CBS Sports Pre-season 138

[g0lftime]

CPJ opened against Tenn a few years ago. Practically had them on the ropes, but ended up losing in OT. I would have liked to make a bowl that year, but alas, our record was 5-7. It was a boring offseason.

A tale of 2 halves. We looked unstoppable first half and then.........

 

[stinger78]

Shows where your weaknesses are and where you need to improve. Whipping up on a much weaker opponent is good for a W but doesn't do much other than give backups some PT --unless you are breaking in a new inexperienced QB who needs the time.

True, but if you're trying to get into a playoff where W's and L's matter, you need to schedule wisely. We have plenty of games on our roster that will tell us where we need to improve. When number of W's matters, we don't need to overdo that.

 

[g0lftime]

True, but if you're trying to get into a playoff where W's and L's matter, you need to schedule wisely. We have plenty of games on our roster that will tell us where we need to improve. When number of W's matters, we don't need to overdo that.

OOC games are usually first part of the season when trying to sort things out.
With SEC going to 9 conference games, i am surprised they haven't dropped us in 2027. Huepel (sp) is getting a warmer seat in Knoxville and those W's become important to a coach's longevity.
I also didn't mean to infer I agree with only tough OOC games in earlier post. Just pointing out what it can show. Colorado would be good enough to find out what needs to improve. Next year looks really brutal.

 

[billga99]

OOC games are usually first part of the season when trying to sort things out.
With SEC going to 9 conference games, i am surprised they haven't dropped us in 2027. Huepel (sp) is getting a warmer seat in Knoxville and those W's become important to a coach's longevity.
I also didn't mean to infer I agree with only tough OOC games in earlier post. Just pointing out what it can show. Colorado would be good enough to find out what needs to improve. Next year looks really brutal.

Tennessee can't drop us and meet the SEC mandate of 10 P4 games (9 SEC and 1 other). Their other 2 OOC opponents in 2027 are Tn. St and Western Michigan. So if the drop us, they would have to pick up another OOC P4 game. In this entire argument about schedule, you also have to think about impressions of SEC and Big Ten vs. ACC. When the playoffs get expanded to 16 (or 24) games, 3 loss teams will definitely be included. But the SEC and B10 will get the benefit of doubt in SOS since they are all ranked so high at the beginning of each football season. ACC teams won't. So playing brutal OOC schedules and succeeding in the ACC with 3 losses overall will be a long shot for GT and most other ACC schools to be included in the playoffs. Only exceptions to that rule are probably Miami, FSU and Clemson.

 

[bobongo]

I get it. You don't want to beat VT, Duke, Wake, and Clemson as much as I do. Ok, then.

?

 

[g0lftime]

Tennessee can't drop us and meet the SEC mandate of 10 P4 games (9 SEC and 1 other). Their other 2 OOC opponents in 2027 are Tn. St and Western Michigan. So if the drop us, they would have to pick up another OOC P4 game. In this entire argument about schedule, you also have to think about impressions of SEC and Big Ten vs. ACC. When the playoffs get expanded to 16 (or 24) games, 3 loss teams will definitely be included. But the SEC and B10 will get the benefit of doubt in SOS since they are all ranked so high at the beginning of each football season. ACC teams won't. So playing brutal OOC schedules and succeeding in the ACC with 3 losses overall will be a long shot for GT and most other ACC schools to be included in the playoffs. Only exceptions to that rule are probably Miami, FSU and Clemson.

They probably didn't think we would be a tough game when scheduled.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

I am curious as to why you think we have the horses, especially on offense, this year to a top level ACC team.

Seems to me this year we have nearly a completely new offense. Haynes was excellent at Michigan for sure and Hosley was very good for GT last year. Beyond those two players the rest are really a mystery as is CGG as OC.

They might be really good or they could be very pedestrian. I haven't seen anything to really form an opinion so far. The Spring game was touch football.

I’ll answer. In a nutshell - the ACC isn’t very tough and GT has 4 proven commodities - Key, Weinke, Hosley, and Haynes.

