His Jackets pull a no-show, and Paul Johnson is not pleased
This one picture is worth a couple of hundred thousand words, give or take. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Athens – There were two snippets of good news for Georgia Tech on an otherwise wretched Saturday: The Jackets still get to play for the ACC Championship, and the Georgia Bulldogs will be occupied elsewhere.
Other than that, this was a wipeout of epic dimensions. It wasn’t quite as bad as the 51-7 loss here in 2002, but at least that drubbing came in Year 1 under a new coach. This one arrived in Year 5 under Paul Johnson, who seemed the anti-Chan Gailey. Meaning: A man who could hold his own against the hated mutts. (Gailey went for 0-for-6.) But now Johnson, after stunning the Bulldogs on his first try, has lost four in a row to Georgia, and the series has again gone lopsided.
And Johnson, who on taking this job ordered that the slogan “Beat Georgia” be displayed on Tech’s practice field, was not pleased. Afterward his voice could be heard — at great volume and great length — railing at his players through the metal door of the visitors’ locker room, and his subsequent press briefing was sardonic even by Johnson’s standards.
When a reporter mentioned that early turnovers might have compromised Tech’s chance of winning, Johnson said: “Were you watching the game? Do you think it mattered where (the Bulldogs) got the ball?”
Speaking of which: “(Georgia) averaged 14 yards a play the first half.” (Actually only 10.6. But it seemed like 14.)
When another reporter noted that Georgia had the ball for only 8 1/2 minutes en route to 28 first-half points, Johnson said: “Good thing, huh?”
This is the same Paul Johnson who said in 2009, when his Jackets were about to play for (and win, at least on the field) the ACC title, who blithely said his program “had bigger fish to fry” than Georgia; the same Paul Johnson who has said repeatedly that he came to Tech “to win championships.” Technically, he still can claim the 2012 championship of his middling league, but the mythical state title is gone yet again. And, given that Tech’s 42-10 loss Saturday was its worst against Georgia under this coach, it wouldn’t appear the gap is narrowing.
Said Tevin Washington, Tech’s senior quarterback: “The only way we’re going to get it going the other way is to beat them.”
Whenever Tech loses — and it has lost half its games this regular season — the knee-jerk reaction is to label Johnson’s stylized offense as high-schoolish. But here again we saw that the option is all that distinguishes Tech as a program of worth. The defense, now on its third coordinator under Johnson, remains terrible. Special teams are again a calamity. If not for the Jackets’ capacity to run the ball, they’d be Vanderbilt before James Franklin. They’d be, in a word, hopeless.
But here’s the thing: The rest of Tech football has grown so feeble that it can no longer prop up the stylized offense, and on a day when the offense gets yards — Tech outgained the Bulldogs 426 yards to 379 — but not points, it has no chance. Said Johnson: “We couldn’t match them score for score,” and that has become the only way the Jackets can hope to beat anyone halfway decent.
This was the sixth time this season the Jackets have yielded 40 or more points. The wonder isn’t that they lost five of those games; the wonder is that they won even one. (At North Carolina 68-50.)
A big-time program cannot long subsist as a one-trick pony, and we’re seeing the limits of Johnson as a program builder. (As opposed to an offensive schemer.) He hasn’t recruited as well as he needs to recruit to sustain the successes achieved with Gailey’s holdovers. That Tech will play Florida State in Charlotte for the ACC title says more about the flimsy state of the conference than it does about Tech. The only time these Jackets look like a real team is when they have the ball.
The Jackets saw early Saturday what a real team looks like when it doesn’t have the ball. Tech back Robert Godhigh burst inside the Georgia 5 on the Jackets’ first series, and for a moment it seemed the game — Georgia had seized a 7-0 lead after 63 seconds — was about to be joined. But no. Safety Bacarri Rambo wrested the ball from Godhigh’s grasp, and that was essentially that.
Asked if it would be difficult to rouse his men to play Florida State after such a beating, Johnson said: “I look at it as another opportunity. We’ll see how they respond.”
It must be noted that Johnson did not give the impression of a coach living in fervent hope. True, a different opponent and a different venue could yield a different result. But it’s hard to imagine any game involving the Bulldogs turning out well for Tech anytime soon.
