Georgia Tech needs to win a bowl just to prove it still can
Dec. 27, 2010: It was a not-so-happy day for the Yellow Jackets in Shreveport. (AP photo)
Georgia Tech’s last bowl victory came when Reggie Ball, then a sophomore, was the offensive MVP of the Champs Sports Bowl. The date was Dec. 21, 2004. So yes, it has been a while.
“We haven’t won a bowl game in, like, eight years,” said guard Omoregie Uzzi, overclubbing a bit.
Tech makes much of its run of consecutive bowl appearances, now at 15. What Tech, showing PR savvy, plays down is that about all the Jackets have done in many of those previous 14 bowls was appear. Tech has lost nine of the 14, and only one of the head coaches involved in the streak has managed a winning record. Interim Mac McWhorter won the 2001 Seattle Bowl, making him the Mr. December of recent Tech vintage. George O’Leary was 2-2, Chan Gailey 2-3, Jon Tenuta (another interim) 0-1. And Paul Johnson, the incumbent, has fared worst of all.
The back half of Tech’s current six-game skid falls on Johnson. “We’ve lost three in a row,” he said after being asked if his 0-for-Tech bowl record makes him feel a greater need this time. “But I’d want to win if we’d won three in a row … You want to win anytime you play, even if it’s at jackrocks.”
(For the uninitiated, “jackrocks” is apparently the North Carolina term for the kids’ game with the metal thingys and the rubber ball — the game some of us call “jacks.”)
The convenient explanation for Johnson’s bowl failures is that a defenses have a month to prepare for his stylized offense. Johnson, who dislikes many things, dislikes convenience above all. “People can say whatever they want,” he said Monday, speaking after Tech’s morning practice. “You can find stats to back up anything. I think my bowl record at Navy was 2-2.”
(For the uninitiated, when Johnson says, “I think,” he means, “I know darn well.” His bowl record at Navy? It was 2-2.)
This correspondent, you’ll be chagrined to learn, has a theory: Except for the BCS title game, where each side want to win with all its might, most other bowls hinge on who wants to be there more. It’s my belief that Tech lost to LSU in the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl in large measure because the Jackets had already won their Big Game by beating Georgia in Athens in Year 1 under Johnson. Something similar held true in January 2010, when Tech, coming off its rousing ACC title victory over Clemson, got outfought by Iowa in the Orange Bowl.
“We also ran into two pretty good teams those years,” Johnson said, and there’s no denying that LSU and Iowa are name-brand programs. But last season the Jackets lost to Air Force 14-7 in the Independence Bowl to finish 6-7.
Johnson: “Last year we should have won the game. That was very, very disappointing.”
The Air Force loss was another, I submit, symptom of motivational malaise. Nobody wants to go to Shreveport, but Air Force went knowing it could take down a team from a BCS league. The Jackets arrived knowing they’d be without Joshua Nesbitt, lost to a broken arm on a Thursday night when a still-in-flux Tech season was doomed.
This year, at least to these eyes, looks different. Tech won its first six, then lost four of its final six. Most Jacket backers would have taken an 8-4 regular season, but the way this 8-4 occurred left some uneasy. Said Uzzi: “We started off hot, but we didn’t finish so hot.”
If there’s an upside to a late-season fade, it’s that Tech should head to El Paso hungry. Uzzi again: “We’re trying to salvage the season, although ’salvage’ isn’t really the right word — I’m proud of what we’ve done. But this would put an exclamation point on it.”
Tech will face Utah, now part of the Pac-12, in the Sun Bowl on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve. It was in the 2005 Emerald Bowl that the Utes, then members of the Mountain West, delivered the first of Tech’s ongoing string of bowl losses. Three seasons later, Utah beat Alabama (and Nick Saban) the Sugar. But don’t bother telling Johnson any of this. He can cite chapter and verse.
“Until Boise beat them [in last year's Poinsettia Bowl], they’d won nine [bowls] in a row,” he said. “I hope we want to be there — because the other side has a history of wanting to be there.”
By Mark Bradley
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142 comments Add your comment
Mountain DAWG
December 19th, 2011
4:01 pm
Did Boise State get screwed, or what? 11-1 and playing in the what? bowl against who? Time for Boise to join a real conference.
