Postgame: ND 31-GT 13

[stinger 1957]

Wasn't our ST coach hired because of his recruiting ability, it has appeared to me we made jobs for him in order to get him what they needed to pay.

 

[LT 1967]

For those who are interested, PFF grades in SI article below. Pretty good analysis by Jackson Caudell. Most of our members will agree with his comments.

Georgia Tech Football: PFF Grades and Snap Counts vs Notre Dame

It was a tough day for Georgia Tech against No. 12 Notre Dame. The Yellow Jackets were shorthanded, but they got handled by Notre Dame yesterday and their defen

www.si.com

 

[CHE90]

I am not trying to be an *** but how would you feel if you can only make it to one game a year because of how expensive it has become and that was what you saw?

I don't know what to tell you. Maybe go to the Georgia State game???

 

[LongforDodd]

Both kicks were high snaps - one was never placed and the other he actually stood up to receive, then dropped down and placed it. Who knows how it was placed. I wouldn’t be so quick to nail Birr on those.

I wasn’t nailing Birr. The holder was mostly responsible.

 

[iceeater1969]

ND is a better team than GT in all three phases of the Game. That was known before the game. Take out our starting QB (20 starts) and replace him with a guy with 2 starts two years ago and you get an offense that was no match for the ND defense.

Our Defense is what it is, a slightly below average P4 defense. Out DL simply can't generate a pass rush. That makes it really hard for the DBs and LBs to cover receivers. Only an infusion of talent will fix that.

Compare Coachin
Game plan, adjust, in game.
They are paid to make players win.

 

[awbuzz]

One nugget that confirms what most recognize: "Tech now ranks 103rd nationally in punt return defense, 109th in punting and 122nd in kick return defense."

Takeaways from a Georgia Tech loss to No. 12 Notre Dame

It may be easy, at first glance, to conclude Georgia Tech had its lunch money taken by No. 12 Notre Dame on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium because star quarterback Haynes King didn’t play. But that wasn’t exactly the full story.

www.ajc.com

 

[Yaller Jacket]

It;s really hard to improve the pass defense with out a credible pass rush. I don't see how our pass rush improves with the current roster. The players fight hard, they simply don't win the one on one/tow battles rushing the passer. Our DT do a reasonable job but we get virtually no rush from our DEs. Our blitzes don't work very often either.

Still the defense is significantly better than the past few seasons. It is still a below average P4 defense. Progress is being made.

A good pass rushing end is by far out biggest need. We need to put huge emphasis on getting one next year. As it is now, we make every QB look like a Brisbane winner.

 

[4shotB]

I dont have anything to say that hasn't been said but wanted to recognize the ND CB who tackled Jamal on a one on one situation on the sideline after a swing pass to Jamal. 99% of today's DB's get smoked on that play going for the knockout hit or shove and Jamal runs for 15 - 20 yards there. But what did this guy do?? He simply broke down, squatted, kept his eyes on Jamal's stomach and then wrapped him up (for you younguns, wrap up means to wrap both arms around an opponent's lower body and bring him forthwith to the ground without further advancement of the pigskin on the gridiron) and drove through Jamal with his shoulder pads using the force of his lower body. Jamal was stopped immediately. This play made me happy, despite being a negative for the good guys, simply bc this was an art form that I thought was no longer being coached or taught in the modern game. Kudos to that guy. If I could find a clip I would include it in @slugboy's "Beautiful Plays" located in some other forum here. It was art. plain and simple.

 

[awbuzz]

I dont have anything to say that hasn't been said but wanted to recognize the ND CB who tackled Jamal on a one on one situation on the sideline after a swing pass to Jamal. 99% of today's DB's get smoked on that play going for the knockout hit or shove and Jamal runs for 15 - 20 yards there. But what did this guy do?? He simply broke down, squatted, kept his eyes on Jamal's stomach and then wrapped him up (for you younguns, wrap up means to wrap both arms around an opponent's lower body and bring him forthwith to the ground without further advancement of the pigskin on the gridiron) and drove through Jamal with his shoulder pads using the force of his lower body. Jamal was stopped immediately. This play made me happy, despite being a negative for the good guys, simply bc this was an art form that I thought was no longer being coached or taught in the modern game. Kudos to that guy. If I could find a clip I would include it in @slugboy's "Beautiful Plays" located in some other forum here. It was art. plain and simple.

It was a text book open field tackle.