Further reading: On Paul Johnson’s poor early choice and Tech’s lack of fans.
By Mark Bradley
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519 comments Add your comment
Dawg89
November 24th, 2012
8:33 pm
New rule: If a division champion doesn’t have a winning record, the conference can replace that team with a higher ranked team, without regard to division, for the championship game.
Bet they never envisioned a 6-6 team playing in the championship game. That has to be good for TV ratings.
Realistic fan
November 24th, 2012
8:34 pm
All you Tech fans need to chill and get realistic. First, yes Tech is a very good school-for those who want to be engineers or a few other specialized degrees. Get over it. Georgia is a very good school also for those who want non technical degrees, or pre-med, or law, or to become teachers. And how about all the journalists and tv grads? Get over it. Everyone does not want to be engineers. Both good schools. Quit the whining when you lose. You always say you have won more NC’s so what changed? And you are not any better than Stanford academically and they get good players. And need I mention no school is worse than you in graduation rates for it’s athletes. Get a grip, quit making excuses and man up.
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
8:34 pm
According to GTBob
The SEC was way overrated
what happened
Techster
November 24th, 2012
8:35 pm
The TV announcers commented again today how CPJ didn’t carry charts and just had it all in his head. Newsflash, people, there is nothing in his head…
Ted M
November 24th, 2012
8:38 pm
I don’t think Johnson gives a crap about special teams; I wonder if Drad made him hire a ST coordinator.
Al Bundy
November 24th, 2012
8:39 pm
This beating was very hard to watch and a huge disappointment. If you look at all of the ACC vs. SEC match up’s today it’s pretty sad. The ACC was man handled today. (Clemson is leading SC right now but they have plenty of time to join the club and fold). GT and the rest of the ACC is very weak and could not compete in the SEC. The sad truth is, GT has little hope of getting better in the forseeable future. CPJ is here to stay and the damage he will cause and has caused to this program will take years to correct. He sees UGA as just another team and doesn’t understand how important this game is to the program. CMR get’s it and it shows. UGA was well prepared to exploit the GT defense weaknesses and the executed to perfection. You UGA trolls should be thankful you have the coaching staff you have, they’re winners. I feel bad for our team… they deserve better!
Georgia game story: Dogs breeze past Jackets with ease, 42-10 | UGA sports blog
November 24th, 2012
8:39 pm
[...] Bradley: Jackets pull no-show; Johnson not pleased [...]
hind tit
November 24th, 2012
8:40 pm
How can a defense do anything but get worse every year if they practice against an offense like Tech runs. If a change is not made then walk on players will make up the team in the near future. The only practice they get is on game day. As long as cpj uses this offense no top notch offensive or defensive players will come to Tech because neither one will be coached up for the next level. I honestly believe Georgia Southern could beat Tech. The buck stops with cpj. He needs to go before it’s to late. I don’t have a dog in this fight but the good players are not going to come as long as this type football is on the flats.
Ted M
November 24th, 2012
8:40 pm
I concur Realistic fan.
NBYK
November 24th, 2012
8:41 pm
Tech looks like some Jr. college. No, worse some high school team. Big offense lines, Big defense lines, and BIG running backs win games. Now, Go get the tide dogs.
TXJacket
November 24th, 2012
8:42 pm
Brewmaster, Do your homework!! Until this year when has ND been relevant. Stanford has had a couple good years in the past 10. ND is a private school and can allow whom ever they want into school. They probably have 20+ more majors than we do and the same goes for Stanford and there major.
Which way do you want it!
Lets see what was Bobby Ross record?? I think he had 1 good year? 1990 and 2012 are totally different, players are different!!!
Smyrna Gold
November 24th, 2012
8:42 pm
TOP is a very misleading stat. When the opposition can score at will who cares about TOP. Sorta like most first downs and rushing yardage. Heck, you have to score and stop the other team sometime.
Really
November 24th, 2012
8:45 pm
It seems to me that UGA is to Tech as Tech is to Duke, meaning twice the budget, fans, talent level.
One win every 10-15 years by the underdog.
Smyrna Gold
November 24th, 2012
8:45 pm
Well said Al Bundy.
