Win or Lose We have a LOT to be proud of

InsideLB

Helluva Engineer
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1,864
This is something I've been thinking about, and which I believe needs to be said:

Last year was a tough season, with a tough schedule, lots of injuries, and a roster on which nearly 1 in 3 scholarship players were true freshmen. On the field the breaks often went against us at key times. We lost several games that could have gone either way/by a small margin. And yet the team consistently fought hard in the second half--long after many fans had turned the game off.

We've all heard "character is what you do when no one is watching." It says a lot that our guys continued to fight hard in games like ND & Clemson, scoring multiple times against good teams on the road in the second half. You can say those teams took their foot off the gas, put in their second string, etc., and that this accounted for such performance. I'm telling you though even if these teams did play some second teamers,those guys were highly regarded prospects. And in that situation they are fired up to get to play at home in front of family and friends. There is blood in the water and it's a party atmosphere. Confidence is high and they are ready to show the fans/family/teammates/coaches what they can do.

I personally know what it's like to come in and play in that exact situation and just DESTROY a team. The other team is demoralized and it's easy to make them look silly. Last year GT would have none of that, and continued to play hard. The games got tighter, not out of control.

I do not say this to say there are moral victories. There aren't. I am proud of the way we fought. I am also proud of the way we prepared over the summer and how many players changed their bodies. I don't recall seeing that before. Similarly coaches were actually happy with how we were practicing this summer. Guys are doing everything they can to control the variables they can control. They are taking care of business.

The other thing I see besides hard work on and off-the-field is that our guys are getting it done in the classroom, and not only are they not getting in trouble off-the-field, you can see from the player interviews that these are thoughtful, articulate, no-BS guys. They are awesome. These are guys I am proud of, and that as a fan I love.

I don't know what's going to happen this season in terms of wins and losses. I'm sure there will be times when I'm upset, have had some adult beverage, and I want to get emotional and throw players under the bus. If you see me doing this call me on it. Because I know this bunch is not going to quit fighting. I know that when they die people will have to cut their jaws out of the throats of their enemies.

These are guys I'd go to war with and they will have my love and respect as long as they continue to fight to the death. I see and respect you guys for your hard work and character. It's awesome to behold.
 

InsideLB

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1,864
LOL. You are right. They are going to get their share as long as they keep conducting themselves like this. And also because I think the base talent level is steadily increasing. Don't go giving CPJ weapons like this who are tireless workers!

First games are a crapshoot and going overseas and having a conference game to start off the season are all weird variables. It's cool though to just to feel really confident our guys are going to show up and give max effort no matter what kind of weird crap transpires. Crank up that Wreck, baby.....RUMMMM!, RUMMMM!
 

Boomergump

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Featured Member
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3,262
Good job.

Probably the most important variable on ANY team is how hard the kids actually work: on the practice field, in the weight room, in the film room, in position group meetings, at the dinner table, making personal decisions, and in the classroom.

You could take Bammer's roster and if they didn't work, they would be half the team they have been. Of course, in their case, being from the Special Ed Conference, U might cud fuhgit the akademic peece.
 

Whiskey_Clear

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10,486
Op reminds me of our 90 team....lost a lot of real close games by a hair but never gave up in 89. When 90 rolled around that team got in a groove and never let off the gas.
 

MidtownJacket

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Staff member
Messages
4,800
Heard that. Moral victories are pyrrhic by nature, but instructive nonetheless. What I saw last year was the team riding out the worst of times as a unit. No infighting that boiled over to the press, no whining about the other guys, just taking the lumps and moving forward as best people could.

I don't think this roster is stacked with immediate NFL caliber guys, but I do think we have more talent than last year almost across the board (with a few position groups being tradeouts.

I believe the coaches when they say this team has been focused since last whistle of last year, and I am hopeful we come out and make a statement in Ireland. So far the guys seem to be treating it as a business trip, and I am looking forward to what they'll bring.

Go Jackets!
 

dressedcheeseside

Helluva Engineer
Messages
14,027
This is something I've been thinking about, and which I believe needs to be said:

Last year was a tough season, with a tough schedule, lots of injuries, and a roster on which nearly 1 in 3 scholarship players were true freshmen. On the field the breaks often went against us at key times. We lost several games that could have gone either way/by a small margin. And yet the team consistently fought hard in the second half--long after many fans had turned the game off.

We've all heard "character is what you do when no one is watching." It says a lot that our guys continued to fight hard in games like ND & Clemson, scoring multiple times against good teams on the road in the second half. You can say those teams took their foot off the gas, put in their second string, etc., and that this accounted for such performance. I'm telling you though even if these teams did play some second teamers,those guys were highly regarded prospects. And in that situation they are fired up to get to play at home in front of family and friends. There is blood in the water and it's a party atmosphere. Confidence is high and they are ready to show the fans/family/teammates/coaches what they can do.

I personally know what it's like to come in and play in that exact situation and just DESTROY a team. The other team is demoralized and it's easy to make them look silly. Last year GT would have none of that, and continued to play hard. The games got tighter, not out of control.

I do not say this to say there are moral victories. There aren't. I am proud of the way we fought. I am also proud of the way we prepared over the summer and how many players changed their bodies. I don't recall seeing that before. Similarly coaches were actually happy with how we were practicing this summer. Guys are doing everything they can to control the variables they can control. They are taking care of business.

The other thing I see besides hard work on and off-the-field is that our guys are getting it done in the classroom, and not only are they not getting in trouble off-the-field, you can see from the player interviews that these are thoughtful, articulate, no-BS guys. They are awesome. These are guys I am proud of, and that as a fan I love.

I don't know what's going to happen this season in terms of wins and losses. I'm sure there will be times when I'm upset, have had some adult beverage, and I want to get emotional and throw players under the bus. If you see me doing this call me on it. Because I know this bunch is not going to quit fighting. I know that when they die people will have to cut their jaws out of the throats of their enemies.

These are guys I'd go to war with and they will have my love and respect as long as they continue to fight to the death. I see and respect you guys for your hard work and character. It's awesome to behold.
Very well said and I'd even go further in the academic direction. Not only are these young men staying eligible with many graduating early, but they are taking classes many times over more difficult and time consuming than their peers at other schools. This fact is often lost on us but it is significant, none the less. I know most are not majoring in Engineering. It does not matter. Compared to the guys at Ugag, Miami, Clemson and the rest, it might as well be Aerospace or Chem E.

We all know how JeT struggled on the field last year and the multitude of reasons that led to it. What few know is that he had a very daunting academic load as well. CPJ mentioned in an interview a while back that he was taking a pretty tough course last fall. I'm sure that contributed in no small way to what we saw on the field last year.

Who knows the exact impact of our rigorous academics. We're proud of our guys for accepting and defeating this challenge, but barely realize the impact it has on game day. Our record in games following mid terms and finals is abysmal. I highly doubt you'd be able to find very many other places where this occurs.
 

YJMD

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,597
Amen to all of this. My proudest moment to be a fan in 2014 was not the OB or beating UGA. It was the team's response to Broderick's injury vs. Clemson. Last off-season they let the hype get to them and fortune kicked them while they were down. Says something a lot about our team to take these things as cues to band together and get stronger.
 
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