Bowling Green Post Game... 😢

[Eli]

I’m pretty sure a lot of fans at the end of the year wanted us to keep Thacker. So Key wasn’t the only one let’s see what he does after the season or during the season which I’m not crazy about cutting a coach in the middle of a season.

I think people underestimate position coaches on defense. Tillman and Coleman have been extremely underwhelming. Tillman in particular as that is our most talented group. Not to mention Michigan State DBs were terrible under him

 

[wrmathis]

He was also second in command at UCF when they were 11-3, 10-4, 13-1 and 9-4. Do we give him credit for that or nah? Also I would beg the question if Alabamas o-line has been so much better since Key left? Bryce Young pretty much ran for his life for two years and the line is atrocious this year.

He was also there when they went 0-12.


Now I like key and want him to succeed. But don’t cherry pick seasons when he was also there for a bad one when he was the OC

 

[stech81]

I think people underestimate position coaches on defense. Tillman and Coleman have been extremely underwhelming. Tillman in particular as that is our most talented group. Not to mention Michigan State DBs were terrible under him

And that is a good reason to wait till the season is over. Can’t replaced that many coaches during the season

 

[Eli]

He was also there when they went 0-12.


Now I like key and want him to succeed. But don’t cherry pick seasons when he was also there for a bad one when he was the OC

So we only recognize the 0-12 season and nothing else? Confused. He was there from the very beginning of building a new program and since his and George O’Learys departure has only experienced the same type of success one other time.

 

[Eli]

He was also there when they went 0-12.


Now I like key and want him to succeed. But don’t cherry pick seasons when he was also there for a bad one when he was the OC

If you would have read the post I replied to I wasn’t cherry picking I was replying to that of someone who was

 

[wrmathis]

So we only recognize the 0-12 season and nothing else? Confused. He was there from the very beginning of building a new program and since his and George O’Learys departure has only experienced the same type of success one other time.

You cherry picked seasons. If you are going to only give him credit for the good ones, then you have to give him credit for the bad ones. There were a few that were under .500. Why didn’t you mention those?

 

[wrmathis]

If you would have read the post I replied to I wasn’t cherry picking I was replying to that of someone who was

I mean I get what he was saying. As 2nd in command probably has a little more influence over the team. The times he has been second in command, the one year at ucf and the 3+ here have been really bad.

Again, I want him to succeed and have seen improvement but there also have been some bad things too. I think he can make the team tough and good and needs time but how long will that take and if some of these issues keep popping up then he should be questioned about them.

 

[slugboy]

We will be just what they need

We don’t play them this season

 

[Eli]

You cherry picked seasons. If you are going to only give him credit for the good ones, then you have to give him credit for the bad ones. There were a few that were under .500. Why didn’t you mention those?

What year was Brent Key 500 as the AHC? Because he had that role from 2011-2015. You want to judge him as the TE coach and recruiting coordinator from 2007-2010?

 

[sgreer]

Should not take CBK as long it’s not like he just arrived this year. He knows the players that are here and the coaching staff. He will have to play the transfer game (like every school does these days) and be able to coach them to the talent level or better. I don’t see any evidence of that yesterday.

 

[eetech]

Fire Key! Don't wait, you're just postponing the inevitable, digging a deeper hole. Each terrible loss/season makes it harder to recruit players or coaches. What rising 'good' high school football player's image of Tech isn't affected by this . . . https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2023/sep/30/georgia-tech-loses-at-home-to-three-touchdown/

And what good coach is gonna want to come to GT after we fired a HC 5 games into his first full season?

Key needs to make changes. We can fire him if he doesn’t make those changes before the end of the season but no sooner.

 

[Jacket20]

This is the type of game where I hope Key has some of that GOL/Saban in him. Throwing stuff, spittle flying, and just ripping into guys. We aren’t especially talented but when that is the case you also can’t make dumb plays.

As PJ said, it’s never as good or as bad as it seems. I saw a team that lost 42-0 to Ole Miss running HB power all game rise up and beat some conference opponents. I saw a guy who sacked himself 10 times against uva play much better just a few weeks later.
We can still improve and win some games but this is a huge inflection point not only for this years team but the direction of Key’s career. Do we fold and end up with 3 wins again or do we punch some teams in the mouth? I don’t know if we have the horses to be a good team, but we have to be better than we were today

We obviously don't have talent on the roster when every transfer you bring in starts over the guys already here.

 

[roadkill]

Our stats look even—aside from turnovers—in a game that should have been a rout.

Not going to respond to the Fire-the-Coachers or the Eeyores, but there is no sugarcoating this one. And I like the stats when they give true insight.
The problem with many stats is that they are averages, and don't take into account other key aspects of the game. For example, between our defense and their penalties, we had BG in third and very long a good bit. But this doesn't tell the whole story. This is a meaningful defensive stat:

3rd Down Success Rate

BG: 55% 83rd %ile

GT: 27% 14th %ile

Similarly, we moved the ball pretty well through the air and thus had a lot of passing yards. But the pick-six, the other interception in the red zone, and the failed (twice) short-yardage QB sneaks in the red zone meant that several scoring opportunities were wasted. The stats also don't describe how we took this game for granted (admitted by our defensive leaders), lost focus after going up two scores, and BG played with greater intensity.

