Tech’s Joshua Nesbitt: The most valuable collegiate player?
It takes at least four Hokies to handle Joshua Nesbitt. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Ankle surgery having precluded his participation in spring practice, Joshua Nesbitt had the chance to study Georgia Tech from the sideline. And what he saw, he said, was a team just as talented as last season’s ACC champs. Which is, not to put too fine a point on it, a big ol’ fib.
Because the Jackets with Nesbitt on the sideline aren’t one-tenth as impressive as Tech is when he’s on the field. He’s not quite the best player in college football, but no one means more to a program than this quarterback does to his.
Paul Johnson’s stylized option-based spread starts with Nesbitt, and often it ends there. He has to make every read, every pitch, every throw. He also has to take 30 hits a game, and therein lies the issue. With backup Jaybo Shaw having transferred to Georgia Southern, Tech can’t afford to lose Nesbitt for a single snap. But even a man as conspicuously robust as this — he appears bigger than his listed 217 pounds — is going to feel some pain.
The good news: Nesbitt said last week he feels better than he has “since high school.” The bad: Every Tech opponent won’t be so concerned with defending the option this season as with simply smacking Nesbitt.
But here’s the thing: Nesbitt is capable of smacking back. He has a linebacker’s approach to playing quarterback. If you come hard at him, he’ll come harder at you. Apologies in advance for again using the I-word — “indomitable” — but with Nesbitt no other adjective is half as applicable.
Said Nesbitt, speaking of Tech: “We understand what it means to fight until the clock says zero.”
Much of this comes from Pugnacious Paul, the head coach. Nearly as much emanates from the quarterback he inherited on arrival, a young man after PJ’s fighting heart.
And these Jackets, picked to finish third in the ACC Coastal Division, figure to need all the orneriness they can muster. They lost four gifted juniors to the NFL, and their road schedule — trips to Kansas, North Carolina, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Georgia — is a fright. Or it would be, were Nesbitt the sort to get nettled.
“People are looking for us not to be the same team,” Nesbitt said. “We know we’ve got a bull’s eye on us. … We need to prove everybody wrong.”
Someone asked if Johnson imparts that very message to his players. “Only every time we talk,” Nesbitt said, and then he laughed.
Another source of some amusement: The two letters at the shank of his first name. He was born Joshua Leonard Nesbitt, but for 21 years he answered to Josh. He and his mother decided to ask Tech to list his name as Joshua for his senior season: “More businesslike,” he said.
Which isn’t to say everyone has gotten the memo. Heck, sometimes his mom even slips and forgets the “u” and the “a.” “It doesn’t faze me,” said Nesbitt, who isn’t easily fazed.
And what does Tech’s coach call his quarterback? “He can call me whatever he likes.”
We know Johnson has the utmost faith in his offense — he should; he designed the thing — but even a man as proud as PJ will acknowledge that an option cannot run itself. Somebody has to take the ball from center and send it the right way and absorb those hits, and there’s nobody on Tech’s campus who can do it the way Nesbitt does.
Still, the cult of Joshua hasn’t yet found national traction. We saw it again this week when the assembled ACC media voted him sixth in its preseason player-of-the-year balloting. Yeah, that’s part of being an option quarterback in 21st century football, but still … sixth!
Maybe his low standing had something to do with Nesbitt skipping the ACC’s media days in Greensboro. Both Tech and conference officials implored him to come, but he was adamant. He had to attend a family reunion in Miami. (And no, it wasn’t an agent-funded soiree.)
And there’s just another reason to like Joshua Nesbitt. In an age where hype knows no restraints — hello, LeBron James — the most valuable Jacket had better things to do than talk about himself. Talk about a throwback.
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555 comments Add your comment
POAD
July 28th, 2010
12:26 pm
George Stein aren’t there a few Dawgs that need your services? HAHAH. He might be able to throw it 50 yards. I don’t know.