What other ACC programs have more proven commodities?

Everyone points to Miami because they had a nice 3 game run, but they still lost to 2 mid level ACC teams in Oct and Nov. I believe they have 4 like us - Mensah, Fletcher, Toney, and Moten. Their coaching staff is not elite but I give them credit for the playoff run.

Pitt has a proven young stud QB. Clemson lost a lot of players. FSU will be a new unit. NC State has Bailey coming back. SMU has a great coaching staff. Louisville has a very good staff. But I believe GT will be one of the better offenses in the ACC.

As far as “I haven’t seen anything to really form an opinion so far” - of course that should be said for every team in the nation today because rosters turn over every year now. Heck, we don’t even know if the defending champs will be .500 this year.

And yes, it was touch football but what I saw in Haynes was similar to what I saw from Gibbs. He was just different. Tennessee better be prepared. And I also thought Mendoza looked every bit the part in demeanor and play.

 

[bobongo]

I am curious as to why you think we have the horses, especially on offense, this year to a top level ACC team.

Seems to me this year we have nearly a completely new offense. Haynes was excellent at Michigan for sure and Hosley was very good for GT last year. Beyond those two players the rest are really a mystery as is CGG as OC.

They might be really good or they could be very pedestrian. I haven't seen anything to really form an opinion so far. The Spring game was touch football.

Especially on offense. Our backfield will be among the best in the country. Deep and talented at tight end. OL should be solid, led by Mackenny and Carney, and the Alabama transfer Ionata. WR will be cooking with Mbakwe, Fuhrmann, and the slot guy, Allen. I look at our offense, and I see a plethora of talent. My main concern is depth on the OL, but if the Jackets have any luck this year injury-wise, the offense will be smoking hot all season. Your pessimism is a take that is widespread, an opinion shared by many. However, I don't see it. Not at all.

 

[cpf2001]

Or you could win, and gain eyeballs. I'd rather go for broke. I think we have the horses to do it.

I think if you’re good enough to be highly confident in winning the additional challenge game, you are likely looking at the playoffs for that exposure anyway.

If you think you’re almost there, then it becomes a tradeoff: a win might help you be the last team in; a loss is very likely disqualifying.

If you’re a step down from that then I think you want to build up some reputation by winning cupcakes and looking good to casual fans first. I think GT is here.

I think SMU is a good recent example of how you can hurt your rep with OOC losses if you’re on the border of either good/great or great/elite; people held the TCU/Bay losses last year against them. Generally close (4th Q lead change even in the TCU game), but breaking the wrong way, and removing them entirely from the 2025 playoff convo pretty early even though they were still a SP+ top-25 team at the end of the day (even with those games going down as Ls). If Leach TTU was a team that looked great vs good compared to Gailey GT because of cupcakes, SMU was a team that looked great instead of elite last year. They weren’t elite. But having 10 regular season wins a second season in a row would’ve been good for their general rep.

 

[Root4GT]

Especially on offense. Our backfield will be among the best in the country. Deep and talented at tight end. OL should be solid, led by Mackenny and Carney, and the Alabama transfer Ionata. WR will be cooking with Mbakwe, Fuhrmann, and the slot guy, Allen. I look at our offense, and I see a plethora of talent. My main concern is depth on the OL, but if the Jackets have any luck this year injury-wise, the offense will be smoking hot all season. Your pessimism is a take that is widespread, an opinion shared by many. However, I don't see it. Not at all.

Fair. I do think you are being overly optimistic based on proven performance of the players. Only RBs and TEs have proven performance with almost all of it at other schools. Not much proven performance for the offense to feel confident on. I believe there is some question as to Mackenny's availability for the start of the season. Hopefully that is just rumor as he is the only experienced OL returning to the same position. I hope one of the QBs is a solid P4 starter. At least there are several to chose from.

I am not yet sold on CGG as a top level OC. Hope he actually is one. Clearly TBD. He has been away from college football for a long time and has not been an OF for a long time as well.

Last season the offense was very good, not elite, but better than most P4 offenses. We lost most of the on field production and coaching staff.

