The reason this year has turned out this way

UgagSucks

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
173
Yes, this season has been horrible and fallen way below all of our expectations. Maybe we're going through such a terrible year this year because we're just getting ready for a playoff run next year?! We will have a senior QB and all of our injured ABs will be back. Yes, that's a crazy thought but I can dream can't I?
 

Sarrick

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
818
While this is by no means an excuse, we could have, and should have, played better in every game to this point, let me offer a few facts that I have realized today:

The 5 teams we have lost to have a combined 4 losses. (UNC loss to USCe, Pitt lost to Iowa, ND to Clemson, and Duke to Northwestern) Of those losses just mentioned, 3 of 4 had been ranked this year (Iowa, ND, and NW), and the other was due to terrible playcalling.

Currently 4 of the 5 of our losses are to ranked teams (Pitt 25, Duke 23, ND 11, Clemson 6). In the AP poll, UNC is also ranked 29th.

We are have the youngest team on offense as starters than I have ever seen due to injury (granted I haven't been a Tech fan as long as most of the people here). And as an offense that requires a ton of reps to learn to mesh as a cohesive unit, growing pains are to be expected.

Our next game is against #9 FSU. Our SOS has been absolutely insane. We are playing solid football teams week after week.

I really think our schedule combined with injuries really hurt us. The coastal is stronger this year. While I've questioned some of CPJs decisions this year, I think it all goes back to the SoS
 

Boomergump

Helluva Engineer
Featured Member
Messages
3,262
Certainly we have played good teams. However, what has happened to us has been a complex mess of a ton of factors. Playing a less difficult schedule to this point may have helped, but we need to beat our share of good teams.
 

Tech93

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,224
Coming into this season all the preseason rankings worried me, which were based more on how we finished last year IMO. The loss of our WRs and RBs was hard to replace from my viewpoint and then you combine that with Dennis Andrews being kicked off the team. Even if you put all the injuries aside most of injured are young in the skill positions on offense except for Snoddy. There is a serious lack of leadership on the team. Last year was a special season and a team on a mission. I will never forget when Snoddy got hurt in the Clemson game and the whole team went on the field and surrounded him...to me that defined the kind of team we had. As for the coaching CPJ could probably make a few tweaks...IMO JT needs to be put in the gun some or introduce some of the pistol again and see if it helps. On D, I do not know why Roof is not bringing the heat...this was the same problem in the first half of the season last year. He has nothing to lose. With all that said, I think we will be much better in the skill positions on O next year and on D we have some good young athletes, but I still think the D line will be a problem. All in all I was hoping for a little better than 500 this year and a much better year next year. So far my prediction this year is not looking great but let's hope next year we will get back on track and have a good season.
 

takethepoints

Helluva Engineer
Messages
5,880
Why has the season turned out this way. Let me count the ways.

1. Injuries, with some of the the most important ones - Leggett, Quaide, Coutrell, Benson - coming before we even got on the field the first time. Then came the ones in season - Qua, Snoddy, Summers, Byerley. It's been very rough.

2. We fired Dennis. That hurt. He was a talented runner, yes, but he was also the best blocker among the returning ABs.

3. The weather. We have had a total of 3 games on decent fields. We've played well in all of them and won 2. Not playing in the slop wouldn't have helped much against the Tiggers and ND. It sure would have against Puke and UNC.

4. Really bad special teams mistakes. I'm not sure what has led to this, but we've looked awful on ST this year.

5. And this may be the most important: our schedule. We've played 7 games w/o a break and, if ever there was a team that needed one, it's Tech right now. Also, we have too many good teams on the schedule this year. I was afraid about playing ND away so early and I was apprehensive about Puke. They beat us last year too. Turns out I was right and things are not looking up next week. Last year we had an easy beginning and plenty of luck late. This year … not so much.

Sooooo … yes, it's been a perfect storm this year. The most important has been injuries, imho. Like I said in an0ther post, if we had had the line-up on O that we started fall practice with I'm betting we would be 5 - 2. Well, at least next year some of the youngsters will have some game experience. Problem = many of the most talented of them aren't getting that now because they are hurt.
 

bke1984

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,143
While this is by no means an excuse, we could have, and should have, played better in every game to this point, let me offer a few facts that I have realized today:

The 5 teams we have lost to have a combined 4 losses. (UNC loss to USCe, Pitt lost to Iowa, ND to Clemson, and Duke to Northwestern) Of those losses just mentioned, 3 of 4 had been ranked this year (Iowa, ND, and NW), and the other was due to terrible playcalling.

Currently 4 of the 5 of our losses are to ranked teams (Pitt 25, Duke 23, ND 11, Clemson 6). In the AP poll, UNC is also ranked 29th.

We are have the youngest team on offense as starters than I have ever seen due to injury (granted I haven't been a Tech fan as long as most of the people here). And as an offense that requires a ton of reps to learn to mesh as a cohesive unit, growing pains are to be expected.

Our next game is against #9 FSU. Our SOS has been absolutely insane. We are playing solid football teams week after week.

I really think our schedule combined with injuries really hurt us. The coastal is stronger this year. While I've questioned some of CPJs decisions this year, I think it all goes back to the SoS

You know...if we had beat two of those teams they wouldn't be ranked....

Can't say "it's OK, those teams are ranked" when you lose to everyone you play.

