Heat Check: Everybody – Tech, UGA, the Falcons – is smokin’
The men of Groh are growing on me, I must confess. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Georgia Tech wins a big game and is back in the Top 25. Georgia beats Florida and has climbed to No. 18. The Falcons don’t even play but gain on New Orleans in the NFC South. Our weekly Heat Check begins with the question: Are we Winnersville or what?
Georgia Tech: A big-time performance was needed, and that’s what the Jackets provided. Coming as it did after two small-time losses, Tech now gives the impression of having turned a corner. (Then again, it’s always nice to happen on a corner and find Dabo Swinney standing there.)
There was a neat little hidden stat coming into the Clemson game, so neat and so hidden I’d have missed it if a faithful Twitter follower hadn’t called it to my attention: In ACC games, Tech was 11th in the conference in total offense but first in the league in total defense. Which tells us that, for all the hand-wringing over Al Groh’s D, he has fashioned a unit that will give the famous offense a chance in every game, provided the offense doesn’t turn the ball over and the special teams don’t collapse completely. Heat Index: Beat the nation’s No. 5 team, even if it is Dabo-coached, and you’re certifiably smokin’ again.
Georgia: I have to say I’m a bit confused. Georgia beat Florida for the fourth time since 1989 after trailing by two touchdowns, and the reaction on this site wasn’t so much exultation but complaint. I’m willing to concede that reader comments aren’t necessarily an accurate gauge of anything and that some folks who present themselves as Georgia fans might not be. That said …
Are you serious? When you’ve lost as many games to Florida as Georgia has, you should take a one-point victory on a safety induced by a punt that bounces off a seagull and be happy with it. I know special teams were terrible. I know this isn’t much of a Florida team. Doesn’t matter. It was still Florida in Jacksonville, and Georgia won. Heat Index: Six in a row after 0-2 — me, I’d call that warmth.
The Falcons: Had a bye. Will have another Sunday. (Technically, they meet Indianapolis. Same difference.) Then again, the Saints thought they’d have a bye in St. Louis, and they lost to an 0-6 opponent. Which means the Falcons are tied with New Orleans in the loss column, which is a pretty good place to be after starting 2-3.
Do I think the Falcons have played to their capacity? No, I don’t. Do I think they can win the Super Bowl playing as they have? No again. But do I think they have room to grow into a Super Bowl-type team? Yes, I still do. Heat Index: After the trip to Indy, the Falcons’ next three are at home, including a Nov. 13 date against New Orleans. Time to get hot, I’d say.
Will Muschamp: The former Bulldog officially became the first Florida coach ever to have a losing record against Mark Richt, and Gator fans don’t know what to do. Should they write off Muschamp as the next Ron Zook, or should they blame Urban Meyer for leaving so little talent behind? Heat Index: Florida was winless in October for the first time since it went 0-10-1 under Charley Pell in 1979. That’s cold.
Dabo Swinney: He replaced Tommy Bowden, who would raise hopes only to dash them, and after two years on the job it’s unclear whether Dabo isn’t really Tommy B. in disguise. Because nothing at Clemson has changed. This is still the team you can’t believe in. Heat Index: When you come into a game thinking about a national championship and trail by three touchdowns at the half, you’ve undergone a cold snap.
The Braves: They finished one game behind the eventual World Series champs. Which sounds nicer than saying, “The Cardinals wouldn’t be champs if the Braves hadn’t squandered an 8 1/2-game lead in September.” Heat Index: A chilly winter awaits.
The Hawks: They’re locked out. Their new owner might not be their new owner after all. Other than that, everything’s hunky-dory. Heat Index: Let’s see, when were the Hawks ever a hot item? In 1988, maybe?
By Mark Bradley
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369 comments Add your comment
cantondawg
October 31st, 2011
9:27 am
HT,
I’m curios as to how you got so stupid…You claim CMR is mediocrity but yet he’s the winningnest coach in UGA history.. Evidently you forgot he won 2 SECC and played in another and has 6 Top 10 finishes. Here’s the funny part..You want to replace him with Kirby Smart who doesn’t even run the defense at Alabama AND has zero Head coaching experience…Boy you are the definition of a TARD.
