Tech secures a bowl but doesn’t exactly leave UGA cowering
With this swoop, Mario Butler takes Tech from behind to ahead. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
The goal, cornerback Mario Butler said, was to keep from becoming the first Georgia Tech team since 1996 to be bowl-ineligible, and that mission was accomplished. And if the Jackets entered Saturday’s game with the ancillary aim of rendering Georgia overconfident for next week’s collision … well, they managed that, too.
Upcoming in Athens: The most impressive 5-6 team in the land — that’d be Georgia — will face the least imposing 6-5 aggregation. Tech won Saturday for the first time since Oct. 16 and needed all the aid and comfort Duke could supply, which was a lot. Some will point to this tepid regular season as a massive comedown from the high of the 2009 ACC championship, and in its way it has been. But this comedown could well have been a nosedive.
The Jackets didn’t have much except Joshua Nesbitt when this season commenced, and now that the indomitable quarterback has been lost they have next to nothing. Their offense mustered but two touchdowns — one of them coming on a pass completion, of which Tech likewise had two — against Duke, which ranked last in the ACC in total defense. The Tech defense, meanwhile, yielded 443 yards to an opponent conspicuously lacking a talent on the order of, say, A.J. Green.
The first half was vintage Tech 2010: A touchdown run overridden on a penalty; a fumbled Duke kickoff uncovered; a fumble lost inside the Duke 10; a failed fourth-down bid that led to a Duke field goal three seconds before halftime. “We had a chance to bury them early one,” said Paul Johnson, the Tech coach, “but we couldn’t get out of our own way.”
Tech trailed 13-6 at the half. It drove smartly enough on its first possession of the third quarter but was held to a field goal, whereupon Duke drove smartly and was within 14 yards of establishing an 11-point lead, whereupon Butler made two plays. The first resulted in a 6-yard loss. The second netted seven points. Butler broke on the only pass thrown by Brandon Connette, who is Duke’s running quarterback for a reason, and took it 85 yards to score.
“I just jumped it,” Butler said, speaking of the pass route. Then: “When I cut across [the field on his lung-bursting return], my hamstrings were about gone.”
Tech would build a 10-point lead. Being Tech, it came close to handing it back. Duke missed a tying field goal with 9:20 left. Three snaps later, Stephen Hill outfought a defender to snatch a Tevin Washington pass from the air. The 79-yard touchdown was the sort play of the departed Demaryius Thomas authored weekly last season but that Hill, considered the heir apparent, has seldom made.
“Coach Johnson wants playmaking receivers,” Hill said. “[I've] had a bad little year. But the year’s not over with.”
Said Johnson: “We didn’t accomplish a lot of the goals we set as a team, but our players know they’re going to play two more games.”
Tech’s next game will be of great local interest, and it’s hard to imagine a team that needed 3 1/2 quarters to put away Duke at Bobby Dodd Stadium going to Athens and actually winning. But say this about these Jackets: They’ve somehow won more than they’ve lost, the key word being “somehow.”
Jonathan Dwyer gained 1,395 yards and scored 14 rushing touchdowns in 2009; Anthony Allen, the new feature back, surpassed 1,000 yards with Saturday’s grinding performance but has scored only five times. Derrick Morgan had 12 1/2 sacks in 2009; the 2010 Tech team has 16. The aforementioned Thomas caught 46 passes for 1,154 yards and eight touchdowns in 2009; Hill’s numbers this season — 13 catches, 244 yards and three touchdowns.
When Nesbitt suffered a broken arm against Virginia Tech 2 1/2 weeks ago, the fear among Tech fans was that their team wouldn’t win again. On Saturday it won, if haltingly, and now the Jackets will play in a bowl, albeit an off-brand one. That’s actually pretty good value for a team almost devoid of playmakers, and you Jacket backers should try to hold that thought. Because what happens in Sanford Stadium might not be pleasant for the ol’ White and Gold.
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497 comments Add your comment
Simple Techster
November 21st, 2010
7:49 pm
Ummm….Hairy Dawg…..I admire your grittiness and dedication to your team….but did you seriously just post that?
Reloading to be champs next year? Heeeheeeeheeeee…..shew I needed a laugh.
Chia Pet Hewitt
November 21st, 2010
7:49 pm
Sugar Hill Dawg:
Your grammatical lesson is correct, however, as you say, it is a “pet peeve” of yours which by definition suggests the rest of us could care the hell less about it. Next time your lick yourself after pooping or peeing (or just for fun, eh?)as dawgs are wont to do, perhaps you will honor us with a lecture about the proper way to lick your own canine genitals. It would be no less enlightening than your grammar “peeve.”
