This nutty Tech season could yield a truly hilarious ending
Believe it or not, both of these teams could land in Miami come New Year's. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Georgia Tech could wind up in the Orange Bowl, or it could grace no bowl at all. At this moment, the Jackets are bowl-eligible; come Saturday night, they might not be. Got that?
“It’s been a different year,” Paul Johnson said Tuesday, which is an understatement on a par with, “Bill Gates isn’t hurting for money.”
After a full regular season, Tech is neither a winning or a losing team — but it might yet be a conference champion. Generally speaking, when serendipity takes a hand it lifts a good team to greater heights. Somehow serendipity seems to have taken a shine to these middling Jackets, who lost by 21 points to Middle Tennessee and by 32 to Georgia.
The Jackets have played 12 games, losing half. They have beaten one team (North Carolina) that finished above .500. Carolina was one of three teams that tied for first place in the ACC Coastal Division, but the Tar Heels couldn’t play for the conference title because the NCAA won’t allow it, and Miami decided not to play for the ACC championship for fear of what the NCAA might do. Ergo, Tech to Charlotte.
“You want to be playing for your conference championship,” Johnson said. “Would you have dreamed it would be with this record? Probably not.”
Should the Jackets lose to Florida State — they’re a two-touchdown underdog — they’ll be 6-7, which would render them bowl-ineligible after they’d moved heaven and Earth to get bowl-eligible. Tech people absolutely believe the Jackets will be afforded a postseason berth even with a losing record; neutral observers are less sure. “You guys (meaning the media) are having more fun with that than might actually be,” Johnson said, though “fun” mightn’t be the proper word.
The coach’s Tuesday briefing wasn’t nearly as acidic as his post-Georgia address, but he didn’t miss the opportunity to hammer home a Talking Point. “This is the third time in five years these players have finished with the best record in their division,” he said. (Not incidentally, five years is how long Johnson has been in place.) “To hear some people talk, you’d probably think the sky is falling. But that’s probably better than they’ve done here in a long time.”
True. Before Johnson arrived, Tech had finished first in the ACC or the Coastal three times: In 1990, the UPI national championship season under Bobby Ross; in 1998 under George O’Leary, and in 2006 under Chan Gailey. But it’s also worth noting — and here we risk being included on a list of “some people” — that Johnson’s Jackets are 21-20 since Thanksgiving 2009, and that the biggest victory of that span (the ACC championship over Clemson) was officially vacated, and that their last game marked the second-largest margin of defeat of Johnson’s five years.
Loading ...Even with Tech playing for the ACC title, it’s impossible to call this season a smash. (Though, as Johnson said, “If we can win the conference championship, it’d be hard to say they underachieved.”) It would also be impossible to characterize the program as being in the prime of health. That said, it would be utterly in keeping with this crazy-quilt season for Tech to topple Florida State and break its bowl losing streak, which stands at seven years, in a BCS game against a true heavyweight like … Kent State?
As Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports has outlined, if Kent State beats Northern Illinois for the Mid American Conference title on Friday and finishes in the top 16 of the BCS rankings, and if the Big East champion is ranked below that, the Golden Flashes would almost surely land in the Orange Bowl, which gets last choice in this year’s BCS rotation. (Dodd also calls a potential Tech-Kent matchup “a game you wouldn’t pay to see in September.”)
The Golden Flashes lost to Kentucky by 33 points, and Kentucky didn’t win an SEC game and fired its coach. (And just hired Mark Stoops, the Florida State defensive coordinator. Small world, huh?) And to this outlandish possibility, we say: Why NOT?
Nothing else about Tech has made a lick of sense, so why not go the full Monty? Upset Florida State, beat Kent State and stick around afterward to help welcome the Georgia Bulldogs to Miami. See, the Orange Bowl will be staged at Sun Life Stadium — the home field of the Miami Hurricanes, whose step-aside put Tech in in the ACC title game — on New Year’s night. Six days later, the BCS title game will be played at the same place. Could this strangest of Tech seasons reach any more suitable end than to have both Jackets and Bulldogs take their respective talents to South Beach?
Further reading: Heat Check — Destiny’s Dogs? No-bowl Jackets? Whoa, Nelly.
By Mark Bradley
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209 comments Add your comment
GTT
November 27th, 2012
3:20 pm
Might be a good game, Tech and Kent. Fifth!
lumberjacket
November 27th, 2012
3:20 pm
First?
HawkDawg
November 27th, 2012
3:21 pm
I’m loving every second of this. Go Dawgs!!!
GTT
November 27th, 2012
3:22 pm
By the time I read the column and noticed there were no comments, I surely figured four people would have posted. Oh well, maybe unexpected kudos is a prelude to Wednesday’s Powerball drawing. It’s a sign I tell ya!
GT Fan
November 27th, 2012
3:23 pm
LOL, I’ll take it.
Goldenrod
November 27th, 2012
3:23 pm
Thank you Mark for acknowledging that Georgia Tech has an even better shot that UGag at making a BCS bowl.
This team and this coaching staff deserves a BCS game after bitter defeats against Miami and VA Tech.
Besides, my blood is STILL boiling after all those hard tackles & flips by the puppies’ classless DB’s. We will get our revenge on them next year!
Beat FSU and we are BCS Bound. WE WILL RUN THE ACC CONFERENCE
Mike
November 27th, 2012
3:23 pm
First!
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
You underrate yourself, GTT. Kudos.
GT Fan
November 27th, 2012
3:24 pm
Hey hawkdawg, we’ll see how much you love it after falling to the sunbeam bread bowl after losing to Bama and watching Bama and Florida play in BCS bowls.
This is going to be too epic for all UGA haters around!!!!!!
The Central Scrutinizer
November 27th, 2012
3:25 pm
Not really worth commenting on…
beanster
November 27th, 2012
3:26 pm
I am pulling for Kent State.
GeoffDawg
November 27th, 2012
3:27 pm
Hilarious in a Dane Cook sort of way.
Jacket Man
November 27th, 2012
3:27 pm
And this is what make College Football so much better than the pros.
Goldenrod
November 27th, 2012
3:30 pm
Wait just a minute Mark – so you’re saying now that if (by some miracle) FSU wins that GT will be left OUT of going bowling altogether? That is totally bogus! We need to get our lawyers involved.
This team has scratched & clawed their way back to a 6-6 record and now the bowls are going to back out of allowing GT in if the Seminoles somehow win?
If I was Paul Johnson I would be madder than a hornet right now! That;s just not fair to our program – we have the longest current bowl streak in the country!
BiggerFishToFry
November 27th, 2012
3:37 pm
Coach Paul Johnson was correct in not demanding full & total effort of his players against Georgie, we have bigger fish to fry in Charlotte this weekend. I am glad he held Orwin Smith out and was able to rest the starters in the 4th quarter in the Cesspool up North. Keep them fresh for F$U.
Richt can’t win the big game anyway so we all will be Tide fans on Saturday afternoon. Roll Tide!
Go Jackets!
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2012
3:37 pm
There’s that chance, Goldenrod. Tech insiders believe the Jackets will still go to a bowl at 6-7, but it’s getting confusing.
BOY THAT DAWG IS UGLY
November 27th, 2012
3:37 pm
Hawk Dawg…..probably as much as I loved it when Central Florida beat the Dawgs in the Liberty Bowl (Big SEC Elite school getting beat by O’leary….oh that happened a lot didn’t it). Enjoyed Dawgs who couldn’t handle MSU in overtime at Outback. Hype, Hype and more Hype. Dawgs FBS opponents (save Gators and Gamecocks) had less than a 40% winning percentage this year. I’m not going to predict SEC Championship outcome because anything is possible BUT a better game would be Gators v. Bama. Dawgs are still 2nd tier SEC.
GeoffDawg
November 27th, 2012
3:43 pm
Actually, what is the rule on bowl eligibility. I always thought that you could qualify with six wins as long as not more than one of those six came against FCS level competition. Is there a caveat that you can’t qualify with a losing record? And if so, is the waiver they’re requesting linked to that new rule regarding the APR?
Old Blue
November 27th, 2012
3:43 pm
Will this be televised on the Inspiration channel?
Kevin
November 27th, 2012
3:43 pm
Keep citing those stats, Coach Fish Fry. The Bulldawg Nation is pulling for you!
Charles Jackson
November 27th, 2012
3:44 pm
GT football is irrelevant now. Who cares what they do or where they play?
Ron Burgundy
November 27th, 2012
3:46 pm
Tech playing in the Orange Bowl is almost as crazy as a team that lost a game by 28 points! playing for the national championship…. I mean what kind of a national champion loses to anyone by 28 points…preposterous….oops, what a second, go dawgs , sic em
LOL@tech
November 27th, 2012
3:47 pm
Wow…..GT vs Kent State in the Orange Bowl……….I am sure ticket sales would set a record!
We MUST protect this bowl streak!
Taxi Smith
November 27th, 2012
3:48 pm
This highlights the utter nonesense that is the BCS.
