Last Stand of the Triple Option

[Randy Carson]

Thanks for the memories, Coach.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Nice tribute to Johnson and a very fair and even handed assessment of the success of the flexbone triple option versus the mountain of criticism it had to face in each of its years of practice.

 

[wrmathis]

The only quibble I had was when talking about the 2015 season. No mention at all that like half the team died from injuries that year.

Or even mention Nesbit breaking his arm his last year.

 

[DeepSnap]

The only quibble I had was when talking about the 2015 season. No mention at all that like half the team died from injuries that year.

Or even mention Nesbit breaking his arm his last year.

2015 was the worst injury riddled season since 1968 when we had to call the 7th string QB out of the stands at halftime of the Navy game, appropriately enough played in a driving rain storm, to finish the game. Our leading tackler, the late Eric Wilcox, played the second half of the season on one leg.... the other had a shredded knee. And so on......

 

[Jim Prather]

It's nice to hear someone knowledgeable put into perspective just how impactful the injuries were in 2015. The worst year for injuries in nearly half a century speaks volumes...

 

[Northeast Stinger]

2015 was the worst injury riddled season since 1968 when we had to call the 7th string QB out of the stands at halftime of the Navy game, appropriately enough played in a driving rain storm, to finish the game. Our leading tackler, the late Eric Wilcox, played the second half of the season on one leg.... the other had a shredded knee. And so on......

If that was the game at Bobby Dodd, I was there. Navy returned a punt for a touchdown and did everything right. Our offense did the slip and slide the whole game. We scored two late fourth quarter touchdowns to make it respectable in what was otherwise a rout.

 

[takethepoints]

It's nice to hear someone knowledgeable put into perspective just how impactful the injuries were in 2015. The worst year for injuries in nearly half a century speaks volumes...

Yes, and it usually isn't mentioned that 2008, with a restricted roster, was also a very bad season for injuries. 11 players who started in the first game missed at least one game and both OTs went down to injury, including future long-time pro Andrew Garner. Despite this - or, perhaps, because of it - Tech vastly over-performed predictions.

As I've said here before, I'm an old OL. I spent most of Paul's 11 years watching the blocking schemes and tying to figure out what was happening, especially after the half. No coach I ever saw was better at halftime O adjustments then Paul and it almost always involved simple changes that took both me and the other side by surprise. My favorite = the sudden use of the belly dive in the 2014 Orange Bowl. They couldn't stop it, Tech kept running it, and it made their second half a living Hell. Heaven for Tech, of course.

I'll miss Paul and the spread option for, I'm sure, the rest of my life. I doubt that Tech will go with one of the coaches now running it even if the present experiment fails. And I continue to wonder what would have happened if Tech had offered the job to Monken. More success for sure; how much more is a question.

I hope Key succeeds, of course, and I support him fully. I think he's probably sure to get us to Gailey-level success. We'll just have to see about going higher.

 

[iceeater1969]

2015 was the worst injury riddled season since 1968 when we had to call the 7th string QB out of the stands at halftime of the Navy game, appropriately enough played in a driving rain storm, to finish the game. Our leading tackler, the late Eric Wilcox, played the second half of the season on one leg.... the other had a shredded knee. And so on......

Was that the year Larry Good hobbled
back out for the Uga game? In the yesr i remember he got hit in the knee by a dirty tacle

 

[takethepoints]

Was that the year Larry Good hobbled
back out for the Uga game? In the yesr i remember he got hit in the knee by a dirty tacle

I loved Larry Good! His running style - his teammates called it the "Camilla Shuffle" - was a lot of fun to watch. And talk about someone who would have made the spread option work! If we could have found another Larry Good things would have been as nice as they were with Thomas.

 

[iceeater1969]

It's nice to hear someone knowledgeable put into perspective just how impactful the injuries were in 2015. The worst year for injuries in nearly half a century speaks volumes...

The whole 2014 back field except for Qb was skill play were gone. The young guys had plenty of talent but as soon as they got their timing down, bam injured.
We all thought it would be plug and play. We started fast and averaged 500 plus yards on offense going into ND. The fans at ND thought we would kill them. The night before the game at the casino coach Hurt said
"our young guys are going to find out what its like to play grown *** men". Itdidn't help that our two largest returning ol were VERY large. At the ND game we were in white iirc and Shamire and Erin Joe looked 2 Michelin men. ND held our center and put no one online in front of shamire. Eventually cpj schemed us back close.