Pitt and Duke aren't anything special. Duke has a good defense and will end up with 9-10 wins because of their super soft schedule, but losing those games is not exactly anything to hang your hat on
 

iceeater1969

Helluva Engineer
Messages
8,916
We had two very easy teams to start season. Everyone going into season has mistakes and errors in their first 2 games. Had we played a better 2 teams we would have realized our defects and begun adjusting. We still would have lost to nd and clem,but should have beaten the rest. 4-3 at best. Coach needs to be able to call plays for the level of players we have and we need to NEVER graduate all of the first and second string skill position skill position s
 

wvGT11

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,198
Why has the season turned out this way. Let me count the ways.

1. Injuries, with some of the the most important ones - Leggett, Quaide, Coutrell, Benson - coming before we even got on the field the first time. Then came the ones in season - Qua, Snoddy, Summers, Byerley. It's been very rough.

2. We fired Dennis. That hurt. He was a talented runner, yes, but he was also the best blocker among the returning ABs.

3. The weather. We have had a total of 3 games on decent fields. We've played well in all of them and won 2. Not playing in the slop wouldn't have helped much against the Tiggers and ND. It sure would have against Puke and UNC.

4. Really bad special teams mistakes. I'm not sure what has led to this, but we've looked awful on ST this year.

5. And this may be the most important: our schedule. We've played 7 games w/o a break and, if ever there was a team that needed one, it's Tech right now. Also, we have too many good teams on the schedule this year. I was afraid about playing ND away so early and I was apprehensive about Puke. They beat us last year too. Turns out I was right and things are not looking up next week. Last year we had an easy beginning and plenty of luck late. This year … not so much.

Sooooo … yes, it's been a perfect storm this year. The most important has been injuries, imho. Like I said in an0ther post, if we had had the line-up on O that we started fall practice with I'm betting we would be 5 - 2. Well, at least next year some of the youngsters will have some game experience. Problem = many of the most talented of them aren't getting that now because they are hurt.

Exactly. For a few games I was in the disgruntled CPJ camp, but seeing as how young the team is especially with some of these freshman that came on in August, I can see how these problems would build up. I'm really hoping CPJ can get things turned around for next year though, we will really need a good rebound year after this.

I think more than anything most of the fan base thought the program had turned a big corner with last years team. Big wins, an O-Line that was working, a good QB finally and Roofs D making big plays when need. Most of us thought that this year could be even better. Its painful to see this seasons team and to see JT not getting the help he needs.
 

Rock

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
615
You know...if we had beat two of those teams they wouldn't be ranked....

Can't say "it's OK, those teams are ranked" when you lose to everyone you play.

Pitt and Duke aren't anything special. Duke has a good defense and will end up with 9-10 wins because of their super soft schedule, but losing those games is not exactly anything to hang your hat on


^^^^^ this guy gets it!
 

Skeptic

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,372
I'm relieved that the tone of the board has about done a 180 from Saturday and the content is now discussion rather than accusation and posturing. It is not to say any of the heated postings were all wrong, but temper never solved anything. As Boomer noted in another thread, Johnson is the ph.d in football and the rest of us are just pretenders, which is I guess the function of a message board. Now having cooled down myself and able, I think to look at the cold reality of the season, I think three of the five remaining games -- Virginia, VT, Miami -- are tossups that we can win. Georgia and FSU are the outliers, but then nobody gave us much of a chance against either last year and we should have won both. What we should all know by now is this: Johnson, and therefore the team, is not afraid of them. Of the two it seems to me that FSU is the more likely roadkill, and if we can perform to the mean in the three, winning all, and get one of the two "upsets" we could wind up with six wins. Big ifs, all, I know, but we got a whiff of what could be in the first half against Pitt. (The second half we either got out-playered and outcoached, and I don't know which, but Johnson's halftime magic failed him Saturday. It could be something as simple as Thomas falling back to his performance level of the first half of the season, which he did, or I think he did.)

I don't like the idea, ever, of "playing for next year." This year's seniors deserve some respect, and not be tossed aside. So while the young players showed great promise, I prefer performance, which we saw smatterings of. I understand injuries and why nobody wants to hear about them, really I get it. It does not mean their impact has hurt us any less. I have no answer for the D. Not even a suggestion. Well, play better, or even get more pressure. Except I'm sure they're trying, and they can't get more pressure or they would have. In my mind Jabari Hunt has been a disappointment in occupying blockers for others to go after the QB, but whatever, only Gotsis has lived up to the hype. Like Boomer I can't fault the secondary when they have to spend an eternity in coverage, and even average receivers given that time will win the battle.

The youngsters did well. As for Mr. Marshall, wow. Don't know about anybody else but I appreciate the runs down main street more than the edge. The edge requires speed. The middle requires great vision, quick hips, quicker feet, and sharp cuts into small gaps. The first down the sideline had Dwyer/Georgia written all over it. His 58-yarder in the middle had all that and more. I hope he beats his fumble problem, and learns to block. As a freshman, he should.

Yes, I think we can beat FSU. I really do. There is no reason for them to be afraid or less than wildly confident, and Johnson has a history of gouging their run defense. If we do we have taken the first step toward six wins, and I don't even care about a bowl game. If Thomas returns to his mean, if our execution is sharpened, and if the defense will just kind of show up and impede people, we could surprise people

As for special teams, well. All year we have allowed gangbusters penetration up the middle, and all year we have had field goals blocked. I don't know why and wish some real football guy on the board would tell us. I hope it is as simple as telling the O line not to do that any more.

On to FSU and prime time. And the hope his team will mirror his personality and attitude, punch 'em in the mouth.
 
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