Myths busted

[CobbTech]

This season has been fun. Not only is it fun to watch Georgia Tech win, it's also fun to see the "fans" that were sure we were going into the bottom of the ACC with the likes of Wake Forest, Syracuse, etc. pulling out the excuses after a great season. Here are some of the myths that have been busted recently...

"The ACC has caught up to our offense."

-Year 7, best offense we've had in the PJ era.

"Our recruiting sucks because no one wants to play in the system."

-Custis, Leggett and Lands-Davis are all examples of RB's that were considered 4 stars by at least one of the major recruiting services. They have been signed (hopefully we can get to February to make sure MLD signs) in the last three classes. All had offers from big time schools. Ricky Jeune and Christian Philpott are other examples of receivers that could have played in other systems.


"Paul Johnson can't beat the big 4."

-4-0

"Our offense is great against lower level ACC and FCS teams but can't beat good defenses."

-Just a stupid statement in general. I'm sure if you look at every other offense in the country, their offense likely struggles against great defenses. However, our offense was great against good defenses. 6 of our wins were against teams in the top 31 in total defense! We beat 4 in the top 18! We ran wild on every single team except for Clemson, who was the #1 defense in the nation. We had an "off" game against Clemson and we still averaged 5.8 yards per play!

I'm sure there are others but these were some of my favorites. There's one more myth to bust....our offense can't produce in bowl games when the other team has weeks to prepare.

 

[DC Bee]

Cobby - There is a difference between myths and conclusions based upon facts. I'd say the first 2 are myths and the last 3 are conclusions that could be drawn from facts. How many wins over the big 4 did we have in the previous 3 seasons? 1-11. Until this year, I had not seen the GT offense produce consistently against good defenses under CPJ. If they did produce, they would often choke when the game was on the line. We're 1-5 in bowls under CPJ. Any conclusion made as to why is probably as good as the next. But yeah, I get your drift. Mythbusters could do a show on this year's team. It's been really fun to watch.

 

[collegeballfan]

Number One Myth: J Thomas is to small and light to make it through a full season without a major in jury.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Myth unlikely to ever be busted: GT fans can simply enjoy a winning season.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Myth unlikely to ever be busted: GT fans can simply enjoy a winning season.

Oh my Lord, preach it!

We know how to snatch depression from the jaws of happiness. We can win a game and still complain about style points or some ominous tell tale sign of impending doom in future games. And when we say, "Wait until next year," we usually mean no matter how good things are now they are bound to only get worse in the future.

 

[Ash]

Number One Myth: J Thomas is to small and light to make it through a full season without a major in jury.

I was guilty of believing this one. Glad to see I was proven wrong.

 

[PBR549]

up with the white and gold

 

[gtrower]

Biggest myth busted - GT can't play from behind and can't pass when forced to. I started putting together stats, but it took too long. But thing about it...

- Southern...drove down the field late in the 4th with several throws
- VT...4th and 15 to Smelter, TD to Smelter, and another 3rd down conversion to set up the FG
- Duke...Byerly passed all over them in the 4th and almost stole one for us
- FSU...6-6 for 95 yards and a TD with 2 minutes left

I'd venture a guess that our completion percentage on 3rd/4th might be higher than on 1st/2nd down.

 

[thwgjacket]

The offense can produce in bowl games. Go back and look at Navy. We had over 450 yards against Utah in 2011, their D was ranked 11th that year. We've just played good teams in bowls. And yes we need to win more bowls.

 

[Minawreck]

The bowl myth is the one I see being dispelled coming up. MSU is a typical good "SEC D" meaning it comes from size and ferocity not scheme and discipline. We have the beef on the lines to handle then and I think we will score some points. If the defense can get some stops we should fare well.

I'm looking forward to the challenge.

But once again this game is more about the perception of our opponent than our perceived strength.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

The bowl myth is the one I see being dispelled coming up. MSU is a typical good "SEC D" meaning it comes from size and ferocity not scheme and discipline. We have the beef on the lines to handle then and I think we will score some points. If the defense can get some stops we should fare well.

I'm looking forward to the challenge.

But once again this game is more about the perception of our opponent than our perceived strength.

It can only be busted if it is truly a myth.

Tech fans love to say how hard our O is to prepare for in 3 days but then in bowl season like to say extra time is no more an advantage than it is for other teams. You can't have it both ways.

 

[CobbTech]

Number One Myth: J Thomas is to small and light to make it through a full season without a major in jury.

Darn! I meant to put that one in my original post. That our QB's take a "beating." In 7 years, we've never had a player miss a game from taking a hit. NEVER. Nesbitt is the only one that ever got hurt and it was a hamstring pull against MSU when he was in the open field. He also had an ankle injury that had nothing to do with getting hit. More pro style QB's get hurt than option QB's.

 

[Ash]

Seeing as how MSU is going to be well prepared for us, more than anything the bowl is going to be a measure of how well we execute. I like what I have seen this year so far so I am optimistic.

 

[GTRX7]

Until this year, I had not seen the GT offense produce consistently against good defenses under CPJ.

