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

[JacketFromUGA]

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.

brutal for the team. Great for us observers being able to watch a game every week.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

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.

FSU, with one of their best QBs ever, had to play a near perfect game in order to beat us in Charlotte, and they never really stopped our offense. Coupled with the fact that it's Homecoming, I look for a big win for the Jackets in this one.

 

[AE 87]

FSU, with one of their best QBs ever, had to play a near perfect game in order to beat us in Charlotte, and they never really stopped our offense. Coupled with the fact that it's Homecoming, I look for a big win for the Jackets in this one.

FWIW, after we scored on our 1st 3 possessions of the 1st half, they forced a punt and then kept us from scoring right before half (last 30 sec). Then, after our opening drive TD in the 2nd half, they held us to a punt, a turnover on downs, and interception of 3rd and 10 pass. We scored pretty well, but I think it's perhaps a bit of an overstatement to say,"they never really stopped our offense."

That being said, each team really only had 9 offensive drives. They scored just over 4 pts/drive, and we scored just under. 3pts/drive is pretty solid production. We averaged 3.56 ppd (#2) for the season, and they averaged 2.67 ppd (#28). On the flip side, our D gave up 2.67 ppd (#111) for the season while their D gave up 1.97 ppd (#57).

 

[deeeznutz]

FWIW, after we scored on our 1st 3 possessions of the 1st half, they forced a punt and then kept us from scoring right before half (last 30 sec). Then, after our opening drive TD in the 2nd half, they held us to a punt, a turnover on downs, and interception of 3rd and 10 pass. We scored pretty well, but I think it's perhaps a bit of an overstatement to say,"they never really stopped our offense."

That being said, each team really only had 9 offensive drives. They scored just over 4 pts/drive, and we scored just under. 3pts/drive is pretty solid production. We averaged 3.56 ppd (#2) for the season, and they averaged 2.67 ppd (#28). On the flip side, our D gave up 2.67 ppd (#111) for the season while their D gave up 1.97 ppd (#57).

Oh they definitely stopped us a few times, but we were definitely putting it to them. We happened to be behind 2 scores the whole second half and were pressing to try and tie it up. It also impacted how our defense had to play, as we could not just let them kill time off the clock...we needed to get that ball back. Even so, we still came damn close to pulling it out. JT made 2 mistakes...the mis-read to Waller and the attempted out-of-bounds throw, both of which were picked. Just one of those goes differently and we take it.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

It was a close well fought game. Surprisingly, Tech's defense kept FSU from scoring a single touchdown in the second half. I wonder how many FSU fans secretly thought they were lucky to have won this one given how their offense got shut down in the second half.

 

[AE 87]

It was a close well fought game. Surprisingly, Tech's defense kept FSU from scoring a single touchdown in the second half. I wonder how many FSU fans secretly thought they were lucky to have won this one given how their offense got shut down in the second half.

This is where I guess that we just disagree. If you score a FG on every possessions and over 6 yards/play until you're up by 2 scores with 3 min 22 sec left to go, you're not getting shut down. I think it's a pretty sad commentary on our D when people begin to see holding opponents to a FG as a major success. I guess that the 2nd half may have looked like a success compared to the first half where we gave up a touchdown on their last 4 drives, but come on. In most games, most teams don't score every time they get the ball.

We've got to raise the standard of expectation on D, imo.

 

[Skeptic]

Oh they definitely stopped us a few times, but we were definitely putting it to them. We happened to be behind 2 scores the whole second half and were pressing to try and tie it up. It also impacted how our defense had to play, as we could not just let them kill time off the clock...we needed to get that ball back. Even so, we still came damn close to pulling it out. JT made 2 mistakes...the mis-read to Waller and the attempted out-of-bounds throw, both of which were picked. Just one of those goes differently and we take it.

I don't know that it was a "misread" to Waller -- and though I am a big fan I am quite willing to acknowledge he made a mistake or two -- as much as it was simple miscommunication between Thomas and Waller about which way and where Waller was cutting. It is not a criticism to say that when one receiver, Smelter, is almost the entire focus of downfield passing all season, those things will happen. Take away those three misfires and in fact we win. But that's dreaming.

 

[Minawreck]

The schedule is great because it keeps the team motivated.

I really think our defense will shock people this season.

I think we will got undefeated in the regular season, and play a surprise Atlantic team in the ACCCG. I think we will win that game and go into the Playoff as the "#1 by default" team. We will feed off that disrespect to win our playoff game and go to the National Championship, where we will beat the pants off of some great team.

Anything less will be a disappointment.

 

[Enuratique]

The schedule is great because it keeps the team motivated.

I really think our defense will shock people this season.

I think we will got undefeated in the regular season, and play a surprise Atlantic team in the ACCCG. I think we will win that game and go into the Playoff as the "#1 by default" team. We will feed off that disrespect to win our playoff game and go to the National Championship, where we will beat the pants off of some great team.

Anything less will be a disappointment.

Mind = rite

 

[Skeptic]

The schedule is great because it keeps the team motivated.

I really think our defense will shock people this season.

