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
ULTIMATE GT FAN
November 24th, 2012
10:12 pm
GT WRECK went to Astronaut school with me I’ll have you know David S! He is very smart. I would listen to his rap ideas.
David S.
November 24th, 2012
10:13 pm
Ok.. if you say so… but, only because you are the ultimate gt fan…
Champ...Chump, the difference is U!
November 24th, 2012
10:13 pm
GT football is in a bad place. They are small, slow, play with low football acumen, and very poorly coached. It was better when the GT team deserved to be on the same field as UGA.
ULTIMATE GT FAN
November 24th, 2012
10:16 pm
I also have a leather jacket which makes me the coolest guy on the Flats!
Mark
November 24th, 2012
10:16 pm
Another classy move and illegal block by a gt lineman against UGA. This has happened two years in a row. Richt is now 11-1 vs gt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ojR6qo-RY8
chop block U
November 24th, 2012
10:21 pm
Mark…any news on Thorton? Is he injured?
Mark
November 24th, 2012
10:24 pm
Haven’t heard a thing about Thorton yet
Flowery Branch Yellow Jacket
November 24th, 2012
10:29 pm
I don’t view today’s performance as necessarily an indictment of Georgia Tech or CPJ. The fact is, the entire ACC is a weak football conference. This season we have seen our best teams lose (and often lose badly) to middling teams from stronger conferences as well as supposedly weaker teams from WEAKER conferences. Maryland, a charter member of the ACC, is leaving the conference because they can make twice as much money with the B1G. I suspect DRad left Tech for Clemson for much the same reason. Unless the ACC can find a way to compete, both financially and on the field, then I suspect we’ll continue to see our teams dominated by out-of-conference foes. (USC is poised to beat Clemson for the 4th consecutive time … for the first time in the history of the rivalry!)
I had hoped that the ACC might go 3-1 against the SEC today, but it looks like we’ll end up 0-4. The problem is not unique to Georgia Tech or Coach Johnson.
Sierra Dawg
November 24th, 2012
10:29 pm
So, what I’m hearing is that Tech’s best shot at garnering a 4/5-star recruit is:
1A – A great education
1B – The city of Atlanta
Yeah, that’ll get the attention of a young baller who wants to play pro and get exposure. No doubt about it, Tech and Tulane both made a huge mistake leaving the SEC. One resides in Conference USA, and the other probably should. Tech’s demise under CPJ has coincided with the meteoric rise of the SEC. Sure, kid, come to the heart of the SEC and play on a mediocre ACC team that runs the exact opposite offense you need to get to the NFL (and that includes the defensive player who has to practice against the cut block day in and day out). Oh, and by the way, we’re a little short on cash and won’t be hiring a decent head coach for a while.
The deck is so stacked against Tech right now that it’s almost sad. My dad was a big Tech fan, and it actually hurts a little bit to see how far Tech has fallen – and what little hope it has of ever resurrecting the UGA rivalry into anything resembling “competitive”. No joke, if GSU makes the D-1 jump I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tech a consistent 3rd in the state in a few years.
chop block U
November 24th, 2012
10:29 pm
Why do we even play these Turkeys? We beat last year when they were in the top 25 AND WE DROPPED IN THE POLLS.
If they outlaw cut blocks, PB&J is in trouble. Hope so b/c it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
Billyho55
November 24th, 2012
10:29 pm
Pitbull,
THAT’S THE NFL WHO IS CONSIDERING ELIMINATING BLOCKS BELOW THE WAIST GENIUS! IF YOUR GONNA TALK IT THEN GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT PLEASE!
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
10:34 pm
Hey Tech Fans
What time will the ACC Championship Trophy be presented to Team SEC be??
chop block U
November 24th, 2012
10:35 pm
Talk is cheap……so are Tech season tickets!
Sierra Dawg
November 24th, 2012
10:40 pm
Lookin’ to be an SEC sweep of the ACC today. Terence Moore has got to be considering suicide. Smartest move the AJC ever made (and there haven’t been many, admittedly) was buying him out and sending him packing.
A SHE SHE
November 24th, 2012
10:40 pm
Should they even have an A SHE SHE championship? I mean…at this point, would it ever be something to be proud of considering the weak perception.
