Brutal schedule / expectations

[majorQ9]

The fact that UCF put up 63 points on Temple while we put up 2 probably scares some people. I agree though, it’s not unwinnable.

And Mckenzie Milton could be back

 

[TampaGT]

And Mckenzie Milton could be back

He’s gone he graduated last semester. I don’t know if you saw his injury, but He was a never going to play again.

 

[Josh H]

Just take a look at this. Duke's schedule is harder than Tech's only 1 week out of 12. No wonder CPJ called the schedule a coach killer.

Tech Schedule vs. Duke Schedule and whose opponent is stronger

GT At. North Carolina or Duke At. Pittsburgh - GT
GT At. Pitt or Duke Vs. UNC - GT

I get that this is a bit of an arbitrary comparison - but how are you saying our game vs NC and our game vs Pitt is tougher than Duke's game vs UNC and Duke's game vs Pitt? I get home and away but it isn't worth more than 3 points usually.

I expect NC to be the much tougher opponent this year.

 

[bos]

I get that this is a bit of an arbitrary comparison - but how are you saying our game vs NC and our game vs Pitt is tougher than Duke's game vs UNC and Duke's game vs Pitt? I get home and away but it isn't worth more than 3 points usually.

I expect NC to be the much tougher opponent this year.

I think UNC is a tougher opponent but it's debatable if you're playing in Pittsburgh late October vs. playing UNC at home.

Even if you give Duke that one, that's just 2 weeks where they have a tougher opponent.

 

[jackets55]

Hasn't been released yet but the vegas over/under will probably be the same as last year @ 3.5 maybe pushed to 4. There is a difference between a game being "probable" and "winnable". Often that difference is large. We have 1 probable win, 4-7 winnable and 4 probable losses. That would indicate a final of between 4-8 and 5-7 if splitting the "winnable" games.

 

[takethepoints]

Just take a look at this. Duke's schedule is harder than Tech's only 1 week out of 12. No wonder CPJ called the schedule a coach killer.

Tech Schedule vs. Duke Schedule and whose opponent is stronger

GT Vs. Clemson or Duke Vs. Middle Tennessee - GT
GT Vs. Gardner Webb or Duke Vs. Elon - draw
GT Vs. UCF or Duke Vs. Charlotte - GT
GT At. North Carolina or Duke At. Pittsburgh - GT
GT At. Virginia Tech or Duke Vs. Wake Forest - GT
GT Vs. Virginia or Duke At. NC State - GT
GT At. Pitt or Duke Vs. UNC - GT
GT At. Syracuse or Duke At. Notre Dame - Duke
GT Vs. Duke or Duke At. Georgia Tech - draw
GT Vs. Notre Dame or Duke Vs. Virginia - GT
GT Vs. Miami (Fla.) or Duke Vs. Virginia Tech - GT
GT At. Georgia or Duke At. Miami - GT

I don't know what it is going to take for Tech to start scheduling like Duke does. The usual thing you try to do in any sport when you are making changes and trying to get a team back up to snuff afterwards is to schedule easy for a year or three, then introduce more challenges once you have your feet under you. Instead, we get …



I know how he feels. Some of this is (supposedly) baked in. But we need to do something about it. NOW.

 

[White_Gold]

Hasn't been released yet but the vegas over/under will probably be the same as last year @ 3.5 maybe pushed to 4. There is a difference between a game being "probable" and "winnable". Often that difference is large. We have 1 probable win, 4-7 winnable and 4 probable losses. That would indicate a final of between 4-8 and 5-7 if splitting the "winnable" games.

If our defense is any good this year we can win every game on the schedule, including Clemson.

 

[RyanS12]

If our defense is any good this year we can win every game on the schedule, including Clemson.

Staying healthy and depth is the key. We have talent on both sides but what gets us is the drop off in the 2/3 deep. Teams like Clemson UGA ND on the schedule, especially CU and UGA seem to have no drop off.

 

[JacketOff]

Staying healthy and depth is the key. We have talent on both sides but what gets us is the drop off in the 2/3 deep. Teams like Clemson UGA ND on the schedule, especially CU and UGA seem to have no drop off.

I think moving forward, the ATL strategy will pay dividends for depth. Not only does it help recruits see that playing time will be there if you’re good enough, it gets reps for guys in the 2-3 deep that wouldn’t normally see a lot of snaps. The top teams don’t have a noticeable drop off between their 1s and 2s, with the exception of certain playmakers. Right now Tech has excellent depth at skill positions, and will continue to for the foreseeable future. However there’s a huuuggeee drop off on both lines along with LB and TE. Those positions are where the elite teams show their depth the most.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

I don’t see this brutal schedule myself. It’s not like we’re playing Ohio St., Michigan, Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Penn State, and Oklahoma back to back. We’re in the Coastal. We should win it 2 out of 3 years.

 

[smokey_wasp]

I don't know what it is going to take for Tech to start scheduling like Duke does. The usual thing you try to do in any sport when you are making changes and trying to get a team back up to snuff afterwards is to schedule easy for a year or three, then introduce more challenges once you have your feet under you. Instead, we get …



I know how he feels. Some of this is (supposedly) baked in. But we need to do something about it. NOW.

Agree, but blame Bobinski for a lot of it and the ACC for Notre Dame. Nothing we can do about it for the near future.

 

[takethepoints]

I don’t see this brutal schedule myself. It’s not like we’re playing Ohio St., Michigan, Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Penn State, and Oklahoma back to back. We’re in the Coastal. We should win it 2 out of 3 years.

The ACC has had a division structure since 2005. Tech has won Coastal five times (co-champ with VT in 2008). I don't want to seem too pessimistic, but I don't think this is a realistic prediction of our future success.