PTC DAWG
November 27th, 2012
3:55 pm
Kent vs Tech in the Orange Bowl…epic..
As far as UF in the Sugar, they deserve it. We did the same thing in 2007.
As far as the money you see thrown around that the bowls pay out, folks should know that the spread in SEC total bowl payouts last year was 700K, from Bama all the way to Vandy.. Around 5.6 mill to Bama to 4.9 to Vandy.
Being a UGA fan, I would rather take our chances in Atlanta vs the Tide.
Best of luck vs FSU in the ACCCG. No excuse for GT fans not to make the trip. Tix are cheap and plentiful.
dawgfan
November 27th, 2012
3:57 pm
“Will this be televised on the Inspiration channel?”
Comedy Central is negotiating the rights for this one.
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
4:00 pm
It takes a lot to embarrass me but if we beat FSU go to the Orange Bowl and then lose to Kent State, I am officially embarrassed.
Supersize that order, mutt
November 27th, 2012
4:01 pm
@ Mark…GT and Kent State in the Orange Bowl might create more negative publicity than its worth. Just saying. @ Jacket Man….the college game is far superior than the pro game imo. @Gt Fan…Georgie is in for a beat down.
Stinger 2
November 27th, 2012
4:01 pm
GT should not have asked and should not be granted a waiver if it loses to Florida State and has a 6-7 record. It amounts to asking for charity and will deprive a team at
6-6 from getting a bowl invitation. I have heard the arguments that why not since UCLA was granted one setting a precident. Regardless, GT has had an awful year and is lucky to have a 6-6 record at this point. They were totally dominated by MTSU
at home and embarassed in Athens. They have no defense and Johnson`s offense has been erratic to the point it could score only 10 points while holding the ball 40 minutes to UGA`s 20 minutes. The team is not very good. Calling it medicore is being generous. They would have been better off if Miami had not consented to to make itself ineligible for post season play.
All of the above comes from a GT fan since 1952. I am still a fan and always will be but at this point I feel like its time to call it a season of futility.
beanster
November 27th, 2012
4:02 pm
Goldenrod — You’re laying it on too thick. Ease up. It’s been way past believable for quite some time now.
Sunbury Ga dawg
November 27th, 2012
4:03 pm
As i dawg fan i know sometime we drink the kool aid but you tech fans must be swimming in it right now. No matter what happens DEC 1, on Nov 24 2012 Tech was promptly destroyed again by Georgia. The look on your faces and the comments on the blog after the game……Priceless.
All your hopes were lost in 68 second, Tech didn’t even fight back, they were dominated and then manhandled with DDt’s and suplexes. wow, how embarrassing. We need to replace tech with Georgia southern every year because they are clearly the second best team in the state.
I have been trying to find one of those ring from 2008, anybody have one for sale?
they are a collectors item now for sure. the last time Tech had hope.
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
4:04 pm
Is there a caveat that you can’t qualify with a losing record?
The caveat is that a 6-7 team is not supposed to make a bowl game over any 6-6 teams. There are 70 eligible teams this year meaning that GT would have to take someones spot. The part no one is clear about is if that can or will happen. There are conflicting reports about it.
Mountain Dawg
November 27th, 2012
4:04 pm
If the nerds havde ANY sense of self-respect and pride, they will stay home. Since I don’t believe this to be the case, let them go right ahead and make complete idiots of themselves. Let’s see, they were totally embarrasses by Georgia, will be soundly thrashed by FSU, and will get their rears handed to them in any bowl stupid enough to invite them. They will have made comlete asses of themselves on national TV more times than I can count. What little national respect they previously had will be down the toilet, and they can simply forget any chance of recruiting anybody that can play at Div. 1 level. Johnson has taken a once proud school and put it in the toilet. Going to a bowl would be like pushing the flush button.
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
4:05 pm
GTBob at 4:01, if you are going to steal my handle at least make it funny.
GTBob's Tickle Pile
November 27th, 2012
4:09 pm
StubHub cheapest title game tix: MAC $2.95, ACC $4, B10 $16.99, P12 $69, SEC $295. Should count in BCS formula
Alphare
November 27th, 2012
4:09 pm
Even Tech goes to a BCS bowl, I still want Johnson fired.
GTBob Got Body Slammed
November 27th, 2012
4:10 pm
Was it Ogletree or Rambo? We’re trying to put glasses on it!
demhairydwags
November 27th, 2012
4:10 pm
how much longer are we gonna put up with Mark richt and his “nice -guy” atitude? show some emotion coach were never getting to a TOP SHELF PROGRAM with CMR FIRE MARK RICHT
Independence Bowl
November 27th, 2012
4:11 pm
We are going to miss GT’s annual trip here to Shreveport. Oh well, on the bright side, our ratings won’t be as bad as this year’s Orange Bowl.
Dumpster fire
November 27th, 2012
4:12 pm
Tech came to Athens hoping UGA was overlooking them and within a minute and eight seconds they knew they were in trouble. You’re not going to a BCS bowl game, you’re going to get beat again this Saturday. Since when has the UGA – Tech game become anything other than a big deal in the state of Georgia? You guys lost, didn’t even fight, just laid there and took it like you were in a prison shower with big bubba. Pathetic…….
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
4:13 pm
If the nerds havde ANY sense of self-respect and pride, they will stay home.
The heck with that. If the ACC is going to look as foolish as it did last weekend then I want to really make a mockery out of the conference.
wolfman
November 27th, 2012
4:14 pm
Look at the bright side… GT is in better shape than Auburn.
Just the Facts
November 27th, 2012
4:15 pm
Georgia Tech has appeared in 39 bowl games, but Georgia Tech has not won a bowl game since 2004. Georgia Tech’s 2011 loss to Utah extended their post season losing streak to 7 games. Georgia Tech ranks ninth in all time bowl wins with 22.
We deserve to go to a bowl and extend our streak! If Miami hadn’t cheated we would never be in this situation.
Alphare
November 27th, 2012
4:16 pm
If David Shaw can win Stanford, why would we need Johnson with his options?
beanster
November 27th, 2012
4:18 pm
Isn’t Northern Illinois ranked rather highly too? So it’s either FSU or Tech versus Kent State or Northern Illinois? Really? If that’s the case, Go Jackets!
Buzz 2011
November 27th, 2012
4:18 pm
Bark Madley’s comments are ” galling” as per norm..
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
4:19 pm
If David Shaw can win Stanford, why would we need Johnson with his options?
Are you really crowning the guy a great coach after two years? What did you think about CPJ after two years?
Swoopin
November 27th, 2012
4:21 pm
Part of me thinks that deep down you think Bama will win, but you’re taking the calculated risk to be on the good guys’ side since this may be the only time you’re faced with a prediction of this magnitude.
Buzz 2011
November 27th, 2012
4:21 pm
@ Just the facts…How long since Dawgs won an SEC championship?
So long no one remembers. GT won ACC in 2009
and has won a national championship since the Dawgs claimed one.
HeluvaEngineer
November 27th, 2012
4:22 pm
Just when I’m finally geting over our annual loss to Georgia & now you’re telling GT is playing for the right to face Kent St in a bowl? {Vomits}
Are they worse than Middle Tennessee State? RIP Al Groh!
Chipper
November 27th, 2012
4:24 pm
Tech fans are only getting a chance at a winning record because Miami backed out. Why do you think your so entitled? You can’t talk smack as we are 11 of 12 over you recently & own the series. Auburn is our true rival.
Fuzzy Lumpkins
November 27th, 2012
4:24 pm
Alphare, dont you dare bring up Stanford being good at football in a tougher conference. It destroys Tech’s righteous argument regarding tough academia.
beanster
November 27th, 2012
4:26 pm
@ Swoopin — If you’re referring to Mr. Bradley, he wants UGA to win so his preseason picks come to fruition. I wouldn’t take it personally.
Spanky
November 27th, 2012
4:27 pm
Bob, that made absolu….wait,…that was actually pretty funny!!
Dawg Man
November 27th, 2012
4:27 pm
We dawgs can’t brag too much as we have only beaten two FBS schools that finished with a record above .500 (Vandy and Florida) plus Georgia Southern. It will be interesting to see how we do against Bama. Go Dawgs!
JB
November 27th, 2012
4:28 pm
The ACC has a bigger problem. They’ve got Tech in a 80,000 Stadium bringing maybe 2 or 3 thousand fans, and after giving every Boy scout and Boys club kid in site a ticket, will still have 30,000 empty seats…….While on Ticket Hub,5K gets you in the SEC game. Nuff said.
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
4:28 pm
It destroys Tech’s righteous argument regarding tough academia.
Stanford being good academically doesn’t mean that they have as difficult of a school or as difficult of admissions requirements as GT. Either way, people really need to look at Stanford over the last 10 years and not the last 3 years if they want to make a real comparison.
Right On Time
November 27th, 2012
4:31 pm
From a UGA fan and alum:
I hope the jackets beat fsu and Dawgs beat bammers. How much fun would it
be for both fans to represent in Miami? It would be pretty memorable.