Wow….and I remember when VT and Miami joined everyone thought the A SHE SHE would be the best football conference. teehee
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
10:41 pm
Hey Tech
Clemp & son; FS-who and Tech go down to the overated SEC
LOL
Fear the ACC blahahahahahahahaha
Buzz Kill
November 24th, 2012
10:47 pm
Tech didnt even show up for the biggest game of the year…………Go figure…………Yeah Johnson needs the boot………………
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
10:51 pm
Oh
I almost forgot how about Vandy over Wake Forrest
The mighty ACC should be given better respect
The SEC wins The 2012 ACC Championship
November 24th, 2012
10:51 pm
Oh
I almost forgot how about Vandy over Wake Forrest
The mighty ACC should be given better respect
Jimmy
November 24th, 2012
10:55 pm
Tech. should fire the complete coaching staff and get some new blood in the program.
DawginNY
November 24th, 2012
11:03 pm
@Sierra, a few of points of disagreement:
1) There is nothing inherently better about being in the SEC. We pay our coaches more so we can attract better coaching talent.
2) It will be much more difficult for progams to rise quickly, ala USF and UConn, than it was 15 years ago. That’s because there are only going to be 5 power conferences with no automatic big money bowls for anyone else.
3) Tech has always had the same issues with recruiting, but have managed to be competitive in the past. If they could sustain an average defense, they would average 8.5-9 wins a year under Johnson and be competitive against Georgia. See Tech in the late 90s under O’Leary.
Sierra Dawg
November 24th, 2012
11:20 pm
DawginNY – ah, but we can pay our coaches more due to a much larger fan base, monumentally bigger stadiums, and significantly more TV exposure and revenue. That, and what appears to be the steady implosion of the ACC on several levels, makes it that much tougher for schools like Tech to compete for quality recruits. And I can’t over-emphasize the fact that Tech is located in the de facto heart of the SEC.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I just see the same difficulties cropping up for Tech over and over for the foreseeable future.
MariettaK9
November 24th, 2012
11:20 pm
I should talk about how efficient UGA was today. But, it looked like we were playing a scout team when we had the ball. After all, UGA could barely manage 100 yds rushing against Ga Southern.
But, in my opinion, if you want an argument why Paul Johnson should be fired ASAP, it would be the amazing, incredible, unspeakable lack of people wearing yellow (or gold or whatever color that is) that made the drive and paid for a ticket to see your beloved beehive design wearing football team against your arch rival! You Bees fans should be ashamed. Georgia Tech football has apparently become as irrelevant to the Jacket fans as it has always been to the rest of us. What a joke of a “major” college football program! R I P
Connor Norman
November 24th, 2012
11:27 pm
coach moobs, turkey neck, fish fry…..same old story…CMR owns you.
Santa Monica Jacket
November 24th, 2012
11:27 pm
People keep posting that Tech can not win with this offense. I agree with PJ, were you watching the game??? Georgia could have had to drive the ball 300 or 500 yards… it wouldnt have mattered if they started out of state!! They still would have found the end zone in Athens. You people are idiots for knocking the offense.. Jesus!! Get real. When you have a defense like that it absolutely does not matter what kind of offense you have, option, spread, pro-set. Whether they get a DC and recruit to turn it around.. I have no idea.
Old School GT21
November 24th, 2012
11:28 pm
There were two totally different teams on the field. Tech has a bunch of overachievers who at times plays well and help the team win. Usually, the overall play is average. Against better teams, it’s below average. Thus, we should be average. Our recruiting class for 2013 thus far is not in the top 40. My guess is that it’s not in the top 50. That’s the issue we should all have with the program. Absolutely no recruiting, period, the end. Just because we have a couple of 3.5 star guys who were redshirted this year doesn’t mean squat. I hope we hire a new AD, and end the Paul Johnson era. His defense is bad enough to have the entire coaching staff fired.
GTRanj
November 24th, 2012
11:28 pm
Are you guys kidding!!??!?!?!?!
You are surprised Georgia put up that many points on a team that has no true defensive coordinator!!?!?!?
Those 3 and 2 star recruits out gained you in yards and held the ball longer. Its just hard to stay in it when you don’t think your defense will help you out at all.
Get off Johnson’s back. He’ll get a good defensive coordinator and right the ship. Enjoy your victory today Georgia, because Alabama is gonna bring your back down to earth in a very violent and painful way.
Bark Madely, You are a total waste of a human being.