DawginLex
December 19th, 2011
4:06 pm
I think Tech wins this game. Call it 35-27
I also think UGA wins their bowl game. Both teams have good defenses and above average offenses. 23-17 UGA
Golfer
December 19th, 2011
4:07 pm
It would be fitting to end the bowl losing streak against the school that started it.
Tech Rolls!
December 19th, 2011
4:08 pm
Relax—Tech beats utah easy. Utah’s not that good and will not stop tech’s option attack Tech 33 utah 19!
Ted M
December 19th, 2011
4:14 pm
they did join a real conference
Beerman
December 19th, 2011
4:17 pm
Enter your comments here
dawgfan
December 19th, 2011
4:21 pm
This isn’t rocket science. Tech loses bowl games because it isn’t very good. Johnson loses bowl games because he’s an average at best coach.
My favorite is how Tech played some pretty good teams in LSU (they were 8-5 by the way, 3-5 in SEC) and Iowa. Well duh coach. That must be comforting to Tech fans. If you’re playing a “good team” fogettaboutit Techies. You’ve got no chance. So says your own coach anyway.
Hilarious.
Beerman
December 19th, 2011
4:23 pm
If memory holds, which it probably doesn’t, not only did Tech have the nation’s best winning percentage at some point before this “streak” began, it also was close to the top in the number of bowl victories (though somewhat far behind in bowl appearances)?
Alabama Jack
December 19th, 2011
4:26 pm
Every time I want to say something positive about georgia, I run into one of their trolls. Dawg trolls = terminal anal cranial inversion.
GTBob
December 19th, 2011
4:34 pm
Johnson loses bowl games because he’s an average at best coach.
Yeah well, it could be worse. Richt could be our coach.
gt4ever
December 19th, 2011
4:46 pm
I’ll take Richt and Bobo in exchange…. GTBob….
GT Man
December 19th, 2011
4:48 pm
GTBob, If Richt was our coach, then maybe PJ wouldnt be here to be so intimadated by him. To watch GT blow out all those first 6 games, running plays that were so awesome, then play Ga and not even try to run those plays–dissatrous !!. Gailey was intimadated by Richt and so is PJ, the last 3 losses to Ga had to be PJ’s worst play calling games. Especially towards the end of each. As long as PJ and Groh are at GT, expect medioacre bowls and beat the no-biggie ACC games. We will never beat Miami, VPI or Georgia again–just look at the recruits PJ offers. Some 165 lb kid was offfered and his only other offers was MTSU and Elon—–come on!!!
GTBob
December 19th, 2011
4:54 pm
Gailey was intimadated by Richt and so is PJ, the last 3 losses to Ga had to be PJ’s worst play calling games
CPJ has put up some of his best numbers against UGA. I don’t think he is intimidated.
gdawg
December 19th, 2011
4:54 pm
GTBob, you would soil your Star Trek jammies to get a coach like Richt. He is 10-1 against you guys, fool. You guys do nothing to make yourselves look at least competent with mornons like this in your fanbase. WOW!
gdawg
December 19th, 2011
4:56 pm
how is this number, 1-3. That’s the one I like best. Here is a better one, 2009 ACC champs and loose to a very bad UGA team in your home stadium ALL THE WAY TURNT UP!
jarvis
December 19th, 2011
4:57 pm
Just checked Ticketmaster. I said I was looking for 6 Sun Bowl tickets in best available.
I got 6 in section 22. That appears to be the 50 yard line.
GTBob
December 19th, 2011
4:58 pm
GTBob, you would soil your Star Trek jammies to get a coach like Richt.
Richt would struggle to win 7 games every year at Tech. You can get away with bad coaching when you have elite talent at every position. That wouldn’t happen at Tech.
Steve Miller
December 19th, 2011
5:00 pm
They headed down to, ooh, old El Paso
That’s where they ran into a great big hassle.
Billy Joe shot a man while robbing his castle.
