A fat and sassy Georgia Tech gets handed its comeuppance
Virginia's Mike London had his men primed. His opponent was less than prime. (AP photo)
Charlottesville, Va. – Even if the polls suggested otherwise, Georgia Tech was never the nation’s 12th-best team. It was a good team with a clever scheme and a bunch of guys who’d worked hard and coalesced to make the whole greater than the talent on hand. And then, in the season’s seventh game, the workers worked less hard and got what they deserved, which was beaten by an opponent that had won one ACC game since 2009.
Surely Mike London and his Virginia staff saw what was coming to Scott Stadium: A team that could win any track meet but not many wrestling matches. The Cavaliers, who’d lost to Southern Miss and beaten Idaho by a point in overtime, treated this as their game of arrival and, when Tech got done fiddling and flailing, it was. The No. 12 team got beat and deserved to get beat.
“It’s been coming,” said Paul Johnson, Tech’s obviously irked coach. “When you play with fire long enough, you get burned.”
Tech couldn’t put North Carolina State away in Raleigh two weeks ago and had stopped scoring against Maryland last week, and those were troubling signs. But collegiate players can be tough sells: If you’re winning, what difference does it make? For Tech, the winning stopped Saturday. A pedestrian offense amassed 407 yards against a unit supposedly coordinated by Al Groh, who recruited some of these Cavs. Tech’s own sleek offense couldn’t override a 10-point halftime deficit against an opponent that didn’t score again.
“We talked about it repeatedly,” Johnson said. “[Virginia's] backs were against the wall. We were going to get everything they’ve got.”
Message unheeded. The Jackets trailed 7-0 after six minutes and 14-0 with 6:20 gone. They’d been staggered, and they never fully recovered. Whenever Virginia needed to move, it shoved the Jackets backward. The Cavs rushed for the same number of yards (272) as Tech, and they did it with power. Said Johnson, speaking of Virginia’s repeated sorties around the flanks: “We never set the edge.”
Remember when, back over the summer, we suggested Tech might not have enough prime-time players to win the ACC Coastal? Here was a tutorial in the difference between big/strong and smallish/skilled.
Said linebacker Julian Burnett: “When they run the ball right at you and you can’t stop them, it’s frustrating.”
Say what you will about Johnson, but he’s far better with a lean and hungry team than with a bunch of fat cats. Heck, his whole system is built on wrong-footing bigger guys. He said he tried to impart both a warning and a challenge — “We talked in the pregame meeting about what an opportunity we had” — but this time his urgings moved no one.
Johnson again: “Sometimes you just get blocked and can’t block the other team.”
Some try to make every Tech loss a referendum on Johnson’s spread option, but this was no such thing. It was a pounding by a desperate team that hit harder and fought longer. LSU or Alabama or Oklahoma could have laughed off an early flurry by the likes of Virginia, but Tech is not LSU or Alabama or Oklahoma. On talent, Tech is scarcely better than Virginia.
The Jackets aren’t good enough to win, at least not repeatedly, at half-capacity. They’re a good team when doing the things they do well, but if you force them into a different game they’re far less. Virginia hogged the ball — it punted only twice — and nursed its lead, and with 5:58 the Jackets completed a fizzled series by punting to the Cavs, who wouldn’t give it back.
Johnson: “That’s the way everyone is going to play us … They were able to get ahead and in the end in worked.”
Burnett: “I wasn’t surprised [that Virginia sought to be the aggressor]. We just didn’t match it.”
If we’re going to criticize anything about Johnson’s Method after such a loss, it’s more a matter of philosophy: Johnson wants to do it his way — with a roster of middling recruits who’ll fight to the finish — but we saw Saturday what can happen if the middling recruits don’t fight as hard as they might. They get exposed as … middling.
Yes, that’s a bit harsh. Playing hard and well, Tech is a tough opponent for anybody anywhere, and the Jackets will have the chance to beat some big names over the next six weeks. But a sluggish Georgia Tech is just another team, and Saturday it was a loser to a program so starved for victory that its students swarmed the field.
By Mark Bradley
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332 comments Add your comment
swd311
October 15th, 2011
11:13 pm
toldya….its not this loss….its the same garbage every week from his blithering boobness. Groh is worse. Groh is so old I am surprised he doesn’t drink geritol all game and ride in a wheelchair. His time is passed. Heck he got beat today like a red headed biatch just as a reminder why UVA fired his butt. What a total loser! Hey its a run no wait its another run no wait its a run!
gt
October 15th, 2011
11:14 pm
i don’t know why you can’t just sa he was out coached, every time we lose it is based not enough talent, but if we win PJ the greatest, no wonder they acted like a bunch of fat cats that what our coach acts like. PJ and MR had the same record last year and they beat us, now I know Ga. has more talent, But they also play stiffer competion We play in the ACC we should expect to win it . but every year we lose to some team we should beat handily, PJ we expect more even if the writers have given yo a pass.
