GT at uGA Post Game

[billga99]

Fumble, bad throw to Singleton in OT that would've ended it, missed read to Singleton that would've ended it... I hate it because that couldn't been a historic performance but King choked.

Right 400 yards and 5 TDs. He made mistakes but to say he choked is absolutely laughable.

 

[4shotB]

Right 400 yards and 5 TDs. He made mistakes but to say he choked is absolutely laughable.

I would substitute the word “sad” for “laughable “ myself.

 

[wvGT11]

 

[FightWinDrink]

After this game, I thing they really need a hard look at OT rules .
1) change the timeout rules...should times outs for all of OT not each round
2) two point shootouts ... How many plays realistically do teams have for this

the 2 point shootout was a stupid tv network panic over correction to the LSU/A&M 7OT game. I don't think there's anyone who likes the new OT rules over the previous ones. Honestly worse than PK shootouts in soccer

 

[MtnWasp]

Two distinct ways to look at that game:

1. GT is clearly on the rise. We went toe to toe with arguably the best program in the country that is loaded with 4* and 5* talent. Our stats were superior and our QB was clearly superior. But they simply had more depth and they wore us down. Tech fans know the feeling from Gt's prime years under O'Leary-Friedgen-Hamilton going against the loaded FSU teams under Bowden. Similar deal then.

Fans were treated to an absolutely epic, historic football game. It was an excellent display of sport: courage, fortitude, competitiveness, effort. That game is what football is supposed to be about. Only one team could win.

Funny, watching the game I did not think the officiating was too biased. They missed a few Pass Interference calls on us. The targeting calls have been mystifying to me all year. In the previous few years they were calling targeting all over this place. This year, they seem never to call it any more. They missed one on us as well. So, it is not inconsistent. Holding calls are missed all the time. Both fumble reviews were obscured by the mass of bodies. As I reviewed the thread, I was surprised by any suggestion that the officials stole the game. That game was decided by the players and coaches.

The long hug after the game was one of the more touching things I've seen in football. Two top-notch coaches.

2. That game should never have gone to overtime and our coordinators are not above criticism for this one. I understand that we were decimated in the back end, but Santucci and Key went into the soft zone too early in the second half and gave UGA a chance. It would have worked without the Haynes King fumble, but that is the thing with Key, he plays the clock game with a very narrow margin for error.

Two ways to play with a 2-3 score lead in the second half: play the clock or go for the boot on the neck. Analytics may suggest to play the clock and sell out to avoid the chunk play, but human psychology may suggest to go for a big play at the cost of a big play. Overload a side, try to press. Their QB is not that good.

Against our offense, UGA made a late adjustment to bring pressure up the middle which I think Buster failed to adjust to and cost us the game, especially in OT. In the two-point try festival, UGA was charging up field and Buster was calling for these long out-routes. g0lf noted that the rocket toss would have been a good call and I was yelling for that play also. I envied UGA's call for a short slant. They were bringing the safeties on the blitz and that area vacated by the blitzing safeties in the middle was open. Jamal Haynes was an outlet for three of those plays. I'm not a huge option fan, but the A-back option play would have been good.

The short point was that GT needed to get the ball out of the pocket quickly against what they were showing. Buster needs to re-think his two point conversion strategy against teams strong up the middle.

Tons to be proud of, no reason not to be optimistic that we are on the rise. It certainly is a far flippin' cry from 55-0. But, the tough pill to swallow is that we blew our chance to win it.

Singleton really needs to refine his route running. On the first half throw into the end zone where the throw was behind Singleton for the drop, Haynes King put the ball exactly where it had to be. Singleton arrived in a big hole in the UGA zone in the middle of the End zone, King sees him throws it right to him but Singleton Inexplicably drifts right into the safety and Singleton can't reach back for the ball, which was where the receiver should have sat down on that route. That is a bad error. Maybe a move to running back for him?

 

[AUFC]

Right 400 yards and 5 TDs. He made mistakes but to say he choked is absolutely laughable.