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
4:32 pm
Hey Mark, about those AJC rules that prohibit stealing someones name.
Right On Time
November 27th, 2012
4:36 pm
GTBob:
We can all tell when it’s not you.
Buzzzed
November 27th, 2012
4:42 pm
That would be awesome. We might win that one. Bring on Miami!
GT Joe
November 27th, 2012
4:43 pm
wow. how awful would it be if we made the orange bowl, and had to share south beach with some fat, country, redneck, loud, obnoxious, no class UGA fans.
Shug
November 27th, 2012
4:43 pm
Why would a team that lost 7 games want to go to a bowl? GT will probably end up 6-8. I s’pose there’s money to be made.
Silly Mutts
November 27th, 2012
4:44 pm
The more UGA fans at the SEC Championship the better!!! More fans that will be leaving at halftime for the bars dtwn
Shug
November 27th, 2012
4:44 pm
Plus, don’t discount that other benefit a bowl provides — an extra month of practice to get ready for spring practice.
Mike S.
November 27th, 2012
4:52 pm
GTBob has a valid point. Dont relive Tech’s mistake and crown a coach until he’s winning with his own players. Stanford’s coach still has a lot of Harbaugh’s players on the roster.
Uh, GTBob...
November 27th, 2012
4:55 pm
…I believe the last time Stanford won a game with significance was the Saturday they beat OR and then again last Saturday when they beat UCLA for the right to play UCLA again this week…
`
November 27th, 2012
4:56 pm
GTBOB
Yech will not qualify for a bowl with a 6-7 record over a team with a 6-6 record. If there is an available bowl willing to take a team with a losing record your school may apply for a waiver. Conference bowl tie ins are not required to take a team with a losing record.
But hang in there Bobby, some one might want you, Smurf bowl, Poinsetta, you never know
Mike S.
November 27th, 2012
4:57 pm
There are better examples of teams winning at schools that dont recruit in the top 15-20 every year. The Big 12, PAC12, Big East, and other western schools are full of them. WVU, TCU, Cincinnati, Louisville, Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma St., Oregon St., Boise St., Houston….a common theme is a lot of them run a spread offense that throws the ball all over the place. They mix in the run as well, but they dont run the triple option.
Mike S.
November 27th, 2012
4:59 pm
Stanford actually has been recruiting rather well in recent years. They are an example of a good academic school still being able to recruit. Lets face it. Gailey’s last class was top 20, and his 2008 class was projected top 20. You can most definitely recruit players to Tech. There is too much talent around the southeast that can make the grades.
ToeMeetsLeather
November 27th, 2012
5:00 pm
I love the way Dawg fans like to throw around the word embarrassing when it comes to TECH’s season.
To me, having the likes of an Ealy, King and Crowell suit up and play. Or an Odell Thurman, or maybe allowing the dude that beat the hades out of a girl a few months ago to play this year fits the word “embarrissing” in my book.
But hey, that’s just me.
Mike S.
November 27th, 2012
5:01 pm
Dont look now but Franklin at Vandy currently has a class listed in the top 20. If Vandy and Stanford can recruit, so can Ga Tech. Its absurd to say otherwise.
Hank
November 27th, 2012
5:03 pm
Mark (or anyone else),
With Southern Miss firing Ellis Johnson, do you think he is someone Paul Johnson should look at for the DC position? He may be one of those coaches that is a better coordinator than head coach and he had a number of strong defenses and South Carolina and Mississippi State. My main thought is perception-wise, would it look poor to bring him in after he went 0-12? Just wondering, thanks!
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
5:03 pm
They mix in the run as well, but they dont run the triple option.
Why would that be any better than what we have now? Our offense isn’t the problem.
Joey
November 27th, 2012
5:05 pm
Stoops to UK!
Mark Stoops, that is.
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
5:05 pm
Stanford actually has been recruiting rather well in recent years.
This year is David Shaw’s first full recruiting class and they are currently ranked 55th.
beanster
November 27th, 2012
5:08 pm
@ Silly Mutts — No need to leave the Dome. They sell beer there. And unlike this past Saturday, the chances of the game being over with 13:52 remaining in the 1st quarter are minimal at best.
The Dude
November 27th, 2012
5:12 pm
Well said, GTBob @5:03. As a whole, GT’s offense is certainly not the problem. If you matched just a top 30 defense with the current offense, GT would have three more wins this season. The offense was terrible in the Gailey years, but man did GT play some defense.
ARdawg
November 27th, 2012
5:13 pm
“I love the way Dawg fans like to throw around the word embarrassing when it comes to TECH’s season.”
________________________
The subject is indeed football. How would you describe Tech’s season in a word other than “embarrassing”?
Mountain Dawg
November 27th, 2012
5:17 pm
Tech just flat sucks. Always has, always will.
Old Dawg
November 27th, 2012
5:19 pm
Goldenrod: Who’s your crack dealer? It’s really a rare blend.
Buzz 2011: When was the last time Tech beat UGA in football. I can’t remember.
When was the last time Tech won a bowl game? I can’t remember.
And how quickly did Tech have it’s last ACC Championship Trophy before the NCAA yanked it from your trophy case?
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
5:20 pm
The subject is indeed football. How would you describe Tech’s season in a word other than “embarrassing”?
A little below average. The Lewis days were embarrassing.
Bill Stanfill
November 27th, 2012
5:21 pm
What a stunning year it would be for both GT and UGA to wind up in Miami, in the Orange Bowl and BCS Championship game! The players could get together for a Sunday fish fry after attending church.
The only thing more stunning would be for both Paul Johnson and Mark Richt to wind up on the front page of the AJC with skinned up faces and neck braces after wrecking their motorcycles with cuties from the athletic department riding on back . . . .
Mark Bradley
November 27th, 2012
5:21 pm
I’d hire Ellis Johnson. (Though not as head coach.)
sidslid
November 27th, 2012
5:23 pm
I could see Florida State losing to Kent State. Defensive coordinator just took a new job and their supposed strength is defense (stats overrated because of the weak ACC).
Because of all the probations, don’t Tech and Duke almost have to go to bowl games just to fill up the slots? The Jackie Sherrill All-Probation rankings: Ohio State, Penn State, Miami, North Carolina.
Hank
November 27th, 2012
5:23 pm
Thanks Mark!
ARdawg
November 27th, 2012
5:24 pm
GTBob
You seem to be much more “kinder” when describing Tech’s season than you do describing any SEC team’s season specifically UGA
Tech’s season was embarrassing to downright shamefully disgusting. I mean come on. You’d be praying for Shreveport if not for Shalala
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
5:26 pm
Ellis Johnson took a 12-2 team and turned them into an 0-12 team. That has to be up there with the worst coaching jobs in the history of football. I know he was a decent DC before that but that kind of turnaround makes me a little weary of him.
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
5:28 pm
Tech’s season was embarrassing to downright shamefully disgusting.
For a school that averages about 7 wins a season, its hard to call 6 wins shamefully disgusting.
No No, dumb dog!
November 27th, 2012
5:31 pm
Butt sniffers…
No national championship game for uga.
UGA trolls like Bradley like to say “embarrassing” concerning Tech, but embarrassing is doing all the talking i.e. (stick around afterward to help welcome the Georgia Bulldogs to Miami) and then getting beat down by Alabama on Saturday afternoon. Go BAMA, beat the ignorant dogs!!!!
Old Gold
November 27th, 2012
5:32 pm
ACC is A Cumpy Conference! Keep Paul Johnson forever! He is a genius!
Mike S.
November 27th, 2012
5:35 pm
GTBob – the offense is most definitely part of the problem. MTSU, Va Tech, BYU, and UGA all kept us off the scoreboard. The D did its job against what we now know to be an average Va Tech team, and we still lost. We scored 3 pts on UGA until they pulled their starters. Look at the futility in bowls. Last year was the first bowl we got more than two score in. Air Force, LSU, and Iowa all held us off the scoreboard. Enough with there is no problem with the offense garbage. Its clearly not capable of scoring enough to win against teams that show up prepared to play it.
Pitbull
November 27th, 2012
5:36 pm
If Tech plays Kent State in the Orange Bowl what are the chances that the cameras will not show the stands. Who would buy tickets for that game?
It would not fill a third of Grant Field in September much less the Orange Bowl.
The absurdity of allowing the ACC to be an automatic qualifier will become apparent and if they do not take that away from the ACC then the BCS should be discontinued.
And the rule that would put Kent State or Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl ahead of Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Georgia, South Carolina etc is also apparent.
I bet the people who run the Orange Bowl are taking a you know what in their pants right now. From being one of the top four bowls in the country to this.
If they play an Orange Bowl and there is no one there to see it and no one watches it, do the players make a sound when they fall down?
What an embarrassment for college football. Can’t wait to see the commentaries from SI, ESPN, and sports writers across the country.
Jim 70
November 27th, 2012
5:38 pm
Heading to Charlotte from northern virginia to see us beat FSU IF our defense and special team players actually show up. It would be nice to see some gt fans from the state of Georgia help fill the stadium. As opposed to the last two acc championship games gt was in, ticket prices are very good.