BreakingNews
October 15th, 2011
11:18 pm
Today was ALMOST as funny as “Nesbitt 4 Heisman”…..hahahahahahah! Can’t wait to see what Clemson, FSU, and VT do with you bunch of jokes
swd311
October 15th, 2011
11:18 pm
Now JP has spoken the truth. Paul Johnson has been spreading his bs for 3 years. His team ALWAYS play like garbage when something is on the line. The only reason Groh is here is because he costs GT 100k or less to be here. Its about $$ folks. Paul Johnson blows and his offense is garbage. I’m tired of watching his crappy play calling and crappy offense. GT needs a real coach again. No more gimmicks…
swd311
October 15th, 2011
11:20 pm
Breaking News…your are an idiot just trying to rub in your UGA hate… Go squeegy your out house!! Loser!
Old School
October 15th, 2011
11:20 pm
Bradley’s column was right on, especially the comparison of big/strong vs. smallish/skilled. Tech got pushed around, especially its DLine. I don’t usually single out specific players but a certain DB for the Jackets with a single digit #—and not the one who had a pick-six—either doesn’t know how to tackle people or he is, uh, shall we say reluctant to hit someone head on an wrap up. I noticed how he did the “Garden Gate” swipe at the UVA ballcarrier on a third down play very early in the game and focused on him the rest of the afternoon. He really doesn’t like to hit people. But then again, that could be said of several other players on the the D-side of the ball. If you are small, you dang well better make up for it with some grit and fight. And it just wasn’t this game, you have seen “flashes” of this type play in virtually every game before today, And as for the kicking game, you gotta be kidding me! Absoultely pathetic! And this is all Tech could get offering a full scholarship. How can you overlook so dramatically such a critical part of the game??? I just don’t understand. But then again, you look at that punter for the Falcons. Maybe it’s something in the City of Atlanta water.
Spike 80DF
October 15th, 2011
11:22 pm
Virginia is a quality team……wait for it……bahahahahahahaha
Couldn’t say what one with a straight face.
Buford T. Pusser
October 15th, 2011
11:24 pm
swd311,
Please put down the bottle of Jim Beam, get off your mother’s computer, and wander to your bed in the back of the trailer. Do not get in your 1978 pickup truck and drive through the park endangering other UGA fans. Your next AA meeting is tomorrow. Try to restrain yourself until then.
The Sheriff has spoken.
swd311
October 15th, 2011
11:25 pm
Old School Bradley is a UGA supporter and is most often wrong….like his pick was! I tired of hearing when PJ gets more talent this and that…..this offense is crap and this defense has been crap since 1990. GT is not a football program on the rise and certainly looks like a school that doesnt play D1 football. Groh needs to blitz on every down cuz his defense can’t stop anyone!. I would take Tenuta back in a second!!!!
oldgroh
October 15th, 2011
11:25 pm
swd you mean they still make geritol? Where can I get it. Make it a 55 gallon drum for CPJ and me and hurry
FIRE AL GROH
October 15th, 2011
11:26 pm
Enter your comments here
FIRE AL GROH
October 15th, 2011
11:27 pm
AL GROH IS 67… 4 real this dude is over!
Junior Samples
October 15th, 2011
11:27 pm
When my buddy Paul told me he only was gona use 10 plays, I told him that I’d at least take 11 or 12.
pj
October 15th, 2011
11:27 pm
Are you people sleeping?—Tech hasn’t played anybody of any consequence.
thwg
October 15th, 2011
11:28 pm
IIt’s not cpj. Rather I think the al groh experiment is a failure. Gt will not be able to recruit the type of dls needed to run this 3-4. In fact few college teams can and that includes uga. And if u don’t believe me, check out the stats hey had against vandy tonight. he 3-4 requires the kind of talent you have in the NFL, not he ncaa . Having said this, I agree the talent level is marginal just about everywhere. No playmackers. No speed. Even vandy has faster defensiveplayers. Sylvester, munroe, drummond, nor watts has any chance of covering a tight end or rb one on one.
