Will GT win 10+ games next season?

[bigsands]

Schedule is brutal. Head says no.

 

[UgaBlows]

I agree 100% Sed, and this team ain't scared of nobody

 

[thwgjacket]

Well I hate to be redundant I think the strength of schedule is little overblown. This schedule has brand strength rather team strength with a little case of some folks don't want to fully dive in the GT pool.

For those who really follow CFB I have an exercise for you. Swap names with each opponents and tell me if your feelings don't when see that factory up top. Start with ND, how strong would you think Tech would be coming off a 7-6 season with a turnover prone QB and team extremely inconsistent?

What if we had FSU roster? Losing probably the no.1 overall QB in the upcoming draft while replacing him with McGuire who looked very Cole Stoudtish in his start or RS Fr. Not to mention losing 7-8 on O and D.

What about Clemson? Stud QB coming off an ACL tear and no returning OLineman to protect him to get it to his playmakers (good luck). Also lose Chad Morris and arguably the best DLine we have faced since LSU '08 or VT '11.

What about UGA? No QB. No WRs One-dimensional. Defense is still suspect and may be worse

Now take any of those 4 names and add GT roster to it. I'm pretty sure the question will not be will we win 10 but more along the lines of CFP

I agree with everything except the Notre Dame QB statement. I think Golson is done. Zaire looked good in the bowl game and reports are indicating he's the favorite to win the job.

 

[cuttysark]

While the 2015 schedule does have the Criminoles at BDS this year without the Crab Leg King at QB and lots of other players moving on, that game isn't as daunting as every seems to want to make it out to be. Notre Dame isn't very impressive as I saw them get trounced by a USC Trojan team last season that was the football version of Heckle and Jeckle.

Unless the Domers make that a Homecoming Game or the "Rudy" Anniversary Reunion it's doubtful that will strike fear into CPJ or the team. The rest of the schedule is basically the same as it is every year in the ACC. Same Old same old.

 

[ClydeBrick]

This Fall's schedule is "SEC strong" - as in if reputation is all that matters, we have the 14th strongest schedule in the nation.

Who knows, during the second week of December the SEleCtion Committee could be talking about how GT's 13-0 season isn't good enough for the CFP due to the SoS when F$U, VPI, Miami, Clempson, ND and UGAg all have losing seasons and our "quality" wins are against a 9-3 Dook and a 8-4 BC in the ACCCG - and GT did not have any "quality" losses . . .

 

[InsideLB]

Depends on a lot of things really:

--How close the team is this year...do they play for each other? Do they never give up like last year? What is the psyche?
--How hard do the guys work to get better?
--How lucky will we be with injuries to key positions, turnovers, good/bad calls, etc. Will we be as resilient and in-the-moment as we were last year when unfortunate stuff happens?
--Will players step up at key positions like AB, WR?
--Will established players keep working and getting better (example: Laskey improving his pass blocking before last season)?
--How good will the depth be?

IMO we should be a pretty good team next year. Record-wise though we could win 7-8 or 10-12....just have to see how it shakes out. Certainly a 10-win season is doable with hard work and at least average luck.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

L

Well I hate to be redundant I think the strength of schedule is little overblown. This schedule has brand strength rather team strength with a little case of some folks don't want to fully dive in the GT pool.

For those who really follow CFB I have an exercise for you. Swap names with each opponents and tell me if your feelings don't when see that factory up top. Start with ND, how strong would you think Tech would be coming off a 7-6 season with a turnover prone QB and team extremely inconsistent?

What if we had FSU roster? Losing probably the no.1 overall QB in the upcoming draft while replacing him with McGuire who looked very Cole Stoudtish in his start or RS Fr. Not to mention losing 7-8 on O and D.

What about Clemson? Stud QB coming off an ACL tear and no returning OLineman to protect him to get it to his playmakers (good luck). Also lose Chad Morris and arguably the best DLine we have faced since LSU '08 or VT '11.

