Mostly “Fire Geoff Collins”, some reminiscing, maybe bourbon or other distractions

[SOWEGA Jacket]

As weird as it sounds, the Duke game really is crucial for this year. A win puts us at 3-3 and provides some momentum before a bye week. If we win that game, I still think we have a shot at wins. Conversely if we lose that game, it really could be another 3 win season. If that happens, I really think our recruiting could take a major hit. It is still hard for me to believe how poor our run game is with our group of running backs. They have basically no openings. The scheme to get Gibbs and others on the age with swing passes and other areas away from tackle to tackle have to be the approach right now. Maybe if we hit enough of those type of plays, the middle might be more open. On defense, our inability to get a pass rush (other than the UNC game) and our struggles with covering receivers make us incredibly vulnerable to any normal passing team. We will see.

We are going to beat Duke easily. They match up poorly with us. We have too much firepower and speed compared to them. This is a game where we athlete them no matter what scheme Cut comes up with. The problem after that is I don’t see another win. Maybe VT at home after we lose to UVA, but unfortunately Collins has proven he can’t coach at home. And if Pitt is any indication of both our lines play then we have no shot against BC, ND, or UGA. They all are better on the lines than Pitt.

 

[stech81]

We are going to beat Duke easily. They match up poorly with us. We have too much firepower and speed compared to them. This is a game where we athlete them no matter what scheme Cut comes up with. The problem after that is I don’t see another win. Maybe VT at home after we lose to UVA, but unfortunately Collins has proven he can’t coach at home. And if Pitt is any indication of both our lines play then we have no shot against BC, ND, or UGA. They all are better on the lines than Pitt.

I can't speak for this year as I have not seen Duke one time , but I have seen them beat us when we had a better team . As bad as I dislike Cut he always coaches well against us even when CPJ was here.

 

[cthenrys]

I can't speak for this year as I have not seen Duke one time , but I have seen them beat us when we had a better team . As bad as I dislike Cut he always coaches well against us even when CPJ was here.

I think there are no easy wins for us. They have a legit RB and a QB that can hit receivers. The D from the UNC game will dominate but we’ve only seen them twice. Will they show up Saturday? We don’t have a great track record there in good times (and we are not in good times right now)

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

It's not ageism. I am hoping Collins can be the guy, but I know GOL and Fridge were all-timers. Everyone I know in their 20's and 30's (which I am a part of), is giving him a chance. Overturning a 3-O option takes time. Something I guess the older guys don't have patience for (ok, I am sorry, that was ageism) which I understand.

I don’t think it’s ageism. I call a spade a spade. Same when CPJ was the coach and everyone before him.

 

[Jimd99]

I don’t think it’s ageism. I call a spade a spade. Same when CPJ was the coach and everyone before him.

Thing about being an old Jacket fan is that we lived through Carson, Rogers, Fulcher, Curry, Lewis,etc......that probably contributes to the "impatiencet" some of us exhibit since it's not our first participation in a goat rodeo I don't like the name of this thread, I believe Coach Collins deserves our support while he's working on the fix, but Coach Carson didn't outlive multiple 4-6 seasons.

 

[takethepoints]

As weird as it sounds, the Duke game really is crucial for this year. A win puts us at 3-3 and provides some momentum before a bye week. If we win that game, I still think we have a shot at wins. Conversely if we lose that game, it really could be another 3 win season. If that happens, I really think our recruiting could take a major hit. It is still hard for me to believe how poor our run game is with our group of running backs. They have basically no openings. The scheme to get Gibbs and others on the age with swing passes and other areas away from tackle to tackle have to be the approach right now. Maybe if we hit enough of those type of plays, the middle might be more open. On defense, our inability to get a pass rush (other than the UNC game) and our struggles with covering receivers make us incredibly vulnerable to any normal passing team. We will see.

Or we could LET SIMS RUN MORE. On reason the inside game has problems - besides the OL, that is - is that we telegraph runs. The reason for that is that we don't let our QBs run enough on options or regular QB sweeps. Why this happened again after the great success we had against UNC is beyond me.

Oh, and, ys, the pass rush sucked last week. Hope that doesn't happen with Puke.

 

[FlatsLander]

We are going to beat Duke easily. They match up poorly with us. We have too much firepower and speed compared to them. This is a game where we athlete them no matter what scheme Cut comes up with. The problem after that is I don’t see another win. Maybe VT at home after we lose to UVA, but unfortunately Collins has proven he can’t coach at home. And if Pitt is any indication of both our lines play then we have no shot against BC, ND, or UGA. They all are better on the lines than Pitt.