GT
October 15th, 2011
11:28 pm
We have one of these type games every year since I can remember, even in 1990 ,it was UNC. I thought it would come in Miami, but should have known Virginia was the game. We have a hard time winning up there no matter how bad they are. Number 12 is a long way from an Alabama or LSU even if we had won this game. I saw a interview with Al in a Virginia paper this week, he was right on the money. He said Tech has got to outsmart its opponent it is not good enough to win with talent like an Alabama or LSU. In other words we never claimed to be anything but what we are. One game does not a season make, lets see what happens. I wish Bradley had called us middling recruits before this game instead of after, it might have been a challenge instead of a cheap shot. To say Tech wouldn’t win the Coastal Division is an understatement, I believe you had them about fourth. Let’s see what happens.
swd311
October 15th, 2011
11:28 pm
Spike you made your point now go get back in the trailer and wash your 7 mesh UGA tank tops for the week at your delivery job!
wild'n
October 15th, 2011
11:28 pm
what has happened to washington? his passing is horrendous all of a sudden! and whereas he made all the right reads in the first several games, he has all of a sudden forgotten when and where to distribute (or keep) the ball…
its very disturbing that this team has progressively gotten worse every single game since kansas. yes competition has ratcheted up, but the execution has simply gotten poorer and poorer.
BreakingNews
October 15th, 2011
11:29 pm
swd311 – just a little friendly payback for what you douchebags have been saying on the UGA blogs since the start of the season!
Kev hearts Babs
October 15th, 2011
11:30 pm
Babsie – let’s get in the hot tub and try to forget that we’re nerd teckies.
FIRE AL GROH
October 15th, 2011
11:31 pm
Why does PJ put up with this?? A graduate assistant would be better than GROH. I know TECH doesn’t have the funds but come on this dude is a joke! He went to his old school and just proved why the fired his him. Time to get the RV out AL!
Buford T. Pusser
October 15th, 2011
11:31 pm
swd311,
At this point, you should wander to the back of the trailer and and fall into a drunken stupor (you appear to be already there); and do everyone a favor.
The Sheriff has spoken.
thwga
October 15th, 2011
11:31 pm
Record is right where I thought it would be but figured the L would have been unc and not uva. I predicted 7-5 with a L in a mediocre bowl. You heard it hear first. We won’t know about the cpj scheme until he gets is qb. That will be vad lee.
thwga
October 15th, 2011
11:33 pm
Oh yeah, the 3-4 won’t work at gt or any other ncaa team. It requires NFL talent to execute. Just look at vandy stats on uga tonight.
swd311
October 15th, 2011
11:33 pm
Why can’t we have more plays on offense? Where are the short quick passes? Where is our defense? Where is our kicking game? Where is our play calling? Where is our QB play? Where is our o line play? Where is our special teams play? This team SUCKS Paul!! Where is your imagination? Your team SUCKS Paul!!!
Hy Ronatt
October 15th, 2011
11:34 pm
at least they’re not fat ans stupid, like you, Journ-o-lister.
swd311
October 15th, 2011
11:37 pm
Breaking ……no true GT fan is on your blog!!! I hate UGA like I hate terrorists and Iran but I don’t ever wander over there. You know why? Cuz UGA is irrelevant. In the real world off the football field UGA consistently wins the laugh out loud award….Come spew your toothless trash on the blog. It only proves the point that UGA and their fans are losers! Now go scrub the floor in your doublewide!
Burgess
October 15th, 2011
11:38 pm
I tried to tell ya’ll not to fire Gailey. He can coach circles around Johnson.
FIRE AL GROH
October 15th, 2011
11:38 pm
THE D SUCKS A$$!! AL GROH IS 68 yrs old! Imagine if your grandpa called plays???? THIS D IS 30 yrs old, at least!
Burgess
October 15th, 2011
11:39 pm
Seriously a D1 program that complete TWO passes in a game ??????
R
October 15th, 2011
11:39 pm
I know we don’t have much talent, but the effort today was unacceptable. We cannot punt,kick,tackle, or pass. The defense was HORRIBLE in the first half, but did enough in the second half for us to have won this game. But we couldn’t do enough offensively to beat a very bad team.
We have several players at our local high schools that could step in and punt and kick better than our kickers and punter. I blame our coach for this—I understand how we cannot recruit many 4 or 5 star players, but there are plenty of kickers and punters coming out of high school every year. Our kicking game will continue to cost us.
swd311
October 15th, 2011
11:40 pm
Bufford you are about as much a Sherrif as Roscoe P. Coltrain…..guguggugguggu…Bulldogs…do us a favor and take a hike back to the trailer park!!! Boss Hogg is waiting in his bulldog mesh T shirt!!!
bradrey3d
October 15th, 2011
11:41 pm
This is definitely a wake up call for GT. They skated by 2 weeks with weak performances and I think this is the best thing to happen to them before the REAL stretch of the season. The same thing happened to VT last season. I have confidence that GT will pick it up next weekend against Miami as long as Tevin brings the heat in the passing game…but if they don’t, this could be 2010 all over again.
FIRE AL GROH
October 15th, 2011
11:42 pm
AL GROH needs to retire. Why does GT always have the women announcer?? Not sexist.. But that girl is a joke.