What about UGA? No QB. No WRs One-dimensional. Defense is still suspect and may be worse

Now take any of those 4 names and add GT roster to it. I'm pretty sure the question will not be will we win 10 but more along the lines of CFP

You sure uga has no QB?

 

[JorgeJonas]

I think the offense, even with the loss of Shaq, both receivers, and a slew of backs, is going to go bonkers again. 2014 confirmed Johnson's suspicion (and mine) that he doesn't need to deviate from what we do. Instead, line up with a boss offensive line, execute the stuff well, and bludgeon our opponents into submission. By the end of the season, everyone we played was screaming uncle by the third quarter. I doubt we get as many turnovers as we did last year, but it's important to remember we had, like, six healthy defensive linemen at the end of the year, so that should improve with more maturity and depth. I feel stupid confident about our secondary and special teams.

I think 10+ is not only doable, but it's their expectation now; the culture has changed, I think. Even if we lose a little bit of the chip on our collective shoulder, I expect that will be offset by the amount of talent we have on hand that is adept at doing what we do.

 

[BabyJacket1990]

I say no! The schedule is brutal along with having to replace those WR.

 

[Ibeeballin]

L


You sure uga has no QB?

Are we sure they do? A major ? they have to answer that we don't.

 

[Skeptic]

I think the offense, even with the loss of Shaq, both receivers, and a slew of backs, is going to go bonkers again. 2014 confirmed Johnson's suspicion (and mine) that he doesn't need to deviate from what we do. Instead, line up with a boss offensive line, execute the stuff well, and bludgeon our opponents into submission. By the end of the season, everyone we played was screaming uncle by the third quarter. I doubt we get as many turnovers as we did last year, but it's important to remember we had, like, six healthy defensive linemen at the end of the year, so that should improve with more maturity and depth. I feel stupid confident about our secondary and special teams.

I think 10+ is not only doable, but it's their expectation now; the culture has changed, I think. Even if we lose a little bit of the chip on our collective shoulder, I expect that will be offset by the amount of talent we have on hand that is adept at doing what we do.

I'm not sure Johnson thought he had to do something different as much as there seemed to be recruiting promises to a couple of people, one of them Vad Lee, that there would be plays out of the shotgun spread. So he used the diamond, apparently because it was about as close to his preferred alignment as he could get -- joking here -- and it was how to say, not impressive. He had one QB who was not ready, and one who could not operate from under center and could not make the critical LOS reads with any kind of efficiency. I think one of the things he has learned is never to make those kind of commitments again.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I"ve said it before...GT is set up to have 9+ wins the next 2-3 years...especially the next 2 years with JT at the helm.

Then we have the other ingredient: Depth on the lines. Our OL is probably the deepest I can remember it being since I've been a GT fan. Our DE group is also the deepest I can remember it being. We're going to lose Gotsis and JHD at DT in 2016, but Gamble will return.

Then our skill positions have more speed there than I can remember.

Lots of our talent in those spots are young.

The X-factor in all of this is CPJ. If a bigger school comes a knocking or if possibly (though a long shot) the NFL. I think it would be hard for CPJ to walk away from what he's built. The chamber is full of bullets, and it took him 7 years to get the roster the way he wanted it.

Also have to keep in mind staff turnover. The more success we have, the more other schools will want to emulate it.

At Johnson's age, which is not old, but......, I don't see him leaving Tech for another school and certainly not for the pros. He would have to start over from scratch, and even though he's not all that old, why would he want to have to go through all that again?

 

[Techster]

At Johnson's age, which is not old, but......, I don't see him leaving Tech for another school and certainly not for the pros. He would have to start over from scratch, and even though he's not all that old, why would he want to have to go through all that again?

Same reason he went from a powerhouse GA Southern which he had humming to a perennial doormat Navy.

CPJ's ultimate goal is to win a National Championship. I think a lot of the narrative about his offense is started turning last year to reverence in the media, and with recruits. The only thing holding back the "bigger" programs from calling him was that stigma. The guy runs a clean program wins without top notch recruits in restrictive academic environment. A smart AD who notices these things may start wondering "Hmm, what if I can put CPJ in a position where he can recruit pretty much anyone he wants, and he can spend as much as he wants for his staff?"

I don't think he'll jump ship at the first whiff of a better situation (he has turned down programs since being here...rumor is Auburn was hot for him after 2008), but if someone with the right situation comes along it would be hard to turn it down.

Like I said earlier, with as long as it took him to build up to this roster and have the program he wanted, the scenario of him leaving is further in the rearview...but at the end of the day, no one can ever say for sure except CPJ.

 

[dhbartlett12]

Lets not be crazy. What do factories do? They reload. UGA was a 10 win team last year. Fauta Batista might me amazing, or it might be the other guy, or the other guy. Clemson recruits extremely well. They probably has a Dalvin Cook in their incoming class. Notre Dame is an extremely strong program. Sure, they could stink again, but how long will ND stink for? They might be all Cole Stoudty at QB, but Cole Stoudt played a game against Oklahoma. FSU can win games with sophomores. It's what factories have to do, and they do it. If we lose one game, I see us in the playoff.

 

[Boomergump]

First of all comrades, we need to embrace the schedule next year and not fear it. The way we finished last season, there shouldn't be a single team in the country who honestly thinks they are in a better postion than us moving into this year. We won the Orange Bowl for crying out loud and went 3-1 against the toughest line up of any team to close out the year. If we are to be a really good team in 2015, then the the schedule shouldn't matter and we will win a ton of games regardless. To reach great heights, we are going to have to beat great teams, whether in the middle of the season, or at the end.

I learned a long time ago to take them one game at a time and not look ahead, or take anything for granted. I like our kids but we are going to have to earn ALL of our wins next year, and the earning part starts right now at spring ball and carries through summer. Nobody knows what the final count will be, and frankly, at this point, it doesn't even matter to me. I just want to see us working our behinds off and developing team chemistry in addition to depth and talent.

 

[Essobee]

It was what it was, it is what it is, and it will be what it will be.

Yeah, we can have 10 wins. We can also have 9 wins. Or 8 wins. Or 7 wins. Or maybe we run the table. The ball bounces funny as does fate. But as long as the team continues to give it their best shot each game and leave it all on the field, I'll be a happy fan.

 

[awbuzz]

If the D improves to the Top 50 in 3rd down conversions then we have a very good chance to do so. Last year we weren't even in the Top 100 in the category. We overcame that last year with an outstanding number of turnovers. Can the turnover numbers be duplicated?

 

[augustabuzz]

Same reason he went from a powerhouse GA Southern which he had humming to a perennial doormat Navy.

CPJ's ultimate goal is to win a National Championship. I think a lot of the narrative about his offense is started turning last year to reverence in the media, and with recruits. The only thing holding back the "bigger" programs from calling him was that stigma. The guy runs a clean program wins without top notch recruits in restrictive academic environment. A smart AD who notices these things may start wondering "Hmm, what if I can put CPJ in a position where he can recruit pretty much anyone he wants, and he can spend as much as he wants for his staff?"

I don't think he'll jump ship at the first whiff of a better situation (he has turned down programs since being here...rumor is Auburn was hot for him after 2008), but if someone with the right situation comes along it would be hard to turn it down.

Like I said earlier, with as long as it took him to build up to this roster and have the program he wanted, the scenario of him leaving is further in the rearview...but at the end of the day, no one can ever say for sure except CPJ.

He was also about fifteen years younger. There is a big difference in taking that risk in your early forties versus your mid fifties.

 

[Nook Su Kow]

Yes.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

If the D improves to the Top 50 in 3rd down conversions then we have a very good chance to do so. Last year we weren't even in the Top 100 in the category. We overcame that last year with an outstanding number of turnovers. Can the turnover numbers be duplicated?

Let's do both, duplicate the take aways and make top 50 in 3rd downs.