Where would the learned of you place Adam ( I got this!) Gotsis

Jerry the Jacket

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Gotsis was our best over the last couple of years but he would be outside the top 10 of all those who have ever played the position for Ga. Tech. I would have to go back and consult the media guides but I believe that we have had as many as a half dozen All America defensive linemen at Tech over the years. Adam played his guts out but I think the best he ever achieved was second team all conference.

Go Jackets!
 

iceeater1969

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I have little faith in a better DL next year. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was worse. We need these young guys to grow up in a hurry and we desperately need Keshun to return to form. I've just about given up on Kallon making good on all that recruiting hype. We also lose a bunch of vets in the secondary. Our D could reach historic lows next year and I'm usually the up beat optimist.

Last year u warned about the loss of all the 5th year senior ab, bb, er talent when many thought the new legit burners would come in and be good behind the veteran oline and a good qb. Did have snoddy and andrews and summers who had some action, but we stunk it up.

Now we have the same but worse on defense w 4 multi - game sr db leaving & a thin dl ( physically de) $ a average lb core.
Could give up lots of points doing a bend bend bend and then break defense. At first use up some time but they still score for first 5 drives and then when d is exhausted they opp score fast. Offense should be better but we could loose big.

This could happen but let's hope it is only a few times and then we get it all together .

So my questions are
If the defense is as I describe happens will our opponents be even more aggressive on defense seeking turnovers or big losses?
Should the defense wait till we sre way behind to blitz?
(U know me = send 7 & get the ball or a loss. I want the offense to have their defense on field 3/4 of time).
 

Northeast Stinger

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Last year u warned about the loss of all the 5th year senior ab, bb, er talent when many thought the new legit burners would come in and be good behind the veteran oline and a good qb. Did have snoddy and andrews and summers who had some action, but we stunk it up.

Now we have the same but worse on defense w 4 multi - game sr db leaving & a thin dl ( physically de) $ a average lb core.
Could give up lots of points doing a bend bend bend and then break defense. At first use up some time but they still score for first 5 drives and then when d is exhausted they opp score fast. Offense should be better but we could loose big.

This could happen but let's hope it is only a few times and then we get it all together .

So my questions are
If the defense is as I describe happens will our opponents be even more aggressive on defense seeking turnovers or big losses?
Should the defense wait till we sre way behind to blitz?
(U know me = send 7 & get the ball or a loss. I want the offense to have their defense on field 3/4 of time).
Defense is a perennial problem most years at Tech. I always have to scratch my head and think when the last time was Tech had a top ten defense.

But let's not sidetrack on that question. Point is, what CPJ's offense has been able to do most years is take the heat off the defense. If the offense (and that is a BIG IF) returns to form next year I predict the defense will be fine. CTR seems to be able to disguise weaknesses with the defense for stretches of time but they cannot be left on the field for extended periods or we surely lose.
 

4shotB

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Defense is a perennial problem most years at Tech.

except for the GCG years when we were, for the most part, pretty good on D and anemic on O. CPJ is like CGO'L, pretty potent on O (assuming last year was an outlier) but fails at D. The coach prior to these 3 gentlemen was good at neither. The coach before that was good on both sides of the ball and special teams. A brief synopsis of GT FB over the last 3 decades.

I understand we have recruiting limitations. I have been unable to reconcile the fact that our last 3 coaches seemed to recruit well on one side only given the aforementioned restrictions.
 

Northeast Stinger

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except for the GCG years when we were, for the most part, pretty good on D and anemic on O. CPJ is like CGO'L, pretty potent on O (assuming last year was an outlier) but fails at D. The coach prior to these 3 gentlemen was good at neither. The coach before that was good on both sides of the ball and special teams. A brief synopsis of GT FB over the last 3 decades.

I understand we have recruiting limitations. I have been unable to reconcile the fact that our last 3 coaches seemed to recruit well on one side only given the aforementioned restrictions.
Allow me to concede your point while explaining why I have the perception that I have about Tech's difficulty with defense.

