I’m thinking PJ sees a real title as bigger than beating UGA
Paul Johnson and Josh Nesbitt can still be champions. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
I had this conversation with a Georgia Tech booster last night: If Paul Johnson had to pick between beating Georgia and winning the 2009 ACC title, which would have chosen?
“As fans, we’d always pick beating Georgia,” the booster said. But that’s from the fan’s perspective, which isn’t the same as a coach’s. And if I had to guess — and I don’t have to guess, but just for grins I will — I’d say PJ would take being the champion of a BCS conference. (Yeah, yeah. Even if it is only the ACC.)
I base this on something PJ said last week about beating Georgia — “Been there, done that” — and on his stated desire to win championships at Tech. “We almost did it last year,” he said, and the Jackets did. They shared first place in the Coastal Division but lost to Virginia Tech on a tiebreaker. And now the moment is here. Beat Clemson in Tampa and the Jackets will play in the Orange Bowl in Year 2 under Paul Johnson. And that’s pretty darn impressive even if they did lose to the hated mutts.
A year ago, I think PJ would have chosen the other course: He needed to beat Georgia to establish credibility among his constituency. And that had to come first lest he run the risk of turning into Chan Gailey. (Who was fired because he couldn’t beat Georgia, fired 51 weeks after he played for the ACC title in Jacksonville.) Having done the deed in Year 1, Johnson has more global goals.
Which is why, I submit, he talked down the rivalry last week. (Indeed, he came tantalizingly close to channeling Reggie Ball and saying of Georgia: “It’s just a game, dog.”) PJ said this flat-out: “I’m going to get Georgia Tech to the point where our program is bigger than one game.”
Georgia fans will crow that the ACC title game now holds no currency, but that’s not true. (The Tech fan’s comeback: “So who are you playing this week?”) Tech was the best team in its conference, which isn’t to be confused with the SEC but isn’t the New York-Penn League, either. And that was the Jackets’ stated goal from spring practice on — win the ACC.
Remember Tech’s rings from last season? They weren’t presented for beating Georgia, although they did bear the famous score. (I’m pretty sure this year’s rings won’t be engraved with “30-24.”) The rings were for tying for the Coastal title. This year GT and PJ don’t have to share a division with anyone. This year they can win the whole conference. And I’m thinking, in this coach’s mind, that was Job 1 all along.
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1,540 comments Add your comment
Tech Nightmare
November 30th, 2009
10:56 am
WTF YOU SAY is Yellow FUZZ in disguise… you coward.. How’d you like that good ole fashioned azzwhipping you got. You are too afraid to show that ugly face of yours under your real name.
Bay Bay= whoops
CPJ= genius…. incomplete, incomplete, incomplete, drop..
Ealey scores again !!!!
DawgWhipping
November 30th, 2009
10:57 am
Ugaly, We know about the 17 million dollar payouts in the BCS, we have been to 3 of them in the past 6 years remember. Oh, and the highest paid outside the BCS the Capital One at 6 million last year. How must pay did Tech get for the 3 Humanitarian Bowls in Boise, The Emerald Nut Bowl in the baseball stadium in San. Fran, the Seattle Bowl (Now bankrupt) the Silicon Valley Classic? How funny the Tech fans are trying to compare bowls. LOL. The best bowl for Tech has been the Chick Fil A where they got a butt whipping. Oh, and while your at it, add up all the bowl payout for the ACC and SEC and see who comes out on top. The SEC only gets half of the SECOND BCS game payout because we ALWAYS have 2 teams in the BCS.
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
10:57 am
The UGALY Truth
November 30th, 2009
10:49 am
Yessirree, playing in that big bad championship game against a team that isn’t even rated in the top 25. You got me on that one, dude. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
DawgWhipping
November 30th, 2009
10:58 am
TC: Who even gets rings for CO divisional championships? What a joke.
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
10:58 am
TC
November 30th, 2009
10:55 am
Co divisional champs. Is that sort of like double secret probation? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
GIVE ME A BREAK
November 30th, 2009
10:59 am
Ya’ll don’t get it, we let you win so you would keep Mark, Booboo and Wiley.
DawgWhipping
November 30th, 2009
11:00 am
Oh and Ugaly, I think you need to see the bowl projections that came out this morning. They have UGA playing Virginia Tech in the Chick Fil A. Remember it’s the ACC #2 against the SEC #5/#6 which is why the pay is different. Oh, and the SEC will kick butt again this year.