Hopefully I can be in Miami for new years cheering on the jackets in the orange bowl.
Weird season, but alls well that ends well. How great would it be for gt to win a bcs game while uga doesn’t go to one (along with Clemson and FSU).
Go jackets!
Mike S.
November 27th, 2012
5:38 pm
As for Stanford, they dont even have half a class signed yet. They finished in the top 10 last season and top 25 the two years before that. Whos doing the recruiting isnt the point. The point is, you can recruit at these academic institutions.
Bobo
November 27th, 2012
5:39 pm
As a lifelong Tech fan and alumni, I can’t believe we are even CONSIDERING going to a bowl if we don’t beat FSU. This season has been an out and out disgrace and unacceptable. There is absolutely no reason that we belong in a bowl game unless it’s the Orange Bowl which would be too hilarious to turn down.
This season has done nothing but highlight the following:
1) Our recruiting SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS! 2 and 3 star guys give you a 6-6 or 5-7 record consistently. The star rating system DOES means something. 75% of the time or more, they are RIGHT. Yeah occasionally you miss a 3 star guy like Johnny Manziel that is really a 4 or 5 and sometimes you have a guy bust, but those are EXCEPTIONS.
2) Did I mention we MUST win the recruiting battles.
3) Our DEFENSE, not the triple option package is the biggest problem for us. Our defense is full of quitters who arm tackle, pout, complain about tough schemes and can’t run down a crippled senior citizen. We probably have the worst pass defense in the whole country. Our D-line is also a complete disgrace to the NFL players we used to have at every position.
4) We need coaches other than Paul Johnson who can coach. I’m not seeing anyone who can coach special teams or defense. The only possible exception is the O-line coach, but what is he supposed to do with 255 or 260 pound guys other than cut block?
5) This is all on Johnson if he doesn’t fix it and he should be the next to follow Groh if he doesn’t.
With that said, I don’t hate the option game like most detractors. However, there are two MAJOR problems with it that need fixing. The first is that it’s hard to recruit kids into. He better start selling the fact that it will put RBs into the NFL and your premiere receiver will also get there. The second problem is that he MUST come up with an effective pistol package or SOMETHING for 3rd downs and long yardage. This has killed us every year in one game or another.
As a Techie I vote NO BOWL GAME even if we are eligible for something other than the Orange. No one wants to go to El Paso, eat crappy tex-mex tacos, and watch Tech phone it in against USC (our probable opponent) and Lane Kiffin. Losing to UGA was bad enough. Losing to that jerk would be salt in the wound.
PeachFuzz
November 27th, 2012
5:41 pm
Georgia Tech getting a bid to a BCS bowl gives hope to every overweight, out-of-shape, third-string football wannabe out there in America.
PeachFuzz
November 27th, 2012
5:42 pm
This year, the ACC Championship is the equivalent of a “Participation Trophy” in rec league ball.
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
5:42 pm
GTBob – the offense is most definitely part of the problem. MTSU, Va Tech, BYU, and UGA all kept us off the scoreboard.
We averaged 15 points and 320 yards of offense against those teams and those were our bad games. We are 28th in the country in total offense. You seem to like to leave out the fact that we would have lost to Duke and NC without our offense and we wouldn’t have even been competitive against Miami or Clemson. Our offense is the only thing that kept us in most of our games this year.
Bobo
November 27th, 2012
5:44 pm
Mike, Stanford is a different animal than Tech because they run a pro set system that features tight ends prominently. They are also that good because they are one of the few PAC-12 teams that actually bother to play defense. From what I can tell, they’ve stockpiled ALL of the elite defensive players outside of Oregon on the West Coast. Recruiting in the Southeast is a war zone compared to there. Not making excuses for us (because we SHOULD be able to model ourselves after Stanford), but we have a lot of challenges recruiting against the SEC that Stanford doesn’t have. They also, unlike Tech, seem to recruit a lot of guys (Luck, Castro, Fleener, Skov) that seem incredibly bright and couldve gotten in to Stanford REGARDLESS of football. Shaw also seems like one of the smartest intellectual coaches around, on par with Leach or Saban for IQ. With that said, we really have no excuse here why we seem to prefer recruits with 950 SATs and 2.7 GPAs. Say what you want about ‘athleticism’, but brains are at least as important, if not more. Stanford does a great job of utterly confusing opposing teams and then cutting their legs out from under them. Even Oregon couldn’t figure it out in time. I’ve seen dumb players and I’ve seen smart guys and there’s a big reason that Peyton Manning is a star (and now Luck) and guys like Michael Vick are not.
Browndog
November 27th, 2012
5:44 pm
Defense has always been the problem for CPJ. If the D was just average GT would win 8+ games a year. The O controls the clock and if the D makes a few stops each game GT would have a chance in every game. Same was the case for UT. Any D on their part this year and Dooley would still be at UT.
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
5:45 pm
The point is, you can recruit at these academic institutions.
The only problem with that is that you are assuming that recruiting at Stanford and Vandy is tougher than GT which it isn’t. Just because they are quality schools doesn’t mean they have the same restrictions. I wonder how many Stanford commits get coaches putting calculus books in front of them as negative recruiting. Im guessing not many.
Mike S.
November 27th, 2012
5:45 pm
@Pitbull – the good part about the 4 team playoff is automatic qualifiers appear to be going away. There will be no more getting forced to take Kent St. or the Big East winner. Bowls will have conference tie ins just like they did before the BCS.
The bad part about the 4 team playoff is its just going to be the same old issues. 4 teams is still not enough, especially now that ND has crashed the party. Look at this year, imagine Ohio St eligible which they will be when the 4 team playoff begins, and try to pick 4 teams. Even if you go with just conference winners, you have an odd man out (ND, SEC winner, OSU, then either the Pac 12 or Big 12 winner).
Mike S.
November 27th, 2012
5:49 pm
Vandy is recruiting from the same talent pool as Ga Tech and is competing against the same SEC and ACC schools for most of their recruits. Im sure the PAC 12 schools dont play nice with each other on the recruiting trail either. They are dealing with the same crap. It might be worse for Stanford when a USC or UCLA coach takes recruits on a tour of the campus.
There is nothing unique about Ga Tech’s situation vs these other schools. We sit in a hotbed talent state on top of that with Florida only a few hours away.
abby normal
November 27th, 2012
5:49 pm
I’ve been a Tech fan for over 50 years, but there is no way this team should go to any bowl game, let alone the Orange. There was a time when going bowling meant something, but now is like the NBA playoffs; if you’re breathing, you’re in.
MariettaMike
November 27th, 2012
5:53 pm
The sky is not falling. If GT beats FSU, they indeed deserve to go to a bowl game. A BCS bowl? Hell no! This GT team is the worst since 1996. Erratic offense and horrible defense have doomed this team. However, GT is one good quarterback and a great defensive coach from an 8 to 9 win season next year. Does this mean they beat Georgia at the end of the year? No, they will still be two touchdown underdogs. GT fans will always live in the shadow of Georgia. If GT loses to Georgia, GT fans see the season as a failure which is crazy. The ACC is not the SEC. The top tier teams in the ACC have been crushed by the SEC for the last 5 years. The GT fan base needs to re-evaluate its goals. To quote former GT President Dave Braine, “Georgia Tech can expect to win 7 or 8 games a year”. The GT fan base hates Paul Johnson, but the GT fan base does not support GT athletics at all. Maryland’s athletic department was broke because alumni did give the school any $$$. GT games only have have 35K or 40K fans at the games. These are Conference USA and Mid America Conference numbers. UVA, UNC, NC State and Boston College had better attendance. The only games that come close to sell outs are Clemson, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Georgia. These games are filled with 60 to 70% fans from the other team. I went to the Va Tech game in 2011 where my Hokies won. If you are a GT fan, you should be ashamed. I hope when my daughter and nephew graduate GT, they continue to support GT athletics. I read that a large percentage of GT graduates are millionaires. Apparently they like to bitch a lot and not go to games. Hey GT fans, put up $$$ or shut up!
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
5:53 pm
There is nothing unique about Ga Tech’s situation vs these other schools.
Aside from lack of majors, lack of academic exemptions, calculus requirements, and lack of women. The baseline requirements may be higher at GT also.
GTville
November 27th, 2012
5:58 pm
First off, UGA looked great last week. GT missed some big opportunities and could have made a very good game. The difference in making things happen and not making things happen is why GT may not go to a bowl game.
Simply put, beat FSU and go to the Orange Bowl. No appeal will be needed. SEC is clearly the dominant conference right now as evidenced by FSU, GT, Clem, and WF all losing.
GT fans need to shut up about changing coaches, they lost a very good recruiter and coach in Gailey and will likely lose one in Johnson. GT has never been a consistent 10 game winner and will not ever be if we keep switching coaches. Let them make adjustments and accept that GT will only win the National Championship or share thereof once every 25 years like they did last century.
Bill Stanfill
November 27th, 2012
5:58 pm
Good god almighty!