You have to get athletes
November 24th, 2012
8:45 pm
28 yr season ticket holder at UGA, live here in Athens, etc… and have to say that today was sweet.
Ghost, you’re right, it’s scholar, not…whatever scloar is. And yes, we have more Fulbright and Rhodes
scholars than Tech. After the engineering school that the governor approved is open over here, y’all will see that part of your bragging rights fade as well as students who don’t want to learn engineering in a war zone, and professors who don’t want to teach in one, make their way to Athens.
I feel for you GT fans, Johnson just won’t admit that he’s not the genius he believes and he CAN’T win without good athletes, and further, good athletes want to play in a pro style offense. It’s not his fault that the kids want to go play in the NFL. Oh, and good luck with the new ‘no cut block’ rule in NCAA football. As always, HBTD
Hold up fellas
November 24th, 2012
8:45 pm
I am so sick of Tech fans talking about their “academic” standards. Here some inside info for you guys: my cousin tutored a couple of the 1st team Tech players. These guys are handed their grades, reports done for them, crib notes for relevant tests, and classes that are at a high school level at best. So give me a break about how unfair it is for your players compared to the stupid UGA guys. If you play football for a college football team you are not their for the academics
Hold up fellas
November 24th, 2012
8:46 pm
obviously there were some grammatic errors too so please lay off the flaming
ATL
November 24th, 2012
8:50 pm
@TxJackets….standards will never be lowered! Board of Regents controls all of the programs. Hence UGA getting an engineering program. BOR will never give GT any competitive advantage. They are all UGA graduates! Isn’t it funny how GT was so competitive before the black athlete came into play.
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
8:50 pm
Coach Johnson would like to invite everyone to this years annual 2012 “Keep the North Ave Crime Down Fish Fry”
GTBob
November 24th, 2012
8:50 pm
The SEC was way overrated
What happened to change that? UGA beat one of the worst teams in college football?
1990_Champs_GT
November 24th, 2012
8:51 pm
At the beginning of the season, it was real improvement or bust for GT. It’s bust and now heads will roll. Everyone knows why the AD left: He couldn’t scrap up the money to buy Johnson out, they’re still paying Paul Hewitt after all.
No true Tech fan should go to the ACC Championship game or the Sun Bowl (unless they are family). Don’t buy Yellow Jacket merchandise this Christmas. Don’t buy 2013 season tickets. Vote with your your $. It’s all that the new AD and the school will understand.
Let them know the true fans are why they have a program in the first place!
Mark Bradley
November 24th, 2012
8:52 pm
I don’t know why so many posts are going to moderation. I’ll endeavor to see if I can find out.
GTBob
November 24th, 2012
8:52 pm
WHERE ARE GTBOB AND GOLDENROD?????
Ive been here all day. Actually, where have you been? Have you been using a different name recently or something?
Stinger
November 24th, 2012
8:53 pm
We are now the 3rd best college team in ga. What has pj been doing? Certainly not recruiting..
Brewmaster
November 24th, 2012
8:55 pm
Txjacket, I just looked up Ross’s record at Tech. His first 2 years were awful. His last 3 were 7-4. 11-0-1( won National Chanpionship), and 8-5. His success propelled him into a successful NFL career. My point is, Tech has had many great years during their football history. And all those coaches had the same recruiting challenges, but succeeded any way. The reason Tech is declining is because they have a TERRIBLE coach !
old dog
November 24th, 2012
8:56 pm
Everyone is missing the point. Why would any 4 or 5 star prospect want to go to Tech? They play in a second rate conference Fla beat FSU today. Two loosers are playing for the ACCC. Who wants to go to school in Atlanta? Who wants to play in a high school scheme that is constantly changing the DC? Who wants there son to play for Mr. Personality Who wants to take calculus?
I rest my case.
GT wreck
November 24th, 2012
8:57 pm
I don’t mean to go on a rant here, but…
Georgia Tech’s offense is fine. CPJ knows how to score points. Our production wasn’t good today, but we’re still among the top in the nation week after week.
That said, offense is less than half of the team that CPJ coaches. With a top offense but crap defense, special teams and no fire, you’re only going to get mediocre results… Which is exactly where we are: 6-6 at season end.