Bobbie Sue took the money
GT Man
December 19th, 2011
5:01 pm
GTBob, I have to agree with gdawg—GT has its 2 best teams and still loses to Ga’s 2 worst teams. Kentucky beats Ga, then with our ACC Championship team, we cant beat them. Lets just say PJ has choked in 2 of the losses with some stupid play calling at the end, then this season; you know Murray is going to pass, so you play for the run. I am a GT grad, but losing to Ga every year is embarrasing now. I really miss O’Leary, you see what his UCF team did to UGA last year. Georgia knows they arte going to beat us every year, its just a gimme to them.
Born2Buzz
December 19th, 2011
5:02 pm
JB has the best line of the night.
“This Kim Jong guy in North Korea, on his death bed was heard to utter, ” that Tech D bad”.”
Now that made me laugh…until I remembered how bad our D is.
Let’s enjoy Tevin Washington’s last game as starting QB. I hope we win but I think it will be a fight to the finish.
RevThomas
December 19th, 2011
5:02 pm
Agree – time to do something positive! http://www.wedgeorgia.com
GTBob
December 19th, 2011
5:03 pm
I am a GT grad, but losing to Ga every year is embarrasing now.
Either grow a thicker skin or find another team to root for. You don’t sound like much of a fan so we won’t miss you.
Old School
December 19th, 2011
5:05 pm
Until Tech gets a QB, I seriously doubt they could beat Agnes Scott.
GTBob
December 19th, 2011
5:11 pm
GT Man, UGA is going to beat us a lot. If it really bothers you then maybe you should watch Hanna Montana instead of the game.
GT Man
December 19th, 2011
5:15 pm
Old School—I agree about the QB, Washington is no QB unless we are playing Kansas or MTSU, Nesbitt couldn’t throw a pass beyond 10 yards, if 2 bounces counted, he’d completed 95% of his passes. Hope Vad Lee can fill the void, if he dosen’t leave, and this 5-11, 175 pound QB from Alabama dosent have the size. PJ still recruits like he’s at Ga. Southern or Navy, small and quick, which is good against the little guys, but forget beating Miami, VPI and Georgia. Beating Utah will probably be an upset.
GT Man
December 19th, 2011
5:18 pm
GTBob, are you not getting tired of seeing your team getting beat year after year?
GTBob
December 19th, 2011
5:24 pm
GTBob, are you not getting tired of seeing your team getting beat year after year?
What do you think is the magical solution? If you take the best recruits GT has gotten for the past 10 years then they may be ranked as high as UGA’s class from last year. There isn’t much that could change that.
dawg4u
December 19th, 2011
5:27 pm
Wow the last time GT won a bowl game – Ron Zook was still the coach at Florida. There could be a problem when CPJ says, “I hope we want to be there.”
Really?
December 19th, 2011
5:37 pm
Tech is a joke of a program with cheap shot thugs that are only suspended after failing 3 or 4 drug tests. paul (IMA) johnson has made what was already a pathetic program even worse.
duronimo
December 19th, 2011
5:44 pm
I don’t think going to a bowl is that special anymore. I think about half the NCAA teams are going this year. Georgia showed no pride whatsoever last year and neither did Tech. To nip this trend in the bud or “nip-pit” as Barney Fife would say, we need to pay the winning players $2500 each while the loser’s get nothing. Motivation issue solved. They would play like their hair’s on fire.
nolabigdawg
December 19th, 2011
5:50 pm
To all my Tech friends, recruiting is the key to winning. I do believe that Tech could recruit the players needed to win at a high level consistently. However, not with the offense that CPJ runs. A school can win with high academic standards, just look at Stanford for example. But to get the better players, Tech is going to have to change its offensive scheme.
When not playing the Dawgs, I always want Tech to do well.
Good Luck against Utah.
And oh yeah, GO DAWGS!!!!!!
JB
December 19th, 2011
6:13 pm
I for one think, especially in the South, that passable Student athletes are harder to find, and it’s obvious the game has changed and the kids ( not all) are not interested in the finer education. They are looking for community housing studies ( sic) and to skate by. Tech does offer some easier avenues that the stars of that campus( I know you do or how did Reggie Ball stay eligible those years)take, but Tech scares off the type talent and depth they need to challenge for Championships year in year out. No use dancing around it….And I’m all Dawg by the way.
Gorilla Biscuit
December 19th, 2011
6:27 pm
“People can say whatever they want,” …. “You can find stats to back up anything.”