You’re headed “down to Charlotte to see us beat FSU”? “Successful end to the season”? “If we had a better defense”?
Tech fans have apparently gone insane. The team has 6 losses, lost by 3 touchdowns to Middle Tennessee State, just got walloped by UGA for the 11th time in the last 12 years, etc.
The whole conversation is insane. Tech fans should be talking about how this kind of mediocrity is unacceptable; Tech fans need to be putting the pressure on the admin. to move on and put a new coach in (at minimum, it needs to be made clear that he has one more year to show significant improvement.)
I find it hard to believe (just because of a freak series of events they wind up playing in the conference championship game) that Tech fans are settling for such mediocrity. And with the kind of recruiting classes Johnson is bringing in, there is little hope that next year, or the year after, is going to be much better.
Mike S.
November 27th, 2012
5:58 pm
Come on GTBob. That 15 pts per game includes the garbage time scores like the TD against UGA. If you want to get better than 6 or 7 wins, these are the games you have to start winning. Not Duke and UNC. It doesnt matter how much yardage you pile up if you cant put points on the board. Also, you would need Alabama’s defense to win those games averaging only 15 pts. We lost the Va Tech game giving up only 17 pts in regulation.
OldGold1964
November 27th, 2012
6:00 pm
Been a fan, and followed GT since 1964. But for even me, this 2012 season is over.
De-certify 50% of the current Bowls, and form a standard season of 11 games (pre-season invitational kick-off classic can be excluded). Only teams achieving record of 7-4 or better are allowed to participate in bowl games.
Athens Campus Ninja
November 27th, 2012
6:03 pm
Like your scenario, Mark…except for the “stick around afterwards and help welcome the Georgia Bulldogs” part. UGA will not be making that trip.
Mike S.
November 27th, 2012
6:06 pm
Gailey landed a top 20 class in 2007. The 2008 class was projected top 20 until he was replaced by Johnson and the pro style recruits ran for the hills. It wasnt a fluke. he showed recruits they could come here and hit the next level with guys like Calvin Johnson, Wheeler, and Choice. Tenuta played an attacking style of defense that appeals to athletic recruits as well. It payed off and he started winning the recruiting battles over UGA, Clemson, FSU, and others. Ga Tech does not have to settle for rosters full of 2 and 3 star players.
alltech
November 27th, 2012
6:10 pm
tech can beat kent state—they are overrated and play in a weak conference! tech 30 kent 20
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
6:14 pm
If you want to get better than 6 or 7 wins, these are the games you have to start winning.
If we had any defense at all we would have won more than 6-7 games this year. You are completely out of your mind if you think our offense is our teams major problem.
GTBob
November 27th, 2012
6:15 pm
Gailey landed a top 20 class in 2007. The 2008 class was projected top 20 until he was replaced by Johnson and the pro style recruits ran for the hills.
How about his other classes?
beezit
November 27th, 2012
6:29 pm
For a minute there I thought I was reading a sports journalism column…Nice to know there are places on the interwebs to go immerse oneself into a world of fantasy and fiction…
Marion Hulsey
November 27th, 2012
6:30 pm
Can you imagine a bowl committee considering Teck with their following? At Saturdays game in Athens the Teck band out numbered the fans. What a joke. Here is a road game 60 miles from their campus and they bring less than 100 fans. Absolutely no school spirit or enthusiasm.
DAMN GOOD JACKETS
November 27th, 2012
6:34 pm
I like the new athletic director (Griffin) already..he says we’re playing in the Orange Bowl and so that’s that. Whewwwwwwwwwwwww…..go Jackets!!
gt
November 27th, 2012
6:42 pm
if college football went back to ending in ties, GT would be in decent shape..I try to remember they did take Miami and VT in OT although they definitely should have beaten VT…
yellowfever
November 27th, 2012
6:43 pm
I’m a long time TECH fan, please do all of us a favor and just say NO.
you can't fix stupid or Democrats or bulldogs
November 27th, 2012
6:53 pm
Some of those CEO’s need buy out CPJ contract and give Tech a Christmas present.
Chris
November 27th, 2012
7:01 pm
As crazy as this season has been, we can still finish 8 and 6 and ACC champions! It could be worse. By the way John Swofford, how bout we make the ACC game a home and away like the PAC 12. That would solve the sellout problem and create some enthusiasm! Don’t give up Tech fans!
RT
November 27th, 2012
7:06 pm
I am pulling for GT to beat Florida St and then win the Orange Bowl. It will look good for Georgia to have thoroughly beaten a team that has won their Conference and a major Bowl game. Go Dawgs and beat Bama
kingster
November 27th, 2012
7:24 pm
Mark, I like the way you up wrote this, but honestly, I don’t think Tech has a ghost of a chance to turn their season into a seccess, the only way to make it right is Fire Paul Johnson and get a good coach before other teams collect them all, but thanks again Mark for the positive spin (lol)
Burma Shave
November 27th, 2012
7:29 pm
The Tide will be rolling
They’ll be at their best
While the dawgs fart around
Bama passes the test
BURMA SHAVE
Reggie Ball
November 27th, 2012
7:48 pm
NERDS NERDS NERDS!!! We got tossed around like rag dolls to those talented DAWGS!! Just Body SLAMMED. We’re smaller in size, tallent, & coaching. We dont stand a chance against FSU! Maybe we can get back to El Paso on a bowl waiver & get beat by an eighth grade quaterback like we did last year! What down is it?
Chris
November 27th, 2012
7:50 pm
Hey, UGA was 6-7 in 2010. If we finish 8-6, we can turn this thing around.
Nativebird
November 27th, 2012
7:50 pm
Can anyone honestly believe this Tech team, coach, season and program isn’t anything other than an absolute joke? 6-6 and playing for a conference championship by default? Johnson hasn’t earned anything other than a first class ticket back to the sticks he came from.
ylojkt
November 27th, 2012
7:54 pm
Count me in as saying the offense is just fine. We move easily up and down the field, we’ve seen more looks coming with our offense as players learn the system, some nice passing plays this year so far to go with the run. It just so happens that we got stripped on the one on a running play that was going for a score, and we threw a couple of bad passes to end drives in scoring territory. Most of our red zone attempts were successful this year, except when we had to involve the kicking game. Tanner has stepped in admirably, but we will have to get a kicker who has a long drive soon.
I’m happy with Paul Johnson’s offense, it’s his defense and special teams that need improving. He thought he had something in Al Groh, but obviously all AG did was confuse his players, and they seemed to have gone without a quality scheme by which to play all this year. You could see the potential in flashes, but it didn’t materialize a whole lot until later in the year.
Here’s to continued improvement, and beating the semenholes.
BCS here we come.
Flounder
November 27th, 2012
8:00 pm
This bears repeating::
“Paul Johnson is an idiot. It doesn’t matter where or when, if it’s 4th down then he goes for it. Someone should inform him that 99.99% of the broadcasters, sportswriters, fans, players & coaches who witness his patented “4th and Whatever” decisions consider him to be a coaching buffoon.
You DON’T have to go for it on every 4th down…Especially when you’re not moving the ball effectively in the fist place. This is not a insignificant detail. It represents a much larger coaching flaw that resides within Paul Johnson.
It’s so eerily similar to that of Chan Gailey. He is old & stubborn. He doesn’t learn from mistakes. He only does things “his way” and so must everyone else. When asked about game situations and decisions, he quips little one liners that GT fans & alumni have to live with for years. He got the big contract and his personal performance nosedived. He’d rather be fishing than coaching football.
Chan Gailey The Hated set Tech Football back a decade. Al Groh The Useless put our defense behind by 3 years. Paul Hewitt The Moocher put our BB program behind by a decade. Now Paul Johnson The Fustercluck has completely ruined GT Football from recruiting on up to the fan & alumni bases.
No wonder Radakovich headed for the backwoods of SC…..Much of this was done on his watch.”
Iluvnutella
November 27th, 2012
8:16 pm
The people running the Athletic dept have no sense of shame. We have NO business playing for the conference title, much less going to a bowl. One more year of this foolishness and Fish-fry willbe shown the door. Get a young up and coming coach keep him as long as you can, then hire another up and coming coach, rinse and repeat. such is life we have now on The Flats. All it takes is a good AD to keep the plates wpinning.
Iluvnutella
November 27th, 2012
8:17 pm
*spinning…..circus metaphor
m
November 27th, 2012
8:23 pm
You are not a journalist. You are a sarcastic a–hole.
hind tit
November 27th, 2012
8:26 pm
It’s hard to believe that the Orange Bowl was the bowl every team worked all year to play in. Now it’s the welfare bowl.
DawgFan
November 27th, 2012
8:30 pm
Amazing that on a Tech blog more people have wished ill will toward the Dawgs than good will toward their own pathetic pack of losers. Tech fans are the problem. If this season is just slightly below avg as GTBob says then why is support dead and interest at an all time low. The lack of crowd Tech brought to Athens was embarrassing. The defensive effort was beyond embarrassing and the talent gap very obvious. If Techsters want a good football team they need a new coach and some new fans that care.
