Tech in 2012: It’s a chance for Paul Johnson to look smart
That's Paul Johnson on the right, in case you wondered. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
On the morning of Nov. 28, 2009, Paul Johnson was poised to become the unchallenged king of football in a state that takes the sport seriously. He was 19-5 in two seasons as Georgia Tech’s coach. That night his Jackets would play Georgia, whom they’d famously beaten 45-42 in Athens the year before.
Tech was 10-1, ranked No. 7 nationally and champion of the ACC Coastal Division. Georgia was 6-5, having just lost at home to Kentucky. Not since George O’Leary was working against Jim Donnan had Tech beaten the Bulldogs twice in a row – Chan Gailey, O’Leary’s successor, hadn’t done it even once – and now Johnson was roundly favored to make it 2-for-2 against the hated Mutts.
But Georgia won. The Bulldogs pounded the Jackets on the ground, and Tech’s final chance was wasted when Demaryius Thomas dropped a fourth-down pass. For Tech and for Johnson, nothing since has been nearly as good.
From Johnson’s 19-5 start, Tech has gone 15-14. (The sweetest of those 15 on-the-field victories – the 2009 ACC championship game over Clemson – was vacated by NCAA sanctions involving Thomas’ eligibility.) Tech went 6-7 in 2010, 8-5 last season after starting 6-0. Tech hasn’t beaten Georgia since 2008 and hasn’t won a bowl game under Johnson. All of which means …
This is a mighty big year for Tech and its coach.
The first blush of success has faded. The big names Johnson inherited from Gailey are gone. Tech hasn’t fallen to pieces — on Oct. 15, 2011, it was ranked No. 12 in the land, and two weeks later it would beat No. 6 Clemson by two touchdowns – but it hasn’t consolidated the gains of 2008 and 2009.
Which isn’t to say it’s in complete retreat. Tech has been picked to finish second in the ACC Coastal Division, and if the Jackets can beat Virginia Tech on Labor Day night in Blacksburg they’ll become the front-runner. (The Tech-Tech winner has taken the Coastal every year of its existence.)
Speaking at Tech’s media convocation Saturday, Johnson nodded to his opener and also beyond, to early games against Virginia and Miami. “Clearly the month of September is going to be huge,” he said. “We may be the only team in America with three division games in September.” (Actually, it’s not the only team in Georgia that does. Check UGA’s schedule.)
The Jackets have an incumbent quarterback in Tevin Washington, an excellent A-back in Orwin Smith and a defense that has, in two seasons under coordinator Al Groh, made incremental improvement. Johnson called this team the deepest “since I’ve been here,” but depth isn’t to be mistaken for top-end talent.
Going on available manpower, this wouldn’t seem much different than last season’s team, or 2010’s. Once again, Tech isn’t apt to out-talent many ACC opponents. If you handed this roster to another coach, you would hope he could bleed out six wins. But Johnson by himself constitutes a mighty X-factor.
He is, as has been noted, a really good coach. He’s capable of winning games you’d swear he shouldn’t. (Clemson last season is the most recent example, though Clemson offers the flip side of that X: On any given Saturday, it can lose to just about anybody and yield 70 points in the process.) Johnson has always come across as the smartest guy in the room, and through the 2008 season and most of 2009 he seemed the sharpest coach in this state.
But those seasons were a while ago, and the clock’s ticking. Georgia Tech has again assumed also-ran status in the not-exactly-top-heavy ACC and, having lost three consecutive in-state collisions, is again staring up at the Bulldogs. This remains a proud and resourceful program, but it could stand a jolt.
That jolt could arrive Labor Day night. (Full disclosure: I think it will.) Even as Johnson tried to downplay the Virginia Tech game – “Is it the end-all be-all to the season? I would doubt it,” he said Saturday – there’s no doubting the opportunity it presents. It’s a big game on the road against a brand-name opponent, which means it’s a prime-time chance for Paul Johnson to remind us he’s still Paul Johnson.
By Mark Bradley
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454 comments Add your comment
ty webb
August 4th, 2012
11:19 pm
“I remind you that he has already won an ACC championship at Tech.”
