did, which is a joke that only mascots like me would perhaps get, but I digress…
More to the point….they all compare Paul Johnson to a middle-age Bear Bryant. Thought you earth-bound boys would like to know.
P.S. – I hope they don’t make my successor a Pit Bull with a Black Jersey and Black Helmet, you never know about that Athens crowd these days.
revwreck
November 24th, 2009
9:27 pm
amazing thing is I never say Choice or Calvin show boat…yet to see Thomas, Nesbitt or Dwyer. I am proud of these guys. Moreno was no better than Choice or Dwyer, saw him lots of times
The Ghost of UGA VII
November 24th, 2009
9:29 pm
2 points:
1. The Former Coaches up here where I am now think Paul Johnson is the modern day incarnation of Bear Bryant. I would ask Bear, but he’s out playing golf, and doesn’t talk to rival mascots.
2. For God’s sake, don’t let my successor be a Pit Bull who wears a black jersey, commits stupid personal fouls, and grooves to gansta rap. It’s a strange time in Athens town these days.
Technophobia
November 24th, 2009
9:39 pm
Great article Mark. After doing the “rope a dope” under Gailey for 6 years, PJ has started punching back and Foreman (UGA) is lookin pretty wobbly. TKO by the start of the 4th quarter.
Can you dig it?
November 24th, 2009
9:41 pm
Here’s what we do know…if you want to go to a school where you need a police escort across campus… go to Tech. If you want to go to a school that consistantly has students held up and robbed on campus..go to Tech..if you want to go to a school where the fans won’t fully support their team by selling out their home games…. go to Tech..if you want to have a huge inferiority complex when it comes to the Georgia football program..go to Tech If you want to always be a second class citizen in the state of Georgia..go to Tech. I’ve watched plenty of Georgia/ Tech football games over the years and one thing is very clear Tech fans always have an excuse for losing. I’ve heard it seven times in the past eight years….cry me a river Tech fans…your nats are going down on Saturday night…book it!
jacketnation
November 24th, 2009
9:44 pm
You have a lousy football team who hasn’t beaten anybody above mediocre. You lost to Kensucky. This is why UGag has adopted a roll of toilet paper to be the new mascot. The Yeller Jackets will run for over 400 on you Saturday and score 45 points. After that, good luck in the OUTHOUSE bowl.
jacketnation
November 24th, 2009
10:06 pm
Athens, Georgia; home of Ghetto drunkards.
Shane is a little girl
November 24th, 2009
10:20 pm
It’s obvious shane never played any sports. It’s even obvious shane is very feminine. Go wash your pink lace panties, little shane, and leave the sport’s talk to the men.
we are lame
November 24th, 2009
10:27 pm
hey poser…
Football fan idiot
November 24th, 2009
10:27 pm
There was a “football fan” blogger at Army that, just as uga’s fan claimed uga will always be better than Tech, claimed Army would always be better than Navy. Paul Johnson NEVER lost to Army. Don’t be so sure, f.f., that GT won’t totally DOMINATE your team for his entire stay at GT!
we are lame
November 24th, 2009
10:27 pm
Enter your comments here
rob
November 24th, 2009
11:02 pm
Hey Shane, i have no problem with my son signing with Tech. Heck id rather him go get yelled at my a coach who knows he can do better then bye a coach that is to worried about his tan.
Tweak the Dawgs
November 25th, 2009
12:30 am
There is no ‘ctrl’ button onPaul Johnson’s computer. Paul Johnson is always in control.
If you Google search “Paul Johnson’s Jackets get beat by UGA” you will generate zero results. It just doesn’t happen.
Northwest Dawg
November 25th, 2009
12:53 am
SeattleJacket … or is it SeattleJackAzz … nobody really cares about how much anybody makes with a degree. If you could’ve landed a $250,000/year contract after your sophomore year of college for engineering a machine that made bra hooks, you would’ve done it. Smart people make money no matter what college they go to or what degree they get. … I know plenty of unemployed Tech graduates right now, but that really has nothing to do with football now does it?
This conversation is about the football programs of Tech and Georgia, not your engineering school against UGA’s general studies program. Get it straight!
Northwest Dawg
November 25th, 2009
12:59 am
Techie on the Coast … you’ve clearly shown that you don’t get it. 12-0 AND National Champs? Now, you might go 12-0 at some point, but the ACC is low rent in the BCS pecking order — right down there with the Big East. Is a 12-0 Cincinnati going to get a shot at the title? Nope. Not even a 12-0 Iowa would’ve gotten a shot. It’s the Big 12 and the SEC … and then the ACC is down near the bottom with the Big East. Heck, you can’t even leapfrog Boise State and their one impressive win (though much more impressive than any win Tech has).
So, go to sleep with dreams of 12-0 in your head, but it’s best that you lose one or two so you don’t have to wake up to the nightmare that is the BCS and how it’s rigged for only two conferences.
Here’s to hoping the animatronic Dawgs get No. 2 Saturday night!
Big Dawg
November 25th, 2009
1:10 am
Dawgs will win Friday and won’t lose again for over a year. 2010 National Champs! We’ve got Ogletree arriving next year! And a host of other ***** players.
Go DAWGS! Hunker Down.
Keno
November 25th, 2009
1:20 am
Shane: Georgia didn’t win during the war years you mention because Georgia players were fighting the war and Tech’s stayed home. In fact, the day after Pearl Harbor, the WHOLE Tech team volunteered for service. Clint Castleberry subsequently died during the conflict. Let’s not take that glory away from those fellows in a stupid blog. Actually, I understand Tech probably won those two years because they were a training location for soldiers and consequently had a source of talent perhaps not available to Georgia. I’m not sure how true that is.
Drexel Gal
November 25th, 2009
1:56 am
Generally good column, Mr. Bradley. However, perhaps, in the future, you could consider those of us in your audience who come from BLUE-COLLAR backgrounds, and are not familiar with the golf terminology and strategery. The crap with “alternate shot [format]” and “better lay up” doesn’t mean anything to those of us who have seen the top side of a ditch from its bottom.
tom cable
November 25th, 2009
3:40 am
Does the carpets of Dalton sponsor a bowl game?