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
Ricky Bobby
November 28th, 2010
4:28 pm
You stupid nerds…if you ain’t first, you’re last…that there is trade marked….
NINE AND ONE!
November 28th, 2010
4:29 pm
He did not have to have his defense lay down and give up. That was inevitable! Just should have given it 3 to 4 more plays and UGA would have been in the end zone anyway.
Then turns it over to a QB that has no experience in consistently passing the ball. And had to go 80 yards to do so.
That’s what a great coach does for you! ha ha ha ha
flagboy?
November 28th, 2010
4:30 pm
All of that is fine and dandy Mark Bradley.
As for the 400 yards being “wisps of smoke”, I give tech credit on running the ball well. However, the average yard per rush was the same for both teams. One fact that seems to get left out of this is tech ran about twice as many plays as UGA. Granted, that is a side-effect of the ball control offense, but still, if a team runs about 80-90 plays, it isn’t surprising they have a ton of yards. Not to take anything away from tech; they played a very good, inspired game.
What IS funny is if tech was chewing up UGA on the ground so much, why did Johnson go to QB draws and passing on the next to last series tech had? They had plenty of time. . and timeouts. It was uncanny how much that series was similar to last year, when Johnson went for 3 bombs at the end of the game with plenty of time as well.
Speaking of last year and the “checkers” being even and your comment about when was the last time a UGA coach did the same. . . what was the outcome last year up in Atlanta? How big of a favorite was tech at kickoff? How many first round draft picks did Tech have last year? Who was more talented at the time and fully expected to hammer the other team? Man, how quickly you forget.
congrats to those that happy in defeat. I understand still being proud of your school/team, even in defeat. I would be the same way. But trying to belittle UGA’s win at the same time smacks of bitterness.
RomeDawg
November 28th, 2010
4:30 pm
For all of the football genius Paul Johnson is, how come his team is 6-6 and play in a SUPER WEAK conference. The ACC has to be the 5th best conference, at best. This was a team expected to play contend for the ACC title and started the year ranked 15th.
As best I can tell, I can still say we have won 9 of 10 and we own the bee hinney. I couldn’t give a rats butt less about the score. A win is a win is a win, PERIOD.
Boses
November 28th, 2010
4:31 pm
When Richt wins, he has better players. Hewitt has better players and he loses. That gives some credence to Richt.
OK
November 28th, 2010
4:32 pm
Sooooo… when Paul Johnson wins it is because he is a genius but when he loses it is because the players (that he recruited and signed mind you) are all bums and he did the best with the subpar talent that he is stuck with? Wow. That is a guy I would want to play for if I were a young player. Win and it is all coach, lose and it is all you because coach only gets credit around here.
Johnson magnificently coached his team to a 6 loss season one year removed from the ACC championship. I fail to see why that is so encouraging.
Whopper Dawg
November 28th, 2010
4:33 pm
It really is amazing how Johnson keeps getting labeled as a genesis for getting beat. Happens all the time.
StingerSplash
November 28th, 2010
4:33 pm
I thought the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce ran the state.
You learn something new every day.
RomeDawg
November 28th, 2010
4:33 pm
Mark,
No offense but lately your articles seem more about pushing your agenda and less about journalism. UGA could have won 105-0 and your spin would have been that we ran the score up and almost gave up a critical game.
And as for “outsmarting” our coaches, I would rather lose with class than give up a score. Fact is, CPJ told his team to quit while on the field. That is tacky. How well did it work for the bees?
robert
November 28th, 2010
4:34 pm
Ga. & Tech keep your good players home or get ready to be beat. Auburn players from Ga. Newton,Lutz TE, Adams WR, Isom OG, Thorpe CB, and many backups, plus several red-shirt freshman for 2011. WAR EAGLE. GA HS seniors look towards the Plains of East Alabama for a chance at a great college experience and possible Natl Champ. in your future.
Wreck Gives ‘Em Hell, Falls In The End | GT's Campus Correspondent Blog
November 28th, 2010
4:36 pm
[...] the ground. They dominated in time of possession with over 38 minutes. Paul Johnson clearly was the smarter man for 60 minutes last night. The only time the Jackets could be stopped was when they stopped themselves, a common [...]
Saint Simons
November 28th, 2010
4:36 pm
I love the smell of mutt butt in the morning.Looking forward to many more canny losses in the future.
NINE AND ONE!
November 28th, 2010
4:37 pm
where is Blackberry Pie and Yellow Fuzz??????
the real Old Gold
November 28th, 2010
4:37 pm
Just shows how Nerds have no common sense! I’m sure Georgia wants Johnson to stay at Tech forever just like Hewitt!!
BSU fan
November 28th, 2010
4:37 pm
SEC is such a fine conference, indeed. Hey UGA, I think you may need to look to joining the WAC where you can hopefully establish a winning conference record.