First, scoring statistics during the Gaily years seem to point to a robust defense. Average number of points given up by Tech during his tenure are as follows:

2002: 20.5 per game
2003: 20.4 per game
2004: 17.4 per game
2005: 18.5 per game
2006: 19.2 per game
2007: 20.8 per game

But here is the fly in the ointment for me. It just so happens that 2006-2008 marked a sustained down turn in overall college offensive performance due to certain rule changes and other factors. A brief description of this can be found in https://infogr.am/The-Offensive-Evolution-of-College-Football

So it appears that Tech had its best defensive performance commensurate with a time of relatively poor offensive performance by opposing teams.

Whether or not that is a valid argument, my perception of Tech having perennial defensive problems is in part due to the fact that Gailey could never beat Georgia and this almost always had to do with inability to get key stops on defense. Likewise, each of Gailey's years his teams seemed to give up an avalanche of points to random teams at inopportune moments. A few examples would be .....
2002 -51 points to Georgia, 2003 -39 to Clemson and 41 to Duke, 2004 -30 to Virginia, 34 to UNC, 34 to Va Tech, 2005 -51 to Va Tech, 38 to Utah, 2006 -31 to Clemson, 38 to West Virginia, 2007 - 28 to Maryland, 31 to UGA, 40 to Fresno State.
Of course this is cherry picking key games but if you are a fan living and dying with the team these are the kinds of scores that cause you to curse the defense. Especially since these scores all happened in years when teams were not scoring as much as they do today.

For what is is worth, after 2008, overall college offensive production began to accelerate again with 2012 being the first year that the average Divion 1A football team gained more than 400 yards of offense per game.
 

33jacket

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Are you as equally warm to Pelton?

no...i think he is coaching a DL in a scheme that is tailored to trying to make LB succeed while selling out the DL. I think Pelton is actually a pretty good coach stuck in a overall scheme that doesn't glorify the DL like it could. Kinda like matt ryan in shannahan's scheme.
 

33jacket

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Allow me to concede your point while explaining why I have the perception that I have about Tech's difficulty with defense.

First, scoring statistics during the Gaily years seem to point to a robust defense. Average number of points given up by Tech during his tenure are as follows:

2002: 20.5 per game
2003: 20.4 per game
2004: 17.4 per game
2005: 18.5 per game
2006: 19.2 per game
2007: 20.8 per game

But here is the fly in the ointment for me. It just so happens that 2006-2008 marked a sustained down turn in overall college offensive performance due to certain rule changes and other factors. A brief description of this can be found in https://infogr.am/The-Offensive-Evolution-of-College-Football

So it appears that Tech had its best defensive performance commensurate with a time of relatively poor offensive performance by opposing teams.

Whether or not that is a valid argument, my perception of Tech having perennial defensive problems is in part due to the fact that Gailey could never beat Georgia and this almost always had to do with inability to get key stops on defense. Likewise, each of Gailey's years his teams seemed to give up an avalanche of points to random teams at inopportune moments. A few examples would be .....
2002 -51 points to Georgia, 2003 -39 to Clemson and 41 to Duke, 2004 -30 to Virginia, 34 to UNC, 34 to Va Tech, 2005 -51 to Va Tech, 38 to Utah, 2006 -31 to Clemson, 38 to West Virginia, 2007 - 28 to Maryland, 31 to UGA, 40 to Fresno State.
Of course this is cherry picking key games but if you are a fan living and dying with the team these are the kinds of scores that cause you to curse the defense. Especially since these scores all happened in years when teams were not scoring as much as they do today.

For what is is worth, after 2008, overall college offensive production began to accelerate again with 2012 being the first year that the average Divion 1A football team gained more than 400 yards of offense per game.


it says it dropped about 8.5%. Just add 8.5% to the tenuta years and the numbers still kick butt.....look at the graphic trend its up. And you can't ignore 2002 to 2006. Bottom line, those D's were a TON better and that little blip is not significant enough to normalize those D's to any of the dumpster fires we have had the last 7 or 8 years....So I hear you, but its not big enough to rationalize. then there is the tail of the tape...and its obvious to watch on the tap.
 

