A canny loss to UGA leaves Tech fans giddy about their coach
Paul Johnson thinks of something. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
This we know: Georgia Tech folks obsess over Georgia. (An unkind reference to UGA is included in the song “Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech.”) And it’s beyond dispute that the Jackets lost to the Mutts (another unkind reference) in Athens on Saturday. And yet …
Tech people walked away from that game feeling good about themselves, which never happens when Tech loses to Georgia in any sport. But it happened this time. It happened because Techies, who pride themselves on brainpower, were tickled at having outsmarted Big Brother.
OK, I know what you Bulldogs are saying. I’ve read the responses to this little missive from late last night. To paraphrase the stance of (some) Georgia folks: “If Paul Johnson is such a genius, how come he lost to Mark Richt again? Isn’t the name of the game to win?”
Well, yes. But there can be honor in defeat, especially when the defeat is so hard-fought and cleverly wrought. There can be no denying that the Jackets were the aggressor throughout and the stronger side up front. Those 411 yards rushing weren’t wisps of smoke. (Fun fact: The Jackets ran for two more yards against Todd Grantham’s million-dollar defense than they had against the one misguided by Willie Martinez in the epic upset of 2008. And this time they did it, as I’m guessing you’re aware, without Joshua Nesbitt.)
Urban Meyer, my role model in all things, believes the measure of a coach is how his team fares “when the checkers are equal.” The checkers weren’t anywhere close to equal Saturday night — even Tech people fully expected their team to get blown out — and the Jackets were a PAT from a tie inside the final five minutes. Georgia made three mistakes (two turnovers and a botched kickoff) that yielded no Tech points, while three Tech fumbles spawned three Bulldog touchdowns … and still the Jackets kept coming.
Full credit to the Bulldogs for making the requisite plays at the end, but fuller credit must go to Johnson and his Jackets: They got nearly the maximum from their diminished resources on a night when Georgia’s best player, the sublime A.J. Green, could be seen running out of bounds three yards short of a first down when the score was 0-0. (Georgia scored on the next play, Kris Durham’s catch-and-run, but still.)
And when the careening game finally seemed lost, that rascal Johnson conjured up one last way to make it winnable. He ordered cornerback Jerrard Tarrant to tell the other Jacket defenders, “Let ‘em score.” A Tech employee standing on the sideline heard this exchange and was terrified the Bulldogs would catch on to this strategic bit of jujitsu, but they didn’t. Washaun Ealey burst through the line and kept going and everyone in red and black got really excited — for five seconds. Then they realized they’d been snookered.
Said Richt: “We didn’t coach very good there. We got outcoached right there. It was good strategy by Coach Johnson. I thought [when it happened], ‘He got us there. He got me.’ ”
Said Johnson, almost shrugging: “It was the only way we could win the game.”
In the end his team lost, but the same Tech man who’d told me after the Jackets’ uninspiring defeat of Duke that he fully dreaded Saturday night in Athens was positively giddy in this losing aftermath. And another Tech man, the former captain Taz Anderson, sent this e-mail 18 minutes after the final whistle: “Tonight you saw a great football coach take a group that has little talent and keep them in a game where they were clearly overmatched.”
OK, I know what (some of) you Bulldogs are saying to that: “They’re Techies and they lost– who cares what they think?” And under other circumstances I might agree. But after this wild night I’d suggest both sides saw the same game, which is to say an on-paper mismatch that became an on-field white-knuckler. And I’d also ask this: When was the last time Georgia’s coach worked a game that good?
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791 comments Add your comment
bigcalidawg
November 28th, 2010
9:17 pm
Seems like a few weeks ago I was chompin’ at the bit for the season to start, as I knew a loss, or two on each side would calm things down a bit between these feuding factions. (It’s probably easier for me to say this livin’ way out here and not having to face the music after a loss).
A win is a win…….hecka sloppy game, fumbles on kick returns are maddening (can we take Brandon off pr already?).
I just looked at our roster and like what I see returning next year. Even without Boykin’, Justin H., and A.J. we look like a team with a lotta youngins with playing experience.
Look at us at LB…..we are 2-3 deep at every spot. Robinson, Cornelius (those 2 monster FR OLB’s, Morant and Faloughi) the USC transfer from Carver, Chase Vasser, and Samuel.