When you can't win them on the field....
November 28th, 2010
4:37 pm
All tek fans are taught from birth to change the subject from wins and losses when it comes to UGA and Tek playing football. Now the local paper has bought into it.
When is the last time we’ve seen an overmatched team out play or out coach the other team… happens all the time dufus…. how about UGA and tek last year. How about tek and kansas this year. If UGA had made fewer offensive mistakes the score could have been a lot worse. If CPJ wasn’t so stupid not to take two gimmie field goals the out come might have been different. If tek had even a sembelence of a passing game… we could go on and on with the what ifs.
UGA won and has won 9 of 10 and two out of three from CPJ…. The program is superior no matter how you slice it…
NINE AND ONE!
November 28th, 2010
4:40 pm
When you can’t win them on the field….
Don’t be so hard on them. They are GIDDY today!
NINE AND ONE!
November 28th, 2010
4:41 pm
BSU fan
Tech could have beat Nevada…. ha ha ha
Score Check
November 28th, 2010
4:42 pm
Hey Bradley maybe you can lobby to have them put an asterisk next to this lost in the gt record book.
After the gt players QUIT on that play in the end how did it work out for the bugs.
BTW: Those ACC ref’s really blew spotting the ball on the 3rd down play where Chris Durham had a first down by a full yard.
The Ole Ball Coach
November 28th, 2010
4:42 pm
So Bradley admitts Tech is a bunch of losers….LOL
SCAM Newton
November 28th, 2010
4:42 pm
Actually Tech is always giddy when they lose. After all they are really good at it.
BSU fan
November 28th, 2010
4:44 pm
NINE AND ONE! – you are correct. I think UGA could have had a decent chance to play well against a team not even leading the WAC. Congratulations! Your’s is a storied program.
tony
November 28th, 2010
4:44 pm
Where was the blowout that the dawgs barked about? This game should not have even been close. Tech is playing with a backup QB with virtually no experience with a bunch of two and three star recruits versus Georgia’s stacked 5star studded team and yet we ran for over 400 plus yards against this dynamite defense. If not for those careless Tech miscues late in the game, Tech wins. Even Coach Richt admiitted that He got outcoached by Coach Johnson.
The Ole Ball Coach
November 28th, 2010
4:44 pm
GT says our coach is a genius that is why we lost and he is 1 & 2 against CMR. LOL, Wait …ha ha ha LOL
Coach
November 28th, 2010
4:46 pm
Great article! The man can coach. How many times have we seen the same circumstances at the end of a game, and the Head Coach had rather loose by one than take the chance needed to win the game. The man can coach!
NINE AND ONE!
November 28th, 2010
4:46 pm
BSU fan
Yes, we are a storied program and so is tech. Congrats on making yourselves known this decade! I know it must be hard just starting up a football program
NINE AND ONE!
November 28th, 2010
4:47 pm
tony
You must be one of those “Giddy” ones. Still lost Pal. 42-34, 9 out of 10. Slice it up anyway you want. You lost UGA won…. again!
Huh
November 28th, 2010
4:48 pm
Wasn’t Georgia 5-6 going into the game? Wow your blog sounds as if the Dawgs were ranked in the top ten and going to a BCS Bowl game.
All this game proved that a terrible Georgia Team was better than a terrible gt team. Nothing more or nothing less.
Coach
November 28th, 2010
4:49 pm
One more thing. Heard Chuck Dowdle in his post-game interviews. Does anyone still believe that Chuck was objective and unbiased all those years at WSB?
tony
November 28th, 2010
4:49 pm
It’s obvious that Rome has no clue about Coach Johnson’s decision to LET Georgia score. Common sense will tell you that you have to get the ball back in order to have a chance to score. NO one has a crystal ball to know what’s going to happen. That’s why those guys coach and we sit at home trying to coach while second guessing.
UGADawg83
November 28th, 2010
4:50 pm
What a load of crap Mark. Did Paul Johnson threaten to take you off of his Christmas card list? Spin it however you’d like. Tech lost. Paul Johnson’s team lost. Taz Anderson’s precious Jackets lost. They all lost. They got beat. End of story. In case you don’t understand Tech lost. To try and call it anything but a loss is a sign of loser.
BSU fan
November 28th, 2010
4:51 pm
NINE AND ONE, not many outside of Georgia thinks that much of you…this year or anytime in the last decade but I’m glad you run the state….
NINE AND ONE!
November 28th, 2010
4:52 pm
tony
I agree. You had to get the ball back. However. they probably would have been better running sweeps than throwing the ball. I would have been more worried if they kept the ball on the ground. When I saw that they were going to pass the ball I knew that an INT was going to happen. That’s not the fault of your QB. It’s your coaches fault for setting him up for failure during practice by not getting him the throwing reps he needed.