POAD
July 28th, 2010
12:29 pm
Glory why don’t you put on some pads and see if you can do it? You better worry about that lil boy you got playing QB. He might get broken by the La.-Laf D.
little honey bee from the hood
July 28th, 2010
12:29 pm
AMEN GLORY GLORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HugoStiglitz
July 28th, 2010
12:30 pm
Glory Glory, if any team in college football could run our offense as well as we do and score as much as we do then arent they idiots for not doing it?
Angry much?
July 28th, 2010
12:31 pm
Glory Glory,
Sounds like you need some help. I guess that’s what happens when you have 30 years of frustration. Too bad you can’t work up a love of your program to the level of your hatred for another. You did say one true thing, you are truly classless.
George Stein
July 28th, 2010
12:32 pm
POAD – Go to your local high school this evening with at least a college sized ball and see if you can pitch it across the field. I think the width of a football field is about 53 yards. You’ll find out really quickly how long of a throw it is.
POAD
July 28th, 2010
12:35 pm
I know how far it is, but we don’t know it this guy can do it for sure or not. That is all I am saying. I know I can’t throw it that far.
GTpak
July 28th, 2010
12:35 pm
Not only can he read, he is a few steps faster than Jaybo or Booker. Plus, I think he would make a terrific running back. You see glimpses of his ability when he breaks the line.
former star, current expert
July 28th, 2010
12:37 pm
Glory glory, perhaps it would help if you understood the Tech offense. It’s based on what’s called an “option” in that the quarterback can either hand it off to a fullback, keep it, or pitch it to a trailing back.
It only looks like a “trick play” to those not well versed in offensive philosophy, but it is actually based on set plays that the team practices during the week.
CoolBreeze
July 28th, 2010
12:43 pm
Dawgturds are not UGa students and alumni. They are the “7 Eleven” fans, who go buy themselves a red cap and come on here dissing GT. Did you all notice that 7 of the first 8 comments were from Dawgturds? I was in the FSU stadium when Joshua took that ball back from the FSU defender (yes, it was right in front of me!) The whole FSU crowd lit up when the defender picked up the missed pitch….and you heard 85,000 people go “U-h-h-h-h” when Nesbitt hit the guy and took it back. Thanks for your interest (obsession?), Dawgturds, but we’ll keep Joshua over ANYONE you can name.
kevin
July 28th, 2010
12:44 pm
Any UGA fan who denies Nesbitt’s ability to run and toughness is either being biased or has never watched him play. That said, any GT fan who thinks Nesbitt can throw the ball is either biased or has never watched him play.
aztec
July 28th, 2010
12:45 pm
wouldnt it be funny if every team in div 1 went 6-6
reebok
July 28th, 2010
12:46 pm
tech fan or not, you’ve got to like the guy
Hankie Aron
July 28th, 2010
12:47 pm
Glory Glory,
As a loyal UGA fan, you are a disgrace to Dawg Nation. Real fans would never want another player hurt
FinanceBuzz
July 28th, 2010
12:51 pm
Hey Mutts…how was Shreveport last year? Do you think you can get back there or, with a little extra effort, even to Nashville for the Music City Bowl? We’ll send you a postcard like we did last year from Miami or, with a little extra effort of our own, from Glendale. Cheers.
Brock
July 28th, 2010
12:52 pm
Mark, ban this glory glory POS from the blogs. Anyone, who wishes injury on someone should be banned from ever posting again. There is no place on these blogs for someone to stoop that low and be that ignorant. Should have never been allowed through the screening anyway. BAN HIM NOW!!
DogStank
July 28th, 2010
12:53 pm
A dog is a dumb animal. Look it up in the dictionary. It’s a few words before dumbazz.
Brock
July 28th, 2010
12:55 pm
Any blogger, dog fan or not should be pissed at what that sorry excuse for a human posted. And honey bee, got news for ya. You are just as bad for agreeing.
hello
July 28th, 2010
12:56 pm
Lots of jealous rage from the dog fans…Nesbitt is very valuable to our 20-7 record over the last two years…no one is saying he is a great passer…get your dog head out of your @sses.
P City
July 28th, 2010
12:56 pm
Actually, Ga Tech’s picked to finish #6 in the ACC by the most accurate experts in college football including Athlon, Phil Steele, just to name a few. #3? By whom? No one with any kind of accuracy track record is picking Ga Tech to do anything.