We are loaded at DB. Commings, Rambo, Brandon Smith, Love, Derek Owens, and Ogletree.
Our “D” will be better next year…..along with the running game.
dawgmatic
November 28th, 2010
9:17 pm
go gettem tech keep right on sucking
richard
November 28th, 2010
9:17 pm
this seems to be a little blown out of proportion…when did desperation become genius? btw, I’ll take dumb winning over smart losing any day of the week. suck it nerds.
whut?
November 28th, 2010
9:20 pm
too funny. Last year we didn’t hear anything about how UGA beat the nerds with nesbitt.
Bradley is a stretch.
[[[[[[ Y a w n ]]]]]]
November 28th, 2010
9:21 pm
Georgia Bulldawgs
just not interesting discussion any longer
Best Choice
November 28th, 2010
9:24 pm
Looking at my two young kids and their possible *higher* education in the State of Georgia, I’d have to pick Georgia Tech ver University of Georgia.
Let’s see… a possibility of losing four football games during their college career in exchange for a better education, better employment, more promising future, more impressive resume, and on and on and on.
I know winning footballs games is the “be all, end all” for the small minded, but looking a the bigger picture, Georgia Tech wins every time. Hands down.
Frank Harvey
November 28th, 2010
9:25 pm
Hey Mark Bradley…..maybe you and some of the top flight journalists at the ajc should do some investigative reporting and ask Paul Johnson if he was verbally taunting the UGA players before the game and if that is what led to the ‘meeting’ before the game between the two teams at midfield…..it might not be comfortable for you to question the greatest coach in the history of college football, but it might be interesting to see what his answer is.
bk
November 28th, 2010
9:25 pm
Bradley – you are at it again – anything to stir the pot. At the beginning of the year many people had Tech ranked higher than UGA and going to win the ACC again. Since this did not happen – UGA is the superior team outcoached according to you. What about the 3 pts. left on the field early in the game by Johnson? What about Johnson being so obsessed with UGA’s run game from last year that he gave them the pass all night and did not focus on UGA’s strength – AJ Greene. The only way you survive is to stir the pot.
dawgmatic
November 28th, 2010
9:26 pm
Sending your kid to tech will also lead to the end of your bloodline (since he’ll be a virgin for life).
Reuben Houston
November 28th, 2010
9:27 pm
Best Choice…..send your kids to Tech if they is unattractive and lack social skills like most engineers….they can then climb their way to middle management.
ms. shirley
November 28th, 2010
9:28 pm
Why would you brag or feel good about any loss? Apparently, most of you bloaks haven’t competed at any serious level of sports, if you did you wouldn’t feel good about losing. Strategy? Score 35-34. Let them score to go up by 8? Score 42-34. You need a touch down (no guarantee you’ll get it) with two point conversion to TIE the game for overtime. How is that strategy? Oh yeah, there’s about 1 minute 20 seconds left and you have no time outs. Oh yeah, you are a running team with below average passing ability and a very young 2nd string QB…..typical loser mentality – grasping at straws to justify losing…Reverse the situation and if Mark Richt had implemented “let’em score strategy” and lost the game (like Paul Johnson) Richt would be called an idiot and not hailed as a genius. Sniff, sniff – smells like a double standard.
One last thing for Mark Bradley – Furman Bisher called and he needs you to change his diaper so he can get started on another article about how the Braves got screwed in the Texiera trade.
Glory Glory
November 28th, 2010
9:28 pm
Has tech’s head coach lost weight? His turkey flap doesn’t look as pronounced, and he’s not quite the fatty he was before his sorry team choked against the Dawgs.
richard
November 28th, 2010
9:30 pm
@ better choice. Tech is great if you want your kids to have no interpersonal skills and a limited business network. UGA grads RUN THIS STATE!!!
Top 25 Recap for Week 13
November 28th, 2010
9:31 pm
http://espn.go.com/college-football/overview
And UGA is number…
Well, ummmm, if you scroll down to right about number… uhhhh…
Okay, a little bit further… lessee… 18? no….? 19?
20?
(Gotta be here somewhere)
Okay, so not in the top 20, they must be …. 21? No? 22?
