Chick-fil-A Kickoff Postgame Discussion

[Jmonty71]

Not entirely - had the O not turned the ball over we WOULD have won!

To expect our O to play perfect, every game is a bit much. This loss was on the D and special teams. If we had a kicker of any measurable worth, we win. If we had a DC of any measurable worth, we win.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

Yeah, that's my thinking as well. Hopefully this serves as a wake up call to the team about ball security. My fear is we go 11-1 and are kept out of the playoffs for some bull**** reason. I sincerely hope if it comes to that, the the CFB Committee (with DRad and Beamer) actually use their brains to look back at this loss holistically and not just the final score. Just gotta flush this one and move on to the next.

Love the optimism. Does not cost anything.

But we should have beat ut. They also had a new QB, they were missing (I think) 2 starting O linemen, their MLB, etc.

vt, cu, ugag, um are all going to be way tougher than ut. How will we get "tougher"?

I am wondering if TM and KB can take the beating. I have no hopes of our D significantly improving this year or perhaps in the future. Parts of the kicking game resembled Jr. high school.

O stats do nothing for me if we do not win. Don't give a crap.

As for me, the only thing I know to do is find a way to start giving more $.

 

[bke1984]

Food for thought:

2014 was our best season under CPJ. We almost lost to Wofford and Georgia Southern early in that season. We got better as the season went on. I think our team is actually starting out a higher level than it did in 2014. Could be a very interesting year.....

I agree with everything except that 2014 was the best season. I have to give that to the championship team in 2009.

Sky is not falling or anything, but we still have the same old narrative of getting up big and blowing it. Been a constant thing for 5 or so years now around once a year.

 

[bke1984]

As far as the last play goes i wish that we would have just hammered it up the gut with Benson.....honestly that was the only play all night where i found myself missing Dedrick Mills.

Or maybe pitched it when the LB got in his face rather than trying to turn up into the heart of the defense.

 

[panther42]

Dude... Have you watched GT Football since 2014? Do you know how many games special teams has won us?

When have special teams won us a game? Aside from Butker, special teams in general have been atrocious. I assume that you are just looking at how many FG's he hit over the years, but are not taking into account the fact that most of our kickoffs result in the ball returned past the 30, and we are lucky if we have a punter who can get 1 inside the 10 in a season. Special teams are a whole hell of a lot more than clutch FG's, and if you think that we have been "winning games on special teams" then you are delusional. I guess the FSU game in a year that we wen't 3-9 is what you are referring to, 3-9 is not what I would consider "winning".

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Guys, I had a nightmare last night that we dominated the Vols but still lost...Oh wait, that **** was real??????

The turnovers were awful (especially Green's) but the biggest play IMO was the Illegal Block called on Cooper. At the time of the penalty, we had the ball inside the UT 30 and were already deep in to the 3rd quarter. If we score there, it's 28-7 and I don't think UT would've even got the ball 3 more times in the game.

This one was my brother-in-law's fault. Literally before that very play he said we were due for a chop block call...and physically mimed the ref signaling same. I gave him an eat **** look and told him to stf up. Then the play and flag. Sigh.

 

[33jacket]

Flat out we found ways to lose time and time again this game. D played well then didnt. Combination of reasons. Sp teams sucked. O turned it over. 1 bad penalty. One missed block on 2pt conv and its a loss

What goes around comes around i guess. I would trade the miraculous win vs uga in 2014 for this.....

 

[slugboy]

There were a couple of things I saw on defense last night.

• In the second half, UT's quarterback threw the ball higher to take advantage of a WR that was 6'4" or more being covered by a CB that was 5'9". That also took away a lot of tipped passes like we had in the first half.
• UT's WR was pushing our CB ten yards downfield and turning for the pass. That ain't legal, but it's over and done now.
• Linebackers look much better this year. DL looks better too, but no sacks that I saw.
• UT got better at picking up the blitz in the second half.
• We did get in the backfield and disrupt a lot.
• All in all, the defense looks better than it did last year.

This year's team looks like it can be a good team. Especially if we improve just a little on defense and a lot on special teams.

 

[GPD]

Ran out of gas. Lol. In the 4th Tennessee hadnt snapped the ball 50 times. Yall going crazy

Disagree about the D. Tn hurt themselves early in the game with errant passes and dropped passes. We made some plays but lost every contested completion. Poor tackling late in the game and forced no turnovers. NO PASS RUSH. Our D is still our big liability assuming the other kicker and some improvement is made with STs. Even CPJ lost confidence in the D in OT and had to go for two because the D had totally collapsed late in the game, and he says not from being tired. Your other points are spot on.

You make good points Danny.... they did drop a lot of routine passes in the first half....

