Updated predictions for the season

GlennW

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,189
Duke is 21st in the nation in rushing at 261/game. GT is 14 in the nation at 292/game. Duke is 29 in the nation in Total Offense, #17 in scoring offense, and #7 in scoring defense.

GT fans need to quit looking down at Duke. They are a good team that can beat us straight up if we keep playing inconsistently. The last couple of games against them has come down to the 4th quarter. Cutcliffe is starting to round the corner with that program. It will be a good game. I'm glad we have them at home this year.

If you're that "impressed" with Duke's stats, let me help put them into perspective:

From USA Today:

"It wasn't the most impressive run through nonconference play — Kansas, Troy, Tulane and Elon — but Duke will head into Atlantic Coast Conference play unblemished. The Blue Devils' 4-0 start is the program's first since 1994."

Duke beat Troy 34-17 (at Troy), which just got smoked by UGA (66-0 at home), and they beat Tulane 47-13 (at home) which really wasn't much better than what we did to them away (at the opening of their brand-new stadium) if you think about it (38-21).
 

MWBATL

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,119
Yeah I don't wanna try to project ahead either.

We can lose or win any game left with our team.

Amen. But the good thing is that before now, I thought we had no chance against the "Big Four". Now, while I am pretty sure we will have a few bad games (gotta remember JT has still only started 4 games and is a sophomore, so he is due for some poor games)...I still feel we will have a chance against most anybody on our schedule (exception perhaps in UGa).

How many will we win? I don't have a clue. I would bet we will lose a game or two people don't expect us to lose (Duke, UVa, and/or UNC come to mind) and win a game or two people don't expect us to win (Clemson and maybe Miami come to mind). Frankly, I will be thrilled with this season if that turns out to be the case.
 

dmurdock

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
229
I see more dogfights / ugly wins that will keep us down in the rankings. Without a high ranking and plenty of humbling game film reviews with the coaches will keep this team grounded and hungry. I think we go into the Clemson game with a 10-0 record and finish the season with a Top 15 Clemson, Top 5 UGA, & #1 FSU. Could be a very special season, or could get lumped together with our 2011 6-0 start.
 

Mack

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,361
Yeah I don't wanna try to project ahead either.

We can lose or win any game left with our team.
You got that right but 8-4 is very promising now......big thing for PJ is no loss at Georgie or a bad bowl........it can be done.
 

Mack

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,361
I see more dogfights / ugly wins that will keep us down in the rankings. Without a high ranking and plenty of humbling game film reviews with the coaches will keep this team grounded and hungry. I think we go into the Clemson game with a 10-0 record and finish the season with a Top 15 Clemson, Top 5 UGA, & #1 FSU. Could be a very special season, or could get lumped together with our 2011 6-0 start.
Yep looked today in paper and at 4-0 we are 22 in the nation...........little respect.
 

txsting

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
129
Realistically, I don't know that UGA is winnable for you guys.

I could see you beating or losing to any other team you have left.

If I had to guess:
Miami-???
Duke- Loss
UNC-Win
Pitt-Win
UVA-Win
NCState-Win
Clemson-Loss
UGA-Loss

So, I've got you at 8 or 9 wins, depending on the miami game.

I could also see a UVA loss or a Duke win.
I am going to lose my **** if I see one more person predict a loss to duke. Last couple of years we won by 24 and 18. 10 straight. They defend the option like crap, and we are actually a little better at it this year. Miami has me worried. Not duke.
 

redmule

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
664
Get ready for the ride, boys. This Tech team is beginning to remind me of those in '84, '89, '97, '08. When they play with focus and mental toughness, they were very very hard to beat. When they had a let down, it was ugly. 1984 was probably the best example. Start out 3-0 with wins over Bama and a very good Clemson team, then lose to an awful NC State at home as a 20 point favorite. Roof was on that team. Over time, the stretches of focus and toughness increased in duration, and it paid dividends for several seasons before we lost it again. We're going to win our share of the rest of the games this year, and there will be a win that no one saw coming, as well as a loss that will break our hearts and rip out our intestines. If you don't want that, then you need to find another team because that is what Georgia Tech football is and will probably always be. We can get enough talent to produce spectacular results when the team chemistry, physical attributes, and mental aspects come together. College football is driven by momentum and confidence. They begin to think they are good, and suddenly they are good. It happens every few years, and it is wonderful. Then that group of players move on, and it has to be rebuilt again.

Also, we build up a luck deficit over several years, then it averages out. Two weeks in a row now, we have gotten the big turnover late in the 4th qtr that we had to have to win. Some years you get what you most need just when you most need it. The GSU turnover shows that we may have a little officiating luck this year, also. We got a huge chop block penalty on VT. VT could have had a killing INT on a tipped ball on out last TD drive, but the DB couldn't hold on. Luck breeds luck.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,716
If you're that "impressed" with Duke's stats, let me help put them into perspective:

From USA Today:

"It wasn't the most impressive run through nonconference play — Kansas, Troy, Tulane and Elon — but Duke will head into Atlantic Coast Conference play unblemished. The Blue Devils' 4-0 start is the program's first since 1994."

Duke beat Troy 34-17 (at Troy), which just got smoked by UGA (66-0 at home), and they beat Tulane 47-13 (at home) which really wasn't much better than what we did to them away (at the opening of their brand-new stadium) if you think about it (38-21).

Never said I was impressed...I'm especially not impressed by our own fans taking a crap on another team when we really haven't done much ourselves. To me it's a "Those who live in a glass house..." situations. Before you say "Well we just beat a good VT team"...is VT a good team? They lost to ECU at home. ECU may or may not be a good team, but we still don't know how good VT is yet. They beat OSU, but OSU really isn't that great of a team...certainly not a top 10 team they were ranked to start the season.

