Phil Steele: GT 14th Most Difficult Schedule in the Country

[Animal02]

That would certainly explain the four-yard pushback mistaken for forward progress against Georgia. I never thought officials tried to fix it, but maybe letting it all go was the safer way.

Maybe it was just personal perception, but it seems like SEC refs in other games let plays go longer like that than blowing it dead.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I seem to recall last year many people with their panties in a wad because the starting QB had transferred and we would be starting an untested QB.....anticipating multiple fumbles a game etc.

Exactly. And to further expound these were the areas that some posters said would be our doom before last season in addition to an unproven starter at quarterback....

(1) No established leader at A-back.
(2) Questions on special teams.
(3) No home run threat at B-back.
(4) Unproven offensive line.
(5) Multiple weaknesses on defense but especially on the defensive line.
(6) "Worries" about CPJ returning to a "more basic" offense.
(7) Worries about Tech playing with "only two" linebackers on defense.
(8) Concern that our WRs had limited experience.

I am not making these up. These were all part of the hand wringing by various Tech fans before the start of the season.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Maybe it was just personal perception, but it seems like SEC refs in other games let plays go longer like that than blowing it dead.

How about the horrendous dead ball call on the fumble in the Orange Bowl? You know the one where there was no whistle yet the refs said dead ball due to stoppage of forward progress. Here's what I don't get, if you thought his progress was stopped during the play, why didn't you blow the whistle then? And even more baffling, if you didn't know enough about it during the actual play, why didn't you review it with replay to make your decision?

That's one rule the rules committee has to clarify over the summer. They need some consistency of application. In the OB, there was less than a second of stopped forward progress needed for the play to be ruled dead yet in the mutt game there was 4 full seconds and no dead ball. (not to mention there was a good chance JT actually scored on the friggin' play) That's the definition of lack of consistency.

 

[AE 87]

How about the horrendous dead ball call on the fumble in the Orange Bowl? You know the one where there was no whistle yet the refs said dead ball due to stoppage of forward progress. Here's what I don't get, if you thought his progress was stopped during the play, why didn't you blow the whistle then? And even more baffling, if you didn't know enough about it during the actual play, why didn't you review it with replay to make your decision?

That's one rule the rules committee has to clarify over the summer. They need some consistency of application. In the OB, there was less than a second of stopped forward progress needed for the play to be ruled dead yet in the mutt game there was 4 full seconds and no dead ball. (not to mention there was a good chance JT actually scored on the friggin' play) That's the definition of lack of consistency.

Fwiw, I don't think forward progress is reviewable while a TD is. So, the plays are different. The ugag refs should have blown the ball dead for stopped forward progress as soon as JT was pushed back and stripped.

 

[Animal02]

How about the horrendous dead ball call on the fumble in the Orange Bowl? You know the one where there was no whistle yet the refs said dead ball due to stoppage of forward progress. Here's what I don't get, if you thought his progress was stopped during the play, why didn't you blow the whistle then? And even more baffling, if you didn't know enough about it during the actual play, why didn't you review it with replay to make your decision?

That's one rule the rules committee has to clarify over the summer. They need some consistency of application. In the OB, there was less than a second of stopped forward progress needed for the play to be ruled dead yet in the mutt game there was 4 full seconds and no dead ball. (not to mention there was a good chance JT actually scored on the friggin' play) That's the definition of lack of consistency.

Speaking of non reviews and inconsistency.......the butt scooch by the Duke QB for the first down that likely cost us the game. That play.....and the lack of review.......ticks me off even more.

 

[Animal02]

Exactly. And to further expound these were the areas that some posters said would be our doom before last season in addition to an unproven starter at quarterback....

(1) No established leader at A-back.
(2) Questions on special teams.
(3) No home run threat at B-back.
(4) Unproven offensive line.
(5) Multiple weaknesses on defense but especially on the defensive line.
(6) "Worries" about CPJ returning to a "more basic" offense.
(7) Worries about Tech playing with "only two" linebackers on defense.
(8) Concern that our WRs had limited experience.

I am not making these up. These were all part of the hand wringing by various Tech fans before the start of the season.

Don't forget the "bowl streak" was going to end.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

Exactly. And to further expound these were the areas that some posters said would be our doom before last season in addition to an unproven starter at quarterback....