Accccccccck… don’t tell me those Dawgies are 23!!!
Oh… they’re not?
Let’s look a little lower.
(scrolling)
24????
25????
No???????????????????????????
Bueller? Bueller?
Where they heck are those Dawgies!!!!!!
Nice Try, Richard
November 28th, 2010
9:34 pm
Take off the rose-colored glasses, son. I’ve lived in this state a LONG time, and UGA hardly *runs* it. You got a couple of lawyers here and there (and we KNOW what a proud, upstanding profession THAT is), but sadly, not much else.
Better educational product definitely comes out of Georgia Tech.
No grading on the curve at Tech.
DAWG A
November 28th, 2010
9:37 pm
Georgia Fans…. this is just another bandwagon article written by a sportwriter who has seen his day!! Bradley is old news!!!!
Glory Glory
November 28th, 2010
9:38 pm
No grading on the curve at tech, and definitely no having sex with girls at tech.
Well....
November 28th, 2010
9:39 pm
If I were to make a judgment on the more intelligent school based on those posting on this blog, I’m afraid Bulldawgs would be the loser in that category as well.
Perhaps it’s all that abundance of testosterone (I know that’s important to you) or maybe something else that damages the braincells (alcohol?), but you Dawgs just don’t come across as very intelligent.
Sorry … that’s just the way it is.
Glory Glory?
November 28th, 2010
9:41 pm
You obviously don’t think with any organ located above your waste.
Your parents must be proud.
jeff
November 28th, 2010
9:42 pm
FunFact Bradley…9-1 vs nerds. If Techies are so giddy losing to UGA….who out smarted who. Best he could hope for is overtime and that was a long shot. Tech basically committed the cradnal sin…you NEVER give up and LET a team score….it goes against everything in playing the game….
DScottGT91
November 28th, 2010
9:43 pm
I am a Tech fan who HATES reading this kind of pablum. THERE ARE NO MORAL VICTORIES! We lost, they won…. plain and simple. I did think the final score would be worse than it was, so I was really proud of the passion and fight our guys showed. Still, I’d like our program to get to the point where we are not satisfied with “we didn’t lose as badly as we thought we would.” Let’s keep expecting improvement from our team. We at GT will always have to be satisfied with being the best institution of higher learning in our state – we won’t pass UGA as a football factory. But let’s not quit trying, and get complacent with our efforts.
rxdawg79
November 28th, 2010
9:44 pm
@Glory Glory?: Your parents would be proud if you knew the difference between “waste” and “waist.”
Whatever
November 28th, 2010
9:46 pm
Ray Goff took a very untalented team to Jax in 1993 and outcoached the Old Ball Coach to a 7 point loss. We all know how well things turned out from there. Letting a team score to give you the ball back w/ 1:30 and 8 pts. down is desperation. The percentage of making a 2 pt. conversion is low. And, that was just to tie the game.
Denver Dog
November 28th, 2010
9:46 pm
Just think what Bradley would say if he wrote about the recent elections, or the past 2 years of the economice woes we have all faced. The bottom line is that it was a risk worth taking, he took it and UGA beat him. The real queston is was that really his strategy, or was it another excuse for poor execution? If it was indeed the strategy it is no different from fouling and hoping the other team misses the free throws in basketball,or walking the big hitter to face a lesser hitter in baseball. So if Techies need to find a feel good reason to lose, let them have it. 42-34 yeah, but!
GO Anthony Allen
November 28th, 2010
9:46 pm
*** 2010 NCAA FBS Team Rushing Statistics ***
(Complete through Saturday, November 27th)
From The Sports Network
R U S H I N G O F F E N S E
Rank Team G Rsh Net Avg TD Ydspg
1. Georgia Tech 12 696 3924 5.64 30 327.00
2. Air Force 12 699 3815 5.46 40 317.92
3. Navy 11 603 3328 5.52 35 302.55
4. Nevada 12 568 3617 6.37 47 301.42
5. Oregon 11 548 3300 6.02 39 300.00
6. Auburn 12 560 3495 6.24 38 291.25
ACC RUSHING LEADERS
1. Montel Harris-BC JR 12 269 1243 4.6 8 72 103.6
2. Anthony Allen-GT SR 12 217 1225 5.6 6 48 102.1
3. Joshua Nesbitt-GT SR 9 166 737 4.4 10 71 81.9
4. Johnny White-NC SR 9 130 720 5.5 7 76 80.0
5. Damien Berry-UM SR 11 181 865 4.8 5 42 78.6
Mike Smith
November 28th, 2010
9:46 pm
As far as Johnson, I guess you take what little victories you can. Smart or not, Johnson just lost to the worst UGA team in nearly 15 years. Its bad enough UGA has a new defensive system, but they lost everyone up the middle to the NFL last year. They lost their top THREE DTs, best inside linebacker (Curran), and top safety (Jones). Any wonder why UGA cant stop the run between the tackles? They are thin as paper up the middle and green as grass…and Johnson STILL lost.