 

[DeepSnap]

If that was the game at Bobby Dodd, I was there. Navy returned a punt for a touchdown and did everything right. Our offense did the slip and slide the whole game. We scored two late fourth quarter touchdowns to make it respectable in what was otherwise a rout.

Yep... the Navy FB Dan Pike spent the afternoon running wild on GF.

 

[DeepSnap]

Was that the year Larry Good hobbled
back out for the Uga game? In the yesr i remember he got hit in the knee by a dirty tacle

Yes, Larry came back for the Ugag game in Athens against Bill Stanfill & Jack Scott & played on one leg. OC Bill Crutchfield designed the "Cherry Picker Formation" to spread everybody out & try to confuse the dwags. Gaggers - 47 Good's Guys - 8

The "Cherry Picker Formation" was banned by the NCAA the next year & Crutchfield was gone, another UNC friend of Carson's with a much more advanced understanding of how to build an offense than Carson, so Budro let him go.

 

[iceeater1969]

Yes, Larry came back for the Ugag game in Athens against Bill Stanfill & Jack Scott & played on one leg. OC Bill Crutchfield designed the "Cherry Picker Formation" to spread everybody out & try to confuse the dwags. Gaggers - 47 Good's Guys - 8

The "Cherry Picker Formation" was banned by the NCAA the next year & Crutchfield was gone, another UNC friend of Carson's with a much more advanced understanding of how to build an offense than Carson, so Budro let him go.

Thanks.
I was at that UGA game and nearly got in a fight after they took out Good's bad knee.
As i remember the spread firmation worked great. On first series we scored and got 8 our only points.

Wonder if Carson was let go too soon.

 

[DeepSnap]

Wonder if Carson was let go too soon.

Not soon enough....... he lost the locker room during the practices during Finals Week before the 1970 Sun Bowl. 9PM - yes, 9PM - practices in full pads during Finals Week drove everyone off a cliff.

The next year with his bunker approach was worse. After the team voted to NOT go play a very good Ole Miss team after our disappointing 1971 season, Carson's "We're gonna stay in this room & vote as many times as necessary to go to the Peach Bowl" was the last straw. He was begging us to save his job, not in so many words, and he got the performance he deserved in that bowl game. We got on with our lives.

Budro's pro coaching career mirrored his college one - great assistant with the Steelers, lousy HC with the Browns (old version) - to the surprise of no one who had played for him at NATS.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Not soon enough....... he lost the locker room during the practices during Finals Week before the 1970 Sun Bowl. 9PM - yes, 9PM - practices in full pads during Finals Week drove everyone off a cliff.

The next year with his bunker approach was worse. After the team voted to NOT go play a very good Ole Miss team after our disappointing 1971 season, Carson's "We're gonna stay in this room & vote as many times as necessary to go to the Peach Bowl" was the last straw. He was begging us to save his job, not in so many words, and he got the performance he deserved in that bowl game. We got on with our lives.

Budro's pro coaching career mirrored his college one - great assistant with the Steelers, lousy HC with the Browns (old version) - to the surprise of no one who had played for him at NATS.

I saw that Peach Bowl game against Ole Miss. From the stands it was clear Tech was throwing the game. First half they literally handed the ball to a Miss receiver for a touchdown. Second half Tech showed what they could do if they wanted. Most bizarre Tech game I’ve ever watched.

Carson was a great DC in my opinion. Cover 2 and other defensive innovations by him changed the game. Dodd must have kept him in check as an assistant and similar situation at Pittsburgh. But heard he could be brutal on players.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Yes, Larry came back for the Ugag game in Athens against Bill Stanfill & Jack Scott & played on one leg. OC Bill Crutchfield designed the "Cherry Picker Formation" to spread everybody out & try to confuse the dwags. Gaggers - 47 Good's Guys - 8

The "Cherry Picker Formation" was banned by the NCAA the next year & Crutchfield was gone, another UNC friend of Carson's with a much more advanced understanding of how to build an offense than Carson, so Budro let him go.

I remember that game well. Vince Dooley referred to it as a brilliantly conceived offense. It exposed a major loophole in the substitution rules though. Something similar happened after Tech ACC championship game with Clemson where a receiver lingered by the sideline on a 4th down punt after appearing to leave the game and caught a touchdown pass. NCAA got busy the next year on that one too “to clarify the rule.”

 

[iceeater1969]

Not soon enough....... he lost the locker room during the practices during Finals Week before the 1970 Sun Bowl. 9PM - yes, 9PM - practices in full pads during Finals Week drove everyone off a cliff.

