Wake Forest Post-Game Thoughts

by Winfield Featherston on Nov 9, 2009 7:30 AM EST Comment 11 comments

To the kids' credit, they found a way to win it in the end and 30 is more that 27. I'm proud of them.

Georgia Tech defeated Wake Forest in an exciting (but in all the wrong ways!) game Saturday evening, proving that, even when their backs are against the wall on 4th Down and 1, the Yellow Jackets finish on top. The Deacons never said "die" and took us to the wire. Riley Skinner, Wake Forest's record breaking quarterback, had a solid performance against the Georgia Tech defense going 26-for-40 for 263 yards and 2 Touchdowns. However, when the going got tough and the Jackets had nothing but will to earn the victory, Derrick Morgan reached back and threw Skinner to the ground and then let Josh Nesbitt take over.

Three teams in the top 10 lost on Saturday, and we were pushed to the outer limit until we simply proved to be the better team. I was 15 feet away from Josh when he ran in for the game winning touchdown and it was truly a great moment to see our leader do what he does best and prove his worth and value to Georgia Tech as he saved the season.

Warrior_medium

Quick stats:

Josh Nesbitt's clutch touchdown was his 15th rushing touchdown of the season. Nobody on the team has that many.
8 players touched the ball for rushing yards. Three of them ran for touchdowns. Embry Peeples was the only player with negative yardage (-1).
Orwin Smith is quickly becoming a valuable asset to our special teams. Smith returned two kickoffs for an average of 26 yards each. His seasonal average is 22 yards per return.
Time of Possession: Georgia Tech: 30:58 Wake Forest: 29:02

It's interesting to note that the spread on our game was 15 points which tells me that Vegas doesn't know how to approach Wake Forest or what to do with our offense. Through Virginia Tech, all spreads for ACC games were no greater than 5 points. Then the Deacons come in as 15 point underdogs but have lost 5 games by a total of 13 points. Weirdness.

I heard someone on ESPN say a while back that to win the national championship, you need a little bit of random luck. Close games happen and teams don't always come out 100% but the better team finds a way to win no matter what it entails, just look at Florida or Alabama.

Josh Nesbitt is a warrior. (If you haven't read this article about why he should win the Heisman, STOP, read it now, and come back). His passing is still iffy although I can think of about 3 easily dropped passes by his receivers.

Let it be known...If we still have Chan the Man as our coach, we kick the field goal, play it safe, and somehow manage to lose the game. It's the Paul Johnson. He exudes confidence. (More on this later in the week). Our team showed grit and determination. We're 9-1 and I am satisfied with the season so far. Now it's time for Duke and time to claim a crown.

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Comments

the Chan comment is debatable

I don’t think we have as many wins with Chan as our coach but he always beat bad teams at home. On the road, he would’ve lost to UVA and/or Wake. At home, he was usually pretty good. Also, Nesbitt/Dwyer/Burnett/Morgan/Roddy were all Chan’s recruits.

This new learning amazes me, Sir Bedevere. Explain again how sheep's bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes.

by BirdGT on Nov 9, 2009 8:12 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I’d have to agree with the Chan comment, because that is why I lost 5 years off of my life in the 4th quarter. At home yeah he might have done well, and he was a great recruiter. But a close game in the 4th quarter regardless of who we played we seemed to find a way to lose.

by SNB11 on Nov 9, 2009 8:52 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

wake really isn’t that bad of a team. they are a lot better than their record indicates. They’ve lost 5 games but a combined 13 points ….. let me repeat that … 5 games by a combined 13 points. The have had a lot of bad luck/ not finishing, but they are on the brink of having a good team.

by ctalati32 on Nov 9, 2009 9:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

BTW that picture of Nesbitt’s celebration is just awesome. It’s going to be my new desktop background.

by ctalati32 on Nov 9, 2009 9:51 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

gotta love

that Lucas Cox was in during the OT plays

This new learning amazes me, Sir Bedevere. Explain again how sheep's bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes.

by BirdGT on Nov 9, 2009 10:11 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Am I the only one who wonders what happened to him?

I’ve been trying to find an answer to why Cox hasn’t been a bigger part of the gameplan as he was last year, but I can’t seem to find anything obvious, like an injury or something. Personally I think he should be in over Peeples, but maybe there is something we just aren’t privy to that has kept him on the sidelines more than last year.

Also, I’m sure I’ve stated this before, but I really like Lyons. Reminds me of that kid from Stanford and Eckle when he was at Navy. I think our B back of the future looks solid.

"This is America, if we can’t self-righteously look down on others and blame them for our faults, the commies win."-----Cormican on Bleeding Green Nation w/r/t fans overreacting to the Eagles signing of Michael Vick

by Jesse28 on Nov 9, 2009 11:02 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It’s already mine as well

The college football season is so fragile. It's like a glass ball being pushed around from stadium to stadium by a rhinoceros.

by Winfield Featherston on Nov 9, 2009 10:18 AM EST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

So much for not being able to repeat our first year success

Back-to-back seasons with nine win’s. I like that. I also like how this win pretty much kills all the preseason talk about how there was no way we could repeat our success from last year because people would have seen our offense. Great fight back win that I think the team really needed to help ensure they stay focused and finish out the season.

All that being said though, I do not like the fact that we are giving up almost the exact number of yards as we are gaining (6.0ypp on defense vs 6.3ypp on offense) and that the pass game has essentially disappeared over the last few games. I’d really like to see a solid shutdown effort this week against Duke as well as see Nesbitt not get happy feet and get Thomas more involved in the offense.

And, Hill needs to be involved way more than he is. Dude can flat out fly. While I admit Thomas did have a handful of jersey on that end-around, it was still a pretty weak call.

by Jesse28 on Nov 9, 2009 11:20 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think Hill is

…just waiting his turn…although if I were a wide receiver recruit, I wouldn’t be impressed with GT right now.

Also, I think we’re seeing teams step up to us and scheme better against us than they did last year. Our increased experience and depth is definitely the reason we’re winning now rather than catching people off guard. Hopefully, CPJ can bring in talent to continue his success because I do think the “newness” has worn off his offense with regards to the ACC’s defenses.

This new learning amazes me, Sir Bedevere. Explain again how sheep's bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes.

by BirdGT on Nov 9, 2009 11:40 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I will take experience and ability

over newness any week of the year

The college football season is so fragile. It's like a glass ball being pushed around from stadium to stadium by a rhinoceros.

by Winfield Featherston on Nov 9, 2009 11:57 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

w/r/t Hill

If the original intent was to have Hill wait his turn, then they should have redshirted him. If the response to that is that Hill has way too much talent and ability to be redshirted, then he should be much more involved with the offense than he currently is. He’s just as tall as Thomas, almost as big, and probably faster. There is no excuse to not try getting your playmakers the ball.

by Jesse28 on Nov 9, 2009 2:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs