GT VT Post Game

bobongo

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The error occurred on VT's second touchdown drive when the score was 6-7. They were in field goal range and might have attempted one had they known it was 4th and 2 instead of 4th and 1. Regardless, getting either a stop there or allowing just a field goal would have likely changed our play-calling in the subsequent quarters.

Watching the video, the movement of the vertical marker (pole) occurred off-camera between 3rd and 4th down, but the arrow on the turf was still in the original position at the 24 before the start of the next play, and a member of the marker crew can be seen sliding it with his foot to line up with the pole. Someone on the ref crew had to know something was "off".
I could see how the front of the chain got moved back due to some dumb error, but how did the entire chain get moved back a yard, after it started out in the right position? Originally it stretched from the 34 to the 24, and later stretches from the 35 to the 25.
 

roadkill

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how did the entire chain get moved back a yard, after it started out in the right position
It would be interesting to hear the crew's explanation, but I doubt one will ever be made public.

Most issues that people have with refs involve "bad calls" or "missed calls", and many are judgment situations. This is not any of those.
 

AlabamaBuzz

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The irony is we'd be running the same type of RPO we are now if johnson was adapting things the only difference is a bit more gap blocking and some undercenter option/rocket mixed in.
I think you are correct for the most part, but I still like having PJ as the person making the adjustments during the game and at halftime.
 

bobongo

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It would be interesting to hear the crew's explanation, but I doubt one will ever be made public.

Most issues that people have with refs involve "bad calls" or "missed calls", and many are judgment situations. This is not any of those.
Really weird. The marker is placed upon a team having achieved a first down. There is no reason to move it. What I can't fathom is how the back of the chain got moved from the 34 to the 35? They had to just pull it up and scoot it back a yard, for no reason. Did they think they got it in the wrong place to begin with? I can't imagine it was done with malice aforethought, because there are many less obvious ways to influence a football game than that. They could just call some bogus penalty or something.
 
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roadkill

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It looks pretty damn deliberate.
It’s not like the players ran into anything on the sideline, making the crew reposition it.
They just decided to move it completely unprovoked…

Initially, I thought it looked very suspicious. Then I realized it happened between downs 2 & 3. At that point, there was no way of knowing that there would be a 4th and short upcoming. So I'm thinking it was just a blunder.
 

FlatsLander

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Initially, I thought it looked very suspicious. Then I realized it happened between downs 2 & 3. At that point, there was no way of knowing that there would be a 4th and short upcoming. So I'm thinking it was just a blunder.
But there was no reason to move it in the first place. The previous 1st down was snapped from the 34, so the line to gain has to be the 24.
 

bobongo

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Initially, I thought it looked very suspicious. Then I realized it happened between downs 2 & 3. At that point, there was no way of knowing that there would be a 4th and short upcoming. So I'm thinking it was just a blunder.
The chains were actually moved between 1st and second down. At that point, after an eight-yard gain on first, what should have been second and two became second and one. I guess it was a blunder, but I'd like to know how it happened that the chain was moved back a yard.
 

bobongo

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It was cheating. Blatant cheating. That “first down” led to their second TD. Without that, the game is 14-6 after their final score. Who knows what the outcome would have been? It absolutely changed the arc of the game.
Fifth down redux from Colorado 1990 all over again. Was it cheating or just a mistake? Hard to imagine they'd do something that blatant when more subtle means are available for cheating, but on the other hand, how and why in hades did that chain get moved?
 

GTpdm

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If you are on the sideline crew, your ONE JOB is to set a fixed mark on the sidelines for the spot of the ball, the line of scrimmage, and the first down objective. How can BOTH of the dudes at either end of the chain simultaneously“forget” where they initially spotted their markers…it is literally the ONLY thing they are supposed to to.

