Mental toughness

[dressedcheeseside]

^^^I totally see what you're saying and agree for the most part. It was a bad choice of words as I did not intend to insult our SA's, I hold them in the highest esteem. However, I still think there is a certain quality that has yet to establish itself in this team. Somebody else said the word "clutch." Maybe that is what I was thinking when I chose poorly the words mental toughness. Somebody else said confidence. Maybe it's a killer instinct. I don't know what it is, but there's something intangible we don't seem to possess when the game is on the line that brings out peak performance. We've only had two opportunities where the game hung in the balance in the final minutes so those two situations are where I pulling my thoughts from. It could just be plain ol' bad luck.

 

[flea77]

Like I said normally your very rational. We hammered UNC and Pitt who beat us last year. UNC crying about injuries... while we lost 3 OT's and a " ALL ACC " B back who should be playing this year... Cry me a river. So we missed two field goals... We struggle in a monsoon... We don't get some calls that we all know are normally called. A block in one of our OL"s back 2 sec after the whistle in frt of a ref... a horse collar in frt of a line judge etc... All those thing add up. Im not sure that the ACC does not protect unbeaten teams. I saw so many non calls that were obvious I could throw up. We have actual Student Athletes competing against guy who's majors are " fashion Mkg" " rec sports mgt" " gen studies" "communication studies" what the heck is that, trying to figure out what the pictures in a " green eggs and ham " book means? Im just saying that these guys are " Mentally tougher" than most. We lost two games. Cant do anything about it. Time to move on.

 

[4shotB]

Like I said normally your very rational. We hammered UNC and Pitt who beat us last year. UNC crying about injuries... while we lost 3 OT's and a " ALL ACC " B back who should be playing this year... Cry me a river. So we missed two field goals... We struggle in a monsoon... We don't get some calls that we all know are normally called. A block in one of our OL"s back 2 sec after the whistle in frt of a ref... a horse collar in frt of a line judge etc... on

Flea..I have to ask this in spite of the reaction it may cause. I know you played for the dawgs although I am not sure when. But there was a very long time when those of us who grew up in the 70's and followed southern FB of any type knew that Vince, Erk and company simply didn't lose a close game. At that time, everyone expected that Uga would find a way to win. Similar to the Patriots nowadays. Can you speak to the mentality of teams that "refuse to lose". Is that a myth? Or are there teams that have some undescribable type of ability to "close the deal". This is a topic of great interest to me and any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[iceeater1969]

This is a badly titled thread.
To lighten up
You guys need to here what my coaching son did last week with his hs team that was doing terrible on defense. He told me dad that can't stop any body and by half time the good players who play both ways are exhausted.
Next game he put all the good guys on offense and replaced them with sophomores.
The game started fast and furious. By 4th quarter our guys were still going and opponent was exhausted. Final score 78 to 62 good guys. 810 yds rushing and 11 yds passing and t he sophomores felt a part of the team.

.In the previous games he had tried all kinds of team motivation stuff (dabo style). This week against a district opponent He told them we are going to line up and kick them in the face. No rah rah team stuff. It's just u and the man in front of you.

I think rah rah clutch stuff is a result of good game plan, fear of letting team mates down, and getting up faster than the opponent , and a little luck.

I really like these ga tech guys as we have a lot more athletic team than in past. Pretty sure we will be playing fast on defense from toe meets leather till the whistle blows. Hope we load up an extra safety and let AJ Great play.

 

[flea77]

4shotb, You might want to actually go look at the win loss records. If you look you will see that UGA lost a lot of close games during that time period. People remember history they way they want to. UGA minus #34 for 3 years was a Very average football team. Even with #34 UGA lost 2 close bowl games... Pitt drove the field from their 20 yard line to win in the 82 Sugar Bowl. They won the game with a 33 yard TD pass on 4th down. When I played in the mid 80's we believed the same as players do today. That we would find a way to win.