Colorado and Tennessee games will tell us where we stand. GT needs to come out of the gate strong.

 

[roadkill]

Especially on offense. Our backfield will be among the best in the country. Deep and talented at tight end. OL should be solid, led by Mackenny and Carney, and the Alabama transfer Ionata. WR will be cooking with Mbakwe, Fuhrmann, and the slot guy, Allen. I look at our offense, and I see a plethora of talent. My main concern is depth on the OL, but if the Jackets have any luck this year injury-wise, the offense will be smoking hot all season. Your pessimism is a take that is widespread, an opinion shared by many. However, I don't see it. Not at all.

What's your W/L prediction this year?

 

[bobongo]

I think if you’re good enough to be highly confident in winning the additional challenge game, you are likely looking at the playoffs for that exposure anyway.

Point taken, but to an extent we're talking past each other because for me, college football is about more than making the playoffs, and as a fan, I want a chance to beat Tennessee. On top of that, I think the Jackets have a good shot at them this year. I'm tired of all this scheming about the easiest path to the playoffs, and whether it would be better to schedule Tennessee or some patsy. Dammit, I want a piece of the Vols, come hell or high water. I grew up on the state line, and regarded them as Tech's biggest rival, bigger than Ugag and bigger than Auburn. To me, rivalries are what made college football great, something we've lost sight of. I also want what's best for the Jackets, and I think that's best. I understand we disagree on that point, but after we whip their arses I'll be back here asking one tough question of you guys who want us to play a boring, meaningless OOC schedule (Ugag notwithstanding).

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

No one should be sold on CGG as a college offensive coordinator because has has never called 1 play in college yet. But, that has no bearing on if he’ll be good or not. It’s like saying we have no idea how Mendoza will be as a starter. Well, how could we know if he’s never done it?

Root, sure it’s unknown but every Hall of Famer had his first snap or first at bat. At one point Carl Lewis had never run a 100 and Michael Jordan had never started an NBA game. Heck, I remember lil Joe‘s first game and Godsey’s first game and I remember after both I thought “this guy could be pretty good”. In fairness, after we beat FSU I thought the same thing about Sims. I think we’ll be pretty darn solid on offense. Godsey didn’t leave the NFL to fail at home.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Point taken, but to an extent we're talking past each other because for me, college football is about more than making the playoffs, and as a fan, I want a chance to beat Tennessee. On top of that, I think the Jackets have a good shot at them this year. I'm tired of all this scheming about the easiest path to the playoffs, and whether it would be better to schedule Tennessee or some patsy. Dammit, I want a piece of the Vols, come hell or high water. I grew up on the state line, and regarded them as Tech's biggest rival, bigger than Ugag and bigger than Auburn. To me, rivalries are what made college football great, something we've lost sight of. I also want what's best for the Jackets, and I think that's best. I understand we disagree on that point, but after we whip their arses I'll be back here asking one tough question of you guys who want us to play a boring, meaningless OOC schedule (Ugag notwithstanding).

bob, I absolutely see both sides and when we sucked and needed wins to be attractive to high schoolers I advocated for the easy W’s all day. But today, now that we are back to a top 30 program, I agree that I’m ready to play anyone anywhere. We have lost way too many of these type of games and it has hurt our reputation for about 20 years. The last big OOC P4 games we won against SEC types was Auburn with Reggie. That was a long time ago. Sure, CPJ whipped Miss St and Vandy but Tennessee is considered a higher tier. I think we are ready. And a win against them is worth 2 ACC losses in the eyes of the playoff committee. I just want to see Key having the team ready. He has for UGA so hopefully after the Colorado win we stay ready.

 

[bobongo]

bob, I absolutely see both sides and when we sucked and needed wins to be attractive to high schoolers I advocated for the easy W’s all day. But today, now that we are back to a top 30 program, I agree that I’m ready to play anyone anywhere. We have lost way too many of these type of games and it has hurt our reputation for about 20 years. The last big OOC P4 games we won against SEC types was Auburn with Reggie. That was a long time ago. Sure, CPJ whipped Miss St and Vandy but Tennessee is considered a higher tier. I think we are ready. And a win against them is worth 2 ACC losses in the eyes of the playoff committee. I just want to see Key having the team ready. He has for UGA so hopefully after the Colorado win we stay ready.