Art Vandalay
November 30th, 2009
11:01 am
There is no arguing with a Georgia fan because they change their stance to never be wrong. Do you HONESTLY believe Tech will care about this game if they still accomplish everything they set out to. If they win the ACC and the Orange Bowl do you think they will only remember losing to Georgia?
UGA’s narrow mindedness is shown in the fact that Tech can play in a BCS game and Georgia will be content just saying they beat Tech. Do UGA fans sit around and think about 2005 and remember losing to Florida or do you remember winning the SEC and playing in the Sugar Bowl? I know as a Florida fan we have plenty of 2006 and 2008 Championship t-shirts but im pretty sure Auburn and Ole Miss don’t have many 2006 and 2008 we beat Florida t-shirts. FSU remembers an ACC title and an epic Orange Bowl in 2005 not getting blown out if the building in late November by Florida, because in the grand scheme of things it was meaningless both programs at the time had bigger goals than winning one game. The world remembers how the teams finish in the rankings, only Athens remembers a narrow victory by a 7-5 team in November, fortunately many UGA fans don’t know a world outside of North Georgia.
Meatlake
November 30th, 2009
11:01 am
Sweeet…7 more years of not having to listen to all these techies talking smack over 1 comeback 3 point win. It’s kinda funny how all these tech fans are ripping CPJ for his playcalling especially when their best receiver dropped the potential 1st down catch. Nice attempt at spinning the loss into “it wasn’t all that important a game”. I’m thinking Tech and Clemsom just got their butts handed to them by their biggest rivals and the ACC title game just got less important. If that is possible…Good news for the ACC is that basketball season is here and the league can start filling some seats.
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
11:01 am
GIVE ME A BREAK
November 30th, 2009
10:59 am
Hey everybody, check it out. This guy said the overrated #7 team in the country “let” us win. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
GIVE ME A BREAK
November 30th, 2009
11:01 am
GOOD LUCK moving forward with the THREE STOOGES.
tech man
November 30th, 2009
11:01 am
UGa you are and have been for a long time been over rated.You enen got a truck commercial comparing it to a winner.That is crazy.A 7 and 5 team and ranked at the south pole does not mean you are winners.GROW UP!!!!! GO Tech
Tech Class on Choaking
November 30th, 2009
11:02 am
Best Team in ACC loses to worst UGA team in 13 years…. Tech would be maybe 6 and 6 if they were in a real conference. There won’t be 25,000 fans at the ACCC game because nobody cares.
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
11:03 am
Art Vandalay
November 30th, 2009
11:01 am
Yeah, you’ll probably end up playing in your first ever BCS bowl because in order to do it all you have to do is defeat a team that is not even ranked in the top 25. Impressive…..real impressive. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
GT FAN ALL THE WAY
November 30th, 2009
11:03 am
Hey Georgia fans, is your bowl game being played in ‘09 or ‘10??? Enough said!!
GIVE ME A BREAK
November 30th, 2009
11:04 am
GEORGIA, you’ve had your 15 minutes of fame, now go back to being MEDIOCRE. THWG!!!! The Joke Of Georgia.
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
11:04 am
tech man
November 30th, 2009
11:01 am
You’re right. 7-5 doesn’t make us winners. However, on Saturday night, 30-24 DID make us winners. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Tech Class on Choaking
November 30th, 2009
11:04 am
Tech Man, is 8 of the last 9 over rated? Glad it hurts so bad. You sound like one of the top nerds in your class.
You will lose to Clemson…
You will lose the Gator bowl…
You are Tech and nothing is ever going to change that.
hic
November 30th, 2009
11:05 am
UGAY still not ranked in any football polls!!!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/polls/bcs/
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
11:06 am
GIVE ME A BREAK
November 30th, 2009
11:04 am
Mediocre? Mediocre is a team who has never played in a BCS bowl game. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Tech Class on Choaking
November 30th, 2009
11:06 am
GT all the way.. suck on that 30 to 24 nerd..Last 8 out of 9. Your best team in 20 years can’t beat a mediocre UGA team. That shows you how bad you suck.
GT FAN ALL THE WAY
November 30th, 2009
11:06 am
The Grinch – Mediocre is being ranked a preseason #1 then showing nothing for it!!!