(1) No established leader at A-back.
(2) Questions on special teams.
(3) No home run threat at B-back.
(4) Unproven offensive line.
(5) Multiple weaknesses on defense but especially on the defensive line.
(6) "Worries" about CPJ returning to a "more basic" offense.
(7) Worries about Tech playing with "only two" linebackers on defense.
(8) Concern that our WRs had limited experience.

I am not making these up. These were all part of the hand wringing by various Tech fans before the start of the season.

And the enumerated concerns were all legitimate at the time.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Fwiw, I don't think forward progress is reviewable while a TD is. So, the plays are different. The ugag refs should have blown the ball dead for stopped forward progress as soon as JT was pushed back and stripped.

Even so, there's a huge inconsistency in application of the rule, whatever it is.

 

[CTJacket]

So does reload equal immediate success? I don't care who you are, replacing 4/5 of your Oline and all of your DL (a position Clemson and FSU find themselves in) is really hard.

I agree. Of course it COULD happen, I don't think those games will be easy by any stretch, but they will probably have growing pains at the very least.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I think this is largely true but it does occur. I have a good friend who was a big ten official for years and his position was that bias does occur even at high levels but it is usually lessened as refs work their way up the "food chain". Refs who make little and live in the same neighborhood with the kids they are officiating naturally struggle with objectivity differently than he did when he flew up to officiate a big ten game. He said the pressure he felt was making sure his call wouldn't be news the next day and that in difficult situations most refs think a non-call is a safer strategy.

Just from anecdotal evidence and observation I have detected a very real bias by officiating crews in many sports over the years. It comes down basically to a ref having an unconscious bias in favor of good players and good teams. Good basketball players tend to get the charge / foul calls in their favor. Good pitchers get the close strike calls. Good offensive linemen tend not to get holding calls against them and good defensive linemen tend to get holding calls in their favor against lesser offensive linemen.

The last few years I have seen a few players on SEC teams who got away with spearing, head shots and hits out of bounds that were far more egregious than plays by players from other conferences who got tossed out of games. It was hard for me not to believe there was a subconscious bias that SEC teams just play harder and hit harder than other teams.

 

[Animal02]

Just from anecdotal evidence and observation I have detected a very real bias by officiating crews in many sports over the years. It comes down basically to a ref having an unconscious bias in favor of good players and good teams. Good basketball players tend to get the charge / foul calls in their favor. Good pitchers get the close strike calls. Good offensive linemen tend not to get holding calls against them and good defensive linemen tend to get holding calls in their favor against lesser offensive linemen.

The last few years I have seen a few players on SEC teams who got away with spearing, head shots and hits out of bounds that were far more egregious than plays by players from other conferences who got tossed out of games. It was hard for me not to believe there was a subconscious bias that SEC teams just play harder and hit harder than other teams.

All the more reason for the NCAA to take over ref crews and abolish the "conference refs"

 

[Skeptic]

So does reload equal immediate success? I don't care who you are, replacing 4/5 of your Oline and all of your DL (a position Clemson and FSU find themselves in) is really hard.

My son's HS basketball coach, coming off a successful year but losing some seniors, confidently informed his assistant that, "We don't rebuild. We reload!" Not really. They had to rebuild.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Let's start with the obvious. No one ever knows before a season begins which opponents are actually going to be as good or as bad as advertized and no one knows whether or not their own team is going to perform up to expectations. We are all just having fun guessing.

So here are some of my guesses about our opponents.

Notre Dame. Whether they are over hyped or not, there is a very strong tradition and culture with this program that tends to cause players to play at peak ability and sometimes even over achieve. This game, in my opinion, will come down to how well the Notre Dame coaching staff prepares for Tech's offense. Talent wise I believe these teams are relatively even. L.

Duke. I fully expect we will tear them limb from limb. CPJ is like an elephant. He never forgets. W.

Clemson. Everything suggests this will be a close game except for two critical factors. CPJ always out coaches them. They will have several new players who will have no idea what it is like facing a CPJ coached team. W.

FSU. As wiser people than I have pointed out, FSU's coach has a long history of taking new starters at quarterback and turning them into almost instant stars. The coaching and talent levels are too deep for FSU not to be anything but trouble for Tech. L.