Tech leads off with Colorado, while Tennessee's first game is against the Furman Palladins. I think that works in our favor - we'll see what happens...

 

[GT1977!]

GT 2026 will depend upon strength of defense. Can we stop anyone on 3rd and 5?
55 years of Tech FB have taught me that it has ZERO to do with our offense and 100% to do with our defense. Anybody here hanging around Tech FB chat in May absolutely knows this.....
We never stop anyone ever.... first time CU is 3rd and 13, they will drag TE over the middle at 10, then he will fall forward for 1st down...
Please let me be wrong this year....please-please-please...

 

[cpf2001]

Point taken, but to an extent we're talking past each other because for me, college football is about more than making the playoffs, and as a fan, I want a chance to beat Tennessee. On top of that, I think the Jackets have a good shot at them this year. I'm tired of all this scheming about the easiest path to the playoffs, and whether it would be better to schedule Tennessee or some patsy. Dammit, I want a piece of the Vols, come hell or high water. I grew up on the state line, and regarded them as Tech's biggest rival, bigger than Ugag and bigger than Auburn. To me, rivalries are what made college football great, something we've lost sight of. I also want what's best for the Jackets, and I think that's best. I understand we disagree on that point, but after we whip their arses I'll be back here asking one tough question of you guys who want us to play a boring, meaningless OOC schedule (Ugag notwithstanding).

Oh I don’t want to do it forever by any means.

But I feel like three to five years of 9+ win seasons on the back of soft schedules could lead to a nice boost in recruiting and money if we had coaching continuity through it and after it.

I think soft OOC schedules benefitted the 2008+ 2009 transition, especially considering bowl performances in both those years. But the conference schedules + UGA gave me plenty of good game memories despite uninspired OOC otherwise. (Let’s not talk about Kansas in 2010 haha…)

 

[bobongo]

(Let’s not talk about Kansas in 2010 haha…)

I don't want to talk about past games at all, really. I want to talk about the future. Instead of avoiding big ooc games we need to just start winning them.

 

[Root4GT]

I don't want to talk about past games at all, really. I want to talk about the future. Instead of avoiding big ooc games we need to just start winning them.

Winning them is the goal. It takes more than fans wanting to win them to make that a reality. More very good players are needed to make it a reality.

We are on par talent wise with many team on our schedule. We are not on par with either Georgia or Tennessee, 2 of our 4 OOC games.

It is essential for CBK to keep improving the roster thru HS recruiting and the Portal every year. So far he has done a solid job in that regard but he needs to take a step up for GT to become a serious CFP contender.

 

[stinger78]

Oh I don’t want to do it forever by any means.

But I feel like three to five years of 9+ win seasons on the back of soft schedules could lead to a nice boost in recruiting and money if we had coaching continuity through it and after it.

I think soft OOC schedules benefitted the 2008+ 2009 transition, especially considering bowl performances in both those years. But the conference schedules + UGA gave me plenty of good game memories despite uninspired OOC otherwise. (Let’s not talk about Kansas in 2010 haha…)

Is anyone recommending “soft,” or just not “killer?”

The reality is we play UGAg every year, and ND about 2 of every 5 years, interspersed with another P4 team (UT, Miss, CO, Vandy, BYU, UCF, Auburn, etc.), with another pretty good G5 along with it (NIU, BGSU, Temple, MTSU, etc.). IOW, we don’t go lite and don’t want to go lite. There is, however, no call to play 9 ACC games plus UGAg, UT, and ND. That’s crazy! Nobody does that.

When we go to 9 ACC games plus UGAg, I’d like to see us play another P4 team, rotating through the above (including ND), plus an HBCU. Some years that’s UGAg, ND, and Alcorn… some it’s UGAg, BGSU, and AL A&M. So be it.