My point is, UGA will likely be better going forward (assuming no off-season incidents). A more experienced Murray and second year in a new defensive system should be better. Even though it is likely, Green and Houston might still come back as well. Tech does not appear like they can say the same. You saw the drop off this year with just Dwyer and Thomas gone. Allen and Nesbitt follow them as Seniors. That leaves Roddy Jones as the lone star left from the Gailey era. With no one coming in of the same caliber, how is Johnson going to impress anyone going forward?
How do you TRULY come away from this as a Tech fan and feel good?
rxdawg79
November 28th, 2010
9:48 pm
@DScottGT91: You and I agree regarding moral victories. I, for example, refuse to take solace in the closeness of the UF/UGA game. We lost. Again. Close doesn’t count. Any school or fanbase that takes pride in merely coming close is, IMO, doomed never to win.
wreckmaniac
November 28th, 2010
9:48 pm
PJ had better understand how he got this job to start with. He’s here to beat UGA and its not getting done. If UGA had a 9 or 10 win team this year vs Tech’s team this year I could understand a loss but not a loss to this UGA team. I don’t care if Tech looked 4th rate against Clemson and Miami ( which they did) and I don’t care if Nesbitt is unable to play. Washington played a nice game. There is no reason to lose to this UGA team.
Jeff?
November 28th, 2010
9:50 pm
You can’t possibly be as dumb as you seem.
Tech didn’t *give up* by letting a team score. Tech gave up the score to get the ball back. Duh. Were you NOT paying attention? Here’, I’ll type s….l….o….w….l….y so you can try to comprehend it this time:
Georgia had the ball
(pause — while that sinks in)
Georgia Tech had no more time outs.
(pausing again — please feel free to re-read it if you can’t make sense of it)
All Georgia had to do was take a knee two more times to run out the clock.
(Can you do the math on that one? Well, try harder)
When the clock runs out, the game is OVER.
(You DO understand the concept of “game over”, right???)
Thus (and here’s the hard part, that you don’t seem to understand): The only way Georgia Tech could get the ball back and have any chance in h*ll of winning was on a kick-off.
Was it a long shot? Of course.
Was it possible? Absolutely.
So Jeff, what Tech did was REFUSE to give up. Giving up would have been to tackle Ealey and watch the seconds tick off the clock.
Get it now?
Good. This has been a public service for the clueless. You’ll not be charged for this lesson.
Rob
November 28th, 2010
9:51 pm
Paul Johnson-if anyone thought he could let Georgia score and then expect his team and QB to orchestrate a Joe Montana type drive and then go for two to tie. How dumb is Paul Johnson and MB for thinking that his non passing offense could do that?
@ Rob
November 28th, 2010
9:54 pm
So your answer would be to just give up an not try?
A snowball’s chance in Hades is better than no snowball at all.
Glory Glory
November 28th, 2010
9:55 pm
SUCK IT, NERDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is for Rob:
November 28th, 2010
9:56 pm
I guess you’re so much brighter than the sports analysts, commentators and even Coach Richt who called it a good strategy.
Wow — you’re brilliant, indeed!!!
Ummm.... Glory?
November 28th, 2010
9:58 pm
You really DO need a girlfriend, son.
Or… perhaps a boyfriend?