Chia Pet Hewitt
November 21st, 2010
7:52 pm
Hairy Dawg. You may want to contact your cousin, Sugar Hill, for some tutoring (not to be confused with neutering, which hopefully both of you have already experienced.)
Chia Pet Hewitt
November 21st, 2010
7:53 pm
I am the boss of my house, my career, and the Tech basketball program…and my wife gave me permission to say so.
Fan of the Game
November 21st, 2010
7:56 pm
This Saturday is a character check for both teams.
Carl Lewis
November 21st, 2010
7:57 pm
Someone answer me this…..why is this a primetime game being telelvised to a national audience (I’m assuming anyway)? I don’t think anyone outside the state of Georgia really gives a d@mn to watch 2 sorry @$$ in-state rivals battle each other. There 1) must no be alot of games being played next Saturday or 2) ESPN must be scraping the bottom of the barrel for games if they’re going to televise a game between 2 teams that look and have played as awful as Tech and UGA have this year.
Hairy Dawg
November 21st, 2010
8:13 pm
Bugs is awful cause they loosing in ACC. Dawgs is best 5-6 team that lost close games to rank SEC teams without having AJ. SEC toughest conference in nation and we had bad breaks and cheating refs. Nation likes watching Dawgs cause high quality with best football talent for SEC with speed.
Mark in Woodstock
November 21st, 2010
8:13 pm
Still trying to figure this one out…
….how can you be 5-6 and impressive????
Johnny Midtown
November 21st, 2010
8:21 pm
Cobb Dawg and Destin Pete – hating on Auburn is SO yesterday. Can’t you get a new gig? You puppies lost! It’s a fact that had nothing to do with cheating. Stop acting like a bunch of whiny-a$$ women and put your jock straps back on – that’s if you ever owned one in the first place.
Tech has a great opportunity to win against the puppies this year. No focus, the fans beat up on their coach, and they just generally suck. Instead of wah-wah-wah over your loss to a better Auburn team, you better be concerned about your loss to us. It’s going to happen. Tech over Dawgs. Mark it.
Cobb Dawg
November 21st, 2010
8:57 pm
Johnny Midtown, I think most intelligent football people would disagree with your “Tech over Dawgs. Mark it.” How much money would you be willing to put on that?
harold
November 21st, 2010
8:58 pm
BOTH TEAMS ARE HORRIBLE, BORIN,AND VERY AVERAGE!
$cam_Newton
November 21st, 2010
9:10 pm
Both teams were too cheap to sign me
J-MAN
November 21st, 2010
9:57 pm
Both Teams suck and I don’t care lets talk REAL FOOTBALL…….. ATLANTA FALCONS 8-2……. REAL FOOTBALL, be proud and support!!!!!!!
aaaaaaa
November 21st, 2010
10:05 pm
best 5-6 team in the land? Texas(5-6) anybody?
Hairy Dawg
November 21st, 2010
10:11 pm
The only real football in the state we run is the Dawgs!
GTRunna83
November 21st, 2010
11:17 pm
I’ve been a supporter of Paul Johnson, but after that loss to Miami I’m starting to have second thoughts of this option. The option looked good with Gailey’s recruits. Georgia Tech better beat UGA & win their bowl game. I might give him a little slack if a loss to UGA, but they better win a bowl game, otherwise he will be 0-3 in bowl games.
Take off your pants and Jacket
November 22nd, 2010
12:17 am
Stupid Tech fans. “5-6…the dawgs are a terrible team and we are going to blow them out.” You people are stupid. We lost a lot of close games. Colorado and Mississippi State were embarassing–agreed. Still both close games.
If we played your schedule, we are 9-2, 8-3 at worst…and this is our worst team in years. I think the dawgs wn by 24 Saturday. Sorry techies…your offense is garbage and you are missing your best player. I hoe you keep Johnson around for 30 years. It will be easier and easier to beat you every year.
What stud HS QB wants to play at GT? It does not translate in the NFL.
Hairy Dawg
November 22nd, 2010
12:42 am
Thats is right. No players that can play by having SEC talents and NFL drafting wonts to play with the bugs high school program.
Hairy Dawg
November 22nd, 2010
12:45 am
And another thing is your fat arrogant pompass coach is dumb and looser offenses. He don’t play big men football instead with little boy kiddie legues.