I’m still refraining from calling you a liar…but, I don’t know how much longer I can holdout.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:19 pm
@ ole yeller……I agree with you there. The PSU players who won all those games are being punished because of the actions of one sick coach. That is NOT right. The coach deserves all the punishment that can possibly be meted out to him, and JoPa probably deserves his now defamed reputation for the apparent cover-up, but WHY PUNISH THE INNOCENT PLAYERS???
SJ
August 4th, 2012
11:20 pm
I agree, they all fear the Bee.
GTBen
August 4th, 2012
11:20 pm
Looking great this year, jacked about Special Teams.
Ol'JacketFan
August 4th, 2012
11:21 pm
Oh and since CPJ’s teams have averaged 8.5 wins/year why would Tech fans be estatic with an 8 win season?
OOPER
August 4th, 2012
11:21 pm
Got us going 11-1, only loss to a tough Clemson team, we should outscore the rest.
RoyBuzzer
August 4th, 2012
11:22 pm
Can’t wait till Smith unleashes this year, he’s on the Doak Walker list.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:22 pm
@ ty webb……Did Tech not have the best record in the ACC in 2009? Did they not beat Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. Are you really petty enough to dispute those FACTS because one Tech player sold a T-shirt, or whatever the hell he did? I KNOW the NCAA made its ruling, and there is nothing Tech can do about it, but Tech WON THE 2009 ACC CHAMPIONSHIP, so screw the NCAA
WT
August 4th, 2012
11:23 pm
COACH JONSON IS MORE PUMPED, SAYS THIS IS BEST O LINE WE’VE HAD DURING HIS YEARS AT GT.
GO JACKETS!
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:24 pm
@ ole yeller, I agree with you about PSU and the stupid NCAA. The scumbag coach should be punished to the full extent of the law, but why penalize the players who gave their all on the field? It ain’t right!!!
WT
August 4th, 2012
11:24 pm
RICHT’S TEAM AVERAGED 8 WINS PER SEASON SINCE 2008, CPJ’S IS 8.5
GO JACKETS!
GTBob
August 4th, 2012
11:25 pm
@ GTBob……did you read what he posted the other day about Angelo Taylor?
Nah, thankfully I missed that. Doesn’t really surprise me though. It wouldn’t surprise me if he is in London right now untying Taylor’s shoelaces.
PX99
August 4th, 2012
11:26 pm
They’re saying our secondary will shut teams down. can’t wait.
buzz….
crl
August 4th, 2012
11:26 pm
the buzz is starting…..
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:27 pm
@ GTBob……if he were doing that, I would hope that Angelo would kick him in the face
ty webb
August 4th, 2012
11:29 pm
supersize,
I feel for you, and I completely understand your disgust with the NCAA…that being said, the fact of the matter is that Tech, under Paul Johnson, has never won an ACC championship.
Tyrone
August 4th, 2012
11:29 pm
Have you guys ever seen so many Georgia fans on our site–man, they must be WORRIED.
JACKETS!!!
biggtfan
August 4th, 2012
11:29 pm
Super size – yes I went. It was awesome. Met and spoke with players at every position station. To a man they were upbeat about the season. I have never met so many bright, cheerful, and engaging young men. Dieke got Kallon to stand up and sing and dance a duet for us. Kallon, by the way, looks like a BEAST of a man. His arms were longer and bigger than every other player. Also met CPJ and had a nice exchange with him and wished him MUCH success this year.
er
August 4th, 2012
11:30 pm
wd, YES, i WENT, IT WAS AMAZIN.G
DAWG45
August 4th, 2012
11:30 pm
Me too guys.
richtfan
August 4th, 2012
11:31 pm
UGA IS GREAT!
Ahoy
August 4th, 2012
11:31 pm
How bout me hunker down dogs?
Bugs Bunny
August 4th, 2012
11:32 pm
“I’m still refraining from calling you a liar…but, I don’t know how much longer I can holdout.”
You can do it, you are the most anal retentive and urinary retentive person on the planet. I think there’s a special bag named after you…maybe it’s your wife’s bag. I can’t remember and don’t care.
Keeping “plugging” away tied.
