Glenw; I wish:

[jeffgt14]

That's the thing about statistics. It always proves your point. That's why I rely on eye test and end result. Neither of which are very good.

 

[JorgeJonas]

What?

The top three teams in the country have played a combined six games that ended with a final margin of eight points or less. Tech by itself has played six. The best teams aren't the best because they can magically turn it on in close games. The best teams are the best teams because they are good enough not to play most teams closely - they just blow everyone out. They're rarely at risk of losing.

 

[Lee]

You say "garbage time" but I beg to differ. Notre Dame kept their defensive starters in the entire game and I can assure you they were doing their best to STOP us from scoring because 8 points is a ONE score game (we make an onside kick recovery then make a TD with a 2-point conversion). In fact, Notre Dame beat UVA with a "Hail Mary" so I can promise you they weren't taking anything for granted.

It was 30-7 with 6:58 left in the game. They may have had their starters in the game, but I assure you, they were not playing defense the same way they had been the rest of the time.

Anyone watching that game could see that we got completely dominated by their defense. Did we have opportunities? Yes. Mostly due to our defense and Jamal Golden. Our first actual oppotunity to score and missed fg was set up by a defensive stop and return to the ND 40. Our other missed fg was set up by a fumble in their territory. I will give you the fact that the td called back killed us, but that was the only legitimate, sustained drive we had put together the whole game.

Go back and look at the drive chart. I had to after seeing how well you thought we played offensively. The score makes it look like it was close, but I remember thinking during and after the game that their defense dominated us and it did. Our defense did play well, well enough to win actually and I'm not saying we couldn't have won the game. I'm just saying that if we had won, it would've been in spite of our offense, not because of it.

As to your earlier comment about yards and taking away 2 plays for them. We gained 122 yards on our last 2 drives after the game was clearly in hand. So we really had 215 yards against their actual defensive scheme in the first 3.5 quarters and 122 against a modified prevent in the last 6 mins.

It was not a pretty game and it hasn't been a pretty season. There is nothing wrong with saying we aren't a good offensive team this year. We aren't. Its a tough pill to swallow because we have always been good on that side of the ball. The veteran oline has been a huge dissapointment. Throw on a ton of injuries to an already green skill group and it doesn't look good. Hopefully we will learn and grow to be better next year.

 

[jayparr]

Respectfully, what I've seen is a team that has been inundated with a massive amount of injuries at key positions (we've lost 70 games to starters and others expected to see significant action SO FAR) yet a team that has only been out of ONE game this season (to #1 Ranked Clemson I might add, AT Clemson, in bad weather). Paul Johnson's players may not have gotten the results on the scoreboard anyone has wanted this season, but one thing I think can be said is that they have never quit IN SPITE of their obstacles, and that's a testament to our Coaches and players. They could have easily dialed it in with all of the injuries, yet they beat FSU, and came damned-close to several other teams had there been just a few breaks go OUR way.

It's been said before but I think it should be restated that our roster isn't filled with 4 and 5 star prospects, and it's not because we don't want to recruit them but because our Coaches are pretty much hamstringed from getting them because the Georgia Board of Regents refuses to allow GA Tech to expand its Majors so there might be more "appealing" options for many of these "elite" athletes, as well as we have much tougher admission requirements (the "Hill") than most programs in the Country that play at our level. Couple these two hurdles together and our "pool" of "elite" players we can START to recruit is very small.

This means that when OUR Team suffers injuries, we don't have the same supposed "quality" of depth to step in a play as replacements, so or results on the field SHOULD suffer. In particular, on our Offense, we really need RB's who understand how to block on the outside, work with our QB on a "mesh" handoff so it will look like he has the football even when he doesn't so the option can work, and we need our linemen to be physically "transformed" into players who can hold their own at the LoS against top Defensive Linemen using cut blocks, and now, drive blocking, techniques.

When we suffered so many injuries, we ended up having to play true freshmen, red-shirt freshmen, and even walk-ons who were never expected to see any (significant) action. Is it any wonder assignments have been missed and players weren't physically ready to play at times? The mere fact that the team was able to be competitive in spite of their youth is exciting to me, because it showed me that not only were these kids fast learners and pretty good athletes, but I believe it bodes well for next season as they'll have another year in the strength and conditioning program under their belts to go with the experience they're getting this season.