Which leads me to special teams… I don’t understand why we can’t find a single pansy out there who knows how to kick a ball straight? Go find an ex soccer player and stick a helmet on it’s head. Recruit someone from high school who’s worth a crap — don’t just let the position be filled by this week’s least worthless walk-on. Those points count.
@JetBuzz’s comment about CMR being more of a CEO-like and not trying to run the details is great.
With CPJ being a full time offensive coordinator, who’s out there doing the job of the head coach?… Being the face of the team, recruiting, getting the right staff on board, building a complete team? My guess is that CPJ leaves that stuff up to the AD… oh, wait…
JALETTE
November 24th, 2012
8:57 pm
Is it not passed time for Paul Johnson to go????? He is a nice person and was a pretty good coach, but let us be realistic.
frank
November 24th, 2012
8:57 pm
did he have bigger fish to fry?
Old Fashioned
November 24th, 2012
8:58 pm
One has to be REALLY OLD (as I am) to remember that 60 years ago GT’s version of Mark Richt was Bobby Dodd and Georgia had a version of Paul Johnson (Wally Butts).
Ted M
November 24th, 2012
8:59 pm
My nephew tutored Caleb King as Jr in college he didn’t know how many zeros there were in the number 1,000,000. They should be teaching these kids life skills and basics and stop with pretentious notion that all kids seeking a profession in pro-athletics need calculus or micro-economics.
Tocooa Dawg
November 24th, 2012
9:00 pm
SEC East beats ACC Champ
UGA Season Ticket Holder since 1986
November 24th, 2012
9:00 pm
This game was over when during warmups Tech did not come to the middle of the field for the traditional jumping around and trash talking just hoping that nobody throws a puch. It has been well staged and choreographed the past four years but today Tech just stayed way down at the end of the field while Georgia waited at mid-field. When it was clear that Tech would not pick up the gaunlet, the Georgia players just walked off (a little disappointed that Tech wasn’t even going to try to stand up to them jaw to jaw this year). Tech looked whipped from that moment on.
On Paul Johnson’s poor early choice and Tech’s lack of fans | Mark Bradley
November 24th, 2012
9:01 pm
[...] This post is an adjunct to the Georgia Tech column off today’s game, which can be found here. [...]
GTBob
November 24th, 2012
9:01 pm
How did Bobby Ross have so much success ?
He went 31-26-1. If not for his one miracle season he would have been one of the worst coaches in GT history. Here are recent winning percentages for GT coaches:
CPJ: 61%
Chan: 58%
O’Leary: 61%
Lewis: 37%
Ross: 53%
Curry: 40%
Yet all UGA fans are convinced that CPJ is the only reason that GT is not a competitive team. They refuse to believe that it may be an issue with GT and not just an issue with CPJ.
old dog
November 24th, 2012
9:03 pm
Why would any 4 or 5 star prospect want to go to Tech. Micky Mouse offense, Atlanta (that says enough), Lousey conference (Fla beat FSU) to loosers playing for the ACC Championship. Plus you get to play for Coach Personality and take calculus. Enough said. .
1990_Champs_GT
November 24th, 2012
9:04 pm
Dawg fans should be proud. They ate their cupcake.
But now the Tide rolls in and they will drown. Live it up Pound Puppies, Saban isn’t going to let his team blink against a second rate SEC team like UGA!
Dog kicker
November 24th, 2012
9:04 pm
One of two things eather 1. The tech coaching staff is not recruiting the athletes to compete with the top programs or 2. The coaching staff is not coaching the kids up. Now Coach please answer which one it is and let the fans know WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT!!!!
rj
November 24th, 2012
9:07 pm
come on MB, call the administration and ask them why Paul Johnson is still there. AJC is a good place for journalism. just saying………..
Jack Wood
November 24th, 2012
9:10 pm
The players quit on Coach Johnson and just laid down. Despicable behavior for any sports team.
old dog
November 24th, 2012
9:11 pm
I remember Bobby Dodd and Wally Butts (Went to school with Bobby Jr.) Lived next door to Spec Landrum I also rember all of the prospects Tech sent to Baylor Prep to get them in school. I also played with and against to of the dumbest players I have ever known. They both went to tech. So please let’s keep it on the field. Tech will never beat the DAWGS with the program they have now.