Sheesh… you’re desperate.
athens dog fan
November 28th, 2010
9:58 pm
I’m remembering a bowl game two years ago, Tech had run over basically everyone they played all year. Defense had let them down, but the offense was able to run on anybody. The bowl game rolls around and CPJ comes out throwing the ball, abandoned what had gotten them there, and was summarily destroyed…don’t tell me about how ’smart’ coach Johnson is. He did what any many coaches have done, remember the Green Bay-Denver Super Bowl? Didn’t workout for Green Bay, and it didn’t work out for Yech.
I don’t know how many coaches would have had the presence of mind to remind their offense ‘not to score’ if given the opportunity. Not many, I’d imagine. Let’s say I’m wrong, let’s say every other coach in the history of football would have had the talk with their offense and told them not to put points on the board, the object is to win. We Won.
Friggin’ Idiots.
Glory Glory
November 28th, 2010
10:01 pm
No thanks, you’ll have to find someone else to end your decades of virginity. Don’t worry, you’ll find a nice man one day. Maybe at a tech football game, if anyone actually attended those.
lol @ Glory
November 28th, 2010
10:05 pm
You must be about… what? 12? Maybe 13, tops?
Mommy will be taking the computer off shortly.
Bedtime and you have school tomorrow.
(Nightie Night)
yep, athens dog fan
November 28th, 2010
10:07 pm
you won
(for what it’s worth)
[[[ yawn ]]]
lol @ Glory
November 28th, 2010
10:08 pm
You must be like what….? 12? 13, tops?
Mommy will be turning off the computer soon.
Bedtime. You have school tomorrow.
Nightie Night.
Gator
November 28th, 2010
10:18 pm
fun fact 18 out of 21
Hollywood
November 28th, 2010
10:20 pm
Give me a “ugly” win versus a “pretty” loss any day! GO DAWGS!
P. Bull Terrier
November 28th, 2010
10:22 pm
The only thing more pathetic than some of the UGA fans on here acting like the Dawgs accomplished something special in beating a bad Ga Tech team is the multitude Ga Tech fans on here acting like the Jackets accomplished something by LOSING to a bad UGA team.
I don’t know why it comes as a surprise to anyone that UGA made a weaker team look better than they really are. That’s been the story of UGA’s season. The talent looks great on paper, but on the field they rarely play as well as they should for all four quarters. That’s a problem that Richt is going to have to fix next year, because unlike Paul Johnson, Richt isn’t going to get any praise for playing close games against mediocre teams.
InsectInside
November 28th, 2010
10:24 pm
Dawggirl: Thanks for your well-wishes, but he didn’t just out-smart your coaching staff, he outsmarted everyone in that stadium. Some of whom still don’t get it.
Coach Scroach
November 28th, 2010
10:29 pm
What can I say? Who won the game? Yep, Johnson had a slick move, but it didn’t help. Nesbitt can’t pass any better than his freshman replacement, who, by the way, runs the ball about as well or better than Nesbitt. Losers always find excuses about what “might have been” – next year it won’t be close…UGA will kick more booty.
Georgia and Oregon
November 28th, 2010
10:30 pm
sorry tech fans you can continue to talk about academics but UGA continues to catch y’all and auburns offense is from Georgia remember that cam newton is from Georgia but Carolina will not beat Georgia next year they lose everything but Lattimore Auburn loses to Carolina in the sec championship and Oregon wins the national championship keep Grantham and d coaches fire the offensive and Richt and hire Chip Kelly he seems to have it together
ben
November 28th, 2010
10:31 pm
“Tonight you saw a great football coach take a group that has little talent and keep them in a game where they were clearly overmatched.”
Clearly overmatched? Get real Techies. GT was playing an irrelevant 5-6 UGA team.
I have spoken
November 28th, 2010
10:32 pm
The Yellow jackets truly are a Rambling Wreck!
Erk
November 28th, 2010
10:32 pm
Mark, is any loss to a 5-6 team canny?
gcs
November 28th, 2010
10:40 pm
Georgia Tech leads the nation in Moral Victories.
.
Clete Cole
November 28th, 2010
10:45 pm
This Last time a UGA coach worked a game that good ?(question posed by Mark Bradley above)
Well Mark , dont you and the tech folks have a very short memory?? It was last year, 2009 when A supposedly highly Talented Tech team headed to play in the ACC Championship Game had the the ball run right down their throats ane werew defeated by underdog UGA, the 6th best ream in the SEC at that point : )