14 likes! I like the number!!

 

[bke1984]

The problem with the injury and youth argument is that it assumes those guys are the ones screwing up. But if you really watch, there's a ton of 3rd, 4th, and 5th year players that are missing assignments and blowing plays all over the field. Coach has stated this MANY times in post game interviews, press conferences, and radio shows this year.

Have injuries and youth played a role in our struggles this year? Yes...however, I just don't think we would have won 4 more games had all those running backs not gone down. I attribute 80% of our offensive struggles to poor line play and the rest to a combination of injuries and inexperience.

The Byerly injury probably hurt more than some of the others. I'm betting we punch it in from the one if Timmy is back there on that follow play. Other than that, I'm having a hard time saying, "we definitely beat ____ if ____ wasn't hurt." Maybe Gotsis at UVA...tough to say.

So without the injuries, maybe we get one or two more wins and we're still fighting to get bowl eligible, but...our offense line would not have looked any better with a few different A backs in there...our special teams would probably have been staffed with roughly the same guys that botched coverage in the Duke game (the youth is probably rearing its head on special teams more than anywhere else).

Someone said earlier that good teams play less close games. That's very true, and to add to that point...the games against UVA and VT should not have been close if we were a good team. Those are bad teams. Both of those should have been 14-21 point wins, but I'm not sure even without the injuries that we were going to see that happen.

...but enough of this negativity on game day. There will be plenty of time for this tomorrow if we drop another one. Here's hoping we somehow pull it out and then beat the dwags!!!

GO JACKETS!!!

 

[GlennW]

I agree with you about lack of depth. But please explain something. Gregory has signed five 4 stars (Rivals) since he became coach in 2012. That's not counting at least one transfer that was a 4 star in HS. Because of fewer scholarships, he has only signed what, 10 HS players?

In the same period, Johnson has signed three 4 stars (Rivals). How many scholarships has he given to HS players in that same time frame? 70 or so?

Does the Board of Regents allow basketball players to have lesser academic qualifications than football players? Or, do you maintain that basketball players are better students than football players? Why can Gregory sign a relatively high percentage of 4 stars and highly rated Ga players, but Johnson can't? Do you really believe that academics are the reason?

I can't explain the ranking systems of any services, or the number of players per stars per ranking, but what I WILL do is say that the ACC is more "respected" as a Basketball Conference than a Football Conference, so, perhaps, I would think THAT program would have an "easier" time getting "elite" players to play for us than our football program (WE'RE the SEC in THIS case, so to speak). Also, since College Basketball rosters are so much smaller than Football rosters, players know their options at the "elite" Conferences are fewer and farther between so OUR chances of getting "elite" players improve.

I hope this explaination wasn't too complicated for you.

 

[bke1984]

Now we can blame injuries..........

 

[Lee]

Now we can blame injuries..........

He shouldn't have been playing at all today anyways. We should have rested any vital player that was a little banged up. Justin and PJ Davis should've been there only for emergency purposes.

At 3-7, we had one thing to play for the rest of the way and that is the game next weekend. Hopefully Justin's injury isn't too bad. We will need him to have any sort of chance next week.

 

[GT1992]

Go back and rewatch it. They were playing very differently at the end of the game

They were playing prevent.

 

[awbuzz]

He shouldn't have been playing at all today anyways. We should have rested any vital player that was a little banged up. Justin and PJ Davis should've been there only for emergency purposes.

At 3-7, we had one thing to play for the rest of the way and that is the game next weekend. Hopefully Justin's injury isn't too bad. We will need him to have any sort of chance next week.

Have to disagree that we only had "one thing to play for the rest of the way" before or during today's game. You always play to win the game.
JT could have gotten hurt slipping in the shower or going down stairs.

Agree that hoping JT, TM, etc. are able to play next week. With that, I'm comfortable that MJ at the controls if it comes to that.

 

[Lee]

Have to disagree that we only had "one thing to play for the rest of the way" before or during today's game. You always play to win the game.
JT could have gotten hurt slipping in the shower or going down stairs.

