Nesbitt vs Lothridge

[RamblinCharger]

I'm 25, been a tech fan my whole life, but can only remember about 19-20 years of football. I can't have an opinion on the older guys, but my top 5 would be:
1. Joe Ham
2. JeT
3. JFN
4. Godsey
5. TW

Please don't put Reggie on any "best QB" list ... More NFL players on those teams than any during my lifetime and we went 7-5 about every year. Oh and 3 years of the best WR ever.

 

[65Jacket]

Lothridge was an All American.

 

[awbuzz]

Lothridge was an All American.

AND as pointed out earlier #2 in the Heisman race behind Roger Staubach.

 

[OldJacketFan]

Joe Ham #1A, Lothridge #1B. From there lot of good debate but those 2 are head and shoulders above the rest

 

[Milwaukee]

I'm 25, been a tech fan my whole life, but can only remember about 19-20 years of football. I can't have an opinion on the older guys, but my top 5 would be:
1. Joe Ham
2. JeT
3. JFN
4. Godsey
5. TW

Please don't put Reggie on any "best QB" list ... More NFL players on those teams than any during my lifetime and we went 7-5 about every year. Oh and 3 years of the best WR ever.

I'm going to defend Reggie forever. It's not his fault that he was our best option and Chan decided to hitch the wagon to him. Reggie played hard as hell for us.

 

[awbuzz]

Joe Ham #1A, Lothridge #1B. From there lot of good debate but those 2 are head and shoulders above the rest

Ding ding ding!! Winner!!! This ^^^

 

[wrmathis]

JoeHam threw one of the best deep balls i have ever seen. always seem to be on target to where only the receiver could catch it

 

[Skeptic]

i think Joe Hamilton by far for me is an easy #1. Shoulda won the heisman, won davey obrien, helped really turn GT around. He was unstoppable at times folks. And he did it when you were allowed to defend and play real defense. Vs the whimp crap they force on football now.

After that its more up in the air. But Tier 2 probably is a group like Nesbitt, Jet, Godsey, Jones. Then if there are oldtimers I know little about...maybe they are in there too. Billy and Kim King could be tier 2 guys.

Teir 3 for me is a guy like ball and dewberry. I can't put Tevin in my top 10 though. He just wasn't. Even though Ball never beat UGA, he did get us to acc title, beat bigtime teams like Miami, VT on the road etc....so...he is a cut above tevin. Eddie Macashan I know little about. But Tier 3 are guys like Ball, Tevin, Macashan, who ever else I am not aware of...

But its almost impossible to rank them absolutely. You would have trouble arguing with me Nesbitt doesn't belong in the top 5. And Hamiltion is one. The other 3 slots we can debate...I probably put Jet in there just for beating UGA and get to ACC title and dominating the SEC

I think I'd have him in there, too, for the totality of his game and the game-on-the-line performances at which he excelled. But just for beating Georgia? Sure. That's enough for me. Twice? Heisman!

 

[grandpa jacket]

In the ajc someone picked the best all-time Tech QBs. No QB before Lothridge was mentioned.
The order was Hamilton, Godsey, Jones, JET, Nesbitt and Billy the Kid. Personally I think Godsey is too high and Billy too low. I can't see ranking a QB who was very close the Heisman race 2 years behind Nesbitt. I know BL did not look great, but he got the job done. Your thoughts on the rankings?

Bob

I liked Nesbitt but, Billy Lothridge was a more valuable player.

 

[augustabuzz]

Lothridge's record against UG: 3-0! That was the last time we were ahead in the series.

 

[Old South Stands]

We will never know how good Mike Kelley was. He had a good arm for sure. It is just that he was stuck on some GT teams that had the worst records in history.

It was a waste of talent having him sandwiched there in those years while Tech was making the transition from a foundering independent to a fledgling ACC program. Mike Kelley was the first QB at Tech I really remember well... Rudy Allen, Danny Myers and Gary Lanier were all playing when I first started watching Tech games, but was too young at the time and their names never got etched into my memory. The only players I remember at all prior to the Mike Kelley era were kicker/returner Don Besillieu, Lucius Sanford at LB and Eddie Lee Ivery at RB. Pepper Rodgers ran the wishbone and Eddie Lee Ivery carried the ball a lot, so he became the Jackets' marquee star player, perhaps for that reason overshadowing Lanier. Pound for pound he was probably the best all-time pure running back ever at Tech, but anyway, back to point... Mike Kelley was a pretty decent QB. Started as a freshman in '78 and finished up in '81 before going on to the Falcons and the Chargers as a backup. He was a drop-back passer, similar to Dan Fouts in style. Early in his career it was sometimes scary watching him backpedal into the pocket... looked like he would trip over his own feet at any moment, but he had a lot of poise and would somehow get the pass off.

Some of you might remember, but this was the Jackets' shocking upset of Bear Bryant's Bama team at Legion Field in '81, the only victory Tech got that year. Mike Kelley was a senior in this game. The game also featured tight end Ken Whisenhunt and Robert Lavette (my #2 favorite Tech RB of all time), who would stay at Tech through the '84 season and was on the team with John Dewberry that beat UGA in Athens.



Rankings of QBs I've seen:
#1 Joe Hamilton
#2 Shawn Jones
#3 Justin Thomas
#4 Josh Nesbitt
#5 John Dewberry
(toss-up Mike Kelley, Tevin Washington @ #6)