Ed
November 24th, 2012
9:11 pm
Tech moved the ball well at times and have some tough kids in the offensive backfield and O-line. What I can’t figure out is how their defense can be so soft, especially against the run. Don’t they practice against that offense? You’d think it would harden them up some. Gurshall owned them.
1990_Champs_GT
November 24th, 2012
9:12 pm
GTBob, the culture is the problem. I agree with some of these UGA fans that there are many strikes against us in recruiting, but a special coach, someone who can inspire and build a program can overcome those things. Look at Boise State. Who the F wants to play there?
It is on the shoulders of the new AD to find that man. It clearly isn’t Johnson, but there are great coaches out there who could turn this around.
Sierra Dawg
November 24th, 2012
9:12 pm
If that’s true, and we’re second-rate SEC, what does that say about Tech? If Richt hadn’t pulled the starters in Q3, it would have been 68-3. You really think Bama or LSU or Florida could have beaten you worse? Open mouth, insert foot.
Brewmaster
November 24th, 2012
9:12 pm
GTBob, Ross’s winning pct his first 2 years was 23 %. His last 3 was 73 %. Even a UGA grad can figure out that Ross had the team heading in the right direction. Do you see ANY NFL team wanting to hire MOOBS ?
Hap Hines
November 24th, 2012
9:13 pm
People can whine about academics at Tech all they want but in the end it ’s all about the coaching and recruiting. Stanford and Notre Dame come to mind, they don’t just let anybody in but they seem to be doing ok. As long as Paul Johnson is at Tech this is all you’re going to get. No highly recruited high school player wants to technically extend his “high school” career in the hood of Atlanta.
Ga Fan Here
November 24th, 2012
9:14 pm
Well, had you rather be playing AL for a shot at the NC at 11-1 or playing FL State for the ACC at 6-6. So what if AL beats us(And I don’t know that they will). It is still a pretty good yr. Win the Bowl & you are 12-2. Now who at Tech wouldn’t take a 12 win season, with a loss to SC & AL. Don’t tell me that you would not trade seasons.
The REAL Phil
November 24th, 2012
9:14 pm
The reason Tech can’t recruit is CPJ. Playing college football anywhere is hard. Who’d want to play for someone who treats his players like PJ does? Last Tech play of the game, the QB has 360+ pounds of red jersey in his face as soon as he receives the snap. All Bart Starr could have done was heave the ball in the general direction. But PJ begins dressing down the poor QB before he can get to the sideline and follows the poor kid to the bench to continue the butt chewing. Then right after the game he continues his screaming so others could here him? Considering all the work that Ga Tech the school entails, plus football, who would want to subject themselves to that abuse by his coach?
Todd Grantham chews his players hard. The difference it they know he cares about them. They don’t get chewed unless they deserve it and there is a reason for it. He cares about and respects his players, he respects them and they return it. Tech players don’t respect the coach, who would? That’s why he can’t recruit. It’s got nothing to do with academics, location, facilities, stadium. It has all to do with a teenager who is not interested in being belittled and publicly scolded and chewed for no good reason like PJ did Tech’s QB on their last play. The score was 150 – 0 for goodness sakes, The kid was about to get eaten alive. WHY DO THAT TO TA KID?
The answer is he doesn’t do it to many kids who have an opportunity to play at other D1 programs and it’s my guess it will get worse in the fuutre.
WillGT
November 24th, 2012
9:15 pm
Well good, PJ is frustrated, and I hope I realizes how frustrated the fans are. I think firing PJ is the last thing the program wants to do right now. If they can fix the D and finally realize the importance of good recruiting, next season might be better. Like with Richt a few seasons back, his job was on the line, and he turned things around. Maybe just maybe this can happen at Tech. I know most fans right now want to see him gone, but the buy out would be too much. Im not even sure if he was fired who they would get to replace him
TechNative
November 24th, 2012
9:17 pm
first we cheat and get stripped of our crown, and our great, great coach loses again to UGA? ugh