September 11th and Georgia Tech's 2001 Football Season

[Martin_Van_Nostrand]

I think most of us will, at some point today, watch some sort of coverage regarding the September 11th attacks. Whenever I think about September 11th, I always wind up at some point thinking about our 2001 football team.

This post isn't meant to trivialize the attacks in any way but is just a reflection on the times as it related to us.

We were 3-0 after beating a ranked Syracuse team (not ranked at the time of the game, but they finished the year ranked and only lost to Tech, #8 Tennessee, and #1 Miami) and then dismantling the Citadel and destroying Navy in Annapolis.

I think most Tech fans had visions of being in the BCS race that year. FSU was #6 the week of our scheduled matchup in Tallahassee, but they weren't the same team as they had been in previous years. I was in high school at the time and my dad (RIP) got us tickets for that game at FSU. I was super jacked and ready to go, but then the attacks happened. Even though I was old enough (16) to understand what was happening, I still don't think I understood the magnitude and ramifications of the attacks as they were happening. I do remember being selfish and upset that the game got postponed, however, which was an unfortunate result of my immaturity and selfishness.

We all know how the story played out for Tech that year. After a long hiatus, we let Woody run all over us for our first loss of the season. Joe Burns ran out of bounds against Maryland allowing them time on the clock to tie us very late and win in OT. UVA scored a long TD drive at the very end to comeback and beat us (GT did not learn their lesson and rehired Roof as DC years later who continued his trend of being unable to lead a defense to a late game stop...smh). Then of course Richt led UGA to a win over us breaking our 3 game streak and starting his dominance over Tech.

By the time we got around to playing FSU, we clearly had been deflated and were uninterested. The luster on that game had evaporated into nothing and we lost to Chris Rix by double digits.

2001 was another in a long line of "what could have beens" for Tech football. It's tough to argue against the fact that September 11th had a huge impact on our season, but it's just a game and I cannot begin to imagine how much the lives of thousands of people changed that day with the loss of loved ones, and how millions of lives all over the world changed because of this despicable act.

 

[GT_05]

I would encourage everyone to visit the 9/11 Memorial in NYC. I was nearly breathless as I walked through the exhibit. The pictures, video, audio (voicemails left by the victims for their loved ones) was about all my ticker could handle. The memorial really puts life in perspective.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I remember this well. Like you, I am not trivializing the attacks, but I thought canceling the game was a mistake. Lots of sports events carried on, lots were canceled. Everyone was trying to figure out which was more important -not let the terrorists win and carry on with our lives, or not engage in public frivolity out of respect for those who had died. I felt at the time that playing a game four days after the attack was not disrespectful. Professional sports barely took a break and many minor sports events carried on that weekend. For some reason college football made a different decision.

I told someone at the time that this was going to kill Tech's momentum. I also felt like that if we insisted on canceling the FSU game we should not have rescheduled it. The impact on the team of taking 3 weeks off from playing ball pretty much changed the season. The only other time I had the same feeling about a team was when the Braves were in first place and playing some of the best baseball in their history and then the league went on strike wiping out the season.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I would encourage everyone to visit the 9/11 Memorial in NYC. I was nearly breathless as I walked through the exhibit. The pictures, video, audio (voicemails left by the victims for their loved ones) was about all my ticker could handle. The memorial really puts life in perspective.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree. My daughter worked in the financial district.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

I remember this well. Like you, I am not trivializing the attacks, but I thought canceling the game was a mistake. Lots of sports events carried on, lots were canceled. Everyone was trying to figure out which was more important -not let the terrorists win and carry on with our lives, or not engage in public frivolity out of respect for those who had died. I felt at the time that playing a game four days after the attack was not disrespectful. Professional sports barely took a break and many minor sports events carried on that weekend. For some reason college football made a different decision.

I told someone at the time that this was going to kill Tech's momentum. I also felt like that if we insisted on canceling the FSU game we should not have rescheduled it. The impact on the team of taking 3 weeks off from playing ball pretty much changed the season. The only other time I had the same feeling about a team was when the Braves were in first place and playing some of the best baseball in their history and then the league went on strike wiping out the season.

I understand what you are thinking. I remember people criticizing the nfl for cancelling games after JFK was assassinated. It was somewhat along the lines of, “America is stronger than any tragedy.”

But I also remember our next game (vs clemson?) and the atmosphere was horrible, as if the tragedy was just hanging over everyone.

 

[Martin_Van_Nostrand]

I remember this well. Like you, I am not trivializing the attacks, but I thought canceling the game was a mistake. Lots of sports events carried on, lots were canceled. Everyone was trying to figure out which was more important -not let the terrorists win and carry on with our lives, or not engage in public frivolity out of respect for those who had died. I felt at the time that playing a game four days after the attack was not disrespectful. Professional sports barely took a break and many minor sports events carried on that weekend. For some reason college football made a different decision.

I told someone at the time that this was going to kill Tech's momentum. I also felt like that if we insisted on canceling the FSU game we should not have rescheduled it. The impact on the team of taking 3 weeks off from playing ball pretty much changed the season. The only other time I had the same feeling about a team was when the Braves were in first place and playing some of the best baseball in their history and then the league went on strike wiping out the season.

Which Braves team are you talking about, because if you are referring to 1994, I believe that the Expos were in first and playing their best ball ever before it was wiped out. If you are referring to another season, then my apologies.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

But I also remember our next game (vs clemson?) and the atmosphere was horrible, as if the tragedy was just hanging over everyone.

Right. And hard for me to parse out what that was about. Could be that whatever game you played after 9/11 was going to be somber. If that is the case, then getting the game out of the way sooner rather than later would be the better course toward healing. Or it could be that 3 weeks without football had just kind of left everyone flat. I know for me not having football as a distraction for 3 weeks meant that all I did was think about the attack. About as close to depression as I have ever been in my life.

I guess the point is that there was probably no perfect answer to whether to play or not play. But I did feel like it killed all of Tech's momentum that year.

 

[crl85]

I would encourage everyone to visit the 9/11 Memorial in NYC. I was nearly breathless as I walked through the exhibit. The pictures, video, audio (voicemails left by the victims for their loved ones) was about all my ticker could handle. The memorial really puts life in perspective.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That memorial was designed by a Tech grad

 

[Treb1982]

I bought tickets to the FSU game was a freshman that year. Never made the trip in December was too disappointed after losing to UGA at home.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Which Braves team are you talking about, because if you are referring to 1994, I believe that the Expos were in first and playing their best ball ever before it was wiped out. If you are referring to another season, then my apologies.

You are right. I have no idea where that memory came from.

It may be that I thought Atlanta was surging. Who knows. They were the leading wild card team with a 2.5 lead on the next team. My memory was that they were hot, perhaps on a streak. There pitching was the best. They had given up the fewest home runs of any team in the major leagues. Also the fewest hits and also the fewest earned runs. The staff also had the most strikeouts of any other team.

 

[gtg970g]

As a senior in HS I was planning to attend the game in Tallahassee the weekend following 9/11 with my mom and a few relatives whom are FSU fans. I did not truly appreciate the magnitude of the attacks and was devastated when the game was canceled. With a weekend freed up I asked a girl out for our first date and that girl is now my wife.

 

[SteamWhistle]

I visited the 9/11 memorial on an 8th grade school trip to New York City. Very humbling experience, you’re reminded how small you really are in the grand scheme of things. Didn’t know the FSU game was postponed due to the attacks as I was 1 at the time. Thanks for sharing.