georgie Is The Only Game That Matters. But I Will Not Find Complete Solace In It
by Winfield Featherston on Nov 15, 2010 9:41 AM EST
in Georgia Tech Football
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It's easy for me to say with a smile, "As long as we beat georgie, it's a good year," when we are winning. But now, as the 2nd phrase is manifesting itself at the end of this dreadful season, I wonder if I can really take solace in one victory that will magically salvage the season. Will it really undue losing to 3-7 Kansas or getting blown at home twice?
A win over georgie brings satisfaction to every good Tech fan no doubt. And in no way am I suggesting us to just mail in the rest of the season. I definitely want to see us win just because I want us to win every game. But will you say it's been a good year? I may have said it in years past (especially during the Chan Gailey vanilla years) but I feel I cannot say it anymore. Why? Because in his first two years, Coach Paul Johnson elevated our program to a higher level than Gailey could and I will not find 100% satisfaction in only beating georgie. I expect to win games and to make respectable bowl games as much as I expect to beat the bulldogs.
When November 27th comes around, I'll be in Athens cheering on my Yellow Jackets as I always do. I'll be living and dying on every third down and every scoring play. When we come out with a victory, I'll be happy and satisfied...but only for this game. I'll be living in the moment. When I look back at the 2010 season as a whole, I will not have a smile on my face. I will try to see it as an aberration rather than a standard for Georgia Tech football because I have set my sights on levels above mediocrity.
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We have to adjust our expectations from year to year.
The program as a whole is still moving up, and we knew beforehand that this year was going to be bad. Eight wins is still in reach — not gonna happen, but seven is doable.
Beating Georgia would be great, mainly because they’re at least the second best team we’ll play all year. One regular season, out-of-conference game should never define our season, but this year it would hands-down be our best win. Not that I see it happening.
Closing this season out with a two- or three-game win streak would make this year a definite success, considering what we had to work with.
I am proud to be a Kennesaw State Fighting Owl. -- Vince Dooley
Or to put it another way . . .
This team needs to prepare for Duke as if they were getting ready to play Oregon. They need to be single-minded and focused. Then they need to execute perfectly against Duke. Only if they beat Duke decisively will they have even the remotest chance of staying on the field against Georgia. The way Tech is currently playing Georgia is at least 3 touchdowns better as a team.
by Atlanta's original team on Nov 15, 2010 10:12 AM EST up reply actions
In my mind...
a loss to Georgie on Thanksgiving weekend would make this the worst GT team since O’Leary’s first squads.
I write stuff From the Rumble Seat.
Reality check
I agree that beating Georgia (and possibly winning out) would be a nice consolation, but, guys, let’s get real. I haven’t felt this pessimistic about beating UGA since around ‘96 or so. To say the least, UGA is the best 5-6 team in the country by a long shot. How will we measure up? How won’t Aaron Murray and A.J. Greene not pick us apart? Seriously. How?
After the VPI game, I was feeling a little better. But not after we came out flat against Miami.
whoops...
Stupid double negative: Question should be, “How will Aaron Murray and A.J. Greene not pick us apart?”
by Brent L. White on Nov 15, 2010 1:45 PM EST up reply actions
Right...
UGA can beat us in so many ways right now! Pick your poison. CPJ complained after the Miami game about how badly we were getting beat on both O- and D-lines. I think he used the word “overmatched.” O.K., I agree. What can be done about that this year. Being overmatched is a problem of recruiting, right?
On that note
Co-working of mine stopped by yesterday to let me know that CPJ’s diamon-in-the-rough recruiting strategy currently has us behind Duke in the rankings.
"Everybody talks about SEC speed. The 27 fastest guys at the (NFL) combine, how many of them were from the SEC? Three. But if you say it enough, everybody will believe it."
-CPJ
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
co-worker*
"Everybody talks about SEC speed. The 27 fastest guys at the (NFL) combine, how many of them were from the SEC? Three. But if you say it enough, everybody will believe it."
-CPJ
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
This is the difference between being a good program and a great one...
We have escaped the myopic nature of the “Lose ’em all, just beat X” crowd. We expect more of our team. I don’t expect us to beat UGA this year, but we have bigger and different problems, and conversely, a higher ceiling. However, I refuse to let a win or a loss against a bad Georgia team dictate what my team is to me…
This year was pretty much spent when Nesbitt broke his arm. Expecting Tevin to come in and master a read finesse offense in a little over a week is not a recipe for success. He’ll do fine in the long run, but in order to curtail my disappointment, I have been thinking of this as an extended spring practice. All the linemen will get extra snaps, improve our depth, and we will have a better year next year as a result. We passed completely from the Gailey era to the Johnson ear when Tevin took over as QB midway through the VT game. There was inevitably going to be a step down, but we aren’t far off from being very successful either. We won a championship, we can win one again. How many games were we really and truly out of this year? Last year, some of the bounces came our way, this year, not so much. The scheme works (Nebraska ’94. ’95). The coaching is there and I have faith in them. The talent will come. As crappy as the end of this season may be, it WILL make us better in the long run.
by Rob_The_Slender on Nov 15, 2010 5:23 PM EST reply actions
Well put
It’s not certain whether Tech would have held on vs. Va Tech nor beaten Miami even with Nesbitt. This just didn’t seem to be the Jackets’ year from the start. Not clear that winning an extra game or two this year and then starting over next year with an untested QB is a better outcome than going into next year with Tevin having some solid game experience under his belt. Too bad about Nesbitt’s injury but agree this could end up with Tech having a better season in 2011.
As an aside,
it was heart wrenching when Nesbitt went down. That kid has given his all to the I when he easily could have quit or transferred. He may not have the sexiest numbers for the program once Johnson has finished his tenure here, but as a kid who exhibited heart and drive and picked the team up on his shoulders many games, I will certainly miss him. He is a hall of famer in my book…
by Rob_The_Slender on Nov 15, 2010 8:02 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Agreed
A completely classy player and the de facto hear and soul of this team. This year has been tough and it really sucks the way he went out, but he’ll always be a favorite much like Joe Hamilton and Shawn Jones.
"Everybody talks about SEC speed. The 27 fastest guys at the (NFL) combine, how many of them were from the SEC? Three. But if you say it enough, everybody will believe it."
-CPJ
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
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