 

[stinger78]

What are we supposed to talk about? Please tell me. This is a sports forum. We lost a sporting event. We are talking about how and why we lost said sporting event. What do you want us to talk about? Should we just constantly post “Oh golly geeze, we’ll get them next time!”? Please enlighten me.

Really? Just talk about what you saw without the hyperbolic reactions. Talk about what you saw without the invective. Give credit for positive contribution to the overall effort. It’s really very simple - treat someone as you would like to be treated in a similar circumstance.

No one needs to be benched or fired, they mainly need coaching and reps. I find it interesting to read what others saw during the game and to fit that into my mental model of what needs to happen.

 

[Bogey]

We haven't really improved on overall defense yet.

I can't believe you really said this.

 

[4shotB]

I can't believe you really said this.

I tend to agree with you. We gave up 24 points and got stops. In today's game that's usually enough to get you a win. Granted there weren't a ton of possesions but this loss isn't on the D. Is there room for improvement here? Yes. alot. Two things stick out...too much YAC and lack of pass rush/pressure. Did we have a sack??

 

[stinger78]

I tend to agree with you. We gave up 24 points and got stops. In today's game that's usually enough to get you a win. Granted there weren't a ton of possesions but this loss isn't on the D. Is there room for improvement here? Yes. alot. Two things stick out...too much YAC and lack of pass rush/pressure. Did we have a sack??

Our O produced the equivalent of 20 points and our D held their O to 24 points. The variances from those numbers are all GT screw up - unforced errors. ST’s cost is 6 points and an overthrow cost us 7 points. Those together cost us 1 point. That’s a 14 point swing in an 18 point win. Very consequential.

 

[MtnWasp]

Fusile seems to have regressed this season for some reason.

When players who have a history of playing well are playing poorly, it is usually because they are not 100% physically. I bet he is nursing an injury.

 

[JacketOff]

The talent gap has NOTHING to do with playing clean football. UGA plays clean football not because they have 4 and 5 stars but because they have a freaking maniac head coach who won’t tolerate mistakes on the field. We also use to have a maniacal coach who would grab face masks and jump all over players on the sidelines. That coach had GT ranked and won an Orange Bowl in this era. Army and Navy both play clean football without recruiting stars because their coaches demand it from them.

Now, I’m sure I’ll have folks jump in about my thoughts on Kirby. He is paid to win football games not to be a traffic cop or someone’s father. Kirby simply does what his job description tells him to do. I wish we had a coach that demands high level execution on the field It appears we don’t since our players make the same mistakes game after game.

The next step for GT football is to simply execute on the field which will lead to getting better players. Our high end recruits are watching us and we are not giving them reasons to stick to their commitment when we can’t even execute a field goal. VT will thump us if we continue to play like this.

Just for reference, GT currently ranks 21st in the nation in fewest penalty yards at 42.75 YPG. Army is 9th, Navy is 41st, and your old maniacal buddy Kirby’s UGA team is 123rd. How about turnovers? That’s part of playing clean football. Unsurprisingly Army has the fewest in the country with 1, Navy is tied for 2nd fewest with 2. Where is Georgia Tech? Tied for 5th with 4, and we’re one of only 2 schools in the top 50 that has already played 8 games. How about Kirby and UGA? Well they’re tied for 57th with 9 turnovers in 7 games.

Kirby is a good coach, he basically never loses to teams that have less talent than he does. But that’s the thing, about 125 of the other 132 other teams in the country have nowhere near the talent that Kirby does. Georgia was spending double on “legal” recruiting than what everyone else in the country was before NIL became legal. What Kirby and UGA can do has very little in common with what the overwhelming majority of programs can do. Kirby could probably replace his entire starting 22 with backups and still have a more talented team than all but about 15-20 schools.

Going back to Tech though, you say we don’t play clean football, yet we’re right in the same groupings as Army and Navy in what I would say are the “clean football” stats. You say Georgia’s coach being fiery and replacing players who make mistakes is why they’re so good. Yet Georgia has given away way more freebies than Army, Navy, and Tech. We don’t get penalized, and we don’t turn the ball over. I’d say that’s a pretty good sign of a well coached and disciplined football team. Does that mean we’re going to fire on all cylinders and execute every play of every game at a high level? No. Clearly it hasn’t been the case this year. Our special teams unit is among the worst in the country, and some bad game management has probably cost us points and maybe a win or 2, but overall we’ve played to the standard of the roster we have.

This year we’re an average to slightly above average ACC team, and we’ve played like it. If you like 247’s team talent composite we’re actually exceeding expectations, we’re considered the 10th most talented ACC team. There’s more talent coming in this year’s recruiting class though, and next year’s schedule is much easier on paper. This coaching staff is still moving the program in the right direction.

