I did not like the call for JT to be rolling out with the ball on the fumble down or the down before. There was too much time left to burn especially with Ga having a time out left. Just give the ball to Laskey and pound them off right guard like we had been doing the entire second half. They couldn't stop it. And even if they did, we kick the FG and are up by 7 with just over a minute left. Bad play calls by CPJ IMO...
So do I think the referees were considering calling the "Kick" no good? Did they have black-market bets placed on Georgia? No, but nor is it ridiculous to examine their demeanor and facial expressions. Considering the atmosphere & SEC-centric culture it's possible they subconsciously thought "Tech ought not to have come back, they're playing an SEC team on the road. Did that just happen?"
I could see them trying to blow...watch the cheeks and mouth.
I could see them trying to blow the ball back so it would be short...watch the cheeks and mouth.
But we didn't need a big play. I don't mind the call as much as I mind the execution. A veteran qb, which JT is not, understands game situation (score/time/field position) and is able to make correct decisions based on risk/reward. We had the lead. We could have easily run clock and forced Uga to burn timeouts. Even if we didn't score, we could have pinned them deep with no timeouts.
Maybe CPJ was having flashbacks to the end of the UNC game and didn't want to leave it up to his defense, who knows? Like I said, I don't mind looking downfield for an easy score provided it's wide open, everybody in the stadium was expecting run. What a qb needs to know instinctively is what to do if it doesn't play out as expected. Toss the rock into the 11th row out of bounds the instant you know the pass route is covered. CPJ should have at least reminded him of that scenario before the play.
Look I'm not saying that ref bias doesn't exist. I'm the saying the extent it exists and affects games is overstated. Especially when it comes to our fan base when playing against UGA and the SEC which I'm pretty sure we all despise. I'm not looking to have another post off with you (I already owe you two monster posts) so let's agree to disagree. It may not be ridiculous to examine demeanor and facial expression but I think it's ridiculous to take any worthwhile observations from it. Nobody here is a mind reader, body language expert, knows anything about how the referees carry themselves outside of this one game to compare, and nobody here is unbiased. I'd challenge someone to find an instance in that game where the demeanor and the facial expressions of the referees reveals anything one way or another.
In my original post I was responding someone specifically talking about this play. Watch it and tell me what, if anything, the refs due to support the thought they were rooting for UGA. You can't even see their faces. What makes this call different from the hundreds of other close field goals called over the course of a season? I'd put my money on nothing. Feels like there's a bit of a persecution complex going on which I guess I get when it comes to UGA and the SEC but come on.
Exactly. As I posted before their is an unconscious bias at work. Some of the greatest NBA centers to ever play the game frequently got away with walking when they would go for a dunk. Some of the greatest pitchers in the majors got pitches called strikes that would have been called balls if thrown by lesser lights. Examples of these built in biases are too numerous to mention.I also believe if Western Carolina rushed 2 players over the snapper on field goal attempts that day, they'd have been flagged.
Thought for a bit my memory was gone, but I just replayed it. There was no way to "easily" run the clock since it was 3rd and 12 at about the 18 when Thomas lost the ball, and it would have been 4th and 25 from the 31 -- because Thomas was going down -- had he just gone down. I assume Georgia would have used its last timeout right there. A field goal maybe to get the lead to a TD, but with 2:41 left the FG would have been in the 48-yard range. Give the kid bunches of credit for drilling a 53-yarder, but Butker has not inspired buckets of confidence from that range in two years. His longest was what, 49? With one FG blocked already it would have put GT in a very difficult decision.But we didn't need a big play. I don't mind the call as much as I mind the execution. A veteran qb, which JT is not, understands game situation (score/time/field position) and is able to make correct decisions based on risk/reward. We had the lead. We could have easily run clock and forced Uga to burn timeouts. Even if we didn't score, we could have pinned them deep with no timeouts.
Maybe CPJ was having flashbacks to the end of the UNC game and didn't want to leave it up to his defense, who knows? Like I said, I don't mind looking downfield for an easy score provided it's wide open, everybody in the stadium was expecting run. What a qb needs to know instinctively is what to do if it doesn't play out as expected. Toss the rock into the 11th row out of bounds the instant you know the pass route is covered. CPJ should have at least reminded him of that scenario before the play.
Just going to leave this here...I love to hear the Ugag butt hurt lol.. Stick around for the very end.
Hero to goat thy name is Hutson Mason. Ironically he was throwing to Malcom Mitchell on both the go ahead td and the int.Speaking of almost drops--this deal with DJ reminds me at the end of game of the fumble pick-up in the our EZ vs FSU in 08?, whoever that was almost was stupid enough to try to run it out of EZ and fumbling before we re-secured the ball on the ground.---amazing
talk about going from hero to goat