Dawg Fan
November 28th, 2010
4:52 pm
Hey Mark why don’t write a blog about Coach Paul “man boobs” pre game antics nearly causing a fracas? Very smart?
NINE AND ONE!
November 28th, 2010
4:54 pm
BSU fan
I understand you lack of knowledge about football history. I mean being new to the game. I grew up in California and knew about both GT and UGA so try again!
GT
November 28th, 2010
4:54 pm
As the announcers said, “most of the stadium had no idea Johnson let that runner score on purpose.” Johnson looked like Maverick in one of those fist fights where Goliath. Ealey who ate us up in Atlanta last year, has that trash talking routine down which I am sure dulled his perception which I understand has never been off the charts anyway. Anybody else running that ball last night might have known what time it was, but not Ealey. I’m sure Johnson looked on the field and saw Ealey back there and knew that he could bluff this thing with a pair of duces, or may just one duce. I wonder if this reminds Taz of some of the stuff Coach Dodd use to do. That lonesome end was my favorite. Both these guys Johnson and Dodd grew up in that area between Tennessee and North Carolina, Mayberry Country. I think Spurrier was born in Johnson City, Tennessee. I guess you learn a lot about human nature in those hills. I bet they were all great practical jokers long before they were great football coaches.
NINE AND ONE!
November 28th, 2010
4:56 pm
OK, we might not be known in Boise…… Big woop de do! I mean Boise? They don’t get out to much over there I hear
drill sargent psychologist
November 28th, 2010
4:57 pm
you mamby pamby dogbois, if you’re such a dam fine football team, why do you suck when you go outside this state? get your crackheads together and beat someone who really matters and get yourself ranked again. you miserable bedwetters!!!!!!!!!!!!! you’re pathetic! even fsu beat the miserable gators. why don’t you join the acc then your win against tech might mean something! sliderulers will go to class on monday and they won’t care, trust me. you’re pathetic!!!!!11
NINE AND ONE!
November 28th, 2010
4:58 pm
drill sargent psychologist
You left out Jack Wagon…. love that comercial!
luv-it dawg
November 28th, 2010
4:59 pm
Must agree MARK..you are 100% right. I really hope Richt goes to UM are somewhere else. He is a great person and I love him but its time he moves on. Coach Johnson is a great Coach because he gets the most from less. I was expecting us -uga- to win by 3 or 4 TD’s. GT won my respect. Good luck in your future bowl game.
bonairedawg
November 28th, 2010
5:01 pm
Enter your comments here
BSU fan
November 28th, 2010
5:02 pm
Never said you weren’t known…just that not many people outside of Georgia think that much of you or think as much of the SEC as you do. Having lived in multiple states over the years I know that to be true. So you ought to get over yourself.
Tell the Truth...and live with it...
November 28th, 2010
5:02 pm
Let’s get to the point of this.
UGA beat a 6-5 team that is average in the 5 th best conferences in the BCS Conferences. The ACC is rated behind the SEC, BIG 10, PAC 10, BIG 12 and is pretty close to the Big East overall. That 6-5 team lost to some average BCS schools that across the board lost to SEC with the exception of Florida and Vanderbilt who lost to FSU and Wake Forest. So beating an average ACC team is no great feat. Get over it.
UGA hired CMR to the post after Jimmy D., and did a pretty great job bringing in some talented skilled people to pepper in with the dominant front 7 on each side of the ball that Coach D. had in place. CMR had 4 or 5 very recruiting classes his first 4 or 5 years, but he should. The State of Georgia is rated as the 4th or 5th best High School talent prospects in the Nation, so UGA should be in the top 10 annually as the STATE SCHOOL OF GEORGIA. Recently the recruiting at UGA has slipped several notches. Since the Stafford, Moreno recruiting years the fall off of talent has become relevant each year( with the exception of AJ Green, the talent is not on the same level) and it is reflected in the WIN numbers since 2007.
The worst thing to happen to a team is success, it becomes harder and harder to motivate players who are used to winning, it is human nature. The teams at UGA of late are just not good and very talented on the level s as they were from 2000 to 2007, the 2008 team had talent but that No. 1 Pre-Season ranking went to some player’s heads and then it cost them.
UGA has experienced the END ZONE CELEBRATION Penalty against FLORIDA and the Black Out against ALABAMA the following year and since that time the UGA has become a disciplinary nightmare.
UGA is constantly year in and year out in the top 20 of all schools in Personal Foul Penalties and was the top team in the “FULMER CUP” arrest department. If you are one of those blind UGA loyalists who do not see the correlation then you need to take a closer look at your own children because there is no telling what they are up to. CMR has shown the propensity to allow players to commit misdemeanors, felonies, and school related acts against other students go practically unchecked until the AJC started reporting each issue in its daily blogs.