Coach Fishfry knows the Tech-troll fan’s playbook, for sure.
stan
December 19th, 2011
6:38 pm
we will see if this losing to UGA keeps going on sorry to say CPJ will be GONE!!
Rabun Dawg
December 19th, 2011
6:39 pm
As a kid growing up in Decatur, which fed GT a lot of players back when, and older brother going to Tech, I was a huge Tech fan.I also think that Coach Dodd had a great bowl record during his tenure. Me thinks some of the problem lies in the fact that bowls are taking teams with break even records, and the kids are not really interested in going to those lesser bowls. They are tired of football for a while, but the schools insist on going to get the paycheck and maybe some tv exposure. I was at the liberty bowl last year for that fiasco and it looked as though most of the UGA players were just going through the motions, especially after the first series when they went 98 yds. and CMR went for a field goal on 4th and inches. Not much motivation for the kids when they have had a mediocre season and in end up in Shreveport, Memphis or the like. At any rate, I really hope that UGA an GA. Tech win, it does give credit to our State and its athletes.JMHO
Paul Johnson and Georgia Tech “must” beat Utah in the Sun Bowl. » All Sports Discussion
December 19th, 2011
6:50 pm
[...] won a bowl game since 2004. A point made by the AJC’s Mark Bradley, as he wrote that Georgia Tech needs to win a bowl game just to prove it can. I completely agree. Another bowl loss would mark 5 of the last 7 years that Georgia Tech would end [...]
Rabun Dawg
December 19th, 2011
6:53 pm
By the way, El Paso used to be a neat place and the Sun Bowl did it up right for the players and fans. But that has all changed with the drug problems in Mexico, and now no one wants to cross the border anymore, that is going from Texas to Mexico. UGA played there in Dooley’s first year at UGA, and it was a fun trip for the players and fans. And to whoever mentioned that bad loss that UGA had in the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas, you are correct. That was a great UGA team that destroyed UF 51-0 in the rain, and had the likes of Bill Stanfill, Jake Scott, and host of other good players. But, the players wanted to go to Miami, but Dooley secretly made a deal with the Sugar, pissed the players off, and most partied all night before the game and did not give a crap about the game. Sorry Techies, this is about your bowl record, so Go Jackets, and get back on winning ways and beat Utah, who did start you on your downward trend.
Hungchow
December 19th, 2011
6:59 pm
CMR and Mr. Marshall, along with some time to heal may have gotten IC’ s attention. Defense, no problem. With Rambo, Jones, Boykin and the big boys in the middle getting to audition on national TV. Hope the offensive linemen don’t feed too much at the trough. I expect UGA to have a problem running early in the game, but eventually it starts clicking. Having said that, it appears Georgia is no longer establish the run to set up the pass, but visa versa. I know each part of the game feeds on the other, but when Murray is sharp early, then we run, then we do play/action. It is not rocket science folks. On defense, use all of those big fast or bigger if not fast to hit people. The Dawgs have all kind of potential in this game and next year, but it is just that potential. Mitchell is great, but no one is AJ Green. Orson is gone after this year. Brown and King need to petition the NCAA to allow unlimited stickum on their hands and testicles to go with them. The others are contributing quite well for their ability and size. All we need is a receiver 6-5, 235 that is fast and runs great routes. Can Calvin Johnson come back and wear red and black for one season. He and Matthew Stafford would have made a great pair LOL.
Buzz 2011
December 19th, 2011
6:59 pm
GT needs to prove nothing to you Mark Bradley!
Worry about your ” dream” team beating Michigan State..
They may tend to be a little tougher than Central Florida!!
Buzz 2011
December 19th, 2011
7:03 pm
Dawgfan…………Looks like your team isn’t much either.. 42 – 10, 42 – 10, 42- 10
You were lucky to get the 10.. Your quarterback is high school level and your running
backs are terrible..GT is the only decent team you beat.. Sit down………….
GTBob
December 19th, 2011
7:10 pm
Tech could recruit the players needed to win at a high level consistently. However, not with the offense that CPJ runs.
Before CPJ got here we had a pro coach running a pro style offense. Recruiting was even worse. There is not a single coach in the country who could make GT a good recruiting team. As for Stanford, you might want to check how they were before Luck got there. They were horrible.