NtheNo
November 27th, 2012
8:38 pm
Tech is in shambles – not sure they could win the GHSA state championship much less play with FSU. This program needs to really consider stepping down a level to play with the Georgia Southerns of the college football world. Its out of control and the powers that be clearly are asleep at the wheel. Truly a shame. Recruits are the lifeblood and its clear GT’s recruiting is at a very low point. I wouldn’t go to the so called ACC championship game if they gave me free tickets and delivered me to the gate. Too bad that FSU is in this position.
JASon
November 27th, 2012
8:44 pm
“‘It’s been a different year,’ Paul Johnson said Tuesday”
They went 6-6 in 2010
They are 0-4 in bowl games under johnson
They are 1-4 against uga under johnson
So for him to act like this team is not used to failing is laughable.
dawgfan
November 27th, 2012
8:49 pm
Tech gave up on the season a long time ago because they are quitters. Unless they are playing a UNC or some other joke ACC team neither the players, coaches, nor fans are all that interested. This is the most half azzed joke of an effing D-1 football program that you will ever come across. They are going to get drilled by FSU. They’ll take a charity bowl berth to keep the streak alive, which nobody else cares about, and get their azzes kicked.
Despite this pathetic state of affairs, none of it will stop Tech fans from incessantly running their fat mouths about anything and everything UGA. All they know how to do is talk tough and flap their gums. It almost never works out well for them on the field but they do it anyway. Tech fans have to be some of the thickest people around.
Golden Tornado
November 27th, 2012
9:17 pm
Bobo, you are spot on. Further truth: Talk about offensive and defensive schemes is less important than inability to recruit against Georgia. Maybe it’s a sourpuss coach’s fault, but, as an old guy, I guess I’ve never gotten over Tech’s leaving the S.E.C. after 1963.
Movin On
November 27th, 2012
9:22 pm
As a Tech fan the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. My insanity is bying season tickects for 30 years and expecting something different. I think i’ve learned my lesson!
4 Nat'l Chmpshps
November 27th, 2012
9:33 pm
@Bobo – I also think you’re comments are spot on. Agree that we have to put massive focus on Defensive recruiting…..I like MB suggestion of Ellis Johnson as D-Coord…..assuming he can recruit. We need a recruiting coordinator who can go out and get em….that’s not what any head coaches are doing, it’s all the recruiting coordinator (whatever that is – maybe that’s the guys that gives money to the AME Church’s).
Disappointed, surprised by lack of fight against Clarke County correctional thugs, but still a fan. Go Jackets!
the red herring
November 27th, 2012
9:38 pm
let’s let PJ take the jackets to a bowl game and set the record for consecutive bowl losses. maybe then we can send him packing. his offense is high school/junior college material—good for 7 wins max in a premier season. only when they can keep the ball 3/4 of the game clock do they have a chance to win —especially with the defensive effort this season. tech’s defense can’t stop a decent offense and tech’s offense can’t control the clock well enough to keep the defense off the field. fsu by 21 and i’m a long time tech fan.
Bobo
November 27th, 2012
9:43 pm
Golden Tornado
That’s dang right. If we had the kind of talent Nebraska did back in their heyday with Tom Osborne, the triple option would probably be as trendy as the spread or the pistol right now. Nebraska, however, won with that because they always had an insanely good defense and ball control combined with the best D-line in the country was a deadly combination.
Teams with talent like Bama have used the 3-4 pretty successfully, but you can see how disastrous that scheme is when you don’t have incredible linemen or big backers. It was the wrong scheme for us, completely, but TALENT, or lack thereof, was the bigger issue.
The next coach (or Johnson if his stubborn butt will turn it around) has to draw a line in the sand and make whatever promises he needs to make to settle for no less than 8-10 guys who rate 4 stars every single year. Georgia gets upwards of 15-20 of those and they also pull in 5 star guys. I’m not naiive enough to think we’ll get a 5 star guy (Calvin Johnson is the only one we ever got), but we can certainly stop signing 2 star players that EVERY high school has at least 2 to 5 of on their roster. You generally tend to get what you settle for.
Glory Glory To Georgia
November 27th, 2012
10:07 pm
Goldenrod,
Get over it. GT should graciously bow out of any bowl game. I understand the rule was changed about 5 months ago to make it very difficult for sub 500 teams to make a bowl game. One factor that will affect this is the number of bowl eligible teams, which exceed bowl slots.
Go play World of Warcraft instead. You will be happier. Oh yeah,.,good luck litigating this case. Can you say summary judgment?
Smitty
November 27th, 2012
10:12 pm
I am a Dawg fan but I hope Tech beats FSU…..would make my day
Smitty
November 27th, 2012
10:14 pm
I am tired of the FSU whinners
GA YECK TELLOW CRAPETS
November 27th, 2012
10:29 pm
If no bowl—–I smell a lifetime movie in the works. Crap blocks and all.
Dacusville Bill
November 27th, 2012
10:41 pm
I am putting my prize bull in my new shed—since Pitiful Paul is spouting the same old bull, he can have my old shed for his old bull and now we have had enuff bull shed for one night–Fire that sucker, and hire Joker or that Motorcycle Rider from R can Saw–
KJ
November 27th, 2012
11:39 pm
At this point, the only thing to be done is to merge the top half of the ACC and Big East to form a new BCS conference, and demote the rest to FCS. Still not sure which group the gnats would fall under.
Mama Says
November 27th, 2012
11:46 pm
Ok I’ll give it a shot.
Let me get this right, Georgia in beating Buffalo and Florida Atlantic gives up a combined 43 points, beats Kentucky, who you just told us about, 29-24, gives up 44 to a Tennessee team that was so bad they fired the coach and got absolutely manhandled by South Carolina. Yet it is absolute justification that they are mentioned as being a possible national champion. Who can get people to buy tickets because they are such a good team.
Kent St may very well win their conference and Ga Tech, despite the conference they play in and record, is playing in the ACC championship game. yet even by beating Fla State they still arent good enough to attract ticket buyers to the Orange Bowl ?
Could there be a more graphic example of spoiled big conference favoritism than this ?
Has anyone stopped to think that nobody gives a crap about what Bowl Georgia, Alabama or Notre Dame is in except their fans ?
The truth is that the mentality that leads to this is totally based on ticket sales. Meaning that the only ones buying tickets to any of the bowl games are the fans that support the relevent teams that are in the bowls.
The fact is regardless of record the smaller schools are shunned in favor of the larger fan base. That’s why you will never see Kent State start he season ranked in the top 25.
There is a backlash in ranking small schools high, some of them might actually be good. If they are good they may finished ranked. Finished ranked and someone may have to take you in a bowl game. A bowl game that will not sell out because the fan base is small.
Money controls all things folks, therefore these mega conferences controll it, by rule the fix is in.
Now please continue telling us why Kent St and Tech shouldn’t be in a bowl please.
Stinger 2
November 28th, 2012
4:02 am
GT should not be in a bowl game. They should take an enema and stay at home near their toilet bowls. After the great purge, they should be ready to do at least someting right. Start by putting CPJ on notice that improvement in his recruiting, defense are
expected immediately.
Buzz 333
November 28th, 2012
5:57 am
One thing is for sure, CPJ is overpaid.
Another thing, I am glad DRad is gone.
I am waiting for CPJ and Peterson to be gone, they have ruined the fan base and recruiting.
old dog
November 28th, 2012
6:22 am
To Hell with Tek, today,tomorrow and every other day.
Jacket 97
November 28th, 2012
7:18 am
GT will beat Kent State in Miami; meanwhile, after losing to Alabama…UGA will lose to another nobody in the Outback Bowl.
Rufus
November 28th, 2012
7:19 am
I’m embarrassed that we would even think about playing for the ACC championship. We should follow Miami’s lead and step aside.
RedandBlackDAWG
November 28th, 2012
7:21 am
Goldenrod
November 27th, 2012
3:30 pm
There is always the Sun Bowl again. Maybe there will be another team, with a wins waiver that wants to play you in El Paso. I woulds doubt it adds much to the coffers of GT or the ACC, but it is a bowl game, I guess.
Reggie Ball
November 28th, 2012
7:23 am
Who better than the best QB to ever play the game in Georgia to offer my prediction?
GT will win big over FSU…GT 45 – FSU 10.
Meanwhile, UGA 3 – Alabama 55
Pepper Rogers
November 28th, 2012
7:26 am
I may be old, but I know that GT will win big over FSU.
UGA just got lucky against us this year.
The Dawgs will be kicked up and down the field Saturday against Alabama.
Final score…UGA 0 – Alabama 62
Alabama is lucky they don’t have to play GT this year!
RedandBlackDAWG
November 28th, 2012
7:28 am
Jacket 97
November 28th, 2012
7:18 am
Kent State? I am pretty sure with the schedule they play you might be able to stand up against them. I am not sure though given MTSU whopped you, so you might be careful what you ask for. It would be humiliating to lose to two teams like that in a single season. Of course, if not for the two teams at least in front of you not going to a bowl, you would not even have a chance to play in the championship game of your conference. One has to wonder where the pride is, in playing in a championship game, with a 6-6 record and even to go as far as asking for a waiver to play in any bowl game when you could be 6-7. That is just sad, and you would think that an outstanding school, as we are always told that you are, would even lower their team down to the level.