 

[Bogey]

When players who have a history of playing well are playing poorly, it is usually because they are not 100% physically. I bet he is nursing an injury.

And on the OL, especially in the last half of the season, most of them are dinged up to various degrees.

 

[danny daniel]

It's easy to pull a player for making a mistake when his backup would be a star at GT. It is much harder when you are less talented. Our defenses under CPJ were consistently terrible in all phases. They made tons of mistakes every game. Well they were actually good his first 2 years when he had NFL talent at all 3 levels.

Your take that talent does not matter is laughable. Match NFL games. Most of the false starts are made by guys who are facing the very best pass rushers on passing downs. That is even more true in college football.

Franklin made 2 false starts as our center. That is rare, He must have moved the ball a bit before actually snapping the ball. Those were very odd.

One of the center's penalties was that he lost his balance (backward) and stepped back with his right leg to recover. I did not see the other penalty on the C.

 

[g0lftime]

When players who have a history of playing well are playing poorly, it is usually because they are not 100% physically. I bet he is nursing an injury.

Sometimes the guy you are blocking is just better than you. ND puts a lot of players into the NFL for a reason. He could be dinged as well. Those are some big strong guys slamming into each other in there.

 

[bobongo]

Just for reference, GT currently ranks 21st in the nation in fewest penalty yards at 42.75 YPG. Army is 9th, Navy is 41st, and your old maniacal buddy Kirby’s UGA team is 123rd. How about turnovers? That’s part of playing clean football. Unsurprisingly Army has the fewest in the country with 1, Navy is tied for 2nd fewest with 2. Where is Georgia Tech? Tied for 5th with 4, and we’re one of only 2 schools in the top 50 that has already played 8 games. How about Kirby and UGA? Well they’re tied for 57th with 9 turnovers in 7 games.

Kirby is a good coach, he basically never loses to teams that have less talent than he does. But that’s the thing, about 125 of the other 132 other teams in the country have nowhere near the talent that Kirby does. Georgia was spending double on “legal” recruiting than what everyone else in the country was before NIL became legal. What Kirby and UGA can do has very little in common with what the overwhelming majority of programs can do. Kirby could probably replace his entire starting 22 with backups and still have a more talented team than all but about 15-20 schools.

Going back to Tech though, you say we don’t play clean football, yet we’re right in the same groupings as Army and Navy in what I would say are the “clean football” stats. You say Georgia’s coach being fiery and replacing players who make mistakes is why they’re so good. Yet Georgia has given away way more freebies than Army, Navy, and Tech. We don’t get penalized, and we don’t turn the ball over. I’d say that’s a pretty good sign of a well coached and disciplined football team. Does that mean we’re going to fire on all cylinders and execute every play of every game at a high level? No. Clearly it hasn’t been the case this year. Our special teams unit is among the worst in the country, and some bad game management has probably cost us points and maybe a win or 2, but overall we’ve played to the standard of the roster we have.

This year we’re an average to slightly above average ACC team, and we’ve played like it. If you like 247’s team talent composite we’re actually exceeding expectations, we’re considered the 10th most talented ACC team. There’s more talent coming in this year’s recruiting class though, and next year’s schedule is much easier on paper. This coaching staff is still moving the program in the right direction.

I've been impressed with how disciplined the players are, often pulling up and avoiding personal fouls. They seem to have a good sense of that, generally.

 

[tomknight]

The talent gap has NOTHING to do with playing clean football. UGA plays clean football not because they have 4 and 5 stars but because they have a freaking maniac head coach who won’t tolerate mistakes on the field. We also use to have a maniacal coach who would grab face masks and jump all over players on the sidelines. That coach had GT ranked and won an Orange Bowl in this era. Army and Navy both play clean football without recruiting stars because their coaches demand it from them.

Now, I’m sure I’ll have folks jump in about my thoughts on Kirby. He is paid to win football games not to be a traffic cop or someone’s father. Kirby simply does what his job description tells him to do. I wish we had a coach that demands high level execution on the field It appears we don’t since our players make the same mistakes game after game.

The next step for GT football is to simply execute on the field which will lead to getting better players. Our high end recruits are watching us and we are not giving them reasons to stick to their commitment when we can’t even execute a field goal. VT will thump us if we continue to play like this.

CPJ ain't coming back - get over it already. Said disciplined coach who won an orange bowl had some crap seasons too.

Focus on now.