I'm posting this against my better judgement, but will not read any replies to save my blood pressure.
I was at the game and I rewatched it Sunday night. I had a 3 hour drive back home after the game to read all pages of the fire our coach thread. I'm not there yet, because we can't afford to do it so why even worry with it?
Full disclosure: I am a fan of Georgia Tech. I don't care who coaches or plays, I'll cheer for them because they are apart of the team I love. And being in South Georgia, some of yall know the shade we get every day by having GT on our trucks and apparel.
Knee Jerk reaction to the game: We're the same as last year: Missed field goals. Poor blocking. Poor push from DL. Bend AND break secondary. Horrible play calling in the red zone.
After rewatching and decompressing: I see lack of depth at each position, aside from running backs, as our main concern at this point. We came out flat as a majority, which is a combo of individual and coach. I played college ball and never had a coach need to give a rah rah speech to get me ready to play. But it's a new generation of player.
On the offensive side of the under Simms: Bad passing. For the most part, the blocking was ok. Should never have to hold a block for 6+ seconds. The running game was decent. Didn't really move the ball efficiently (missed passes). The fumble type happens even in the NFL, something that can be fixed, I see it as a fluke. Left 6 points on the field with an acceptable miss (the slight hook) and an unbelievable miss (the slip---more on this later). Surprisingly OCDP made good calls.
Offense under Yates: Moved the ball much better. 2nd drive 3rd quarter 2nd and goal from the 2=HORRIBLE play calling. Should have been Mason up the middle or Yates sneaking in until we got the 6. The change of plays was good call (not worth 2 timeouts good but still good), but half an inch out of bounds is half an inch too much. Yates had flashes Josh N, sacrifice it all to win...he did what he could. Play callin was horrible when all we needed was 1 first down, because our OL was GASSED, little to no depth.
Offense: Having 2 rushers that close to 100 yards each is encouraging. Our receivers, Carter and McGowan for sure, got separation, just need to catch the ball and for that to happen, need to deliver the ball on target. 400+ yards is good by me. A different play call here or there could help. Yates should start Saturday and there after, but Simms has won the qb competition 2 years over Yates for a reason.
Defense was decent. Minus the last 80 yard drive and it a good, not great not earth shattering, but good none the less. Secondary confusion was obvious to the fans much less an experienced qb. DL had ZERO push. Qb hurries came from LB or safeties, nothing inside. Their running back had a good game, undersized backs are usually hard to tackle, we know that from our past. Not a great stat line, even taking out the last drive. C Thomas and W Walker played head and shoulders above the rest it seemed. We won Money Down! They were 5-12 on 3rd down attempts.
Special teams: Very Acceptable. 50+ yards punt average by true freshman! Punt coverage = 0 return yards! Each kickoff going for touchback! 100% PAT! Field goal attempts, slight hook on first attempt= eh it happens. 2nd attempt = slippage. SIDE RANT: With game time temp in the low 80s upper to low 70s, why did we have guys seemingly all game slipping? Happened on defense mostly but was very glaring. ZERO excuse on our own field. The last attempt was a dud from the moment the decision to try it was made. On punt block, hahaha didn't even try to go after the kicker.
Following is the coaching staff: Again the coming out flat is is a toss up between the player and coach. We don't know what the halftime speech was but I trust it was not for 1st grade or church ladies. 2nd AND GOAL FROM THE 2 AND YOU DON'T CALL 3 STRAIGHT RUNS!!!!!! ALL WE NEED IS ONE FIRST DOWN TO WIN AN UGLY GAME AND YOU CALL EAST AND WEST PLAYS!!!!!! Aside from those glaring mistakes, the play calling wasn't terrible, very surprised! The DL, idk. Embarrassing. Great job on having only 2 penalties for 10 yards total. Keep recruiting to fill up our depth chart which is very lacking. For the opposing coach, he believed in his team just like CGC believes in ours. He was just talking coach speak. Look at any of the upsets from this past weekend or previous years. same line about tougher/want it more after each one.
For the fans. It was embarrassing to be there and see everyone sitting. If I'm going to sit while watching a game, it's gonna be in my living room in an oversized recliner, not an aluminum bench. The stadium was not energetic, and was even more glaring on TV. Pretty sure I heard crickets, even in the 4th quarter when we had the lead. For a season kickoff game at night with perfect weather, 33,000 is a sad number. For years we complained about noon September kickoffs, yet we as fans crap the bed given this opportunity. The Dodd should have been rocking. Was great to see students in North and South stands! For those who thinks CGC spends all his time worrying about uni combs and other non game prep issues, you're just picking him apart because you don't like him. Flat out. He is not behind any camera, not editing any Twitter video, not using the Wheel of Unis to choose our combo. He's doing the work he needs to do, but like some who study hard for a test, they still score lower than they would like. I even read a post that had many likes that complained CGC took players on a private plane to ACC media days and that he had a WaHo truck to feed the players. We get it. Some of yall just hate him. And that's OK. But, it's easier to sit back and say "I told you so" than support the coaches and players we have. Unless one of yall win the Mega Millions and give it all to the GTAA, CGC ain't going nowhere for 2 more years. Some of his assistants need to go well before then, but he won't. So, that leaves one option: Support the current coaches and players. Cheer our team on. Show up this Sat at noon and for the remaining home games. Watch and cheer loudly for the away games you watch at you local establishments (if you don't travel to the away games). I'll see yall Saturday from section 121!! Go Jackets!!!!!!!!!!!