Paul in NH
October 31st, 2011
9:27 am
Flo- Ri- Duh
October 31st, 2011
9:18 am
Clemson is better than average but never deserved a #5 rating. Simply put, the average team in the SEC is better than the average team in the ACC
———
So a nationally ranked Auburn team with a 4-2 in conference record is a below average team? By that logic, apart from LSU and Alabama, there are no “better than average” teams in the SEC.
RambleOn84
October 31st, 2011
9:28 am
I don’t care if Clemson was ranked #105, it feels great to wear out your rival.
Now we need to take care of VPISU. They have become our biggest rival over a short period of time…
urm
October 31st, 2011
9:28 am
Congrats to both Tech and UGA! Good weekend all around!
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 31st, 2011
9:28 am
The ACC admitted that the officials missed the offsides call. Great, but now do something to keep that from happening again. Like review all red zone penalties and turnovers.
DIT
October 31st, 2011
9:29 am
@BulldogBen
You are correct, they have young talent, but the positions where you need to have leadership in: O-Line, D-Line, LB’s etc.. their are no leaders there. For Demps & Rainey to as quiet as they were that game I give our Defense credit for that.
We will see a different UF team next year.
BulldogBen
October 31st, 2011
9:29 am
RambleOn84, Wisconsin and FSU were also ranked #5 at one point.
They were also exposed as frauds.
cantondawg
October 31st, 2011
9:30 am
Herschel Talker,
Here are the facts. CMR will take us to the SECe championship this year. CMR will land the #1 OL and #1 RB in the nation and we will be loaded for the next two years…So either you get on the bus and support CMR or you get the hell off and go cheer for Alabama.
RambleOn84
October 31st, 2011
9:31 am
And FSU has lost several games…Wisconsin didn’t ever beat a good team in the first place.
Clemson beat up on a big bad SEC team…
robodawg
October 31st, 2011
9:31 am
Florida has plenty of raw talent, they’re just young. Dominating the line of scrimmage like we did this year will be much tougher next year.
DawgInaTruck
October 31st, 2011
9:31 am
I quit reading HT’s posts a long time ago. I recommend it highly.
B'dawg
October 31st, 2011
9:32 am
The state of Georgia was well represented this weekend. Great job guys. Little bummed about Ga. Southern losing though, but hey, its ok. All three Tech, UGA, GSU, are ranked in their polls.
JB
October 31st, 2011
9:32 am
I’m hearing from a Gator friend of mine that Muschamp came in heavy handed, kicked some loafers off the team, has turned up the heat as far as work and discipline and some of the five star elites are not buying into it. Muschamp will have to “Purge” that roster to get the results he wants. Saban had to do it at Bama, and once everyone on the team buys in, then he’ll get results
crackbaby
October 31st, 2011
9:33 am
Saturday at Grant Field / Bobby Dodd Stadium was a GREAT PARTY!
The joint was rockin’ and the Jackets manned up (all the credit to Al Groh’s defense). Halloween atmosphere. Students rushed the field afterwards and were joyous yet didn’t hassle the Clemson players or coaches.
JACKETS for DABO!
Note to D-Rad: Want to get more fans to home games? Schedule them at night.
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
9:33 am
@JB, you are right, my friend…The UF message boards are blowing up! No talent, trying to run a Pro offense with spread guys, good track team, no football players, blah, blah, blah…. What really hurts is when we beat them and Own Jacksonville for the weekend and win the partys
cantondawg
October 31st, 2011
9:34 am
Anybody who has ever played football knows that a win against your rival is huge no matter what the records are. In fact, sometimes it’s more difficult when your rival is having a bad year because they circle your game as redemption for the season. IT was a sweet victory and the manner that we won it was even better
Joe Tess Fish House
October 31st, 2011
9:36 am
Flacons beter wathc out cuz the Colts R gonna tear them up! There going 2 go in 2 the game thinging there going 2 win but I no how the Falcons do tings and they will loose. Mark my words.