BoWeevil
November 22nd, 2010
3:34 am
“MOST IMPRESSIVE 5-6 TEAM IN THE LAND”
huh ?
Mark Bradley, sir :
2-9 “win” over Louisiana Lafayette
5-6 “win” over vols
2-9 “win” over Vandie
6-5 “win” over Kentucky
1-10 win over Idaho State
16-39 actual record of the teams Coach Richt beat this season
Yellow Fuzz
November 22nd, 2010
4:46 am
georgia is not only “the best 5-6 team in the land” they may very well be the best 5-6 team of all time.
BoWeevil
November 22nd, 2010
5:42 am
to be an even good 5-6 team, we would have had to have at least beat good teams
and
NOT
have
LOST
to a team
with a LOSING RECORD
either (Colorado)
We suck
Georgia tek sucks
festus
November 22nd, 2010
7:41 am
“I realized as I was packing to leave my egregious error.” Wow! What a wordsmith. Do you leave your errors often? With a colidge ejamucashun, you too, can get a job at the AJC!
RambleOn84
November 22nd, 2010
8:15 am
I keep hearing that UGA is the “most impressive 5-6 team in the country,” but what exactly does that mean? UGA has beaten ONE team with a winning record. That would be Kentucky, who themselves have only beaten ONE team with a winning record (South Carolina, who is known for choking at least one game a year).
UGA will probably beat Tech this weekend. But please let’s stop with all this “most impressive 5-6 team in the country.” With all the hype and talent UGA has, is that really something to be proud of?
jtdawg
November 22nd, 2010
8:20 am
WOW
The delusional North Avenue Trade Schoolers must be drinking the bong water again….
RambleOn84
November 22nd, 2010
8:25 am
Nice generic insult, jtdawg…did you get that one from MadTV?
How about something with some substance?
Explain to me why UGA is such an awesome 5-6 team please.
SRF
November 22nd, 2010
8:28 am
I cannot believe there has been 10 pages wasted on this topic. UGA is bad this year but without Nesbitt Tech is far worse. The coaches are cluless and the players are barely high school all-star caliber. Such is life – UGA will win by 35 on Saturday and they will dance and strut and brag like they have just won the super bowl when really all they did was beat up some little kids like the rest of their victories this season. Both teams will go to crappy bowls and nobody will care. I just cannot wait until next Sunday when the blog will be filled with “my crappy bowl is way better than your crappy bowl”
JacketLB
November 22nd, 2010
9:58 am
RAMBLINWRECK = DAWG Fan…seriously, the name doesn’t fool anyone except apparently other idiots like mcg dawg.
Disappointing year due to a lack of play makers. Don’t know what your personal “daddy” issues are with CPJ, he’s proven himself to be a great coach but this year has not been his best work. Defensive statistics are worse which is misleading because the offense doesn’t score or hold the ball as they did last year. Defense on the field more, teams get more yards, score more, etc. we are not to the point where we stop anyone that’s for damn sure. We are actually playing more fundamentally sound on defense this year, we just don’t have the play makers we’ve had in the past. UGA should beat us this year, handily, it’s a down year and we’re missing our best player.
But honestly would you rather be UGA with a Marquee coach, multiple top 10 recruiting classes and another mediocre year? Not a great year for either team but “It’s great to be a Yellow Jacket Baby!”
Bob Montag
November 22nd, 2010
11:00 am
I will say that it ain’t going to be any fun for Tech Saturday night, but, unlike what I just read from the pencil neck scribe, IF Tech could win, it would MAKE the season. If Georgia coaches are smart, they will run, run and run some more. That is all they need to do. If they want to toss a couple of TD’s to Green, they can.
THWG
Ace of Gold
November 22nd, 2010
11:05 am
Just another opportunity for UGA’s criminals and party drunks to show their true colors.
If GT upsets UGA……the “UGA PARTY NATION” will tar and feather Ritch because he is too nice of a guy for “JAIL HOUSE DOGS”…………..no class.
Maybe UGA will do better against Boise State next year than they did against Colorado…….
If they can field a team on probation.
Go JACKETS..!!!!!!!!!!!!
AU FAN
November 22nd, 2010
2:24 pm
I can hear the little pitter pat heartbeats of all the Bama nation, all your hopes on this game- yada, yada, yada. Hope Grandma’s leftover turkey sandwich will be enough to satisfy you on Friday, that’s all you will have left. Except for the 9-3 season ( enjoy your left…overs ) nothing like a cold turkey sandwich to cleanse that annoying taste of defeat.