The next year with his bunker approach was worse. After the team voted to NOT go play a very good Ole Miss team after our disappointing 1971 season, Carson's "We're gonna stay in this room & vote as many times as necessary to go to the Peach Bowl" was the last straw. He was begging us to save his job, not in so many words, and he got the performance he deserved in that bowl game. We got on with our lives.

Budro's pro coaching career mirrored his college one - great assistant with the Steelers, lousy HC with the Browns (old version) - to the surprise of no one who had played for him at NATS.

What a different and eye opening perspective u bring.

Looking back it appears that carson and dodd were good at dc and coach but not so good st hc and ad.

Not sure when Jerry Glanville arrived and left, but wonder how u remember him??
(I remember hearing his very distinctive voice as he yelled about hitting. I thought boy has this changed from the first year w Dodd on sidelines. )

 

[UgaBlows]

Yes, and it usually isn't mentioned that 2008, with a restricted roster, was also a very bad season for injuries. 11 players who started in the first game missed at least one game and both OTs went down to injury, including future long-time pro Andrew Garner. Despite this - or, perhaps, because of it - Tech vastly over-performed predictions.

As I've said here before, I'm an old OL. I spent most of Paul's 11 years watching the blocking schemes and tying to figure out what was happening, especially after the half. No coach I ever saw was better at halftime O adjustments then Paul and it almost always involved simple changes that took both me and the other side by surprise. My favorite = the sudden use of the belly dive in the 2014 Orange Bowl. They couldn't stop it, Tech kept running it, and it made their second half a living Hell. Heaven for Tech, of course.

I'll miss Paul and the spread option for, I'm sure, the rest of my life. I doubt that Tech will go with one of the coaches now running it even if the present experiment fails. And I continue to wonder what would have happened if Tech had offered the job to Monken. More success for sure; how much more is a question.

I hope Key succeeds, of course, and I support him fully. I think he's probably sure to get us to Gailey-level success. We'll just have to see about going higher.

The halftime blocking adjustment he made in’08 vs. uga was equally amazing

 

[Southern psu fan]

Thanks for the memories, Coach.

PJ was the master in the Triple option. His track Record speaks for itself it was just hard to recruit running the offense today. You give PJ the same talent on offense and defense he’ll beat your butt 98% of the time. PJ done a lot of great things at Ga Tech and I wish him nothing but the best. I really thought Nebraska was a great fit for him, he could’ve got the right players and would’ve won a lot of games and possibly competed for NC’s. Just my opinion though.

 

[iceeater1969]

The halftime blocking adjustment he made in’08 vs. uga was equally amazing

IMHO,
18 was the best season for blocking adjustments.

We started w solid ol but thin in depth. Had a warrior at qb, t marshall. Usf was beautiful game except defense could not stop deep ball and special teams gave up 2 ko retuns for TD. Too deep a hole. No one said a word on plane ride home.
Then w bryan out we lost to pitt in close one. Then lost to clem but beat bowling green.
Tmarshall was dinged up so Oliver played some. To simplify for back up ( imo) cpj changed the b back dive from center guard to outside tackle w the tackle doing zone blocking. TO could keep or make pitch or keep = student body around the end. We slaughtered a really bad louisville.

Against duke we messed up a blocking call when bryan was out and nobody got the defensive end.
He crushed the qb who went back to sideline. We couldnt stop passing of duke's d jones and lost.

We were 3-4 with teeth of schedule to go with 2 road games up next.

Imo the qb injury in duke game was a part of why cpj retired.

Anyway things were bleak as we went on road for 2 games - vt and unc. CPJ went full end run with TO who ran behind the b back to lead us to we scoring 48 and 38.

We were 5-4 but had mia and uva to go. Both had strong DL

Against this Cpj used parker and t marshall to do precision hand offs, fake hand offs UP THE MIDDLE. The defense was waiting for end around. Imo, cpj knew we could not out athlete these teams w end runs.
Cpj made the miami dt look silly - running by the guy w the ball to blow up thevguy without the ball The uva dt s were better but some how in critical situations we ended up having bb or qb run behind a crushing block by parker ( left side) for must make yardage.
We completed 4 passes in those 2 games.

From 3-4 somehow were 7-4. It was gutty players and great coaching. T Marshall is a warrior.

10-1 uga (lost to #6 lsu) beat our butt. This was another retirement decision point = seeing uga and others leave gt in the dust.

Cpj's last season clearly demonstrated that he is a hall of fame offensive football genius. I can't wait till he is back cheering for and helping us. Him not on campus is stupid.

.