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 31st, 2011
9:37 am
You can’t overlook the fact that Clemson beat 3 ranked teams and was undefeated. I think they were a #5 team.
The Grinch
October 31st, 2011
9:38 am
Joe Tess Fish House
October 31st, 2011
9:36 am
“Mark my words.”
If I marked all the words you misspelled the list would be quite long.
BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Herschel Talker
October 31st, 2011
9:38 am
cantondawg:
You’re right, Richt is a heck of a recruiter. After we fire him, the new coach should hire him as recruiting coordinator. Seems win-win for everyone. You Richt lovers can have the guy actually contribute something positive, and we Richt detractors can get a coach who can actually coach.
HT
dean
October 31st, 2011
9:39 am
After NOLA got their rears handed to them yesterday, I wandered over to NOLA dot com. Unlike some there, I did not troll, just read. SeenThisB4 wasn’t feeling real good. A user name Steve-O said “I’m staying off the AJC blogs next week.”
You know why? They now know they are going to be playing for the W.C. I want them to beat TB next week just so ATL is the team to knock them off the top of the heap.
Hey Mark, not ALL of us were Negative Nancys Saturday–>even when we were squirming a bit there early on.
The Grinch
October 31st, 2011
9:41 am
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 31st, 2011
9:37 am
Clemson IS a very good team. Tech just outplayed them. That’s the beauty of football. For what it’s worth, I’m glad Tech did it at home. The crowd was rocking.
Say It Aint So
October 31st, 2011
9:41 am
cantondawg, a lot of those same things were said about Auburn’s coaching hire a couple of years ago, yet they have a NC and CMR doesn’t. Matter of fact, as long as he has been coaching in the SEC, Myer came in and won a couple of NCs, Les won one and Saban came in and won one.
7576DAWG
October 31st, 2011
9:41 am
A lot of the criticism of our coaches and other teams coaches are not justified. The fans are upset that their teams are not doing better with so many 4 and 5 star recruit’s on the team.
Let’s take Georgia for example : Grantham was hired January 2010 and was not involved in the 2010 recruit’s that signed February 2010. All of the recruit’s up until then were recruited based on them excelling in a 4-3 defense. Then Georgia brings in a 3-4 specialist coach in Grantham. 4 and 5 star recruit’s that knew the 4-3 were lost. Now that Grantham has one recruiting year behind him based on the 3-4 needs and the other recruit’s having time to change everything they had learned and relearn the new 3-4 defense they are now doing great.
Just saying that sometimes it not the recruit’s under performing but new coaches are a huge disruption. Florida and Tennessee are finding out that now as well are a lot of teams. It take years to bring news coaches with different philosophies in , teach it to the players already there and then recruit the kind of players needed.
Say It Aint So
October 31st, 2011
9:43 am
7576DAWG
The offense didn’t change.and what about the special teams. I don’t think the defense was or is a problem.
Destin Dawg
October 31st, 2011
9:45 am
Yes !! Get on the bus… no energy vampires… Grantham’s Junk Yard dawg defense only getting better… WE make the other team play poorly and gimpy… Play Mason and Malcome …
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 31st, 2011
9:46 am
JB, CPJ had the same problem at Tech. Not a lot was said about it until after those players were gone. I guess it happens every time there’s a coaching change.
Spike 80DF
October 31st, 2011
9:47 am
Mark, Dawgs fans are happy with a win but barely avoided losing to the 2nd worst Gator team I’ve ever seen. The worst Gator team beat us last year.
The Grinch .
October 31st, 2011
9:47 am
Herschel Talker
October 31st, 2011
9:38 am
So I guess you’d like another Jim Donnan. After all, he had the reputation of being a good coach.
Or would you prefer another Ray Goff?
Or perhaps another Dooley? 25 years as the HC and average 8 wins per year.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 31st, 2011
9:48 am
People on here talking about Florida’s recruiting ranking…..