No player choked. They gave A+ effort and wanted to win this game far more than the other sidelines. I called this a choke on page 2 of this thread because I do believe there was some decision making by the coaching staff that led to a 14 point lead evaporating in 5 minutes. We should have never been in a position to let the refs decide the game.

 

[slugboy]

No player choked. They gave A+ effort and wanted to win this game far more than the other sidelines. I called this a choke on page 2 of this thread because I do believe there was some decision making by the coaching staff that led to a 14 point lead evaporating in 5 minutes. We should have never been in a position to let the refs decide the game.

Every player I saw gave 100%. If we had one more injured DB, who knows who goes in? We had players going out left and right.
There isn’t a team in this country we can’t beat. Other teams should be nervous of facing us after we heal up.

 

[bobongo]

the 2 point shootout was a stupid tv network panic over correction to the LSU/A&M 7OT game. I don't think there's anyone who likes the new OT rules over the previous ones. Honestly worse than PK shootouts in soccer

I like the pro OT rules, myself.

 

[Techfan02]

Even at home for us, it's still a home game for them . Like it or not , they always send more fans to our field than we don

Blame our fans

 

[takethepoints]

This is what is most frustrating for me. We need to beat these guys when we get the chance. They are always uber talented. That will result in mostly lopsided games. Every once in a while we get a game where they aren't at their best and we are firing on all cylinders. We overcome the talent deficit either with good coaching or heroic play making and snatch a win from them. That was tonight, but we couldn't finish the job. Who knows the next time we will get that chance.

Ok, I feel your pain, but the game wasn't lost by the D getting to tired - Ugag didn't look any better in the 4th - or the O being overwhelmed by lack of depth - this was definitely not the case. Neither did King's fumble; the Dwags fumbled too, though in better field position.

The game was lost on special teams in the first half. Birr missed a short field goal. Losing that 3 points was what led to Tech's loss. I was yelling to the other Tech fans in the room - they must have gotten tired of that, btw - that Tech had to score every time we got in scoring distance and it didn't matter if it was a TD or an FG. That miss was the only time Tech failed to do so and I said it would come back to haunt us. It did. End of story. That the Dwags also missed an FG doesn't change things; like Key said before the game, "It's all about us."

And again, that the refs sucked is true, but they were letting both teams get away with murder last night. Ugag just got away with a few more then Tech did.

 

[Root4GT]

Regarding your first point, I thought the talent was equal last night between the two teams. Seriously.

WE played exceptionally well and way out schemed UGA. Our issue is lack of ability to generate pressure on opposing QBs regardless if we rush 3, 4, 5, or 6 players. That is where we really need talent upgrades. One or two real disrupters on the DL or at LB would do wonders for the defense. We simply don't have any. In the later OTs UGA was generating great pressure on King and we got very little on Beck regardless of how many we rushed.

Our RB room is banged up but we are at a disadvantage there as well. We also need a big very good receiver who can win 50;50 balls. Our receivers, less TEs are all very small guys.

Our depth is not close and it showed as the defense wore down and got dinged up in the 4th quarter.

This team is so much better than what we put on the field 3 years ago and even 2 years ago. Credit to the coaches and players across the board.

 

[4shotB]

A question that has jumped out at me re: special teams is our inability to fix the snaps on field goals. It has been a glaring issue this season. Not saying it caused the miss in question but the holder and kicker have to be nervous every time they trot out there.

 

[cpf2001]

In a game with a ridiculous number of 2 point tries, one is puzzling to me. Does anyone know why Kirby went for 2 after their first TD in the 3rd quarter?

He was down 17-0 before the TD and was playing for 24-24 (or more generally, making up the FG through three touchdowns).

I don’t think it was a good call since we weren’t consistently getting TDs in the red zone and so when it failed it lost the TD advantage vs our FGs.

 

[Root4GT]

I would substitute the word “sad” for “laughable “ myself.

Pathetic Post is better yet!

