Thoughts About Today

[Boomergump]

Generally speaking, I think fans make too much, in terms of long term consequences, out of the results of any single game. Ultimately today's game will decide whether we are 3-1 and starting the division race from the front, or 2-2 and starting from behind and taking the harder road. That alone means there is a lot on the line.

With all that said, I find myself probably more in the dark, when charaterizing this GT team, then I expected to be at the beginning of the season. To date, we have had a couple of blow outs where we didn't really execute THAT well, but things just seemed to go our way. In some cases, plays just happened because we were athletically superior to the guys going against us. We have also had one humiliating defeat where we went up against a VERY talented team (IMHO) and played like total crap in most phases. All three of these contests do nothing but muddy the waters in my crystal ball. Had we played well against ND, whether winning or losing, we would have learned more. Had we played better opponents in the first two, we would have learned more.

Obviously, I place the biggest value on winning the contest today. However, selfishly, I find myself wanting to learn more about this team as well. Who are we?

 

[4shotB]

Obviously, I place the biggest value on winning the contest today. However, selfishly, I find myself wanting to learn more about this team as well. Who are we?

I agree with your post. However, perhaps due to better athletes and coaching (=parity) i college FB, I'm not sure anyone really knows anymore until early October or past. I don't think anyone envisioned what we would become last year after the back to back losses to Duke and NC. I think we all would agree that we have the potential to be good (given all the returning starters). However, we did lose some great talent. And is team chemistry repeatable from season to season? We may know a little more after today but will probably still have some questions regardless of the outcome.

 

[jwsavhGT]

Who are we? I think that is the question our guys have about themselves. I would imagine that it was hard to not buy-in to the preseason hype and easy to forget that this team is different than last year's team. I believe the team chemistry is there. I believe their desire to win is there. I also believe it will take a special leader/leaders (team captains?) to show these young players that this team can be as special as last year's team.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

Either last week really got into the guys' heads, and the execution today will greatly improve, or it did not, and today could be ugly. I really think last week will wake up some guys. I believe Skov comes out very, very focused this week, because of how hard he took last week's loss. I hope other guys do the same.

With that said, we are playing a lot of young guys with little experience.

 

[Madison Grant]

We 'should' beat Duke. But as the week has worn on, with the realization of our injuries (didn't know Gamble was going to be out until Thursday) and the rotten weather, I'm afraid we might lose this one. I'm worried about how the wetness is going to effect the ballhandling of our backs. Wouldn't be surprised to see us put it on the carpet 4 or 5 times, and lose despite outgaining them.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

We 'should' beat Duke. But as the week has worn on, with the realization of our injuries (didn't know Gamble was going to be out until Thursday) and the rotten weather, I'm afraid we might lose this one. I'm worried about how the wetness is going to effect the ballhandling of our backs. Wouldn't be surprised to see us put it on the carpet 4 or 5 times, and lose despite outgaining them.

ouch.

 

[33jacket]

Simply we are seeing the lack of experience at the edges hurt our offensive execution. More dissapointing is our experienced OL is not playing great either. Very dissapointing

If one of these two do not change today. We lose. Period.

The d is holding up its end of the bargain. Perfect. No. But good enough to beat ND on the road if our O played worth a spit. Yes. and probably good enough when healthy (worried about gamble out) to be ok enough vs everyone else.

Last week felt really Chantastic.

If this week is chantastic then we will center around 7-5 and that is who you are. If we improve then we can still be who we want to.

I always said your most improvement for a team is not game 1 to 2. Its after your first loss. So lets see what we see.

 

[lv20gt]

This game shouldn't be one that is in doubt in the 4th quarter. Not a blowout but this game should be a 14-21 point win imo.

Now whether that will happen or not is another question.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I want us to win no matter what today. We are not anywhere near where we need to be as a team and I just do not want to have to factor in another loss, either because of the hole it puts us in conference wise, or because of the head cases it may produce for some of our younger players.

Who are we? To answer that I need to have the answers to another question. Who are our leaders this year and who is stepping up to take the place of the leaders we lost from last year?

So far, the guys acting like leaders this year are.....Gotsis, Golden, White. Some of our other leaders are either injured or have not stepped up this year. I know this is totally subjective but who are the guys in your opinion who are going to get our younger players through these early growing pains?

 

[Northeast Stinger]

This game shouldn't be one that is in doubt in the 4th quarter.

Not sure I understand why you say this. I am happy for it to be true but that is not my take.

Duke the last couple of years has been a well coached team that gives 100% effort till the final whistle. Right now they may not have the talent we have but they are probably playing slightly better as a team than us, if one defines team as not missing assignments, being disciplined and giving total effort.

 

[Captain killem]

Who are we? This is GEORGIA TECH. We can do that.
This team is gonna continue to learn as the season goes forward. Will we make mistakes, yes, can we overcome those mistakes, only time will tell. I personally have faith and confidence in the coaching staff, and the young men wearing the uniforms. Looking forward to seeing who we are today. I'm pretty sure we are all gonna find out Notre Dame is a better team than most thought they were. That game is behind us, like ya butt, leave it there.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

This game shouldn't be one that is in doubt in the 4th quarter. Not a blowout but this game should be a 14-21 point win imo.

Now whether that will happen or not is another question.