Coach Vince "Coke Head" Dooley
November 28th, 2012
7:28 am
Where am I?
What day is it?
Where is Larry?
I need some blow!
Bud
November 28th, 2012
7:34 am
Hey mark how many teams in fbs has ga beaten with a winning record
MC
November 28th, 2012
7:34 am
Even when GT had a good team and faced Iowa in the Orange Bowl the tech “faithful” wouldn’t buy tickets or go to the game. Iowa filled the place up. The city of Jacksonville is on record as saying they never want to see GT in their city again. What was it attended the ACC CG in Charlotte against Wake? 3000-4000 tech fans? Everywhere GT goes bowling a financial bloodbath befalls that bowl. GT has become the pariah of the bowl season. I wouldn’t count on a waiver when the NCAA knows 10 tech fans might show up to whatever unfortunate bowl has to take them.
Brian Tucker
November 28th, 2012
7:45 am
Why is Paul Johnson still coach here?
dawgfan
November 28th, 2012
7:51 am
Let me get this straight Mama says, the ACC just got humiliated on the football field by the SEC and you STILL want to cry like a little girl about some supposed SEC bias and favoritism?
Can you even chew gum and walk at the same time?
sugarpikegang
November 28th, 2012
8:13 am
2012 Mayan prophesy – plain and simple.
Jeff B
November 28th, 2012
8:14 am
Uga isn’t beating bama. That’s so obvious. Bama isn’t losing twice in a month. And they certainly aren’t losing to a team that got blown out and played just 2 games all year. Compare that to fla who played top 15 teams and lost but 1. That’s why fla deserves the sugar and ga doesn’t when they lose. You see red neckers, if you played lsu and texas am too, u wouldn’t be in the game. Fools.
Roll Tide 42 ga 21
Jeff B
November 28th, 2012
8:15 am
Nice my post doesn’t show. Ths blog and mb is an utter joke. Keep spinning uga loser. Gonna laugh when they get blown out.
Then next year with all their players adios, it’s back to 7-5 reg seasons.
tndawg
November 28th, 2012
8:31 am
Wow! So much hate here. Loosen up guys. Football is only a sport. And I LOVE it!
GO DAWGS! BEAT ALABAMA!
Ramblin David
November 28th, 2012
8:44 am
I don’t think Tech should go to a bowl this year. It would be a travesty. Fire CPJ and go get James Franklin from Vandy. Let’s get back to playing “big boy” football.
Dadgum....
November 28th, 2012
8:48 am
Many are claiming GT backed into the championship game and that is partly true. Reality is the other teams dropped out via NCAA sanctions and self imposed sanctions. It certainly isn’t GT’s fault they were the last team left standing in the division. Just to keep in mind, had there been no sanctions then UNC would have won the three team tie breaker. Not Miami. Still, nobody had a better record so we got to go. Call it fortuitous or whatever. It is what it is.
To set another thing straight. Last year UCLA went bowling with a 6-7 record via an NCAA waiver. The reason was there were not enough qualifying teams to put in the bowls and they had just played in their champ game. GT situation is different on a couple of levels. #1- there are over 70 qualifying teams so if GT loses to FSU they don’t need them. #2- UCLA is not a precedent so the NCAA is not bound to past action.
The Sun Bowl has already looked past GT and even if GT somehow got a waiver they would only play in the Music City Bowl. The two bowls have been negotiating a switch in the event Tech is granted a waiver. I think there is a slim chance GT actually gets the waiver. The waiver has to do strictly with the rules and not game outcomes or who played who. Pure and simple the GT case is hollow and it is very doubtful the NCAA is going to bail out the ACC for having a 6 loss team in the champ game. Just because we have a tie-in for the loser to fall no further than the Sun Bowl that doesn’t trump the NCAA mandate of being a minimum of .500 and 6 qualifying wins.
That is best way I can explain it. If I was the NCAA I would disallow the waiver. There is no precedent and the waiver is more about spilt milk than substance. Beat FSU or go home. That is the only way to handle this. Why apply for a waiver when no bowl wants you. Case closed.
Cecil34
November 28th, 2012
8:54 am
Mark calls it nutty – Funny choice of words – how about substandard and inadequate?
I would say that would be more accurate.
Tech backing into an ACC championship game is not my idea of a successful season, but obviously for Johnson it is.
Any team that is 6-6 or 6-7 has no business going to a bowl game, period.
TEXAS DAWG
November 28th, 2012
9:02 am
The comments from the TECH fans say it all. They think that a 6-6 record and going to a conference championship (because the 2 above you can’t or won’t) is a great thing. THEN they have the nerve to get upset because if they loose and wind up with a 6-7 record, they may not get to go bowling. NO team should go with a loosing record. There are way too many bowls now when even a .500 record is good enough to get you there.
quick fix
November 28th, 2012
9:05 am
@ MC…the reason there were so few GT fans in the champ game in Charlotte vs Wake, the real game was played in Jax….
@ Tex dog
November 28th, 2012
9:08 am
let me guess, spelling was your major in Athens. By the way, my dog sometimes gets loose stool.
Dawg Catcher
November 28th, 2012
9:16 am
Continuing this logic, GT and uga will win Saturday, I will win the powerball (without buying a ticket), and I will give half of my winnings to GT. GT will use the winnings to hire Nick Saban as the new DC, and ….. the Mayans will be right and this whole season (and the world) will be vacated! Then, after all that, GT’s 2012 season will all make perfect sense.
TEXAS DAWG
November 28th, 2012
9:20 am
@Tex dog,
Just typing in a hurry while I had a little down time at work. I did not review before posting, so sorry to offend you (your disdain ruined my day). Once again as with most TECH poster, let’s ignore the facts and go to personal insults. If you can not attack the message, attack the messenger. I guess after this past Saturday that is all you have left to resort to. Oh and by the way did they teach you start sentences with lower case letters at GT- be careful of your comments and make sure you don’t have any errores yourself before you start down that road.
TEXAS DAWG
November 28th, 2012
9:21 am
Correction errors
robodawg
November 28th, 2012
9:28 am
Tech and UGA both in Miami … love it! Hope it works out that way.
Go Dawgs!
Coach Vince "Coke Head" Dooley
November 28th, 2012
9:33 am
Does anyone care about the old coach?
TechLB
November 28th, 2012
9:34 am
@Texas Dawg – Wow, that is some inferiority complex you have going on man.
Here’s a virtual man hug for you ( man hug). Try to enjoy the SEC Championship game and possible BCS title OK? Let it go…
Damon Evans
November 28th, 2012
9:35 am
Two words…”Red panties.”
TEXAS DAWG
November 28th, 2012
9:45 am
Thanks for the offer, but save it for your fellow GT alumni who are in to that kind of stuff. You will need it big time after Saturday. The world is so interested in the ACC championship game that tickets on stub hub are going for less than that it would cost to tour the stadium on an off day.
From Yahoo sports “Interest in this weekend’s ACC Championship Game isn’t exactly at an all-time high. Considering you can use a $5 bill to buy a ticket and still get $1 back in change”
Now that is funny.
Buzz 2011
November 28th, 2012
10:17 am
Hey everyone i forgot that GT got the 2009 ACC cahmpionship taken away for cheating and I also forgot to mention that UGA spanked us that year and every year since.
Not only is CPJ a BAD coach he is also bad recruiter and very very FAT.
http://www.firebigjohnson.com
13 fans
November 28th, 2012
10:32 am
Show some CLASS please, do not go to a bowl game.
Nutty Year
November 28th, 2012
10:37 am
for sure but what do you expect when you have a nutty coach and even nuttier fan base.
atowndown
November 28th, 2012
11:10 am
Wow, it is really amazing that this guy Bradley gets paid for this. What an idiot. Bradley, stick to writing pro UGA columns about UGA instead of trying to hide your pro UGA drivel in a Tech column. Thanks.
murfdawg
November 28th, 2012
11:21 am
Hey Mark,
Put me down for $2 on GT over FSU.
Reality
November 28th, 2012
11:37 am
So many blog trolls here….. Funny how GA Tech still has a “following” isn’t it? Even when GA Tech has a 6-6 record, even when we lose to uga, regardless, GA Tech inspires hatred from these trolls. LOL!!!
Reality
November 28th, 2012
11:43 am
Any team, even GA Tech, should try to go to a bowl regardless of their record. It is just silly to state or imply otherwise. This allows for more practices, more exposure, etc.
For GA Tech, going to a bowl will also extend the consecutive years going to a bowl game. I believe that currently, they have the 4th longest streak of this.
However, I will laugh and laugh and laugh if GA Tech does go to a BCS bowl and uga does not. It would be very funny. I do not predict that GA Tech will defeat FSU, but if they do…..
