Gt football trending upward?

[GTech63]

I can agree with your post but again, it's amazing how one season can change the view of the program. If some of you think Tech is going to win 10+ games a year then your delusional. CPJ is a good coach and he understands what Tech is. That's always a plus in my book.

With the limitations Tech has versus the factories it is doubtful we will win 10+ games each year. But CPJ has shown we can be competitive game in and game out and a fun team to watch. We will win more than we lose and the horses that play us can't ever take us lightly. Right now we seem to be setting up for two or three years of winning football 9+ each year.

 

[JacketFromUGA]

8+ wins a year I will be quite happy

 

[AE 87]

I can agree with your post but again, it's amazing how one season can change the view of the program. If some of you think Tech is going to win 10+ games a year then your delusional. CPJ is a good coach and he understands what Tech is. That's always a plus in my book.

Fwiw, I don't think that you understood him. @redmule and many others of us were not against CPJ before last year. Therefore, it's not that one season has changed the view of the program for a good many of us.

Now, you say that predicting a 10+ win season is delusional. So, apparently, your view of the program hasn't changed.

So, who's view of the program has changed because of one season?

 

[Northeast Stinger]

but there were a number of games that could have gone the wrong way last year only by a play or two

Therein lies the conundrum for Tech fans. Over the last few years we have had games that could have gone the right way but only for a play or two "breaking the wrong way." Those of us who were criticized for saying "Tech was close" had to hear the usual "close only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes." Rightly or wrongly people said that the difference between average teams and good teams is that in those games that could go either way things end up breaking the right way for good teams.

Well, now that things are breaking the right way for Tech I do not want to change the rules for evaluation nor do I want to raise the bar. Otherwise, let's go back and admit that Tech's 7-6 season just as easily could have been 9-4, and 7-7 was actually close to 10-4, and 8-5, but for some wacko breaks, could have been 11-2.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

The team has a lot of work this summer to make the fall more productive than what was a disappointing spring.

?

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Jabari is eligible = trending up like a mofo

 

[kyle.smith828]

Well, now that things are breaking the right way for Tech I do not want to change the rules for evaluation nor do I want to raise the bar. Otherwise, let's go back and admit that Tech's 7-6 season just as easily could have been 9-4, and 7-7 was actually close to 10-4, and 8-5, but for some wacko breaks, could have been 11-2.

I think the same could be said for most teams. Certainly FSU would have ended up 8-4 or 9-3 last year with all the escapes they had. I'm sure there are more, but Oregon (again, off the top of my head) was a team that appeared to never really have many games in doubt. High level college football is full of parity, but when you have a special QB, an o-line like ours, and a brilliant HC, those teams seem to consistently win those borderline games. It's the difference between and good and great; the margin is razor thin.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

It's never as good or as bad as it seems

This! Beat me to it. I thought we were trending up many times in my over half century as a Tech fan.

 

[DC Bee]

In 25 years of watching GT football, I am more excited than normal.

1) Our 2015 schedule is one of the toughest in the country. The team has tasted sweet success, and I think the schedule will motivate the players this off-season to work very hard to maintain that success.

2) JT at the helm & the OL - After the Dook disaster, the offense was incredible. I think the GT offense will hit that peak earlier this year, hopefully, by game 3. The team learned that execution speed is a key to success with the scheme.

3) The defense can only improve as I see it. #FearJabari2015. Credit to CTR and CPJ in 2014 to focus on turn-overs as an equalizer for the weaknesses. Also loved how the defense never quit on a play after the UNC game.

4) Team attitude - I don't think this can be underestimated in the college game. I'm looking for that 2014 chemistry and "team first" mindset to continue this year.

5) Mythbusters - All the demons have been slayed. No myths to work against the teams' collective psyche this year.

I think it will be a good year (8 wins), but another great year is possible. @ND, F$U, @Clemson, VT, @MIA, UGA. These are tough games - in any year - so my expectations are tempered. But I am expecting GT to show up and play hard. I think they will. May the ball bounces & whistles also be on our side.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

In 25 years of watching GT football, I am more excited than normal.

1) Our 2015 schedule is one of the toughest in the country. The team has tasted sweet success, and I think the schedule will motivate the players this off-season to work very hard to maintain that success.

2) JT at the helm & the OL - After the Dook disaster, the offense was incredible. I think the GT offense will hit that peak earlier this year, hopefully, by game 3. The team learned that execution speed is a key to success with the scheme.

3) The defense can only improve as I see it. #FearJabari2015. Credit to CTR and CPJ in 2014 to focus on turn-overs as an equalizer for the weaknesses. Also loved how the defense never quit on a play after the UNC game.

4) Team attitude - I don't think this can be underestimated in the college game. I'm looking for that 2014 chemistry and "team first" mindset to continue this year.

5) Mythbusters - All the demons have been slayed. No myths to work against the teams' collective psyche this year.

I think it will be a good year (8 wins), but another great year is possible. @ND, F$U, @Clemson, VT, @MIA, UGA. These are tough games - in any year - so my expectations are tempered. But I am expecting GT to show up and play hard. I think they will. May the ball bounces & whistles also be on our side.

You had this in your list -- "5) Mythbusters - All the demons have been slayed. No myths to work against the teams' collective psyche this year."

Unfortunately, there is one remaining "demon" -- that every time we have a great season, it's followed by a mediocre, disappointing one. Let's hope we can pound that demon into the dirt this year.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

You had this in your list -- "5) Mythbusters - All the demons have been slayed. No myths to work against the teams' collective psyche this year."