Crimson
August 4th, 2012
11:32 pm
Oh yead, MC, so true
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:32 pm
@ ty webb……for all intents and purposes, Tech HAS. However, you claimed that Tech never WILL win one, and I promise you that if not this year, next year, Tech WILL.
ole yeller
August 4th, 2012
11:34 pm
Hey ty, most of us are beyond 2009 even though we did win it. Looks like next year may be the year of the stinger. Hang on until after the we run VT off the field.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:34 pm
@ biggtfan…..that’s awesome. Glad you had a good time. What about Gotsis? Did you meet him? Or Chungong (or however it’s spelled)?
POP
August 4th, 2012
11:34 pm
Got UGA losing to Mizzou, GT, Auburn, Florida and South Carolina.
See ya’ll in Shreveport!
Big Crimson 75
August 4th, 2012
11:36 pm
Michael Phelps is one for the ages, boys!!!
Greatest Olympian ever.
It never ceases to amaze me watching the Games, more and more highlights of events/moments from Atlanta keep popping up.
This City never gets the respect deserved. Those Games were as good as anyone else’s. If anything, the IOC screwed Atlanta.
GTBob
August 4th, 2012
11:36 pm
the fact of the matter is that Tech, under Paul Johnson, has never won an ACC championship.
Then why did the ACC have this posted at their media days a couple of weeks ago?
http://twitter.com/WesDurham/status/227457054762205184/photo/1
POP
August 4th, 2012
11:36 pm
@wrist. grat job, it was fun. did you see hurly there or bluman sawyer?
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:36 pm
ole yeller, I forwarded you something in email that I think you will enjoy reading.
ty webb
August 4th, 2012
11:36 pm
and just because I said it wouldn’t happen, it doesn’t mean I don’t want it to happen…though to be honest, I do hope it doesn’t happen.
Aap
August 4th, 2012
11:37 pm
Scooter, sent something to you on twitter, check it out, it’s a hoot….
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:37 pm
@ GTBob……that’s great. I didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing it
ty webb
August 4th, 2012
11:38 pm
ole yeller,
I didn’t bring up 2009.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:38 pm
@ ty webb……It WILL happen. Count on it
YN
August 4th, 2012
11:38 pm
Just because we didn’t all see it, didn’t mean we didn’t all hear it, yeah, yeah yeah, buzz on…
Ol'JacketFan
August 4th, 2012
11:39 pm
@GTBob, that is classic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BC
August 4th, 2012
11:39 pm
@MMC, trust me, 6yy, thy, it will yop, okay?
ole yeller
August 4th, 2012
11:41 pm
Super, got it thanks.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:42 pm
ole yeller…..I think it’s an awesome article. Almost brought tears to my eyes
ole yeller
August 4th, 2012
11:44 pm
Super, yes it did. Thanks for the link.
Bugs Bunny
August 4th, 2012
11:44 pm
A habitual liar should never call anyone else a liar. Good luck at church. I’m sure you will be there, raining down your self important condemnation upon on all that don’t agree with you. Must be great to be perfect and represent mankind so well! Tied up Webb… What a complete and worthless tool! And I’m sure it’s all for Jesus! God Bless your wretched soul! No one else will…
Ol'JacketFan
August 4th, 2012
11:45 pm
@GTBob, apparently the ACC is not near as hypocritical as the NCAA
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:46 pm
WOW, Bugs……even I’m not coming down THAT hard on him. LOL
ty webb
August 4th, 2012
11:50 pm
supersize,
I commend your optimism.
Dawg Fan
August 4th, 2012
11:50 pm
Must be a boring sports night for me to be here. Johnson’s smart mouth attitude has to be getting old over at tech. The unique offense will always win some games that he would never win on talent alone. But he will always be a long distant second to UGA and sooner or later the tech folks are going to get tired of this pursuit and try something different. So yes the clock is ticking. If all tech has to do is beat VT to be in the drivers seat of the Coastal then what does that say about how pitiful the competition is in the ACC.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 4th, 2012
11:53 pm
ty webb….it’s not optimism; it’s CONFIDENCE
GTBob
August 4th, 2012
11:53 pm
@GTBob, apparently the ACC is not near as hypocritical as the NCAA
lol, yeah. I’m not sure anybody really cares about that ruling except the NCAA. Other then making us take a banner down in the stadium, its pretty meaningless.