Techster
Helluva Engineer
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One of the things that stood out to me during the game was how many Freshmen, R-FR, and Sophomores had to play in key situations during the FSU game. At one point, I remember Vic Alexander, Brant Mitchell, AJ Gray, and the Austin Twins on the field on D at the same time...while on offense, guys like Mikell Lands-Davis, Brad Stewart, Will Bryan, Marcus Marshall, Clinton Lynch were helping out on the other side on offense. Not only were they on the field, pretty much all of them played pivotal roles.
It wasn't just the FSU game, but all season our young guys have been asked to step into roles vacated by older and more experienced players. They have been taking punches all season, I'm not sure all of them were ready yet for the level of punches they would get from our opponents. Saturday, I think our young guys played with a resolve that was far different from the the previous games. They punched back, and they did enough damage for GT pull the biggest upset in college football last Saturday. Coaches can talk about the things you need to do and fight you have to have to finish off an opponent...how you take a punch, but find ways to land your own punches. But until you've been in a real fight, you don't know how to react. I think Saturday, our young guys found a way to take a punch, and they finally knew what coaches meant when they say you have to find a way to get off the floor and start fighting back. Our guys did exactly that. They grew up against the marquee ACC team on national TV, and they were rewarded.
The next lesson for the young guys is they have to learn to keep the intensity they played with in the FSU game against EVERY team. The talent is there. If you can beat a team with a bunch of 4/5 star players up and down the depth chart, you can beat anyone. This could be a turning point win for our team, not in terms of this season, but the seasons to come. GT has a lot of talent, and most of it is young. Hopefully we'll be able to point back to the FSU game as the game which the young GT team found their footing, and pivoted the program to the level we all expected.
It wasn't just the FSU game, but all season our young guys have been asked to step into roles vacated by older and more experienced players. They have been taking punches all season, I'm not sure all of them were ready yet for the level of punches they would get from our opponents. Saturday, I think our young guys played with a resolve that was far different from the the previous games. They punched back, and they did enough damage for GT pull the biggest upset in college football last Saturday. Coaches can talk about the things you need to do and fight you have to have to finish off an opponent...how you take a punch, but find ways to land your own punches. But until you've been in a real fight, you don't know how to react. I think Saturday, our young guys found a way to take a punch, and they finally knew what coaches meant when they say you have to find a way to get off the floor and start fighting back. Our guys did exactly that. They grew up against the marquee ACC team on national TV, and they were rewarded.
The next lesson for the young guys is they have to learn to keep the intensity they played with in the FSU game against EVERY team. The talent is there. If you can beat a team with a bunch of 4/5 star players up and down the depth chart, you can beat anyone. This could be a turning point win for our team, not in terms of this season, but the seasons to come. GT has a lot of talent, and most of it is young. Hopefully we'll be able to point back to the FSU game as the game which the young GT team found their footing, and pivoted the program to the level we all expected.