The triple option flops because:
1) QB can get injured easity 9see last year’s Georgia game)
2) Weak on passing (Tech ranked last in NCAA in passing)
3) Weak on unpredictable (there are only 2 plays, option left, option right, dive, keep, or pitch. Easy to defend, which is why Paul Johnson is 2-5 in Bowl games, any decent Bowl team with 2-4 weeks to prepare, dominates PJ’s high school gimmicky offense. PJ does well against the bad teams though, or when teams only have 1 week to prepare for the triple option, because so few teams run it, for reason mentioned above.
GTechsta
July 28th, 2010
12:57 pm
It’s a sad day when someone comes on one of these blogs and wishes for a kid to get seriously injured early in the season. Glory, glory, Nesbitt has more class in his little finger than you could ever have. You are an embarrassment to all college football fans. And I wish you had the guts to say that to Nesbitt’s face. He’d flatten you, punk.
POAD
July 28th, 2010
12:57 pm
I would rather have Nesbitt running GT over Murry running UGA at this point for sure. Washington has looked good as the back-up. Sinjin Days is learning, but he needs to hit the weightroom for sure. days is fast as lightening. He just needs to get bigger and ready for the hits.
DogStank
July 28th, 2010
12:57 pm
Glory Glory is a true dog fan. If I knew who he was, I would stomp his guts out. Typical fleabag gay loser.
kevin
July 28th, 2010
12:59 pm
P City,
Nice post.
P City
July 28th, 2010
12:59 pm
Phil Steele ranks Nesbitt #43 QB in college football. Hardly “MVP”.
Geez, the AJC journalists are Ga Tech homers, without any rational reasons.
Coach Paul's Johnson
July 28th, 2010
1:00 pm
Glory glory, how dare you point out that my Perfect Option teams=FAIL when it comes to a bowl game or a team with time to prepare?
Leave my bowl performances alone!
kevin
July 28th, 2010
1:00 pm
we lost 6 starters in 2008 before the season started and we destroyed you in the first and half and then forgot how to tackle.
hello
July 28th, 2010
1:00 pm
No one is saying he is a good QB…good god. He is valuable to his team in ways that most QB’s are not…are you retarded or just slow? Maybe both.
Glory Glory
July 28th, 2010
1:00 pm
Haha!!! Glad I’ve riled you nerds up!! It’ll make it hurt that much worse on Nov 27!!!!!
(((((30-24)))))
8-1
60-39-5
We. Run. This. State.
Glory Glory?
July 28th, 2010
1:00 pm
Glory Glory, at least you are honest. But you are a typical UGA redneck. Let me be real as well. I Hate UGA with the upmost passion. And I hate the whole town of Athens. I can’t stand that ugly dog. I hate Vince Dooley, Mark Richt, Ray Goofy and Jim Donnan. I loathe David Green, David Pollack, Herchel I need a walker, A.J. Greens. But I do like Jaspar Sanks
I can’t stand the whole campus. It’s a dirty, rotten university. Oh, and the whole town really needs to something about that odor. Anyway, 45-42 will keep being posted as long as you hicks keep posting 30-24. Ok, I said my peace. Am I a Tech Jerk? Of course 
Man I feel so much better.
Brock
July 28th, 2010
1:00 pm
I don’t think so DogStank. I think he’s a little punk juvenile with nothing better to do. If he is an adult then he should hope for the best which would be life in prison. If you’re that stupid you shouldn’t be allowed in society.
Would love.....
July 28th, 2010
1:01 pm
….. to see a free running Nesbitt drawing a bead on a cowering glory glory. That would be a hit for all ages. Short of that, this POS should be banned from this site.
George Stein
July 28th, 2010
1:01 pm
Well if Phil Steele said it…
Born2Buzz
July 28th, 2010
1:01 pm
A couple of things Mark B,
1st – we will not miss Jaybo in the least. Jaybo saw the writing on the wall, that he was going to be beaten out as #2 by either of the other QB’s on the roster, so he transferred. Tevin Washington is going to see plenty of PT this year.