I think we will got undefeated in the regular season, and play a surprise Atlantic team in the ACCCG. I think we will win that game and go into the Playoff as the "#1 by default" team. We will feed off that disrespect to win our playoff game and go to the National Championship, where we will beat the pants off of some great team.

Anything less will be a disappointment.

... and in the spring displace en mass the Atlanta Braves and go on to win the World Series before anybody notices it is the wrong sport. Enthusiasm, good. Excessive delusion, bad.

 

[deeeznutz]

The schedule is great because it keeps the team motivated.

I really think our defense will shock people this season.

I think we will got undefeated in the regular season, and play a surprise Atlantic team in the ACCCG. I think we will win that game and go into the Playoff as the "#1 by default" team. We will feed off that disrespect to win our playoff game and go to the National Championship, where we will beat the pants off of some great team.

Anything less will be a disappointment.

My only issue with this here is the assumption an undefeated GT would be "#1 by default". Even mighty FSU, undefeated, defending champs, heisman winning QB, got crapped all over by the media and bumped down to #4 (which looking at the outcomes was probably a generous ranking). There is no way they'd have us above a 1 loss SEC or PAC champ. Keeps the chip firmly planted on our shoulders.

 

[AE 87]

My only issue with this here is the assumption an undefeated GT would be "#1 by default". Even mighty FSU, undefeated, defending champs, heisman winning QB, got crapped all over by the media and bumped down to #4 (which looking at the outcomes was probably a generous ranking). There is no way they'd have us above a 1 loss SEC or PAC champ. Keeps the chip firmly planted on our shoulders.

I disagree that their ranking of FSU at #4 as generous. I also think that if we're undefeated, we'll have beaten a lot of team badly. That is, if we beat FSU, ND, CU, and georgie this year, we'll have dominated the rest of the ACC, imo.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

This is where I guess that we just disagree. If you score a FG on every possessions and over 6 yards/play until you're up by 2 scores with 3 min 22 sec left to go, you're not getting shut down. I think it's a pretty sad commentary on our D when people begin to see holding opponents to a FG as a major success. I guess that the 2nd half may have looked like a success compared to the first half where we gave up a touchdown on their last 4 drives, but come on. In most games, most teams don't score every time they get the ball.

We've got to raise the standard of expectation on D, imo.

No question I had low expectations for the defense last year. That was just being realistic, in my opinion. They certainly exceeded my expectations. And I certainly will have higher expectations this year.

The "shut down" language, again, is a relative comparison on my part and I fully admit that. Prior to playing Tech, FSU was averaging 18 points and 2 touchdowns of scoring in the second half. Tech was one of the teams that held them below their average. That to me was a huge moral victory and I was proud of Tech's second half defense. To me the game felt like it could have gone either way as a result. I also agree with CPJ that both FSU and Winston played by far their best game of the season against Tech.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Excessive delusion, bad.

Why bad? It is what the fans of the "big boy" schools get to do every year. This is party time. There is plenty of time to settle back to reality once the season starts.

 

[Minawreck]

Why bad? It is what the fans of the "big boy" schools get to do every year. This is party time. There is plenty of time to settle back to reality once the season starts.

Because its better to be right than have fun.

Although I agree that delusion that leads to trashing the program when things don't go extremely well is misguided.

 

[Buzzoff]

Why bad? It is what the fans of the "big boy" schools get to do every year. This is party time. There is plenty of time to settle back to reality once the season starts.

True. Most years UGAG fans are convinced before the season starts that they will win the national championship.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

True. Most years UGAG fans are convinced before the season starts that they will win the national championship.

Exactly.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

brutal for the team. Great for us observers being able to watch a game every week.

The "warm-up time" last September served us well. We will be okay.

 

[GTJoeBrew]

No question I had low expectations for the defense last year. That was just being realistic, in my opinion. They certainly exceeded my expectations. And I certainly will have higher expectations this year.

The "shut down" language, again, is a relative comparison on my part and I fully admit that. Prior to playing Tech, FSU was averaging 18 points and 2 touchdowns of scoring in the second half. Tech was one of the teams that held them below their average. That to me was a huge moral victory and I was proud of Tech's second half defense. To me the game felt like it could have gone either way as a result. I also agree with CPJ that both FSU and Winston played by far their best game of the season against Tech.

The biggest problem that I saw that game was that we were giving Winston way too much time to pick us apart. That problem is hopefully going to be remedied this fall.

 

[Skeptic]

The biggest problem that I saw that game was that we were giving Winston way too much time to pick us apart. That problem is hopefully going to be remedied this fall.

Pretty sure that Winston playing his best game of the year and our rush-averse defense were not coincidental. Had we been able to consistently get there, so to speak, it's reasonable to assume at some point he would have made the same mistakes he made all year and the result would have been different. We didn't, he didn't, and it wasn't. In some ways but for different reasons that game ranks with the Duke game and the departure of Harry Shearer from "The Simpsons" as major disappointments, us I am sure not as much as players and coaches. Johnson's demeanor after the FSU game, as somebody noted, gave every indication he expected to win. Rats. Release the hounds.