FIRE AL GROH
October 15th, 2011
11:45 pm
I wish GT HAD BUFORD D CORDINATOR!!
Roscoe P. Coltrane
October 15th, 2011
11:49 pm
swd311:
Please leave me out of this sir!
The other Sheriff has spoken.
swd311
October 15th, 2011
11:50 pm
And she talks non stop about things in the press all week!!! GT is gonna get their butts kicked in Miami…I beg UM has 500 yards of offense in the 1st half and are up 35-0 before Washington completes a pass!!! What a JOKE this offense is……Groh is horrible and Johnson isn’t far behind!
same stuff different year
October 15th, 2011
11:50 pm
How does a division 1 team throw for only 24 yards? Both lines were dominated, just pushed back and giving no time for Washington to throw. This is just the beginning people, if we cannot pass the ball to take the pressure off the run, forget about winning games, I hope we can just not get embarrassed. Johnson if you cant get them motivated and focused, then you need to go this is not a surprise from this life long fan, i just hope we can at least win a couple of more games. And the players need to get the butt in gear and stop making excuses
swd311
October 15th, 2011
11:56 pm
Based on what I am seeing from GT….I would take the 312.00 worth of clothing…..you lost to UVA for @W%%$# sake!!! They blow chunks!!! Guess what you blow chunks now!
Mike
October 15th, 2011
11:57 pm
Mark, I believe I said something along these lines after your column a couple of weeks ago praising Johnson. Johnson is what he is and he will not change as you pointed out. Well, Tech hired him. They had to know what they were getting themselves into. The flip side of firing a coach and hiring a new one is you lose any good assistants the other coach had. Jon Tenuta was an outstanding DC at Tech. Johnson has never been able to come close to replacing him.
Tech’s D is not playing at a level it needs to be for them to be a true contender in the ACC more than once every now and then. No way no how should UVA score 24 pts and be able to run out the clock at will in the 4th. 21 pts is low for Johnson’s offense, but more than enough to beat UVA if the D shows up. Next week is at Miami and Jacory Harris. Johnson had better get across to his players for Miami, or they will get dominated again like the last two years. Everyone is talking about Clemson and Va Tech, but Miami has Tech’s number right now and shouldnt be overlooked.
Ray Man
October 16th, 2011
12:01 am
Let’s just get ready for Florida , they have lost three in a row now. Brantley might be back. This will be a very tough game , just like tonight.
Gorilla Biscuit
October 16th, 2011
12:05 am
Just thought I’d check in and see which of you blow flies were swarming this turd.
wrecked
October 16th, 2011
12:06 am
tech getting what they wished for Pj recruits, Div. 1aa talent beats div 1aa talent , going to be a long road from here on, Miami kills tech, va tech kills tech celmson kells tecj. Zero defense, zero passing game , pathetic special teams, pitiful recruiting , great coach? another loss to georgia .
swd311
October 16th, 2011
12:11 am
Just wait till next year when we get PJ’s recruits and the defense learns Groh’s scheme!!! Hugh? Come here and catch 40 passes a year……in practice maybe!! 4th in the Coastal was the prediction preseason! I guess they were right after all!!! GT is irrelevant…maybe they can play in Gwinnett?
swd311
October 16th, 2011
12:16 am
Next time schedule some real teams at the start of the season…so us the fans won’t have any expectations after the first couple of games!!!! UVA got beat by Southern Miss!!! Oh wait…that’s the team that beat Navy, and your crappy offense, 63 35….Go back to Navy! Take Groh with you!
Hello..........hello................
October 16th, 2011
12:18 am
TW looked good passing against very weak teams – the real TW is about to be exposed. I see one win in the coming weeks – Duke – what does that tell you about CPJ’s recruiting and “coaching them up” nonsense.
swd311
October 16th, 2011
12:24 am
Paul Johnson has been spewing his garbage too long!!! Groh is a flat out horrible coach!! Paid talent is the ONLY reason he was ever a good coach…period!
19
October 16th, 2011
12:25 am
How do the vulgar dawgtool post have free reign all the time?
Congratulations to UGA! Good game…
Go Jackets!!!
We Own You....
October 16th, 2011
12:25 am
Miami–Loss
Clemson–Loss
Va Tech–Loss (three in 13 days)
Duke–Toss Up
Georgia–Loss
Pissant Bowl–Loss Coaching genius Paul Johnson…”Wait til next year!”
Roscoe P. Coltrane
October 16th, 2011
12:25 am
swd311:
The Sheriff Buford T. Pusser has spoken.
The other Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane has spoken.
Clearly you have spoken……way too much at this point. Go to bed.
P.S. I vote we hire swd311 to be the head coach and defensive coordinator. He sounds very experienced and has a ton of energy.