Mark Richt has recently fired his DC and a few other coaches to take the heat off of his own head. The problem is the talent is not there to compete against these dominant head coaches he faces week in and week out in the SEC. It is widely accepted that there is very very few coaches (maybe one or two) that would be on the staffs of the dominant teams in the SEC. Just face it, the staff at UGA is very poorly rated, even Stacey S. is no longer relevant in the recruiting department.
Now onto the Facilities at UGA. The current Facilities in Athens rates in the middle of the pack of all SEC Schools. CMR has begged for an FULL FLEDGED INDOOR PRACTICE FACILITY since his arrival on campus and not some walk thru facility as describe by others. If you have not visited other schools around the SEC then do so and visit the weight rooms, training facilities, performance management areas, training tables, indoor facilities, outdoor practice grounds, media training centers, student education facilities all geared toward the student athletes. UGA is lagging far behind.
The campus at ATHENS does have space limitations and a lot of the issues are related to that one issue, but other schools have developed and built modern updated resources.
Beating an average team is not such an outstanding feat as some of you believe.
The current recruiting class is hinging on the signing of 3 top 4 or 5 star players and if UGA does not get all 3 of those players’ times at UGA is not going to get easier. By the way only one of those top players is a defensive stud who can play right away.
UGA had a nice schedule until Boise St. was added and anyone will tell you Boise St. has such an easy schedule that they have to focus only on UGA for 9 months and then they coast for 3 months. UGA loses AJ, Durham and a few others from this 6 and 6 team and everyone knows how poorly UGA looked without AJ for those first 4 games, next year you play 12 games without him. What will be UGA’s IDENTITY in 2011? Running backs, Aaron Murray (who is going to be a great one before he leaves) Orson Charles, Defense?
USC will be about the same team in 2011 as they were this year, Ms. St. will be better, Ole Miss will get better, Florida will for sure be better with DRISKALL playing QB on 3rd downs like Tebow did his freshman year. Kentucky will be about the same but better on defense, Tennessee is a lot better today than they were when they played UGA and have played more FRESHMEN than anyone in the country. Auburn will be worse off with 28 seniors and the paid QB in the NFL. GT will be better as their Freshman QB will know the system and those young OL will be better and they play UGA at home (if that even matters). The schedule looks somewhat favorable to UGA if Green was still around so the Secondary had to respect the deep ball, but unless someone can fill his shoes, every team will line up with 8 men in the box and dare Murray to throw it. Just stating the obvious.
UGA is and below average team in a superior conference and things will remain the same in 2011.
flagboy?
November 28th, 2010
5:03 pm
Saint Simons
November 28th, 2010
4:36 pm
I love the smell of mutt butt in the morning.Looking forward to many more canny losses in the future.
____________________________________________
that pretty much sums up the difference. . .
thank God this country wasn’t built by people giddy with almost.
Hope you all have an ALMOST merry christmas.
Hey, I asked her to marry me and she ALMOST said yes!
Hey, I ALMOST won the lottery!
I ALMOST got that promotion!
so, a hearty ALMOST congrats.
D.Ellis
November 28th, 2010
5:03 pm
Nothing like writing about moral victories……gota love those moral victories
Great game GT fans…..good luck in your bowl game
GT-UGA Final Score … 34-42 … « A Day in the Life
November 28th, 2010
5:04 pm
[...] A Canny Loss the UGA Leaves Tech Fans Giddy About Their Coach http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2010/11/28/a-canny-loss-to-uga-leaves-tech-fans-giddy-about-t... [...]
flagboy?
November 28th, 2010
5:04 pm
BSU fan
November 28th, 2010
5:02 pm
Never said you weren’t known…just that not many people outside of Georgia think that much of you or think as much of the SEC as you do. Having lived in multiple states over the years I know that to be true. So you ought to get over yourself.
_____________________________________________
Don’t think much about UGA or the SEC. . and yet, here you are, posting about us. Thanks for bucking the trend there partner.
NINE AND ONE!
November 28th, 2010
5:04 pm
BSU fan
Sounds like SEC envy to me… but thank for playing. Of course your probably still having that shell shock feeling from the beat down from 2005 in Athens. Don’t blame ya, but better be ready for another one next season.
Dawg Tired
November 28th, 2010
5:05 pm
Mark – You are absolutely right. I take no comfort in Coach Richt admitting he got out coached. As I said last night – Not having Murray simply take a knee was the dumbest coaching decision I can remember seeing in my life – well maybe the NFL game where they handed the ball off in a similar situation and fumbled and actually lost the game (I’m 64 years old). I just don’t see how that could happen. I would really like to hear what Coach Richt was actually thinking in even risking the handoff in the first place. Remember Colorado?
buzzoff
November 28th, 2010
5:06 pm
Yes we lost on scoreboard but we made our point..we kicked you A@@ of the field..You don’t run anything but your mouth….I wouldn’t trade Coach Johnson for Richt…no way.