UGA ranks #2 behind USC the for last decade in recruiting and all we have done is beat 3 lousy FL teams and never beat them 2 yrs in a row
Not much to brag about even though Im happy to get the win over FL, lets come back to earth shall we
ego watch
October 31st, 2011
9:48 am
When someone refers to a quote by a Twitter “follower” instead of someone that he “follows”, only ego can be the explanation. Liberals are prone to do that, and liberals at the AJC always do it. Enter Bradley. Not as “out there” as Schultz, but, nevertheless, he is at home in the AJC newsroom. Someone you follow, Bradley … get it.
The Grinch .
October 31st, 2011
9:49 am
HT @ 9:38
So I guess you’d like another “coach who can coach” like Jim Donnan?
Or would you prefer another Ray Goff?
Or perhaps another Vince Dooley who averaged 8 wins per season over 25 years?
Loyal Dawg
October 31st, 2011
9:49 am
MB, you know that the people who want to complain are always going to be the loudest and most frequent to post. That’s just the way it is. You can rest assured that 90% of UGA fans are thrilled with the win and we don’t care how we got it. If UGA were to make it to the SEC title game and lose, those same people will be still complaining and will not want to recognize what a great job it was to bounce back from two early season loses. If you look at the depth problem we have in some areas and the injuries that have happened- it’s even more remarkable.
TrueBlueBravesFan
October 31st, 2011
9:50 am
I usually don’t blog about GA on the blog, but if you want my opinion Mark Richts biggest issues are
1) He stuck with Willie Martinez way too long (poor judgement on coaching and too loyal to a friend)
2) He needs to just suck it up and hire a true special teams coach….Its rediculous how bad the GA special teams are….on both sides
3) He spend more time with Bobo on game planning (Allthough Bobo has done a better job this year…He seems to be learning)
Does Mark Rich do the other things that the Head coach is responsible for…well lets see.
1) Evaluate his talent and use it well…this year yes….but not every year
2) Manage the game well (timeouts, etc)…..He didn’t early in his career but seems like now he has it mastered
3) Recruit….Well hes lost some recruiting battles lately but I think that can be tied back to his lack of recent success.
Personally I think the program is back on track and it would be foolish to make any changes now (except hire a special teams coach)
Ace
October 31st, 2011
9:51 am
Mark,
I had a mixed reaction to the Florida win. Why? First, Florida isn’t good this year, so a win against a team with a 4-4 record now, 2-4 in the conference, although better than a loss, doesn’t feel great, Second, Auburn held Florida to 6 points, and Florida somehow put up 20 on us. Demps, Raimey’s “speed” or “Florida’s talent” didn’t effect Auburn, why did it cause us so many issues? Third, we squeeked by with a 4 point win. It wasn’t a dominating performance you’d expect over a 4-4 team. After barely escaping 4-4 Vanderbilt the game before, the act of barely winning against 4-4 teams is tiring. Fourth, there are some real issues that continue to haunt us like special teams kick offs to their best returner, special team missed short field goals, punting game issues, Aaron Murray’s habit of playing poorly in big games, Crowell’s habit of getting an injury each game, and so on. Fifth, the 6 game winning streak is nice, but when you look at the win/loss records of the teams we have won against, it loses luster. 100% of the wins were against teams with at least 4 losses, some had 5 losses, some had 6 losses. A 2-0 winning streak the first 2 weeks would have put us in the top 5. But we couldn’t find a way to win either game. South Carolina was particularly dissapointing because of the way we lost due to all those self inflicted turnovers & mistakes. Deep down I think we’ve all come to realize after watchign Coach Mark Richt the last 2 seasons, that we can win against teams with bad records, but we can’t win against a great team.
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
9:51 am
and you can look at the Gators this way, if the Pro Style Offense was so easy to install and run, UF would be clicking like a machine now… We had our problems on offense in the 2nd half with mis-reads between the WR’s and Murray. How about that throw down the sideline he missed on to I think to Orson Charles that was just a timing flat throw thing
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 31st, 2011
9:51 am
Grinch, it was the best game that we have attended. Loved to see the fans storm the field, the players will never forget that. I sat there wanting Clemson to get the ball back so we could see what the defense was going to do to them next. Can’t wait for VT game. I’m watching the replay on ESPNU.