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
11:07 am
GT FAN ALL THE WAY
November 30th, 2009
11:03 am
I don’t know the dates, but we could be playing in the same bowl you played in last year and got thumped 38-3 by an SEC team. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
DawgWhipping
November 30th, 2009
11:07 am
Vandalay, The point is that UGA fans are both disappointed and mad about this year. That is the difference between Tech and UGA fans. We look at this year and are calling for heads because we aren’t content going to the Chick Fil A bowl like Tech was celebrating last year. Tech has been very content going to piss poor bowls on the West Coast and Boise for years. If you are truthful you know Ga. Tech wants to beat UGA. Just like the year we were 13-1 and lost to Florida, it still pisses me off. The same holds true for 2007 and losing to a bad S. Carolina team and ending up #2, when we could have won the NC that year easily the way we were playing the end of the year. The point, if you are OK with losing to UGA and then winning a horrible ACC Championship and going to your one BCS game, you will never move forward. Winning a NC means ALL games are important. Remember this one, UGA on the recruiting front gains from every win over Tech locally, so you should remember it. Also, while the country is watching the SEC championship Saturday and no one is watching the ACC Championship, think about which conference the recruits want to play in. A half filled, nearly unwatched ACC or a 8 hour pre-game, 75K seat full GA. Dome and #1 and #2? Yeah and the GA. Dome is too small for SEC Games.
Tech Class on Choaking
November 30th, 2009
11:07 am
hic… UGA is #1 in the State of Georgia. 30 to 24, last 8 out of 9. Glad it hurts so bad.
GT FAN ALL THE WAY
November 30th, 2009
11:08 am
COULD BE is the key…None of the other bowls want your mediocre selves so the home state bowl will be FORCED to take you
GT4LIFE
November 30th, 2009
11:08 am
With Womack as DC—we ill never win an ACC! THis guy is a proven loser and cost us a great year by losing to the MUTTS. Bring back Tenuta, or find somebody else!!! CPJ has to make a stand–that was embarrassing!!!!!
The UGALY Truth
November 30th, 2009
11:09 am
The Grinch, according to EVERYONE, UGAY is a lousy football team…Just check your own blogs after LOSING TO KENTUCKY. Sure, it would’ve been GREAT to reach ELEVEN Wins Sat night, but in the grand scheme of things, you guys are just another out of conference SEC game just like Miss St and Vandy.
Glad to know you can’t control yourselves after beating GT. Didn’t know we meant that much to you anymore…But clearly it’s understandable coming from fans of a 7-5 team.
It’s GREAT to be a Yellow Jacket and it has to be PURE TORTURE to be a Dawg Fan as YOUR football program goes sailing off a cliff…7-5, Pizza Bowl, KENTUCKY…Just say it outloud now and everything will be OK. I promise…LOL
Tim
November 30th, 2009
11:09 am
Tech has really pulled up its level of play since PJ has arrived. Being an avid Dawg fan I cant help but be proud of Tech (living here in CA makes this possible.) With the exception of the blowouts at the hands of the likes of Fresno St, It is wonderful to see the Jackets playing like the great teams of the past. The coaching staff is far more polished and adept at running a team than my beloved boys in Athens. The win was a great one for my guys but I hated to see a great season go down this way for my friends on I-75. Get it back together and win it all in Tampa.
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
11:09 am
GT FAN ALL THE WAY
November 30th, 2009
11:06 am
Nah. We were preseason #1 because we finished the previous year #2 and had most of the team coming back, including two players who were selected in the first 12 picks of the NFL draft. Yes, we didn’t play up to expectations.
Now to tech. You have NEVER played in a BCS bowl. So if you rank UGA as mediocre, then tech is absolutely irrelevant. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
11:11 am
GT FAN ALL THE WAY
November 30th, 2009
11:08 am
You mean like you guys last year? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. You really embarassed yourselves in that one.
Tech Class on Choaking
November 30th, 2009
11:11 am
Give me a break….. Glad it hurts so bad… 30 to 24, 8 out of 9, 60/39/5. Make your excuses.. you should be good at it because you lose so often… You will lose to Clemson and in the Gator bowl. UG ruined your season.
DawgFan
November 30th, 2009
11:12 am
Give Me a Break: How many New Years games has Ga. Tech played in the past 20 years? You should know what it means to play on Dec. 19, Dec. 27, etc…you are the pro’s. The funniest thing is going to be if the unranked Clemson Tigers best Yeck, what excuses are going to be made. The same people saying the UGA win doesn’t matter to Tech were the ones saying they would score 60 on us last week. What a joke. Talking about their POSSIBILITY of making their FIRST BCS game EVER, against a team that has already made 3 and going to the bowl game Tech was so proud of going to last year. UGA sucked this year, our DC is going to get fired and we are mad, but STILL we beat Tech. What a joke.
GT FAN ALL THE WAY
November 30th, 2009
11:13 am
Well the NEVER part will be taken care of after Saturday. However, with Martinez and Booboo it will be NEVER AGAIN for UGA in a BCS bowl game.