No offense (*pun intended*), but you must have not been watching GT football over the last 7 years. While the wins haven't always been there, the offense has pretty consistently produced, even against the better defenses. Yes, there have been some stinkers, but not many. Here are our average points scored since CPJ got here against our "main rivals":

vs. UGA - 27 ppg
(Notably, we have score 20 or more against UGA 6 of the 7 times and 30 or more points 4 of the 7 times. Chan NEVER scored more than 20 against UGA. You have to go all the way back to 1989 (19 seasons) to find 6 more games in which we scored more than 20 before CPJ got here and back to 1984 (24 seasons) to get 4 more games we scored 30 or more.)
vs. Clemson - 28 ppg
vs. FSU - 33 ppg
vs. Miami - 24
vs. Virginia Tech - 21 ppg
(Virginia Tech has done the best stopping us. That said, our ppg against Virginia Tech in the 5 previous meetings since 1990 before CPJ got here was 15. So still a 40% offensive improvement.)

 

[vamosjackets]

The bowl myth is the one I see being dispelled coming up. MSU is a typical good "SEC D" meaning it comes from size and ferocity not scheme and discipline. We have the beef on the lines to handle then and I think we will score some points. If the defense can get some stops we should fare well.

I'm looking forward to the challenge.

But once again this game is more about the perception of our opponent than our perceived strength.

MSU runs an offense as similar to ours as you'll find outside of the teams who actually do what we do. They're a good team with a good offense a lot like ours, and they've got a better defense than us. If, in fact, their defensive success is based on "size and ferocity" rather than "discipline", it doesn't necessarily bode well for us, as the way to beat us is to physically dominate us (re: defeating blocks) rather than the typical response of "assignment football" (though that is certainly part of it too).


It's going to be a very tough game, IMO, and if we can beat that team, it will be another major accomplishment in my mind.

 

[GTRX7]

The argument that our offense affects our defense is one that I have come to believe may have some merit, through certainly not to nearly the same extent that is rumored. It probably does have some affect in the spring and fall (when the 1's do practice against each other) and on recruiting.

The other one is the bowl record. I would really like to see that turned around. The evidence is that we have laid a bunch of stinkers. That said, CPJ certainly killed it in the Division 1 playoffs and I believe did well in bowls at Navy. Having JT being the best QB at reading the game CPJ has had here, I am hoping that we can negate some of the disadvantage and have a good game this year.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

One season does not mean all is well, or bad.

Before this year, the complaints about our record vs the 4 were not based on one year.

Beat uga 50 / 50 and you got it.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

MSU runs an offense as similar to ours as you'll find outside of the teams who actually do what we do. They're a good team with a good offense a lot like ours, and they've got a better defense than us. If, in fact, their defensive success is based on "size and ferocity" rather than "discipline", it doesn't necessarily bode well for us, as the way to beat us is to physically dominate us (re: defeating blocks) rather than the typical response of "assignment football" (though that is certainly part of it too).


It's going to be a very tough game, IMO, and if we can beat that team, it will be another major accomplishment in my mind.

If we beat them, do we get national credit for beating a very good team, or does MSU get labeled overrated for losing to GT?

 

[johncu]

No offense (*pun intended*), but you must have not been watching GT football over the last 7 years. While the wins haven't always been there, the offense has pretty consistently produced, even against the better defenses. Yes, there have been some stinkers, but not many. Here are our average points scored since CPJ got here against our "main rivals":

vs. UGA - 27 ppg
(Notably, we have score 20 or more against UGA 6 of the 7 times and 30 or more points 4 of the 7 times. Chan NEVER scored more than 20 against UGA. You have to go all the way back to 1989 (19 seasons) to find 6 more games in which we scored more than 20 before CPJ got here and back to 1984 (24 seasons) to get 4 more games we scored 30 or more.)
vs. Clemson - 28 ppg
vs. FSU - 33 ppg
vs. Miami - 24
vs. Virginia Tech - 21 ppg
(Virginia Tech has done the best stopping us. That said, our ppg against Virginia Tech in the 5 previous meetings since 1990 before CPJ got here was 15. So still a 40% offensive improvement.)

This x 1000. I don't understand how not lighting up the scoreboard against elite teams is indicative of anything other than those teams are good. Do people not remember losing 27-3 to Miami? 51-7 to VT? 31-3 to Clemson? 14-13 to FSU? Too many to count vs. UGA? We were regularly shut down completely against great teams in the CG era (who was actually a decent coach, IMO). Our average against our best competition is better than many teams average over an entire season.

 

[vamosjackets]

This x 1000. I don't understand how not lighting up the scoreboard against elite teams is indicative of anything other than those teams are good. Do people not remember losing 27-3 to Miami? 51-7 to VT? 31-3 to Clemson? 14-13 to FSU? Too many to count vs. UGA? We were regularly shut down completely against great teams in the CG era (who was actually a decent coach, IMO). Our average against our best competition is better than many teams average over an entire season.

And, it wasn't just CCG either, it was also GOL/Friedgen ... Miami shut that thing down in a bowl in Joe's best (senior) year. LSU shut it down in a bowl with Godsey.