Virginia Tech. That have lost their mojo. I really believe this. The culture that Beamer spent years building is now in a total rebuilding phase. Will their new players know what it takes in terms of intensity and work ethic to turn them around in one year? I don' t think so. W.

Miami. Every year they have the talent to be one of the nation's top ten teams. Every year they under perform. We all know why. Tech's culture of winning and team chemistry is exactly what Miami lacks. W.

uga. We will be just as angry at them this year as we were last year. Not unlike Miami, there is a reason why Georgia's top ranked recruiting classes never meet expectations. This year the refs will not do everything they can to sabotage Tech and Tech will show why we are a better team rather than a group of better athletes. W.

Being the superstitious person that I am when it comes to sports I now hate myself.

 

[Animal02]

Let's start with the obvious. No one ever knows before a season begins which opponents are actually going to be as good or as bad as advertized and no one knows whether or not their own team is going to perform up to expectations. We are all just having fun guessing.

So here are some of my guesses about our opponents.

Notre Dame. Whether they are over hyped or not, there is a very strong tradition and culture with this program that tends to cause players to play at peak ability and sometimes even over achieve. This game, in my opinion, will come down to how well the Notre Dame coaching staff prepares for Tech's offense. Talent wise I believe these teams are relatively even. L.

Duke. I fully expect we will tear them limb from limb. CPJ is like an elephant. He never forgets. W.

Clemson. Everything suggests this will be a close game except for two critical factors. CPJ always out coaches them. They will have several new players who will have no idea what it is like facing a CPJ coached team. W.

FSU. As wiser people than I have pointed out, FSU's coach has a long history of taking new starters at quarterback and turning them into almost instant stars. The coaching and talent levels are too deep for FSU not to be anything but trouble for Tech. L.

Virginia Tech. That have lost their mojo. I really believe this. The culture that Beamer spent years building is now in a total rebuilding phase. Will their new players know what it takes in terms of intensity and work ethic to turn them around in one year? I don' t think so. W.

Miami. Every year they have the talent to be one of the nation's top ten teams. Every year they under perform. We all know why. Tech's culture of winning and team chemistry is exactly what Miami lacks. W.

uga. We will be just as angry at them this year as we were last year. Not unlike Miami, there is a reason why Georgia's top ranked recruiting classes never meet expectations. This year the refs will not do everything they can to sabotage Tech and Tech will show why we are a better team rather than a group of better athletes. W.

Being the superstitious person that I am when it comes to sports I now hate myself.

I have more confidence about the ND game. ND is not as intimidating place to place as other stadiums. They play Texas and UVA prior to playing us. Navy has played them close the ;last couple of years as well.
I also like our chances against FSU.

My hunch is we come out flat against either UVA or Pitt.

 

[Eastman]

Just from anecdotal evidence and observation I have detected a very real bias by officiating crews in many sports over the years. It comes down basically to a ref having an unconscious bias in favor of good players and good teams. Good basketball players tend to get the charge / foul calls in their favor. Good pitchers get the close strike calls. Good offensive linemen tend not to get holding calls against them and good defensive linemen tend to get holding calls in their favor against lesser offensive linemen.

The last few years I have seen a few players on SEC teams who got away with spearing, head shots and hits out of bounds that were far more egregious than plays by players from other conferences who got tossed out of games. It was hard for me not to believe there was a subconscious bias that SEC teams just play harder and hit harder than other teams.

This can happen for numerous reasons. My friend who used to officiate the Big Ten knew the other Big Ten refs and worked alongside many of them year after year both on the field and off as they meet and talk about, for example, about how to interpret any new rules. That interaction can also produce a more "homogenized" viewpoint from the group as to the what call should be made under certain conditions.

The human factor is also always there. Even if they don't come into the game with a bias, these guys are humans who for example are loathe to overturn a returned fumble in Athens Ga when countless fans would instantly want them dead. It will never be perfect but needs to be improved.

 

[Skeptic]

Let's start with the obvious. No one ever knows before a season begins which opponents are actually going to be as good or as bad as advertized and no one knows whether or not their own team is going to perform up to expectations. We are all just having fun guessing.