2nd – If the other teams key on Joshua too much, there will be a lot of long runs by the A & B backs. That’s just the way this O works. Joshua (I’m still getting used to adding the u & a) had a lot of runs last year because the D was focusing on stopping Dwyer.
I think if you look at Nesbitt’s and Tebow’s stats from last season you will see that Joshua was not far off the pace of St. Timothy, who many consider the greatest college football player of all time.
It’s time Nesbitt got his due and a little national publicity. He will definitely be our most valuable player and he could be the most valuable player in the country.
old hooker
July 28th, 2010
1:02 pm
My only concern about the QB is…he seems (to me) to call his own number way too much and that increases his chance of injury/fatigue. Tech has many B + A backs that can be rotated in/out but only one senior experienced QB. There is little doubt he is most valuable to Tech. Our opposition in Athens will understand just how important an experience QB can be.
DISS THIS
July 28th, 2010
1:03 pm
Mark, the ACC can give accolades to Fsu’s Ponder and the 4 under him but at the end of the season, they will have to delete these all-ACC players and replace them with names of the winners on the GA Tech team. You 5 star teams have no excuse. Run your mouths but you still got to play the games. And Ga, with the SEC giving you a break this year without LSU or Bama, you are really going to look like buffoons if you lose to the Kentucky’s of the conference.
Here Here Dog Stank
July 28th, 2010
1:03 pm
Hey man, If you see Glory Glory somewhere, just do what Paul Johnson would do: Punch his lights out! THWNG! Idiot probably never set foot on that joke of a campus.
cobbjacket
July 28th, 2010
1:06 pm
Would not hang to much on the preseason ranking P city, they are almost never right. Remember all the times they picked UGA high only to have the leghumpers crash and burn against the likes of Kentucky, Tennessee etc? Does any of this ring a bell? So we don’t worry too much about preseason predictions. We’ll play the games and you guys can claim your nc’s in May only to have them snatched away in Jacksonville.
George Stein
July 28th, 2010
1:06 pm
Unfortunately the game is four quarters, kevin.
kevin
July 28th, 2010
1:07 pm
Actually Cobbjacket, with the exception of 2008, UGA nearly always finished higher than their preseason ranking.
Glory Glory
July 28th, 2010
1:08 pm
You guys are so sensative when somebody hates your program!! Why don’t you guys take down the “To Hell With Georgia” flag on that ugly car of yours before you get mad when somebody admits to hating you.
Geez, go look at the article about UGA’s Dent having surgery on his hurt toe, and look at the Tech Nerds happy responses.
THWGT
Nesbitt will look mighty fine in a cast!!
kevin
July 28th, 2010
1:09 pm
George Stein,
I understand. My only point is that it was an ugly win against a team that suffered an inordinate amount of season ending injuries. However, I take your point.
cobbjacket
July 28th, 2010
1:09 pm
How many NC’s, Kevin?
George Stein
July 28th, 2010
1:10 pm
P City, Tech ranked #13 in pass efficiency last year. But don’t let facts get in your way.
HedgeHumper
July 28th, 2010
1:11 pm
Preseason #1 and lost final game 45-42. What a bunch of losers! The laughingstock of the SEC – the mangy fleabgs with that slobbering stinky mascot that has a face like a shovel.
kevin
July 28th, 2010
1:12 pm
We have 1 legitimate NC–same as GT and we did not have to share.
George Stein
July 28th, 2010
1:12 pm
Fair enough, kevin. But UGA’s wins in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009 were all pretty ugly too. Unfortunately for us Tech fans, they still counted.
kevin
July 28th, 2010
1:13 pm
Hedgehumper,
Our mascot, like it or not, is widely recognized as the greatest mascot in college football. And last time I checked, your mascot is a bee. Seriously, you have to be kidding.
kevin
July 28th, 2010
1:14 pm
George Stein,
Fair enough.
Coach Paul's Johnson
July 28th, 2010
1:14 pm
Sorry folks but we can’t win a bowl game to save our lives!