cyptomcat
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ESPN: GT in driver's seat in Coastal
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I can't stand articles titled like that one. How can we be in the driver's seat? The season hasn't even started. I appreciate the confidence, but the truth of the matter is that we are merely standing in the starting gate, just like all the other horses. Pre-season hype is worthless. Sorry. I don't mind the analysis and the forecast etc etc, but "Driver's Seat"? Really?
cyptomcat
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I've been wondering a lot about whether our guys will have a chip on their shoulder this year. The wishful/optimistic side of me always comes back to "we have JT, 4 of 5 on the OL, returning players on D, CPJ, etc.". The pessimistic side of me believes there will be truth to the suggestion.
Then as I read this article I realized the motivation has been staring me in the face.... everyone thinks GT snuck up on teams last year. That means our opponents don't think they would've been beaten straight up. And of course won't be beaten straight up this year.
For anyone with pride the whole "surprise/cute story/you'll be put in place this year" thing is irritating and insulting. Hope our guys view it that way too.
Then as I read this article I realized the motivation has been staring me in the face.... everyone thinks GT snuck up on teams last year. That means our opponents don't think they would've been beaten straight up. And of course won't be beaten straight up this year.
For anyone with pride the whole "surprise/cute story/you'll be put in place this year" thing is irritating and insulting. Hope our guys view it that way too.
dressedcheeseside
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Also the part about not sneaking up on anyone this year is a hoot. When was the last time we snuck up on someone?
FightWinDrink
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For what it's worth coaches know better but we manage to sneak up on the media almost every year because we keep denying perennial preseason coastal champs UNC & Miami
reubenjet
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The dwags would be hyping this up to the Nth degree! They would have t-shirts printed up already claiming their "Division Championship". But alas, the season will start, the horses will come out of the gate and then Saturday, Oct 3rd...BAMa!!! Dreams will be dashed and hopes will be crashed! The pursuit will then be on to do a better job next year of recruiting while they sign their demigod of a coach to an extension. Sound about right? THWG!
Oldgoldandwhite
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IronJacket7
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I was thinking the exact same thing.
Nice. That's actually pretty strong.
This is all just offseason fodder. Test cases to see how subscriptions y'all buy. That'll let us know whether or not we get the 'respect' next preseason.
Let's just collectively hope it doesn't go to guys' heads. I know, I know. The coaches will tell them to ignore it, but reading one's own press clippings seems to bite athletes at all levels.
Anyways, enough hand-wringing. Better this than looking in the preseason mags and only finding Tech mentions in the page margins.
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Agree with FightWinDrink's opinion on media and kg01's on press clippings.
Same opinion holds for us vs. Duke last year. Really don't think we were 100% there mentallyfor some reason and it felt like Duke's Super Bowl.
buzzed
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We've sneaked up on the media a few times. The other teams--not so much.
cuttysark
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As long as nobody picks us to win the National Championship, or features the Yellow Jackets on the dreaded Sports Illustrated cover, GT will be just fine as CPJ knows how to deal with all of this nonsense.
Also, as long as there is the; "Stars Recruiting System", the Yellow Jackets will never be predicted to win anything as they have ZERO Five Stars recruits and hardly any Four Stars Recruits compared to every other team in the Coastal, as well as the ACC and Every other Power Five Conference Team.
Also, as long as there is the; "Stars Recruiting System", the Yellow Jackets will never be predicted to win anything as they have ZERO Five Stars recruits and hardly any Four Stars Recruits compared to every other team in the Coastal, as well as the ACC and Every other Power Five Conference Team.
tech_wreck47
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Part of me loves getting recognized as a potential leader, but the other part would rather us not get any recognition. I like to give teams the element of suprise when they think the have the game in the bag before it even starts, but then again most fans always think that.
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I don't think we have earned the kind of respect some of our posters wish for. Last year we turned a corner, but I want to see us not having corners that need to be turned. And, let's face it, we have a D with a lot corners in their future. Also, the skill positions other than JT have a few corners to round as well. I am very optimistic, but getting picked by Athlon does not ease my tension about what could go wrong. I have been a Tech guy for way too many years. If UNC could find a way to play defense, or Miami finds consistency, or Pitt actually plays like Narduzzi can coach, it will be interesting.
Techster
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I've written this before, but even when we were going through 7 win seasons, teams were faced with the whole "Will they be able to solve GT's triple option offense?" questions all week. Something opponents and DCs were probably fed up with hearing about, and probably made it a point to try and stop. GT's offense is such that it's a unique challenge that teams aren't going to ever overlook us for the simple fact that they have to prepare differently. In fact, most teams usually dedicate time during fall camp to prepare for it. The nature of what we do pretty much takes away anyone overlooking us.
This season, not only are we the defending Coastal champions, we are most likely a top 15-20 team...PLUS they'll get the usual "Will they be able to solve GT's triple option offense?" questions.
This season, not only are we the defending Coastal champions, we are most likely a top 15-20 team...PLUS they'll get the usual "Will they be able to solve GT's triple option offense?" questions.
Skeptic
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While I agree with Boomer -- and others -- that the whole pre-season babbling brook is silly and the race is yet to be run, there is another way to look at it. The Tech fan base, in the space of one year and one QB, has gone from the hand-wringing "Why can't we get any respect?" to "How dare they respect us so much?" Kind of funny. And, by the bye, any thumbsucking that has Justin Thomas as merely the third best QB in the ACC is laughable to anybody who watched last season. If that is the case, the ACC is guaranteed a Heisman trophy this year at QB.
Oldgoldandwhite
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Alabama was picked to beat Ohio St, and Mississippi St was number one for a while last year!
Bruce Wayne
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The Duke game was the midterms week, that is always a terrible game.