Techster
Helluva Engineer
- Messages
- 18,237
Our football team is 5-1 after the first half of the season, and every goal out there is still attainable (outside of going undefeated). We've beaten 2 of the "Big Four", with the other two coming in November. If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that we would be 5-1 after 6 games with wins over VT and Miami I would have gladly taken it. I'm sure most realistic GT fans would have as well. Our one loss came to a good Duke team (sorry Duke haters, but Duke has become a good team) that's given us fits in the past but we've always been able to pull away...but not this year. That's OK, I didn't expect us to go undefeated.
We're now in the back half of our schedule, and we've learned a lot about our team. We have the ability to beat anyone (see VT and Miami), but we also have the ability to lose to anyone (see GSU...almost, and Duke). Our young QB is the real deal, but he's still got a ways to go...and it's going to be exciting to watch him reach his very high ceiling. Our defense is capable of making big plays, but they're also very capable of giving up big plays as well. The DEs are going to be studs one day, but right now they're taking their lumps.
Now that we're rounding the corner to the back half of the schedule, here's what I'm looking forward to:
1. That MONSTER game from JT. JT had a very nice game against VT, he carried us to a win, but you always felt that he could have done a lot more. That's the exciting thing about JT...his potential in this offense is scary. What's scarier is we haven't seen "that game" from him yet. Vad had "that game" early in his career against UNC, and expectations were never the same. JT has teased us here and there, but there will be a game (or three) where he's just an offensive bomb that goes off. His game is tailor made for the sports highlight crowd of today, and he'll have a game where he just makes defenders look foolish on his way to the endzone (he did against VT but it was called back). It's going to happen, and I'm excited to see it.
2. Mark it down: We will beat Clemson or UGA (or both). Everything is lining up for us to. Clemson's stud freshmen QB has an injured hand he's out for a while (prognosis is maybe he's back by our game). UGA's all world RB is indefinitely suspended, and it's highly doubtful he ever plays again for UGA. If we can play the game we played against Miami, where our defense makes a few stops, and our offense becomes our defense, we have a good chance of completing the sweep against the "big four". We have a very good chance of atleast going 3-1.
3. The perfect game from our defense. This defense is certainly a bipolar one. On one series they can look hapless, while another series they can look like the defense we've been missing for a while. Our first five games of the season our defense gave up some big plays, but they also stepped up with a turnover or a key stop. We've got young guys littered all over our defense, but the bullets they took in the first half of the season should help them out in the second half. Which leads me to....
4. I expect to see Keshun and Rook bring more pressure the second half and help both Gotsis and our secondary. They've shown flashes of their potential, hopefully the first six games is just the beginning of the maturation process for them to be impact pass rushers the second half.
5. Getting our WRs the ball. Smelter is a weapon, a very good weapon. Waller looks like he's rounding into the form he finished last season with where he was our best WR. CPJ needs to make a bigger effort to get them the ball. JT is capable of making every throw our passing game requires. Let's put the fear of God into the defenses, especially DBs, and utilize our WRs to their full potential. We've got the talent.
6. Getting Laskey to 1,000. Not taking anything away from Dwyer and Ant, who are probably the 2 most talented BBs this offense has been gifted with, but I'm not sure there's been a BB with more want to and heart than Laskey. ZL has taken a beating this year with no real backup, but yet he's always getting positive yardage and jumps right up and asks for more. I'd like to finally see a BB get a 1,000 yards since Ant was here. ZL is good one to do it.
7. Winning the Coastal. Going to Charlotte. Beating FSU. Period.
We're now in the back half of our schedule, and we've learned a lot about our team. We have the ability to beat anyone (see VT and Miami), but we also have the ability to lose to anyone (see GSU...almost, and Duke). Our young QB is the real deal, but he's still got a ways to go...and it's going to be exciting to watch him reach his very high ceiling. Our defense is capable of making big plays, but they're also very capable of giving up big plays as well. The DEs are going to be studs one day, but right now they're taking their lumps.
Now that we're rounding the corner to the back half of the schedule, here's what I'm looking forward to:
1. That MONSTER game from JT. JT had a very nice game against VT, he carried us to a win, but you always felt that he could have done a lot more. That's the exciting thing about JT...his potential in this offense is scary. What's scarier is we haven't seen "that game" from him yet. Vad had "that game" early in his career against UNC, and expectations were never the same. JT has teased us here and there, but there will be a game (or three) where he's just an offensive bomb that goes off. His game is tailor made for the sports highlight crowd of today, and he'll have a game where he just makes defenders look foolish on his way to the endzone (he did against VT but it was called back). It's going to happen, and I'm excited to see it.
2. Mark it down: We will beat Clemson or UGA (or both). Everything is lining up for us to. Clemson's stud freshmen QB has an injured hand he's out for a while (prognosis is maybe he's back by our game). UGA's all world RB is indefinitely suspended, and it's highly doubtful he ever plays again for UGA. If we can play the game we played against Miami, where our defense makes a few stops, and our offense becomes our defense, we have a good chance of completing the sweep against the "big four". We have a very good chance of atleast going 3-1.
3. The perfect game from our defense. This defense is certainly a bipolar one. On one series they can look hapless, while another series they can look like the defense we've been missing for a while. Our first five games of the season our defense gave up some big plays, but they also stepped up with a turnover or a key stop. We've got young guys littered all over our defense, but the bullets they took in the first half of the season should help them out in the second half. Which leads me to....
4. I expect to see Keshun and Rook bring more pressure the second half and help both Gotsis and our secondary. They've shown flashes of their potential, hopefully the first six games is just the beginning of the maturation process for them to be impact pass rushers the second half.
5. Getting our WRs the ball. Smelter is a weapon, a very good weapon. Waller looks like he's rounding into the form he finished last season with where he was our best WR. CPJ needs to make a bigger effort to get them the ball. JT is capable of making every throw our passing game requires. Let's put the fear of God into the defenses, especially DBs, and utilize our WRs to their full potential. We've got the talent.
6. Getting Laskey to 1,000. Not taking anything away from Dwyer and Ant, who are probably the 2 most talented BBs this offense has been gifted with, but I'm not sure there's been a BB with more want to and heart than Laskey. ZL has taken a beating this year with no real backup, but yet he's always getting positive yardage and jumps right up and asks for more. I'd like to finally see a BB get a 1,000 yards since Ant was here. ZL is good one to do it.
7. Winning the Coastal. Going to Charlotte. Beating FSU. Period.