The UGALY Truth
November 30th, 2009
11:13 am
The Grinch:
It’s GREAT to be a Yellow Jacket and it has to be PURE TORTURE to be a Dawg Fan as YOUR football program goes sailing off a cliff…7-5, Pizza Bowl, KENTUCKY…Just say it outloud now and everything will be OK. I promise…
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
11:14 am
To GT FAN ALL THE WAY
If you’re such a big tech fan, just how many free hot dogs and cokes did you receive this year? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
porkbelly
November 30th, 2009
11:14 am
St Simons, Hello is there anybody in there just nod if you can hear me is there anyone home. 30-24 hahahahahahahahaha
KBB
November 30th, 2009
11:14 am
Tech lost. It hurts. Can’t put a band aid on broken leg and expect it to feel better. Acceptance is the first stage of recovery. No slide rule can make a stat or a ranking a victory. Nothing much more needs to be said.
MikkUGA
November 30th, 2009
11:15 am
The point is he didnt have to choose. He had the #7 team in the country and he lost at home to a 6-5 UGA team. What does this really say, that a 7-5 UGA just beat GT , who is playing in the ACC championship and a 7-5 USCe just beat Clemson, who is also playing in the ACC championship.I think that says it all.
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
11:15 am
The UGALY Truth
November 30th, 2009
11:13 am
And just how many free cokes and hot dogs did YOU receive this year? Talk about irrelevant. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
ACC Chumps
November 30th, 2009
11:16 am
Hey Mark! It’s Monday…and Caleb King is still running! 30-24
DawgFan
November 30th, 2009
11:17 am
Ugaly and Give me a Break:
Let’s just say this: UGA will be back and we wouldn’t be satisfied with a 10-2 mark next year. We won’t a NC, not just a BCS berth. Oh, and did you check the rankings from last year and 7 years previous? Let’s see, Tech is in there twice, UGA in the 8 times, 6 in the Top 10. And after we beat Virginia Tech and make them 0-2 against the SEC this year, we will be ranked in the Top 25 for this year. So funny!
Kevin Carter
November 30th, 2009
11:17 am
I don’t care what any tech fan says this was the biggest game to us and it is every year. I would rather be 1-11 and beat Georgia than 10-2 and lost to them. I am a Tech fan and I have to take it like a man I thought we would beat Georgia but they came out and beat us at our own game.
The Grinch
November 30th, 2009
11:17 am
Bonus question: who was the last BCS bowl team to offer free cokes and hot dogs to attract fans to a small stadium for home games in an irrelevant conference?
The UGALY Truth
November 30th, 2009
11:18 am
Only a UGAY Grad would spell “choking” as “choaking” in his blog name…Must’ve been Class Valedictorian!!
Joseph
November 30th, 2009
11:20 am
Nesbitt plays the whole game, GT wins hands down.
GWJ
November 30th, 2009
11:20 am
8 wins out of 9 games……5
TC
November 30th, 2009
11:21 am
Go ahead and gloat UGA Mutts. It is one game in your less than stellar season for you so enjoy it while you can.
In other UGA news… I see one of your high school recruits got in trouble and will miss a playoff game, Thanks for keeping things consistent. Anothter prized crop of trouble makers who play dirtier than any other team around…then have the gall to cry about Spikes and so called eye gouge. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Plenty of dirty plays Saturday night and let us not forget about the guy drilling Tebow long after he handed the ball off in that little massacre in Jacksonville. Sadly, the SEC refs must be used to UGA and their dirty little tricks and don’t even bother calling it all any more. They know the game would never get played. The TV people have complained there is no action, just a bunch of yellow flags on the field play after play.
MASSDAWG
November 30th, 2009
11:21 am
Hey Wiley,
If it’s just a game….why didn’t PJ put the Duke scores on the rings last year…that was a conference win and that is supposably more important??? You and pj both know that it’s important. His ego fits in well with the Tech nation’s fanbase…very dillusional!!! DAWGS WIN 30-24…THAT’S 8 OUT OF 9 FOR YOU CALCULUS MAJORS!!!
Clay
November 30th, 2009
11:21 am
I think it’s funny to hear the Tech fans justify thier season by talking about playing in the ACCCG this weekend. It must hurt to know that you may be conference champs, but you aren’t better than UGA!
Last year, UGA had the better record, better ranking and the better bowl game and all we heard was that Tech won the game. This year, UGA wins the game and suddenly the big picture is what it’s all about. You guys are nuts!