My point is, before anyone craps on Duke, make sure you we look at ourselves first. People can look at our resume and say the same things about us. We'll get to make our case against Duke ON THE FIELD in a few weeks.
 

GTJared21

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
32
Location
Sharpsburg, Georgia
We'll do what we always do, that is, we'll get teased and then viciously let down... we'll win 5 of the next 6, going into Clemson 9-1 and a top 20 (maybe even top 15) ranking that we don't deserve... we'll lose to Clemson and UGA, finishing 6-2 in the conference, which will give us a share of the coastal but whoever beats us will be the team that also goes 6-2 and takes the tiebreaker. We'll go to a decent bowl with a 9-3 record and we'll lose it, finishing 9-4 after that beautiful 9-1 start gives everyone hope for so much more. CPJ gets a 2 year extension that allows him to be around until JT graduates, and he'll continue to win 8-10 with JT. After JT leaves, I guess we'll see if we have another gamer to step in behind him. My guess is that we'll shrink back to 7-win mediocrity.

I don't meant to be a pessimist, but it's been a long run of disappointment as a GT fan. If we win 9 games, I guess I should be really happy. If we win 27 games with JT as a starter, I should be happy. I just always want more for the program as every fan does and it hurts getting let down so many times. This weekend was so nice, to finally be on the other end of 'luck'.
That was harsh....
 

forensicbuzz

Helluva Engineer
Messages
8,009
Location
North Shore, Chicago
Never said I was impressed...I'm especially not impressed by our own fans taking a crap on another team when we really haven't done much ourselves. To me it's a "Those who live in a glass house..." situations. Before you say "Well we just beat a good VT team"...is VT a good team? They lost to ECU at home. ECU may or may not be a good team, but we still don't know how good VT is yet. They beat OSU, but OSU really isn't that great of a team...certainly not a top 10 team they were ranked to start the season.

My point is, before anyone craps on Duke, make sure you we look at ourselves first. People can look at our resume and say the same things about us. We'll get to make our case against Duke ON THE FIELD in a few weeks.
Duke is going to have to beat us before they earn my respect. We haven't lost in a long time and the games haven't been that close. They are better, but not ready to concede anything to a Duke team that hasn't shown any ability to slow down our offense or take advantage of a limited defense.
 

Js-showman

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
340
Duke is 21st in the nation in rushing at 261/game. GT is 14 in the nation at 292/game. Duke is 29 in the nation in Total Offense, #17 in scoring offense, and #7 in scoring defense.

GT fans need to quit looking down at Duke. They are a good team that can beat us straight up if we keep playing inconsistently. The last couple of games against them has come down to the 4th quarter. Cutcliffe is starting to round the corner with that program. It will be a good game. I'm glad we have them at home this year.

We shouldn't look down at any one. Duke almost beat Texas A&M last year. In fact, they probably should have.
 

Wrecking Ball

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
694
I think 9-3 is possible, with 8-4 or 10-2 being the next most likely outcomes (in that order.) It's good to, once more, have a QB that doesn't make your heart sink when you know the game is down to crunch time.
 

Js-showman

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
340
Get ready for the ride, boys. This Tech team is beginning to remind me of those in '84, '89, '97, '08. When they play with focus and mental toughness, they were very very hard to beat. When they had a let down, it was ugly. 1984 was probably the best example. Start out 3-0 with wins over Bama and a very good Clemson team, then lose to an awful NC State at home as a 20 point favorite. Roof was on that team. Over time, the stretches of focus and toughness increased in duration, and it paid dividends for several seasons before we lost it again. We're going to win our share of the rest of the games this year, and there will be a win that no one saw coming, as well as a loss that will break our hearts and rip out our intestines. If you don't want that, then you need to find another team because that is what Georgia Tech football is and will probably always be. We can get enough talent to produce spectacular results when the team chemistry, physical attributes, and mental aspects come together. College football is driven by momentum and confidence. They begin to think they are good, and suddenly they are good. It happens every few years, and it is wonderful. Then that group of players move on, and it has to be rebuilt again.

Also, we build up a luck deficit over several years, then it averages out. Two weeks in a row now, we have gotten the big turnover late in the 4th qtr that we had to have to win. Some years you get what you most need just when you most need it. The GSU turnover shows that we may have a little officiating luck this year, also. We got a huge chop block penalty on VT. VT could have had a killing INT on a tipped ball on out last TD drive, but the DB couldn't hold on. Luck breeds luck.
This ^.

It's luck breeds luck, but you make the luck work for you. Against GSU, we got the fumble, but we still had to drive downfield. At VT, we had the interception, but still had to move the ball and kick the FG. In recent years, we've had the opportunity to win games, but we'd throw a pick or fumble the ball on a key drive or late in the game. It seems now, we are making the key play when we need it. There isn't really much that separates average CFB teams from good CFB teams. Making a key play here and there turns a 6-5 season into an 8-3 or 9-2 season. When the players begin to realize that every inch has meaning, that every play can make the difference in the game, that a little bit of passion from one guy can swing the outcome, then they will turn the corner. I hope we have that kind of team.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,716
Eh if I remember correctly we were +1 in turnovers. Duke was +4.

So Duke was better at protecting the ball and they should get punished for it? That's my point...we're inconsistent and we let teams like Tulane and GA Southern hang in there.

Can't do that against the better teams.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,716
Duke is going to have to beat us before they earn my respect. We haven't lost in a long time and the games haven't been that close. They are better, but not ready to concede anything to a Duke team that hasn't shown any ability to slow down our offense or take advantage of a limited defense.

Like my HS coach said "Respect everyone, fear no one".
 
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