Agree that hoping JT, TM, etc. are able to play next week. With that, I'm comfortable that MJ at the controls if it comes to that.

You can play to win the game without Justin in there. He was obviously banged up to the point that he had to come out after running a simple toss play for a td. It's not like he got hit or made a throw.

Trust me, I'm as competitive a person as you will find, but I'm also realistic. The season was essentially over after we lost to VT. It would've done MJ a lot of good to get the reps with the 1's all week and get a start under his belt while our best offensive weapon gets healthy for the dwag game. Same goes for PJ Davis. This is also a great time for young guys to get reps. Next week is another story.

And your JT could've gotten hurt in the shower comment is just hyperbole. Of course anyone can get hurt at anytime. What's more probable though, an already banged up qb playing thugU or a guy slipping in the shower? If we were still chasing a bowl or 7-3 it wouldn't even be a question. We weren't though.

I'm not saying PJ did the wrong thing or it's his fault JT got hurt. I also fully understand the impact it could have on the locker room by sitting a "healthy JT." I just selfishly would have like to have seen him take this game off to get healthy and for next week. Having him at full speed gives us our best shot at beating the mutts.

 

[Lee]

Have to disagree that we only had "one thing to play for the rest of the way" before or during today's game. You always play to win the game.
JT could have gotten hurt slipping in the shower or going down stairs.

Agree that hoping JT, TM, etc. are able to play next week. With that, I'm comfortable that MJ at the controls if it comes to that.

I did like the physical presence MJ brought with him today. He played well for being tossed into the fire. If he can sure up his ball handling, he will give us a chance next week if we have to use him.

 

[takethepoints]

I thought Jordan did just fine, given that it was his first extended time on the field against a good opponent. He fulfills the first requirement for a Tech QB; he can run. It would have been nice if he hadn't fumbled on the 8, but, with inexperienced QBs who come right off the bench, that is pretty much what you can expect. I think he'll start for us someday and may (hope not) start next weekend. Oh, and I hope people were watching when he threw the ball. No doubt about that arm; he had a harder time completing passes because he hasn't been working with the WRs. And, yes, I think we would have won the game if Tim had been in there. We really miss him at this stage of the season.

And I also think that we got some good evidence about OL performance yesterday. All of a sudden we were running the ball up the middle with authority, largely because MJ runs the midline better then JT. And, again all of a sudden, we rush for 314 yards and get the edge game working. With, I might point out, exactly the same OL that has given us problems (no use denying that) all year. If you run effectively up the center of the LOS, the O works. If you don't, it doesn't. That's why our missing BBs are so important. What if we had (why, why, oh merciful heaven, didn't we?) redshirted Laskey and he was playing BB this year? Imho, having that one piece in place would have meant 7 - 8 wins, even with all the injuries.

 

[danny daniel]

I agree with you about lack of depth. But please explain something. Gregory has signed five 4 stars (Rivals) since he became coach in 2012. That's not counting at least one transfer that was a 4 star in HS. Because of fewer scholarships, he has only signed what, 10 HS players?

In the same period, Johnson has signed three 4 stars (Rivals). How many scholarships has he given to HS players in that same time frame? 70 or so?

Does the Board of Regents allow basketball players to have lesser academic qualifications than football players? Or, do you maintain that basketball players are better students than football players? Why can Gregory sign a relatively high percentage of 4 stars and highly rated Ga players, but Johnson can't? Do you really believe that academics are the reason?

MAYBE. Note that the BB team is only graduating 50% of their players, worst of all GT student athletes. CPJ is doing much much better.

 

[JorgeJonas]

Isn't there a mathematical element to hoops recruiting, too? There are 114 4* or better basketball players in 2016, and 369 4* or better football players in 2016, both according to Rivals. If the best teams sign roughly two or three players in basketball, that means the 40th rated class can get about two 4* players. In football, however, if the average class is about 21, that means that the 40th rated class might not get any, or only a few. I think there's probably a cultural aspect to this, too (though I freely admit not having facts to back this up). It would seem like football is more of a suburban/rural sport, and so the kids that play it are more comfortable going to rural campuses. In hoops, however, it is a more urban sport, so schools in cities can get better players. I dunno...