Zook!
December 19th, 2011
7:18 pm
The incompetent ron zook beat ga 2 of 3 years and only lost the week he was fired! Book this: Tech beats Utah by 10—mich state beats ga by 10.
brad
December 19th, 2011
7:19 pm
watching the ga southern game this week so much reminded me of tech. in the game for a half, had two bad turnovers, then get blown out.
WnE
December 19th, 2011
7:20 pm
Wow!
What a load of crap from Coach Kung Fu Panda!
Read this quote carefully:
______________
“We also ran into two pretty good teams those years,” Johnson said
______________
Ellis Shoe was a 7-5 team the year they boat-raced Coach Fish Fry & his gimmicky offense in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, and Iowa was a slow, plodding Big 10 team according to the smarmy, know-it-all GT Fans leading up to the game.
In fact many/most GT fans thought CPJ would blowout Iowa & their slow Big-10 Offense and that GT would use that game as a platform to make a run for a MNC bid the next season.
Remember that my fellow GT fans, that seems like a lifetime ago now doesn’t it?
If the SEC is such an over-rated conference then would the geek-nerd-loser-DBag segment of the GT fanbase explain WHY your beloved HC refers to a 7-5 L$U Team as a pretty good Team?
The overwhelming majority of the GT fanbase refers to the “middle-of-the-road” 7-5 SEC Teams as over-rated and garbage, and yet when one of those teams kicks your teeth in, then they become “pretty good teams” when it is time to MAKE EXCUSES for our ineptitude.
Losing to Iowa maybe you can explain it, but when you lose to AIR FORCE and to a 7-5 L$U team that was in disarray leading up to the game, then the problem lies with your Head Coach.
That’s the same HC that can do NO WRONG in the eyes of the cult-like GT fanbase that defends his every move despite the fact that he has had poor Defenses, poor STs, poor passing, and poor recruiting for what will be a 4th straight season.
That’s a lot poor Grades on the HC’s Report Card for him to have such a hefty paycheck (by GT’s standards, small budget, small Stadium, etc.).
what will ugag do
December 19th, 2011
7:21 pm
when jarvis orson and rambo all leave early. lol
what will ugag do
December 19th, 2011
7:32 pm
yeah wne uga never loses to bad teams. you never lost to vandy two years ago or kentucky last year. the lsu game was an anomaly. tech took some early risks that backfired. they also dropped two td passes that should have been scores. that’s gt. it’s called a snowball. kinda like what happened to you against lsu. you dominate a half and then still manage to get blown out. as for iowa, stfu. they were a stout team that year and came a couple of plays from being undefeated. they also had two studs on defense that now start in the nfl. your last bowl game you couldn’t even score a td so i wouldn’t be talking about bowls right now on another teams blog.
Paul Johnson and Georgia Tech “must” beat Utah in the Sun Bowl. | Sports Blog United
December 19th, 2011
7:47 pm
[...] won a bowl game since 2004. A point made by the AJC’s Mark Bradley, as he wrote that Georgia Tech needs to win a bowl game just to prove it can. I completely agree. Another bowl loss would mark 5 of the last 7 years that Georgia Tech would end [...]
cattle dawg
December 19th, 2011
7:52 pm
ALL ABOARD!! The CPJ excuse train is getting fired up!
RR
December 19th, 2011
7:59 pm
I would be curious to learn how Tech would have fared if they would’ve had a full time head coach the year Tenuta was interim, and also the year Reggie Ball was suspended (against WVU). Take into account last year in which they were without their MVP and starting QB, Nesbitt….Tech’s record could be far better in bowl games. Coulda, woulda, shoulda… just saying. They seem to have some bad breaks when it comes to bowl games.
Time
December 19th, 2011
8:06 pm
LOL at the Tech fan clinging to the UGA/LSU game trying to make himself feel better. You people are something else. I mean really, I don’t think there’s a more delusional group of folks on the planet than Techies.
Fire Johnson and get a decent real coach there and Tech can be marginally relevant. By that I mean once a decade or so Tech will be good enough to contend in the ACC. The longer you people keep that joke of a coach around, the longer it’s going to take to convince a half decent one to come in and clean up the mess.