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Augusta_Jacket

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For me (Tech fan since 98) 1. Joe Hamilton 2. Justin Thomas 3. Josh Nesbitt 4. George Godsey 5. Tevin Washington

I'd switch Godsey and Nesbitt, but I like this list for the time frame.

Even going back to 1990, I like this list. Shawn Jones was a hell of a QB, and he was part of a great NC team, but Godsey was a better QB than Jones. Godsey had 75% of the passing yards Jones had with 50% of the starts. Goose was a beat at QB for us.
 

FredJacket

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Impossible (for me) to compare across the different eras of college football.

But....if you are 2nd in Heisman voting, you break out.
Lothridge
Hamilton

If you win National Championship, you break out.
*Al Hill (1917)
*Bob Durant (1928) - Did not start every game at QB. (y)
*Bill Brigman (1952) - Backup to Pepper Rodgers in '53 & '54
*Shawn Jones (1990)

I needed a heavy helping of Wikipedia to get all that.

I challenge any of you to "prove" Nesbitt or Dewberry or T.Washington was a better QB than my man (a national champ), Bob Durant. [tongue firmly in cheek]
 

MikeJackets

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Impossible (for me) to compare across the different eras of college football.

But....if you are 2nd in Heisman voting, you break out.
Lothridge
Hamilton

If you win National Championship, you break out.
*Al Hill (1917)
*Bob Durant (1928) - Did not start every game at QB. (y)
*Bill Brigman (1952) - Backup to Pepper Rodgers in '53 & '54
*Shawn Jones (1990)

I needed a heavy helping of Wikipedia to get all that.

I challenge any of you to "prove" Nesbitt or Dewberry or T.Washington was a better QB than my man (a national champ), Bob Durant. [tongue firmly in cheek]
Billy Beers quarterbacked 8-2 GT into a three way tie with Tennessee and Tulane for the SEC Championship in 1939.
 

Skeptic

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For some of us older guys, Billy Lothridge (second in Heisman voting to Roger Staubach) and Darrell Crawford (QB of Dodd's first undefeated team) probably deserve to be in the discussion.
Yes, finally somebody steps up for one of the best ever, and the closest to a Heisman, in an era when defense ruled and personal stats were not nearly as impressive as today. An excellent passer, excellent runner, fine punter who led the NFL a couple of years and if I remember right, was Tech's leading punter for a long period, and a wonderful on-field, fiery competitive leader. Oh, and he played defense. Bobby Dodd loved the guy.
 

Oldgoldandwhite

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Single Wing Halfback. There isn't a quarterback in the Single Wing offense. The halfbacks do the passing.
We ran the single wing in HS and most definitely had a QB. He lined up between the guard and tackle. He called the cadence, the play, and on passing downs lined up at TB.
 

Skeptic

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We ran the single wing in HS and most definitely had a QB. He lined up between the guard and tackle. He called the cadence, the play, and on passing downs lined up at TB.
I think they called it blocking back or such. But the three single wing names i remember reading about were Bobby Dodd, who played tailback but was called QB as Oldgold says, Johnny Majors from Tennessee, a terrific back, and a fellow named **** Kasmier from Princeton of all places. All three played what today would be called tailback, and all three ran, pass and kickedd, and I think but I'm not sure, all three were All-Americans. And does Oldgold remember the Tennessee buck lateral? A wonderful play but if the line did not get their blocks the QB got smashed with his back turned. (Snap to fullback, fake dive handing off to the QB who has to face him and who then makes a long, hard laterakl toss to the tailback sweeping one of the ends. Get a fast tailbsck and there were fireworks.
 

GSOJacket

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Yes, finally somebody steps up for one of the best ever, and the closest to a Heisman, in an era when defense ruled and personal stats were not nearly as impressive as today. An excellent passer, excellent runner, fine punter who led the NFL a couple of years and if I remember right, was Tech's leading punter for a long period, and a wonderful on-field, fiery competitive leader. Oh, and he played defense. Bobby Dodd loved the guy.
Yup. Lotheridge also kicked off and kicked field goals and PATs. I think his biggest win was 7 - 6 over then #1 Alabama (Bryant/Namath) in 1962, ending their 24-game winning streak.
 