 

[SteamWhistle]

When have special teams won us a game? Aside from Butker, special teams in general have been atrocious. I assume that you are just looking at how many FG's he hit over the years, but are not taking into account the fact that most of our kickoffs result in the ball returned past the 30, and we are lucky if we have a punter who can get 1 inside the 10 in a season. Special teams are a whole hell of a lot more than clutch FG's, and if you think that we have been "winning games on special teams" then you are delusional. I guess the FSU game in a year that we wen't 3-9 is what you are referring to, 3-9 is not what I would consider "winning".

We led the nation in blocked kicks last year. Chris Milton led the nation in blocked punts. Jamal Golden had 952 All-Purpose yards in 2012. Before the Johnson era Tech hasn't returned a kick off for a TD in forever. The only player we had drafted last year was a Special Teams player.
2009 Clemson, Two Special Teams touchdowns. Won by 3.
2009 ACC Title Clemson, Scott Blair 4/4 12 FG. Won by 5.
2014 Virginia Tech, Butker Game winning Field Goal. Won by 3.
2014 UGA Special teams recovers pooch kick, Special teams make good return on sky kick to setup game tieing FG from Butker. Won by 6.
2015 FSU, Game tieing Field goal, blocked FG returned for TD. Won by 6.
Some of Paul's best wins ever... 2014 UGA, 2015 FSU, 2009 ACC Title, SPECIAL TEAMS.

 

[SteamWhistle]

Screw this. Tired of watching a team of boys play a team of men. It's sad when you know if your team goes to OT, your 0-1. I'm done. I loved Tech for everything it was worth, but y'all have fun. I'm out.

Bye.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Flat out we found ways to lose time and time again this game. D played well then didnt. Combination of reasons. Sp teams sucked. O turned it over. 1 bad penalty. One missed block on 2pt conv and its a loss

What goes around comes around i guess. I would trade the miraculous win vs uga in 2014 for this.....

sigh* you are correct. We shot ourselves in the foot not once, not twice, but over and over again. Subtract one of several key errors and we win, handily. Brant Mitchell had an interesting quote in the post game presser:

"We need to learn to finish," talking about the defense. A lot of it is mental, imo. They lost the mental edge they had early and never regained it. Yes, UT made mistakes that stopped drives in the first half, but our D had an attitude that disappeared in the second half.

 

[MikeJackets1967]

As far as the last play goes i wish that we would have just hammered it up the gut with Benson.....honestly that was the only play all night where i found myself missing Dedrick Mills.

I would have went outside with Marshall. The Tennessee play by play guys Bob Kesling and Tim Priest couldn't figure out why Georgia Tech didn't take it outside when Tennessee didn't stop it all night.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I would have went outside with Marshall. The Tennessee play by play guys Bob Kesling and Tim Priest couldn't figure out why Georgia Tech didn't take it outside when Tennessee didn't stop it all night.

The play was designed to go to Benson on the pitch to run to the pylon unless Taquan had a clear lane to the endzone. TM admitted after the game he should have pitched. We had the corner sealed by the wr, too.

 

[northgajacket]

Screw this. Tired of watching a team of boys play a team of men. It's sad when you know if your team goes to OT, your 0-1. I'm done. I loved Tech for everything it was worth, but y'all have fun. I'm out.

Don't let the door hit you in the *** on the way out and be cautious of a wet floor from your tears.

 

[JorgeJonas]

I see a lot of comments about how the offensive statistics don't mean anything. It seems like the people who cite them and the people dismissing them are talking past one another. No one is saying that 500 yards rushing changes the result of the game. However, it does have some predictive power. If the offense hums like that, the disappointment of last night will be forgotten very quickly.

 

[forensicbuzz]

UT 42 GT 41


Only one of these things matters...

Sometimes the better team loses. It happens.

Next.

 

[forensicbuzz]

To expect our O to play perfect, every game is a bit much. This loss was on the D and special teams. If we had a kicker of any measurable worth, we win. If we had a DC of any measurable worth, we win.

Disagree. We lost this game because of two lost fumbles. Without those two fumbles and an "illegal block below the waist," we will 35-14 or 35-21.

 

[Vespid]

I got 2 questions:

Where was Brandon Adams?

Would have you guys gone for it on 4&7 or would you try to establish trust with kicker like CPJ?

I was wondering the same thing about Adams during the second half.

Going forward, I doubt we attempt a FG on 4th down unless we are inside the 20 and more than 5 yds to go until King gets back.

 

[stech81]

Screw this. Tired of watching a team of boys play a team of men. It's sad when you know if your team goes to OT, your 0-1. I'm done. I loved Tech for everything it was worth, but y'all have fun. I'm out.

Good , Bye
I saw more reasons to make me think we can still have a good year.