We have so far this season been able to overcome deficiencies in some areas (special teams, tackling, etc.) with strengths in others. Not always enough to win the game, but enough to keep from embarrassing ourselves. What this game showed is that we are not a good enough team to win when our QB has a bad day. And he had an uncharacteristically bad one. Let's hope he can put it behind him.

While I'm not convinced Key is the right coach long-term, he has earned a little patience from me. Perhaps because the bar was set so low by the previous regime. But he is taking ownership and I believe he is holding his players and coaching team accountable. Also, and more importantly for the long-term, Cabrera has shown he is not willing to let things go too long without taking action, unlike prior admins.

 

[bobongo]

This isn’t opponent-adjusted. Our stats look even—aside from turnovers—in a game that should have been a rout.

It should have been a rout based only on statistics. This team was obviously better than its record, or its statistics, indicated. The 22-point spread by which they were favored was a mirage.

 

[alagold]

I watched the Kentucky-Florida game on Saturday. Watched Kentucky dbs stick their face mask into a runners chest and put them immediately on the ground. Why GT, why can't you do same?

yep,
I'm beginning to think it is flat lack of strength besides technique.In the first QTR a WR for BG caught a short pass someone (10 or 14) came up from BEHIND (the easiest oppty) and hit him and little effect.!! THEir big QB in 1st quarter just pushed his way down the field to the EZ.They knew then we could not stop them..Do we have a real weight program?We are truly one of the worst tackling teams in US.

 

[stinger 1957]

To borrow from someone else, if you get in a fight that you never were ready or did not know would be a fight then you've already lost and cannot get ready while it's going on. The only way you might win that fight is with much superior equipment, leadership and ability, then it is possible.

 

[JacketFan137]

I’m pretty sure a lot of fans at the end of the year wanted us to keep Thacker. So Key wasn’t the only one let’s see what he does after the season or during the season which I’m not crazy about cutting a coach in the middle of a season.

i think at this point not firing thacker is just showing you don’t care. sometimes a message needs to be sent to everyone that things are not going well and you have to perform

 

[slugboy]

It should have been a rout based only on statistics. This team was obviously better than its record, or its statistics, indicated. The 22-point spread by which they were favored was a mirage.

I think you’re unusual in that opinion that Bowling Green is a good team.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

There was too much in the system to flush out at one time when Collins left. Tech is just not in a position to get rid of every player, every coach and assistant and start from scratch at year 0. Maybe that is where football is headed and maybe Tech will get to that point one day. But, for better or worse, that’s not in our DNA.

So what can you expect from a program that still has to compromise on who to fire, who to retain and how many students can be processed at one time? Saturdays like we just experienced are what we can expect.

The interesting question for me is what’s it like on the inside with this team? Who is embarrassed? Who is philosophical? Who is angry? Who is indifferent and still dreaming of the personal glory in the NFL that Collins promised? Who is fragile and who is broken?

Pulling all that together as a team using the broken pieces of the previous regime was always going to be difficult at best. Personally, I made the mistake of getting too optimistic and too heady about how fast Key could turn the disaster of Tech football around. Rationally I should have known better.

My guess is that Key has to thread the needle pretty fine right now, reading the riot act to players who frankly don’t deserve their scholarships while also trying to hold the team together. He’s a former Tech player who has had successes at every level he has coached or played at so he knows what’s required. But Collins left a lot of entitled players in the system who see no connection between who they are and their won / loss records. That’s as contagious as any Covid strain for a team.

Watch carefully what happens this coming week.

 

[takethepoints]

Well, that was a humiliating experience. My impressions:

The Good:
• The first two series on O and D were up to expectations.

The Bad:
• #1 with a bullet: Tech can't run the ball. That makes everything else much more difficult. I wish Dontae Smith had been out there; he can hit a hole with authority, None of our other backs can, at present. And, btw, I watched the game through my binocs as usual. RBs were simply missing clear holes and running into defenders.
• Again, I'll point out that we are running a Bammer/Dwag style O without the talent to do it. Why can't the OC adjust to what we have and show a little innovation?
• The WRs disappointed me this time, but part of that was bad throws. I mean, you get wide open, you expect the QB to get the ball to you, right?
• Tech turned the ball over three times. That, combined with our lack of a sound running game, spelled disaster.
• BGU had the ball over 42 minutes, 2.5 times longer then Tech. With our D that is also a recipe for disaster. The DL was already fagged out at the half. I don't want to hear any more about how "unimportant" TOP is.
• And, again btw, the entire center of our DL is too big and slow.. The rush ends are alright, but BG was able to hold them off just long enough. We might try Kennard inside and see what happens. Trying to match size against size with little in the way of stunts isn't working.
• King had a so-so game, but he isn't the QB Tech needs in short yardage situations. Like our RBs he doesn't run with suthority. If I were Key, I'd take a page from Paul's book and put Rhoads in within the 10, just like Tim Byerley. He can run and he's an good passer. Btw yet again, I think we saw yesterday why Fisher blew hot and cold on King.
• The special teams returned to early season form on punts. KO returns were ok, as was the FG kicking. Why is there always something?

I left at the half. I could see where things were going. I said when we beat Wake that I thought we could win 6. I watched the Army - Syracuse game before I left the house. I now think we might win 4.

One thing I noticed that I liked was that Tech was holding a bundle of players out of the game. If we keep them and develop them, we'll be going in the right direction. Tech probably needs to endure a little pain first. Again.