So here are some of my guesses about our opponents.

Notre Dame. Whether they are over hyped or not, there is a very strong tradition and culture with this program that tends to cause players to play at peak ability and sometimes even over achieve. This game, in my opinion, will come down to how well the Notre Dame coaching staff prepares for Tech's offense. Talent wise I believe these teams are relatively even. L.

Duke. I fully expect we will tear them limb from limb. CPJ is like an elephant. He never forgets. W.

Clemson. Everything suggests this will be a close game except for two critical factors. CPJ always out coaches them. They will have several new players who will have no idea what it is like facing a CPJ coached team. W.

FSU. As wiser people than I have pointed out, FSU's coach has a long history of taking new starters at quarterback and turning them into almost instant stars. The coaching and talent levels are too deep for FSU not to be anything but trouble for Tech. L.

Virginia Tech. That have lost their mojo. I really believe this. The culture that Beamer spent years building is now in a total rebuilding phase. Will their new players know what it takes in terms of intensity and work ethic to turn them around in one year? I don' t think so. W.

Miami. Every year they have the talent to be one of the nation's top ten teams. Every year they under perform. We all know why. Tech's culture of winning and team chemistry is exactly what Miami lacks. W.

uga. We will be just as angry at them this year as we were last year. Not unlike Miami, there is a reason why Georgia's top ranked recruiting classes never meet expectations. This year the refs will not do everything they can to sabotage Tech and Tech will show why we are a better team rather than a group of better athletes. W.

Being the superstitious person that I am when it comes to sports I now hate myself.

Pretty good score list. I hope you are wrong about ND, just because it is ND and I have an unexplainable and indefensible dislike for them, maybe kind of a populist revolt against so much entitlement. As for Duke, I do hope we pound them into the ground, not so much as for last year -- we sucked, they didn't, and that's what wins -- but Cutcliffe using his press conference to negative recruit against GT in hunting WRs. That was not as he tried to say just comments but a deliberate effort to influence receivers who could make it at GT to come to Duke, since they should survive there. I'm not even paranoid, either. Well, maybe I am.

 

[Eastman]

Pretty good score list. I hope you are wrong about ND, just because it is ND and I have an unexplainable and indefensible dislike for them, maybe kind of a populist revolt against so much entitlement. As for Duke, I do hope we pound them into the ground, not so much as for last year -- we sucked, they didn't, and that's what wins -- but Cutcliffe using his press conference to negative recruit against GT in hunting WRs. That was not as he tried to say just comments but a deliberate effort to influence receivers who could make it at GT to come to Duke, since they should survive there. I'm not even paranoid, either. Well, maybe I am.

So much agree! I grew up in Sav Ga with numerous Irish Catholic friends who revere ND, so it is number 3 on my importance list (behind UGA and Clemson)and Cutcliffe should never again experience a win against us as penalty for his statements.

 

[COJacket]

Pretty good score list. I hope you are wrong about ND, just because it is ND and I have an unexplainable and indefensible dislike for them, maybe kind of a populist revolt against so much entitlement. As for Duke, I do hope we pound them into the ground, not so much as for last year -- we sucked, they didn't, and that's what wins -- but Cutcliffe using his press conference to negative recruit against GT in hunting WRs. That was not as he tried to say just comments but a deliberate effort to influence receivers who could make it at GT to come to Duke, since they should survive there. I'm not even paranoid, either. Well, maybe I am.

And I just can not forget the JeT twisted ankle. It kind of pisses me off. I hope it does the team as well.

 

[Skeptic]

And I just can not forget the JeT twisted ankle. It kind of pisses me off. I hope it does the team as well.

I remembered talk of that recently when I read "Jackrabbit," about 1942 running back Clint Castleberry. Finished 3rd in Heisman voting and was an all-American as a freshman. Messed up his knee in the Georgia game, wouldn't you know, and several teammates were convinced one of Georgia's most physical players twisted his ankle in the pileup.

 

[AE 87]

OK, so I just noticed something else about our schedule that I had missed. We don't have a bye until after week 9. We have 10 days between Alcorn State and Tulane, and then we play eight straight.

On the bright side, we get 12 days before VPI and 9 days before d'ohU, but that 9 week stretch will be brutal.