Northeast Stinger

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it says it dropped about 8.5%. Just add 8.5% to the tenuta years and the numbers still kick butt.....look at the graphic trend its up. And you can't ignore 2002 to 2006. Bottom line, those D's were a TON better and that little blip is not significant enough to normalize those D's to any of the dumpster fires we have had the last 7 or 8 years....So I hear you, but its not big enough to rationalize. then there is the tail of the tape...and its obvious to watch on the tap.
Just explaining why I think Tech has had trouble with defense for quite some time. The issue was not whether some defenses were worse than others. I was not comparing Tech's defense last year to say Tech's defense ten years ago or twelve years ago. I was comparing Tech's defense to the ideal that we all want. Relative to other top programs, it seems that in any given year Tech's defense is not going to be top tier. That is different from offense where we periodically have high rankings. Anyway, not arguing, just explaining why I believe defense is always problematic for Tech.
 

Skeptic

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Just explaining why I think Tech has had trouble with defense for quite some time. The issue was not whether some defenses were worse than others. I was not comparing Tech's defense last year to say Tech's defense ten years ago or twelve years ago. I was comparing Tech's defense to the ideal that we all want. Relative to other top programs, it seems that in any given year Tech's defense is not going to be top tier. That is different from offense where we periodically have high rankings. Anyway, not arguing, just explaining why I believe defense is always problematic for Tech.
So what is the best defense over/under for us to have a reasonable chance to win? Mine is 28. If we give up more, we probably are going to lose. If we hold them to less, we should have -- discounting last season as a horrible aberration -- an excellent chance to win. And yes, that assumes the offense returns to the mean we have come to expect of Johnson's offense. But you look at the scores from this season's bowl games, including the NC -- where I think a miracle occurred, and we actually got the best two teams in the country playing -- and six, seven and eight TDs were needed. (As an aside, it is funny that Steele winds up as DC at Auburn, when his major problem at Clemson were loud objections to the speed of the defense, not giving his D a good breather ... and Malzahn was Morris's mentor of that high octane attack. Ought to be fun.)
 

Northeast Stinger

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So what is the best defense over/under for us to have a reasonable chance to win? Mine is 28. If we give up more, we probably are going to lose. If we hold them to less, we should have -- discounting last season as a horrible aberration -- an excellent chance to win. And yes, that assumes the offense returns to the mean we have come to expect of Johnson's offense. But you look at the scores from this season's bowl games, including the NC -- where I think a miracle occurred, and we actually got the best two teams in the country playing -- and six, seven and eight TDs were needed. (As an aside, it is funny that Steele winds up as DC at Auburn, when his major problem at Clemson were loud objections to the speed of the defense, not giving his D a good breather ... and Malzahn was Morris's mentor of that high octane attack. Ought to be fun.)
You are right in line with my bias. College offenses these days tend to put up lots of points. The days of pitching a shut out against a good team are pretty much over. So if our offense is performing as it should then I would think any time we hold the other team under 24 points we are going to win. I hate to suggest more points than that on average because that says to me our offense was not controlling the game like it needs to. Our offense, at its best, not only scores points but gives the other team fewer possessions.
 

dressedcheeseside

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You are right in line with my bias. College offenses these days tend to put up lots of points. The days of pitching a shut out against a good team are pretty much over. So if our offense is performing as it should then I would think any time we hold the other team under 24 points we are going to win. I hate to suggest more points than that on average because that says to me our offense was not controlling the game like it needs to. Our offense, at its best, not only scores points but gives the other team fewer possessions.
We almost got shut out in COFH, it took us all game (3:24 remaining) to score 7 pts. The mutts only scored 13 on our pathetic D.
 
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