Foolish to think we should beat Duke by 14-21 IMO. This ain't the Duke of old. They are at minimum a solid and dangerous team and have been for a few years running now. Do I think we are better? Yes. But good solid teams rarely get blown out. See last week at ND despite playing poorly. Just get the W...I don't give a squat about the point spread.

 

[AE 87]

Simply we are seeing the lack of experience at the edges hurt our offensive execution. More dissapointing is our experienced OL is not playing great either. Very dissapointing

If one of these two do not change today. We lose. Period.

The d is holding up its end of the bargain. Perfect. No. But good enough to beat ND on the road if our O played worth a spit. Yes. and probably good enough when healthy (worried about gamble out) to be ok enough vs everyone else.

Last week felt really Chantastic.

If this week is chantastic then we will center around 7-5 and that is who you are. If we improve then we can still be who we want to.

I always said your most improvement for a team is not game 1 to 2. Its after your first loss. So lets see what we see.

I hear you, but disagree on "Chantastic" as the right description. For me, that term doesn't apply to a team that scores late like we did.

You are right though that we'll learn a lot about what we got with this game.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

Generally speaking, I think fans make too much, in terms of long term consequences, out of the results of any single game. Ultimately today's game will decide whether we are 3-1 and starting the division race from the front, or 2-2 and starting from behind and taking the harder road. That alone means there is a lot on the line.

With all that said, I find myself probably more in the dark, when charaterizing this GT team, then I expected to be at the beginning of the season. To date, we have had a couple of blow outs where we didn't really execute THAT well, but things just seemed to go our way. In some cases, plays just happened because we were athletically superior to the guys going against us. We have also had one humiliating defeat where we went up against a VERY talented team (IMHO) and played like total crap in most phases. All three of these contests do nothing but muddy the waters in my crystal ball. Had we played well against ND, whether winning or losing, we would have learned more. Had we played better opponents in the first two, we would have learned more.

Obviously, I place the biggest value on winning the contest today. However, selfishly, I find myself wanting to learn more about this team as well. Who are we?

I am concerned that because of our youth and inexperience, our team views Duke as sort of a JV team, after playing in the rarified air of South Bend. That would be a serious mistake. That said, I think we come to play today, play well, and beat Duke soundly.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

We 'should' beat Duke. But as the week has worn on, with the realization of our injuries (didn't know Gamble was going to be out until Thursday) and the rotten weather, I'm afraid we might lose this one. I'm worried about how the wetness is going to effect the ballhandling of our backs. Wouldn't be surprised to see us put it on the carpet 4 or 5 times, and lose despite outgaining them.

the betting line slowly moved from 10 to 7 1/2 this morning. So some people still have faith in Duke's ability to keep it close.

 

[Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau]

I want us to win no matter what today. We are not anywhere near where we need to be as a team and I just do not want to have to factor in another loss, either because of the hole it puts us in conference wise, or because of the head cases it may produce for some of our younger players.

Who are we? To answer that I need to have the answers to another question. Who are our leaders this year and who is stepping up to take the place of the leaders we lost from last year?

So far, the guys acting like leaders this year are.....Gotsis, Golden, White. Some of our other leaders are either injured or have not stepped up this year. I know this is totally subjective but who are the guys in your opinion who are going to get our younger players through these early growing pains?

As the season plays on, we may find out just how special the group in 2014 was.

 

[YJAlleyCat]

I don't know what to think. Yes, we were humbled with a wake up call last week, but so was Duke. Yes, we want to win our division, but so does Duke. Yes, the crappy weather may affect our game, but it will also affect theirs. It might come down to a combination of which team wants this game more, and which team has the talent and discipline to do what it takes to win in spite of all these factors such as weather, crowd size, etc.

If we can play to our potential, we should do well. The injuries worry me. I hope no one else gets hurt.

 

[lv20gt]

Not sure I understand why you say this. I am happy for it to be true but that is not my take.

Duke the last couple of years has been a well coached team that gives 100% effort till the final whistle. Right now they may not have the talent we have but they are probably playing slightly better as a team than us, if one defines team as not missing assignments, being disciplined and giving total effort.

And 2 years ago, their best season under cutcliffe, we beat them by 24, and the year before by 18. We have more talent, and they are starting a new QB. Their offense was putrid against NW, only TD coming off a NW TO deep in their own territory, and while NW's defense looks pretty good, we should still be able to hold them to 17-21 points barring ST or Offensive mistakes. Offensively, we shouldn't have great trouble scoring against them with what we return on the OL and QB, and the level of talent on the two teams. We score 35, they score 17 and it's a convincing win.

And again, that's what I think souldn't happen. Not necessarily what will.

 

[Sideways]

the betting line slowly moved from 10 to 7 1/2 this morning. So some people still have faith in Duke's ability to keep it close.

I am not a betting man, but on the other site's prediction contest, I picked Tech to win BUT NOT cover. My reasoning (FWIW) is the combination of injuries, the weather, and what seems to be a well coached good defense for Duke. On the other hand, I think they really miss Boone and and a couple of other starters on offense. Can we win? Most certainly, but turnovers and busted assignments could come back to haunt us. This team seems to be reeling a little bit. Needs to have good things happen right away in this game. Let's play ball.

 

[gtg936g]

This is the biggest game of the season to date. I hope the team sees it that way. We just need to execute like we are capable of doing and we will get the W.