65Jacket

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Lothridge did not play defense at Tech. Don Toner played a wildcard position that replaced the QB on defense in the Lothridge years. It was Toner who made the game saving interception in the 7-6 win over Alabama in 1962.
 

laoh

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Would love to see the ol' timers' lists... I was a freshman from Lugin's year so my list looks like all the other lists out there with Lil Joe at top and not nearly the complete picture of history in mind.

Side note: If your'e a Tech fan, do your selves a favor and watch a lot of the older games (can find on YouTube). They are really good.
 

1979jacket

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1. Joe Hamilton - just did it all, great runner and best passer of the bunch
2. Shawn Jones - quick as lightning and brought us from the bottom early in 1989 to the national championship in 1990 - his run against UNC was one of the best plays ever
3. Thomas - better passer than Nesbitt but Nesbitt was one tough hombre
4. Nesbitt - can't believe he had such a great career - was very talented but very raw when he started - he had more help than the others with Bay Bay and Dwyer although Hamilton had Campbell who also was a great receiver
5 Godsey - loved the Goose but he was not as good as the 4 above
 

BleedGoldNWhite21

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I was reminiscing on JeT's career and realized something: His career is eerily similar to Josh Nesbitt's. The order of their careers is a bit different, but their overall careers looks the same with a little variation .

Nesbitt
2008: Helped CPJ establish his offense. Beat UGA. Took us to a New Year's Eve bowl. Finished 9-4
2009: Won ACC. Orange Bowl appearance. Finished 10-3.
2010: Injured for 2nd half of season. Team finished 6-7.

JeT
2014: QB that helped CJP re-introduce "Flex option" football after going away from it a bit in 2013. Beat UGA. Went to ACC Championship Game. Won Orange Bowl. Team finished 11-3.
2015: Had to deal with a surreal amount of injuries to players on offense and youth. Worst season since early 1990's. Team finished 3-9.
2016: Beat UGA. Took us to NY Eve Bowl. Team finished 9-4.

One thing Nesbitt was able to do over JeT is win an ACCCG. (Of course, it's more than just Nesbitt and JeT when it comes to that). JeT was able to win a major bowl game (OB in 2014) and went 2-1 against UGA.

As you can see, both had outstanding careers for GT. No doubt JeT (and Nesbitt) will go down as one of the greats to play the position for us.


It's hard to pick between the two as far as CPJ's best QB here at Tech. There are a few things to consider:

1. JT may have had more overall talent around him, but he didn't have any other super stars around him like Dwyer, Thomas or Allen(Mills has a chance to become one AFTER JT graduates). I think this plays a factor in the passing game. Just by the eye test, I think we all agree JT is the better passer, but without Thomas, I fear JN's lack of passing ability could have cost us a few more games, even if he had a solid WR core of Stewart and Juene.

2. Another thing to consider: The ACC has gotten much stronger overall since JN played. Clemson and FSU are national title contenders, the basketball schools Duke and UNC are much more improved and the addition of Pitt makes the Coastal a much tougher division.

It's close and I'd happily take either one of them, but if I had to pick one, I'm going with JT.

As far as JT's overall legacy here...I've been a fan since 2004 and I'd say he's my second favorite Jacket behind Calvin.
 

Skeptic

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Lothridge did not play defense at Tech. Don Toner played a wildcard position that replaced the QB on defense in the Lothridge years. It was Toner who made the game saving interception in the 7-6 win over Alabama in 1962.
He played safety with Dallas.
 

Skeptic

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Yup. Lotheridge also kicked off and kicked field goals and PATs. I think his biggest win was 7 - 6 over then #1 Alabama (Bryant/Namath) in 1962, ending their 24-game winning streak.
I had forgotten that. And does anyone remember that in the days of Bear Bryant, Broadway Joe was an option QB? The guy Vince Lombardi once described as a "perfect passer", ran the option in college. I think Billy Martin and Ted Davis at DE at him up in the '62 game. Among the things that attracted Dodd to him was of all things his ability with a cue stick. Dodd played what was known as a "mean stick" and swore Lothridge was better. That urge to compete shows up everywhere.
 

Boss Ross

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Lothridge did not play defense at Tech. Don Toner played a wildcard position that replaced the QB on defense in the Lothridge years. It was Toner who made the game saving interception in the 7-6 win over Alabama in 1962.
Billy did play some db at GT . In my opinion billy was the greatest football player ever at GT and should have won the heisman trophy over staubach!
 
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