 

[4shotB]

WE played exceptionally well and way out schemed UGA. Our issue is lack of ability to generate pressure on opposing QBs regardless if we rush 3, 4, 5, or 6 players. That is where we really need talent upgrades. One or two real disrupters on the DL or at LB would do wonders for the defense. We simply don't have any. In the later OTs UGA was generating great pressure on King and we got very little on Beck regardless of how many we rushed.

Our RB room is banged up but we are at a disadvantage there as well. We also need a big very good receiver who can win 50;50 balls. Our receivers, less TEs are all very small guys.

Our depth is not close and it showed as the defense wore down and got dinged up in the 4th quarter.

This team is so much better than what we put on the field 3 years ago and even 2 years ago. Credit to the coaches and players across the board.

I agree that the difference is more obvious deeper down the depth chart but not across the first 22 for each. Imo, Uga without Beck looks about like a UNC or Miami to my eyes. At the end of the game it was their first team receivers ( who drop about as many as they catch ) against our 3rd team CB’s. They exploited that as one might expect.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

I know it’s hard to grab the silver linings right now, but remember that as much as we have griped about the play calling this year, Buster has now twice out-schemed Kirby and his defense. Santucci has now out-schemed ugag’s offense save the prevent playcalling at the end of regulation. Not to mention he did that with Efford going out and being down 4 DBs. We really do have it all set up for a big time win next year.

Last year we showed we belonged on the same field as them. This year we showed we could beat them. Next year let’s prove we can close it out!

 

[cpf2001]

IMO the longer the game went on the harder it got to scheme around the difference in DL and DB play especially with so many injuries. But Key has shown an ability to recruit on the lines we haven’t seen in ages so… lets get to the point we don’t have a fourth quarter letdown.

It wasn’t just UGA. We let FSU, UNC, NCST all back into games late. ND pulled anway in the second half. And we failed to stop Cuse and Louisville in critical spots.

I don’t think that will stay a pattern with the incoming guys. Credit to these guys for doing as much as they did in just two years post-Collins, but the future is real bright.

 

[Jackets2004]

Right 400 yards and 5 TDs. He made mistakes but to say he choked is absolutely laughable.

Right 400 yards and 5 TDs. He made mistakes but to say he choked is absolutely laughable.

IHMO, hard to characterize this as anything other than a coaching failure, folks. 27-13 with over 5 minutes left in the game, and Tech's coaches go to a soft prevent style defense. Which of course enables UGA to fly right down the field in less than 2 minutes and score, leaving 3 to 4 minutes on the clock (and giving UGA all the momentum). Leaving Tech's offense in a bind because then they HAVE to get at least 3 first downs to run the clock out. Which of course they don't (they fumble), and UGA ties the game. Brent Key is a young coach with a bright future, but gee I hope he learns from this because he really gave this game away, a game his guys had fought really hard for and basically won - had he just stuck with his game plan and not gone into prevent defense (far too early in the game), playing not to lose instead of to win. Sorry to be so cynical.

 

[wvGT11]

IHMO, hard to characterize this as anything other than a coaching failure, folks. 27-13 with over 5 minutes left in the game, and Tech's coaches go to a soft prevent style defense. Which of course enables UGA to fly right down the field in less than 2 minutes and score, leaving 3 to 4 minutes on the clock (and giving UGA all the momentum). Leaving Tech's offense in a bind because then they HAVE to get at least 3 first downs to run the clock out. Which of course they don't (they fumble), and UGA ties the game. Brent Key is a young coach with a bright future, but gee I hope he learns from this because he really gave this game away, a game his guys had fought really hard for and basically won - had he just stuck with his game plan and not gone into prevent defense (far too early in the game), playing not to lose instead of to win. Sorry to be so cynical.

Again you have to remember how depleted our secondary was due to injuries by that point in the game.

 

[57jacket]

i find it aughable to blame the coaches for the loss. They had a great game plan. In EVERY game you can find a play and say" oh, he should have called this or that". Hind sight and second guessing is dumb when you played an overall great game.