TEXAS DAWG
November 28th, 2012
11:51 am
@ Reality
Hatred no, Pity yes
As far as trolls, just returning the favor. All the UGA sites are crawling with TECH trolls all the time. It is either hatred or envy but they are there regular as clockwork.
MT
November 28th, 2012
11:58 am
we have bigger fish to fry in Charlotte
Hey Georgie Tech,
11 OUT THE LAST TWELVE, Ya’ll can’t fry the” Georgie” fish can you.Let alone any other ACC Fish.
FSU is seaming over the loss to Florida and unlike ya’ll they have the defense to do something about it.
Skeptic
November 28th, 2012
12:09 pm
These blog columns keep rehashing the same news, stirring the pot some more. Hits on the blog = revenue for the paper.
Oh, well, here’s mine
MT
November 28th, 2012
12:13 pm
All you people that says Georgia won’t beat Alabama,the DAWGS don’t have a chance,ya’ll are probably the same ones that said Georgia wouldn’t beat Florida either.How did that work out for ya’ll.
Losers. Go Dawgs. NC Time.1980 Georgia 17 Notre Dame 10, this time will be worse for ND.
Skeptic
November 28th, 2012
12:20 pm
MT,
It’s “y’all”, not “ya’ll”. I can’t believe a Georgia fan can’t get this right. You must live in East Cobb.
MT
November 28th, 2012
12:26 pm
I t’s amazing what some of these Nerds are posting,considering they got there heads handed to them last Saturday.Would have been worse if Richt had pulled the starters in the 2nd half.Some Nerd back at the first of the blog is in a twist because Rambo and Ogletree were body slamming Tech’s running backs. Sorry dude it was all legal.Recruit ya’ll some better backs and that may not happen.You really didn’t expect Georgia’s defense to serve them crumpet’s and tea did you. Geez, and these guys are representative of the high bastion of academia in the State of Georgia.
MT
November 28th, 2012
12:37 pm
Skeptic
That the best you got today.Too bad the score is still 42-10.
.
MT
November 28th, 2012
12:40 pm
Go to http://www.firebigjohnson.com then visit http://www.bringbackchangailey.com
42-10
November 28th, 2012
1:49 pm
Now I see why Georgia Tech nerds are so obsessed with Paul Johnson. He is delusional, just like the rest of the nerds! Only delusional fans brag about a 6-6 season! I don’t think this is too far of a stretch, but if Tech finishes 6-7, the nerds will still say Paul Johnson is a genius. 1-4 against Miami, 1-4 against VT, 1-4 against UGA, 0-4 in bowl games. Genius! Hahahahaahahahaha! I’ll give Auburn fans credit, at least they weren’t brainwashed by Gene Chizik.
JM
November 28th, 2012
2:50 pm
Go Jackets. keep fighting to overcome.
ShowMeYurTD's
November 28th, 2012
2:58 pm
I’m just glad Tech got rid of the chicken wire on their helmets….LOL
WDE
November 28th, 2012
3:45 pm
hey I think Middle Tenn St just scored….again!
Ty
November 28th, 2012
5:21 pm
Random musings for consideration:
1) GT winning Saturday would likely mean the Mayan calendar prediction is right too and thus, the Orange Bowl wouldn’t be stuck with the Jackets.
2) GT losing Saturday (most likely, but maybe not as embarrassing as the Athens trip) should send the Jackets home. Being able to claim a ‘bowl streak’ (especially in light of the recent bowls attended and their performance) is no reason to go. It would probably be one of the best outcomes to stay home at this point. (even if they weren’t playing in the ACC championship).
3) The CPJ era is fast approaching a close on the Flats. Word on the street is that if the other team took their offense to the locker room with 2 minutes to play, the GT defense STILL couldn’t get off the field. Similarly, if the other teams defense left once Tech got inside the 20, they would still need 6 plays and 2 minutes to score (and would possibly turn the ball over on downs) . . .yes, they are that bad.
4) It’s been said before and the theory is fast becoming a “law” – “The CPJ style WON’T work against teams with equal / better talent that have time to prepare (i.e. an open date before the game, or in the case of UGA, a warm-up game with Ga Southern the week before).” Even with the ‘wins’ this year against Duke and UNC (both with open dates beforehand), CPJ’s record against FBS teams that have extra time to prepare is a lowly 6-13 (31%). Prior to this year, that record was 4-11 (27%). Of note is that GT had FOUR teams with open dates before their matchup (and UGA scheduled Ga Southern to get a week’s scrimmage ahead of time). Opponents are figuring this thing out and reacting accordingly.
5) Similarly, CPJ will NEVER get talent to equal his opponents with this offense (keep in mind the first 2+ years were built on Chan’s recruits . . several of whom ended up in the NFL). Players in this offense will NEVER run this type of offense again (especially at the next level) and learn skills (cut-blocks) that they can’t use at the next level. Thus, to use ‘this offense’ and win requires equal / better talent than the opponent PLUS the schemes. Lesser talent (and time to prepare) neutralizes any advantage of the scheme . .. expect many years of more of the same.
6) So, what’s next . . . I think CPJ is around another year (despite the poor performance and even if he manages to get to a bowl and win (for a change). Reason being that Radakovich has left and a new AD is coming who will not want to make his first move changing the coaching staff (plus he’s got to finish the Hewitt payouts and building fund payments Rad left him/her).
7) On the unlikely chance that we really DO get to see a coaching change, the question becomes WHO? Not a whole lot of motivation for a coach to come to the Flats these days with a program on life support. Maybe an up and coming small-school coach . . maybe another “Chan” with NFL credentials that doesn’t need the money and only wants the challenge (think Andy Reid or Ken Whisenhunt)?
It saddens me to see the program fall apart like this (I think Bill Lewis may be breathing a sigh of relief possibly losing his title as “the worst coach”) . . . MAN UP Paul!! Either admit it isn’t working, or take the blame when it doesn’t (while updating your resume).
GTPak
November 28th, 2012
7:28 pm
This season has been an embarrassment and the game with FSU should not be. We will be the laughing stock of the college football world. Last weekend even the ESPN guys were saying that the two best teams in the ACC were FSU and Clemson and that would be a much better game. I know that they are both in the same division, but face it, our division is awful and even the one with FSU and Clemson is not even in the top ten.
The BCS bowls should only have those top ranked teams who deserve to be there. There are how many teams that would beat us this year if we had to play them in a bowl game, at least forty. Let those with the better teams go and provide some entertainment.
Yes the players want to go, but, guess what, they should have taken care of business against VT, Miami, and MTSU. If UGA had not played their second team defense in the 4th qtr, we would have lost probably 49 -3 or 56-3.
Sorry, but to me this is just pure embarrassment and no one should be petitioning anyone to got to a bowl with a losing record. I don’t care if we are called the Coastal champs, it sure does not feel like it.
I’ll be rooting for them in the ACC championship game, but please no bowl this year!!
Funny perspective
November 28th, 2012
7:32 pm
All these techies bashing UGA when they can’t beat UGA but once every DECADE.
Heard the fix is in FSU will win – seems the Orange Bowl and TV folks shudder at the thought of watching millions of dollars go up in smoke if GT wins – book it.
Face it techies your football program is a JOKE.
Buzz Kill
November 28th, 2012
8:50 pm
This season is turning into a blast………..the worse we play the greater rewards………..On forward Von Johnson…………..Take us to greater and greater glory!
1 Proud Seminole
November 28th, 2012
9:22 pm
What a stupid column! First you have to accept the premise that GT can beat FSU. You can stop right there. Secondly, if Tech gets invited to any bowl, they will get their butts kicked! I’ll always root for an ACC team against another conference, but the Jackets just aren’t any good this year.
I-DOG
November 28th, 2012
10:05 pm
Toe meets leather:
Rueben Houston wasn’t embarrasing? Tech getting NCAA sanctions for academic fraud a couple of years ago wasn’t embarrasing? Kenny Anderson getting into tech and passing all those calculus classes isn’t embarassing? 11 out of 12 isn’t embarrassing?
Allowing the guy that beat the hades out of the girl to play this season? Are you talking about Sanders Commings? The charge was that he shoved his girlfriend. It is he said she said and maybe he did and maybe he didn’t, but he certainly didn’t beat the hades out of anyone and he has NEVER been in any trouble before or since. I don’t know what happpened and if he did shove her, then what he did was dead wrong, but saying he beat the hades out of her is like saying tech and MIT are equally respected academically.
GTJohn
November 29th, 2012
6:54 am
Agree with you GTPak, either win the game against FSU or STAY HOME. We alumni have been embarrassed enough already.
And use the $$$ from the A-T fund to find another coach that knows a real football offense and any semblence of a real football defense. Oh yeah, he needs a personality that can recruit players and one that is able to delegate to subordinates who just may know more than he does about something. And when looking for a new coach, open it up to real coaches. Forget the GT ties and what not – it is not working. Bobby Dodd was a UT guy afterall. Urban Meyer was an OSU guy, Steve Spurrier was a UF guy and Will Muschamp would have been a tremendous choice back when.