Unfortunately, there is one remaining "demon" -- that every time we have a great season, it's followed by a mediocre, disappointing one. Let's hope we can pound that demon into the dirt this year.

These myths are really trends (real trends, not mythological ones), but trends can end and new ones can be started. We ended quite a few bad ones recently. The one you suggested above can be ended as well.

 

[Buzzoff]

If we could win 4 of these... @ND, F$U, @Clemson, VT, @MIA, UGA
Plus the rest... I would consider that a good season.
If one of those "4" were UGA I would consider it a great season.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

But isn't part of that the definition of the EXTRA-ordinary season? If 1990 had never happened, we'd have probably been pleased as punch with 8-5 in 1991. This season has certainly raised the bar--for the fanbase as well as the staff and the team---but outdoing 2014 is a major undertaking. Nine wins this fall, beating Georgia, extending the bowl streak, and a top 20 ranking two years running would be only the START of an overall trend. But this is a nice discussion to be having.

 

[Legal Jacket]

IMHO, we've stepped up to the next level. We were a 7-8 win team for most of the last 20 years. I think we are now a 9-10 win team. That may not sound like a significant change, but it is. Higher average wins and lower standard deviation. Better bowls, better recruiting, better crowds, better media. Where we were a team that should be ranked in the 20-30 range with an occasional trip into the top 15, now we will be in the 12-20 range with an occasional top 5. And that puts us squarely in uga's neighborhood. I suspect the games we saw the last two years with uga will be the norm from now on. The next two years are crucial to cementing that, and I think we will. This year, we have to reload at A and B back. Next year we have to reload on Defense. If, if, if we can do that, then that demonstrates a steady flow of talent and coaching into the program which should shut down the roller coaster.

I don't disagree with your general sentiment - but the wins are pretty inflated. We've been a 7 win team since about 1997. Now, we have won more than 7 games in 9 seasons, so maybe on average we are a "7-8" win team. But you can't say we are now a 10 win team... yet. If we can get to being an 8-9 win team first I'd be fine with that. - we've won 10 games 3 times since 1990. It's hard to make that the expectation until we start consistently hitting 8-9 win floors first.

 

[Skeptic]

You had this in your list -- "5) Mythbusters - All the demons have been slayed. No myths to work against the teams' collective psyche this year."

Unfortunately, there is one remaining "demon" -- that every time we have a great season, it's followed by a mediocre, disappointing one. Let's hope we can pound that demon into the dirt this year.

Are the years 2008-2009 myth busters in your scenario?

 

[Architorture23]

I don't know that Georgia Tech will ever not be a roller coaster. It is all about recruiting and reloading and recruiting will remain our most difficult obstacle, probably forever. Other things we can even out... coaching talent we've got. Facilities we've got. Uniforms we could get if we tried hard enough but I still don't think they're a big deal. We're sending kids to the NFL. But recruiting is the life blood. All of those things contribute to recruiting, but will they be enough to overcome the built-in negatives?

We have momentum right now because, for the first time since PJ arrived, we have the media's attention and affection. And honestly, that's because we have a dynamic playmaker at QB in Justin Thomas. We have to have that to get coverage, imo. We had a great BB in Dwyer but we didn't get media love. We had a great receiver in BayBay but we didn't get media love. Recruiting comes with media attention.

So if we reload at the QB position, we can sustain. That's PJ's big if. Ole Miss probably thought they had turned a corner when they had Eli but that wasn't the case. Duke might think they've turned the corner but I don't. Is Justin Thomas just a one-off or can we repeat his success? That will be the indicator, imo.

I'll let you know in a couple of years.

 

[Skeptic]

If we could win 4 of these... @ND, F$U, @Clemson, VT, @MIA, UGA
Plus the rest... I would consider that a good season.
If one of those "4" were UGA I would consider it a great season.

Beating Georgia is just bragging rights, when the hunt ought to be conference championships and a shot to go further. Have never liked them for whatever reason, though I am a native of Georgia, but I want the conference title game more. Your scenario would be happy with four of the five ACC games and losing to out of conference. Am I reading it right?

 

[BabyJacket1990]

Beating Georgia is just bragging rights, when the hunt ought to be conference championships and a shot to go further. Have never liked them for whatever reason, though I am a native of Georgia, but I want the conference title game more. Your scenario would be happy with four of the five ACC games and losing to out of conference. Am I reading it right?

Well the playoffs now play a factor. We need to beat UGA again this and also win that conference championship!

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

Beating Georgia is just bragging rights, when the hunt ought to be conference championships and a shot to go further. Have never liked them for whatever reason, though I am a native of Georgia, but I want the conference title game more. Your scenario would be happy with four of the five ACC games and losing to out of conference. Am I reading it right?

"Not a real Tech fan" alert.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

I don't disagree with your general sentiment - but the wins are pretty inflated. We've been a 7 win team since about 1997. Now, we have won more than 7 games in 9 seasons, so maybe on average we are a "7-8" win team. But you can't say we are now a 10 win team... yet. If we can get to being an 8-9 win team first I'd be fine with that. - we've won 10 games 3 times since 1990. It's hard to make that the expectation until we start consistently hitting 8-9 win floors first.

Yes, get to where 8-9 is the norm with an occasional 11 or 12 win year. That works. We still play in a league where six wins are basically assured.