 

CEB

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Initially, I thought it looked very suspicious. Then I realized it happened between downs 2 & 3. At that point, there was no way of knowing that there would be a 4th and short upcoming. So I'm thinking it was just a blunder.
The chain guy to watch is on the 30. His job once the chain is set is to clip a marker on the chain at the 30 yard line as a reference point in case the chains need to be reset. As the play starts, you can barely see him bending over, presumably to do so. He’s late, and doesn’t get it done. Of course the play goes OOB near the marker to gain and the chain is dropped. Since the clip wasn’t placed at the 30, dopey can’t reset the chain properly. I have no idea why the guy at the LOS would’ve moved, but regardless, dopey at the 30 grabs the wrong spot on the chain, sets it back to the 30 and everyone pulls tight again.
When they line up for the next play you can barely the marker is now in place between dopey’s feet at the 30.
Honest mistake? Homer BS? Who knows… of course it went to our detriment, so even if it was simple ineptitude, it’s a shame it was rewarded.
 

roadkill

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The chains were actually moved between 1st and second down. At that point, after an eight-yard gain on first, what should have been second and two became second and one. I guess it was a blunder, but I'd like to know how it happened that the chain was moved back a yard.
You're correct. Still begs the question - why deliberately cheat to make it 2nd and 1 instead of 2nd and 2? VT already had 3 downs to make only 2 yards. Seems unnecessary. I am inclined to agree with CBK who stated in today's presser that it was an "inadvertive administrative error."
 

stinger78

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If you are on the sideline crew, your ONE JOB is to set a fixed mark on the sidelines for the spot of the ball, the line of scrimmage, and the first down objective. How can BOTH of the dudes at either end of the chain simultaneously“forget” where they initially spotted their markers…it is literally the ONLY thing they are supposed to to.


They didn’t “forget.”
 

bobongo

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The chain guy to watch is on the 30. His job once the chain is set is to clip a marker on the chain at the 30 yard line as a reference point in case the chains need to be reset. As the play starts, you can barely see him bending over, presumably to do so. He’s late, and doesn’t get it done. Of course the play goes OOB near the marker to gain and the chain is dropped. Since the clip wasn’t placed at the 30, dopey can’t reset the chain properly. I have no idea why the guy at the LOS would’ve moved, but regardless, dopey at the 30 grabs the wrong spot on the chain, sets it back to the 30 and everyone pulls tight again.
When they line up for the next play you can barely the marker is now in place between dopey’s feet at the 30.
Honest mistake? Homer BS? Who knows… of course it went to our detriment, so even if it was simple ineptitude, it’s a shame it was rewarded.
That's part of the answer to how it happened. Dopey with the clip marker did it. But why did the guys on both ends of the chain acquiesce to his incompetence? I guess they were incompetent all along the line.
 

bobongo

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Why didn't one of our guys upstairs call it out? Both my son and I saw it on TV and said WTF.
That's the biggest question. Amazing nobody noticed it in the booth. And it happened before the second-down play. You'd think it would dawn on somebody by 4th down.
 

CEB

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That's part of the answer to how it happened. Dopey with the clip marker did it. But why did the guys on both ends of the chain acquiesce to his incompetence? I guess they were incompetent all along the line.
The guy at the line to gain dropped the marker when the play came at him…. No issue with that. Dopey should be in charge until the officials signal to move again. He failed to properly mark the chain and made stuff up as he went along.
I blame dopey, but I would’ve thought the guy on the original LOS would’ve at least questioned…
 

7979

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I think you are correct for the most part, but I still like having PJ as the person making the adjustments during the game and at halftime.
I loved Paul Johnson, HoF, best coach GT has had since Dodd. Living in Nashville, I still have guys, when I tell them I am a Tech grad, saying...."oh yeah, GT runs the TO..ya'll are tough!"....NOBODY knows who we are anymore.... because we are weak imitations of everybody else....We should have allowed Paul to retire on his own terms instead of chasing him out of town with torches and pitchforks...
But..
Brent is the best we are going to do. Tech man, through and through. He is not HoF'er, but very few are. Hope he grows into gameday coach because he is, for better or worse, our guy and will be for a long time. I like Brent Key. He does alot of things very, very well.....
1990 is a generation past. 2014 was so much fun. I am old. I'd like to beat UGa again before I die.
 

stinger78

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The guy at the line to gain dropped the marker when the play came at him…. No issue with that. If dopey properly marks the chain, he should be in charge until the officials signal to move again.
I blame dopey, but I would’ve thought the guy on the original LOS would’ve at least questioned…
The head linesman spots the ball on the sideline.
 
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