 

[JacketOff]

I don’t see this brutal schedule myself. It’s not like we’re playing Ohio St., Michigan, Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Penn State, and Oklahoma back to back. We’re in the Coastal. We should win it 2 out of 3 years.

What do you base that assumption on winning the coastal every 2 out 3 on? Because it sure isn’t history. Tech has won its conference 5 times since the 50s. Taking out the independent years, that’s 5 out 61 opportunities. When it comes to winning the division, Tech has won the Coastal 4 times in the 15 years since the ACCCG’s inception. As far as scheduling, there aren’t too many teams that would want to line up against Georgia, Clemson, Notre Dame, Miami, and UCF and feel confident they would win all of those games. Ohio State, maybe Alabama? If you put UGAg or Clem against that schedule but replace themselves with Alabama I think it would be tough for them to go 5-0. North Carolina will probably be tough this year also.

To put in perspective, Georgia plays:

• Auburn & Florida (basically Notre Dame)
• Alabama (= to Clem or UGAg)
• Tennessee (Miami)

Alabama plays

• Georgia & LSU (= to Clemson & UGAg, although LSU may fall to ND’s level)
• Auburn (Notre Dame)
• Tennessee (Miami)

Clemson plays

• Notre Dame
• South Carolina (UCF?)

Tech’s schedule will be among the strongest in the country this year, no doubt.

 

[Josh H]

Right now Tech has excellent depth at skill positions, and will continue to for the foreseeable future. However there’s a huuuggeee drop off on both lines along with LB and TE. Those positions are where the elite teams show their depth the most.

I would not say we have excellent depth at WR. Our leading receiver was a true freshman with 21 receptions and 396 yards. Camp comes back, but that's more yards and catches than Camp has over his *career* (granted, in a different offense). Ezzard should help, but there's a reason we were signing 4 WR.

Likewise, Mason got the lion's share of the carries at RB. I think Griffin takes a big step up and of course there's the potential for a freshman to make an impact here.

 

[JacketOff]

I would not say we have excellent depth at WR. Our leading receiver was a true freshman with 21 receptions and 396 yards. Camp comes back, but that's more yards and catches than Camp has over his *career* (granted, in a different offense). Ezzard should help, but there's a reason we were signing 4 WR.

Likewise, Mason got the lion's share of the carries at RB. I think Griffin takes a big step up and of course there's the potential for a freshman to make an impact here.

Brown was the leading receiver last year simply because he was the only one available. Tech adds Ezzard, and gets Camp, Carter, and Dolphus back, plus Sanders who filled in pretty nicely. That’s 6 WRs with more than adequate ability. Even if only 2 or 3 produce decent numbers you still have depth if somebody goes down. Georgia basically used 1 WR last year, and even though their offense was pretty pitiful, it still got the job done. As long as Tech has somebody at QB that can get the ball out accurately and consistently, WRs will be a strength.

As far as RBs, if/when Gibbs comes in, GT might have the best overall backfield in the ACC. Of course Clemson keeps Eitienne, but he’s only 1 guy. I’d love to see some 2 back sets out of the gun, especially if TE blocking is going to be a liability. You could do a lot of damage with Brown/Ezzard/Camp outside with Mason & Griffin/Gibbs splitting the QB

 

[bobongo]

I don't know what it is going to take for Tech to start scheduling like Duke does.

Booorrrring.

 

[White_Gold]

Brown was the leading receiver last year simply because he was the only one available. Tech adds Ezzard, and gets Camp, Carter, and Dolphus back, plus Sanders who filled in pretty nicely. That’s 6 WRs with more than adequate ability. Even if only 2 or 3 produce decent numbers you still have depth if somebody goes down. Georgia basically used 1 WR last year, and even though their offense was pretty pitiful, it still got the job done. As long as Tech has somebody at QB that can get the ball out accurately and consistently, WRs will be a strength.

As far as RBs, if/when Gibbs comes in, GT might have the best overall backfield in the ACC. Of course Clemson keeps Eitienne, but he’s only 1 guy. I’d love to see some 2 back sets out of the gun, especially if TE blocking is going to be a liability. You could do a lot of damage with Brown/Ezzard/Camp outside with Mason & Griffin/Gibbs splitting the QB

This man knows his football. We've got some toys to play with. We've got the OL coach to coalesce everything. Don't want to pump the hype train too much.

 

[bobongo]

This man knows his football. We've got some toys to play with. We've got the OL coach to coalesce everything. Don't want to pump the hype train too much.

I wasn't going to say anything, but there's potential to go from dismal to respectable in one year on OL, and thus on the entire offense. Cooper coming back, everybody a year older and stronger, help from transfers and freshmen, some great coaching and you just never know. The potential for massive improvement in one season is what makes college football so dynamic, and that potential may just be viable this year on the OL.

If Gibbs joins Mason and Gibbs to share duties in the backfield, and with plenty of talent at receiver, along with a QB with a year under his belt & talent competing for the job, we could turn this whole ship around a lot faster than most expect. We were really young last year and the important players are back a year older with plenty coming in to augment that. I'm not counting on a miracle, but you just never know. The pieces could be falling into place faster than we think.

6-6 wouldn't disappoint me but I see potential for better this year.

 

[awbuzz]

Somewhere and including a regular season record of 3-9 to 8-4.

Come out of Spring and through September without major injuries or offensive line problems and a good chance of 6, 7 or 8 wins.

Yes like many I desire a 15-0 or a 14-1 season

 

[takethepoints]

Booorrrring.

Also … wiiiiiiiining. I'll take that trade off any day of the week.