TXJacket
November 24th, 2012
11:31 pm
I think everyone calling for CPJ and staff to be fired are IDIOTS!!!!!! CPJ has the best winning % of any coach back to the 60’s. Sure we want to beat UGAG, but we have never had a coach with a winning record against UGAG. All time record is 62-39-5. I would rather have a winning coach and lose to UGAG. Its not going to affect recruiting, how often are we going after the same players. This is the right offense for GT. We need to fix our defense and we continue to win.
Mr. Chill
November 24th, 2012
11:37 pm
Ahhhhh . . . whimperings of the vanquished . . . how SCHWEEET!!
you can't fix stupid or Democrats or bulldogs
November 24th, 2012
11:39 pm
Time for a new coach…….ROLL TIDE
my opinion
November 24th, 2012
11:46 pm
So Manti T’eo is a candidate for the best college football player in the US. His stats from tonight against a 4 loss USC team with a freshman QB playing his first game. 4 tackles, 1 pick(thrown right at him) and he was beat for a TD pass. Clowney from South Carolina had 4 sacks tonight. Alex Ogeltree had 14 tackles for UGA in 3 qtrs.
The biased shown by Munsberger and Herbstreet is appalling.
whatfor
November 24th, 2012
11:47 pm
Well – I am NO LONGER pleased with Mr Johnson either. I have supported him for the last 4 years – but I think it is Past TIME for him to hang-it-up at GT and find another lower-tier school to run his beloved offense. I’m sick of it – and I WILL NOT be a sucker any longer and buy GT season tix until they have the b*lls to fire CPJ. We need to really look at developing a petition to have him fired – his offense may work against the likes of BC, Duke and Maryland – but is a laughing stock to real teams like UGA, FSU, BYU, etc. It is PAST TIME for Paul Johnson to leave.
Muddawg
November 25th, 2012
12:03 am
CPJ is a whinny little wimp who loves blaming everyone around him for his shortcomings.
WDE
November 25th, 2012
12:07 am
OH its great to be a Georgia Bull Dog !
TGT
November 25th, 2012
12:40 am
To all Tech fans,
Cheer up! I see Tech upending Florida State next week as the Seminoles will be overlooking the Jackets. I am a UGA grad, and I remember being in the stands in 1990 when Tech destroyed us on their way to a national title. You’ll be back again, and this rivalry will have more meaning. It is a phase and it will pass. The best of luck next week.
Write It Down.
November 25th, 2012
1:56 am
@YellowJacket
Who said:
“The offense is fine. Just need to work on the defense.”
No. The offense is not fine.
Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting — I thought I’d never say that.
For me, the ‘light bulb’ came on today when I saw Robbie Godhigh body-slammed to the ground like a rag-doll by a UGA defender.
It was then that I realized if the back were someone like Dwyer, Choice, Daniels, etc…, there would have been no one on UGA’s defense (or in all of college football. period.) man enough to fling them around like that.
At first, I was fine with Johnson recruiting ‘athletes.’ That is no longer the case. He needs to find some position players.
B-back: Minimum weight of 230lbs. That’s minimum. Personally, I’d love to see a 250-pounder trucking up through the middle. Lure him to Tech with hookers and doughnuts. He doesn’t need world class speed. He just needs to follow his blocks and make the first two tacklers pray for death.
A-back: Minimum weight of 210. Good speed (does not have to be great speed). Who cares if it takes him 3 minutes to run a touchdown — just means we have a longer time of possesion.
Quarterback: A *smart* leader. Leader. Leader.
Finally, we need GA boys who understand what a rivalry is all about. We’re recruiting from NC, AL, etc… Really?!
Good luck mutts. I hope you win it all. I’m not Irish and I’m sick of hearing the other rednecks on the other side of the river crow on and on.
GABud
November 25th, 2012
2:41 am
GTBob WE OWN THIS STATE AND DONT FORGET IT. TECH IS A BUNCH OF WHINERS,FANS AND ALL. Stay on your own blog cry baby. GO DAWGS!!!!!!
SEC ROLLS
November 25th, 2012
2:46 am
GO DAWGS,GATORS AND GAMECOCKS!!!! SEC IS SUPERIOR!!!!!!
Techfan
November 25th, 2012
4:56 am
I’d like to see a rule change that prevents picking a player up by the neck and slamming him head down into the turf. Maybe the players watch too much WWF in jail, but this is football.