We were all thinking the same thing for NIU, no? I do feel like we will play better @ Duke, though.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

Of course, but going into NIU the team was pumped with sunshine all off season and believed they were good. Coming into Duke we just got gang handled at home by over 30. If we don’t respond Saturday then Collins has lost the team. And I’m not talking about a win. I don’t care about wins or losses. I care about process and if our process shows itself to be inept again after losing by 30 at home then turn out the lights.

 

[cthenrys]

Of course, but going into NIU the team was pumped with sunshine all off season and believed they were good. Coming into Duke we just got gang handled at home by over 30. If we don’t respond Saturday then Collins has lost the team. And I’m not talking about a win. I don’t care about wins or losses. I care about process and if our process shows itself to be inept again after losing by 30 at home then turn out the lights.

You're doing it wrong. It's really year 0+1. Covid year didn't count and W-L's don't count. He's going to be here for 7 years so none of this matters.

(tongue in cheek of course).

 

[g0lftime]

I happened across the TStan Collins hiring announcement on YouTube accidentally recently. One thing that was interesting to me was that TStan made the comment that GT is a unique institution and he wanted a coach that did things different. He obviously was not going to stay with the 3O with the hire but did not say that.

 

[FlatsLander]

Of course, but going into NIU the team was pumped with sunshine all off season and believed they were good. Coming into Duke we just got gang handled at home by over 30. If we don’t respond Saturday then Collins has lost the team. And I’m not talking about a win. I don’t care about wins or losses. I care about process and if our process shows itself to be inept again after losing by 30 at home then turn out the lights.

I agree, I can handle losing games where we just get beat. We should not have 50 point collapses on defense no matter what.

 

[MWBATL]

To me, personally, Duke is a bell-weather game. If we lose to Duke, I will feel lower than when we lost to NIU. I EXPECT to beat Duke, no matter what. Failure here means we are lower than pond scum (aka Duke).

To each their own, but lose here, and this season is over for me.

 

[TruckStick]

Duke and Virginia are winnable. Win vs Duke and lose to Virginia = stuck in low gear going nowhere, Win vs. Duke & Virginia = Move up to 2nd gear, Lose vs Duke period.. in Reverse.

 

[stech81]

I EXPECT to beat Duke, no matter what. Failure here means we are lower than pond scum (aka Duke).

To each their own, but lose here, and this season is over for me.

The past 5 out of 7 years must have been hard on you.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I think we beat Duke easily. If not, we are in deep trouble.

As people struggle with where our next wins will come from, or how long before Tech has a winning season again, I am struck all over again with how amazing the 2014 season was. That year we played eight teams with winning records, and several bowl teams, beating 3 teams with 10 win seasons. I must have taken some of that for granted at the time because now such an accomplishment seems like an impossible hill to get over.

I’m still hanging on to 7 wins this season.

 

[orientalnc]

I think we beat Duke easily. If not, we are in deep trouble.

As people struggle with where our next wins will come from, or how long before Tech has a winning season again, I am struck all over again with how amazing the 2014 season was. That year we played eight teams with winning records, and several bowl teams, beating 3 teams with 10 win seasons. I must have taken some of that for granted at the time because now such an accomplishment seems like an impossible hill to get over.

I’m still hanging on to 7 wins this season.

I have posted that the 2014 team might have been the best GT football team of my adult life, and I remember the 1990 team very well.

 

[GT_05]

I think we beat Duke easily. If not, we are in deep trouble.

As people struggle with where our next wins will come from, or how long before Tech has a winning season again, I am struck all over again with how amazing the 2014 season was. That year we played eight teams with winning records, and several bowl teams, beating 3 teams with 10 win seasons. I must have taken some of that for granted at the time because now such an accomplishment seems like an impossible hill to get over.

I’m still hanging on to 7 wins this season.

Do you remember who we lost to during the regular season in 2014? UNC and Duke by a total of 11 points. 11 freaking points. We gave up 14 points in the first 5 minutes and 44 seconds of last week’s game, just to put that in perspective.

 

[Tech93]

I hope you’ll are right about guessing that we will get an easy win against Duke but I don’t have faith in us getting any easy wins. Hope CGC can turn things around but continue to doubt that he has what it takes to be an effective coach for GT.

 

[orientalnc]

Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman:

“It is better to have questions you cannot answer than to have answers you cannot question.”

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman:

“It is better to have questions you cannot answer than to have answers you cannot question.”

That is a quote worth remembering.