NYJacket
November 22nd, 2010
3:06 pm
Well Mark, we will show up and play the game.
And, UGA doesn’t leave Tech cowering.
dyed in the wool GT fan
November 22nd, 2010
4:47 pm
I’m still hoping for a win in Athens – maybe A.J. will get arrested for D.U.I.
bill
November 22nd, 2010
5:20 pm
Dear Mark Bradley- you need to move from Atlanta to Athens. All you do is write articles criticizing Georgia Tech. I have never seen a writer from the home town of a team so bias as you are. You are down right mean spirited and would better serve readers in Athens. Have a good day.
Ed (The Original)
November 22nd, 2010
7:05 pm
“The most impressive 5-6 team in the land — that’d be Georgia.”
Take away the two cupcakes on their schedule and Georgia would be the most impressive 3-6 team in the land.
I’m a Georgia fan, but I can’t spin away this trainwreck of a season.
Ed (The Original)
November 22nd, 2010
7:07 pm
Keep in mind that Georgia went 3-5 in the SEC during what might be the weakest year for the conference in a long time. The SEC East was embarrassingly bad. Nothing impressive about that.
Bowl game
November 22nd, 2010
9:56 pm
Ga should get a bowl bid even if they finish 5-7, since they play in the toughest conference in the country. Mediocre teams from creampuff conferences that finish 6-6 and 7-5 shouldn’t get bids.
bugsquacher
November 22nd, 2010
10:08 pm
bye yellow fuzz
bugsquacher
November 22nd, 2010
10:09 pm
GT…… you are and will always be a bunch of losing nerds……
Animal Control
November 23rd, 2010
7:06 am
What happened to common sense in Athens? You guys are so busy talking crap about other teams you have forgotten you are the butt of the joke! YOU LOST 11 PLAYERS TO ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES AND YOU THINK YOU CAN DEMEAN TECH FOR SHOTTY FOOTBALL? You SHOULD beat us, you recruit better athletes! But where most schools lose them to the draft, you lose yours to the city penitentiary! It is sad that EVERY year it is a close game and you have SO much more talent than us “nerds” on North Avenue (whom by the way are busy working to feed your incarcerated mutts). No excuses UGAG! If you lose, it is shameful at best. You shouldn’t even bother to wake up the next day! Better yet, I would move as far away from Georgia football as physically possible! GO JACKETS!
Cobb Dawg
November 23rd, 2010
8:42 am
Ahem, Animal Control, before you post, you might want to get your facts straight. We never “LOST 11 PLAYERS TO ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES”. There were 11 players who stood afoul of the Athens laws and ordinances, which is probably in line with the general student body as well. College kids do silly things when they are away from home for the first time. When I was in college, a good friend of mine got arrested 3 or 4 times (he was at Tech). Most of the arrests that you mention (you actually use word “penitentiary”?!?!….Really?!?!?! Can you name me one UGA player there?!?!) were for traffic violations. Unlike Tech, UGA is bustling campus spread out over miles. And since UGA students don’t have to worry about getting mugged, shot, stabbed, etc. like Tech students, they can move more freely, sometimes forgetting the speed limit, etc. I myself got several tickets in my day. It happens. I’d be willing to bet that Tech players have simliar arrest records, but in Atlanta no one notices. Athens is a pretty small town and football players are noticed there. And the reason that the games are sometimes close, as you mention, is that for Tech it’s a big game and they can get all geeked (pardon the pun) about it. For UGA players it’s like playing Vandy, except against bugs from a weak conference. Now go do your homework!
61-39-5
November 23rd, 2010
2:48 pm
Then you are off to the Fight the Hunger Bowl in San Fran.
A fitting place for jacket fans.
61-39-5
November 23rd, 2010
2:49 pm
or the Massengill.com wash away your pre-season ranking / cool splash of reality bowl
61-39-5
November 23rd, 2010
2:52 pm
The triple joke……
I can’t wait.
It’s almost as funny as your “stadium”.
61-39-5
November 23rd, 2010
2:54 pm
9 of 10
You know it’s coming.
61-39-5
November 23rd, 2010
2:57 pm
Yellow Jackets are attracted to vinegar and water.
http://www.ehow.com/how_1740_make-trap-yellow.html
The main components of a douche.
Roy Wood
November 24th, 2010
11:49 am
You would think those Auburn supporters are world beaters they have one good yr and are king of the Hill.See you next yr