Gator lover
October 31st, 2011
9:52 am
man.. I hate to say it but Muschamp is nuts… Kirk Herstreet.. Lou Holtz on ESPN colege football.. trial by Judge… Muschamp pleads temporary INSANITY… and Weiss was too fat to get out of the press box.. and stand up…. sat down and broke the bench …. Too Funny !!
Say It Aint So
October 31st, 2011
9:53 am
How about a coach that can win a NC.
Dawglasville
October 31st, 2011
9:54 am
Before everyone gets too crazy comparing schedules please remember that Tech and Georgia are going to play each other in a few weeks and state supremacy will be decided for the year 2012. On a happier note, I don’t believe that either team will be playing in Shreveport or Birmingham this year so we won’t have to dust off those jokes for a while.
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
9:56 am
… which is why we sign CMR to long term and keep on plugging away… We are so young now and just going to get better this season into next…. Plus all the problems are fixable… Special teams can be fixed with the right coach…Fabris being gone is hurting us there.
Herschel Talker
October 31st, 2011
9:58 am
The Grinch:
No, that’s exactly the problem. We keep hiring incompetent idiots. Richt is a terrible coach, but he is better than Donnan, who was better than Goff. So therein lies the problem.
HT
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
9:58 am
@ HT… I understand your position and respect it. You are consistent… but you had to love those 4th down calls for touchdowns… Of course with Walsh “Gone Wild” on us, we had little choice.
RM
October 31st, 2011
9:59 am
Some of the complainers just need to chill and enjoy a victory over UF. After all the games that UGA should have won on paper the last 20 years, I’m personally thrilled they won. And yes, a 1 point victory would have been just fine too! HBTD!
Say It Aint So
October 31st, 2011
9:59 am
Ace that about covers it. And to add, some good wins the last few years was gimmicky. Storming the field in Jacksonville. The black jersey fiasco. Oh, come be a part of the Dream Team. Now its the energy vampires.
Ace
October 31st, 2011
10:00 am
It’s time to let TE’s coach Lily go, we don’t use tight ends in this offense anyways. Replace him with a SPECIAL TEAM’S coach.
7576DAWG
October 31st, 2011
10:00 am
Say It Aint So
I have been calling for another offensive coordinator for years even though would like to keep Bobo as QB coach and he is a very good recruiter for south Georgia. I think it would have caused too much disruption for Georgia to change out both coordinator at the same time. At least I hope that was the reason and had nothing to do with Bobo being married to Barbara Dooley’s sister’s daughter.
As for the special teams looking so bad , the reason for that was Berlin leaving for the NFL. He was a great special teams and linebacker coach and was hired at Georgia for that reason. Richt just made a huge mistake in not realizing how important special teams can be and thought by dividing the different aspects of special teams among his coaches that would be okay. WELL HE WAS WRONG. I guarantee it is one of the biggest topic with CMR right now.
2010 BCS CHAMPS
October 31st, 2011
10:01 am
Mark, UGA is not smoking. Beating a 4-4 UF team that got manhandled by the SEC West for the past 4 weeks is hardly cause for celebration.
With that said, congrats dawgs and jackets! GT looked WAY more impressive than UGA. Period.
If UGA manages to get to the dome, which is likely because they have an easy schedule, they will get DESTROYED by Bama/LSU.
DP
October 31st, 2011
10:01 am
Georgia is hot at 6-2 without having beaten a good team and hasn’t had an undefeated season in 31 years but Clemson is the team you can’t count on because it lost a game to go 8-1? Georgia’s ugly win over Florida should be cheered but the Falcons 2 touchdown win over Carolina left us wanting more? Tech just isn’t a talented team but they beat #5 Clemson? Welcome to the world of Mark Bradley.
2010 BCS CHAMPS
October 31st, 2011
10:02 am
“UGA ranks #2 behind USC the for last decade in recruiting and all we have done is beat 3 lousy FL teams and never beat them 2 yrs in a row”
Also, UGA hasn’t beat a ranked team in 2 years.