S. Lewis
November 25th, 2012
5:43 am
How long does it take before realizing that Paul Johnson stinks? His high school offense insures that no top rated QB will ever come to Tech… nor will a top rated split end and obniously now will anyone who can play defense. Its time to cut him loose.
13 fans
November 25th, 2012
6:52 am
Tech has no pride in the way they play or look on the field. If they can’t get up for Georgia what makes anybody think they can win next week.
The uniforms look like trash from some bowling store.
Nativebird
November 25th, 2012
6:54 am
Paul Johnson is not pleased? Ha, that is a joke. The Jacket NATION has not been pleased with this idiot in 5 years. He NEEDs to disappear. Time for another “new” direction at Tech. This experiment is an abject failure.
aw
November 25th, 2012
6:57 am
40 years…..same results…..better players…….4 and 5 stars playing 2 and 3 stars…..its not the coach stupid…….40 years……the defence has to be fixed…..don’t go to the b-ten, you will really get hammered…stay put….go jackets….
Techfan
November 25th, 2012
7:03 am
Total yards:
Ga Tech-426
UGA-379
Not exactly a laughing stock. The offense works. The problem is not finshing drives and the passing game (Tech:10-21, UGA:14-18) which should improve with Vad. Special teams, punting and kicking are major downfalls. 95% PAT, 53% Field goals made, 39 yard avg punts, 24% touchback on kickoffs, 24 yard avg.for opponents on kickoff returns. We also need a good defensive coordinator., Lay off Johnson for the offense. He does need to stress fundamentals to the entire team and for them to play 60 minutes and cut the mental errors.
USMC DAWG
November 25th, 2012
7:26 am
I am happy with the win yesterday over the Yellow Jackets.
As much as I understand the frustrations of Tech Fans with Paul Johnson, I believe he is a great coach; HOWEVER, he has got to learn how to recruit better players AND spend some money on a good DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR.
Whether you like it or not, the offense is very effective and will get better as Vad Lee takes the Helm.
Cheer up Jackets and go beat up on FSU!
dry dirt road
November 25th, 2012
7:30 am
Tech wore the gold helmets that they usually wear and that thery usually lose to Georgia in. They had the chance to wear white helmets this year. Their Choice of helmets was not the Best this year and provided Favors to Georgia. They could have lined up for flu shots en masse at the Tech infirmary just up a hill from Rose Bowl Field up 5th St. before practice one afternoon, and would have been given them for free. Many players and the coach were sick from it. Johnson looked puffy yesterday, and Ataochu was playing sick. Cross was out last week. This alum wants to be entertained by Tech, and does not want to see sick players play, that’s too derelict. Godhigh having the ball stripped did not conjure up any Godhigh for this alum, instead conjuring up recollections of when Nesbitt stripped the ball from FSU. Now that strip has been somewhat negated just like the 2009 ACC championship was, and how losing to Middle Tennessee was like losing to Mcneice State of the powder puff conference.
you can't fix stupid or Democrats or bulldogs
November 25th, 2012
7:30 am
this CPJ offense experiment is over…Hire Mike Leach now!
Leeman
November 25th, 2012
7:34 am
We “own this state”. No, Steve spurrier owns this state, boy. And next week the new governor Saban will take his piece out of mark richts no-coaching ass.
Richt can’t beat spurrier
Richt couldn’t beat Colorado
Richt couldn’t beat UCF
WHY ON EARTH WOULD U THINK HE CAN BEAT BAMA?
Your weak schedule tricked u into thinking uga finished “strong”. You know better, muttfan, you just don’t want to wake up from your nap.
Have fun at Capitol one bowl playing Wisconsin!
USMC DAWG
November 25th, 2012
7:35 am
Tech Fans, Paul Johnson is going NOW WHERE soon, so get over it.
His offense is one of the top producing offenses on the country.
GT is a decent Defense away from having a top 15 Football Team.
(Okay, CPJ needs a few better athletes, I’ll admit)
USMC DAWG
November 25th, 2012
7:39 am
“Your weak schedule tricked u into thinking uga finished “strong”.”–Leeman
Yeah Leeman, like PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE or MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE, or BOSTON COLLEGE or DUKE?????
Boy, what a schedule!
SOUR GRAPES!