SB Nation Atlanta Editor's Pick
Does CPJ have anything new to show us?
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 24, 2010 9:26 PM EDT
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PrintHere is the discussion question. Do you think we are going to see more surprises with Coach Paul Johnson's offense this year or have we pretty much seen it all?
After the spring practice of 2008 only the most die-hard Yellow Jacket fans would have predicted a winning season and a crushing comeback win against the Dogs. This was immediately followed by pundits saying that we had pretty much seen the extent of this "high school" formation and not to expect too much the next year. Then next year came and with it the ACC championship and a BCS Bowl berth.
Each year it seems CPJ adds some new wrinkle, trickeration or variation to the core principles of his flex-bone offense. And each year we are told that it is only a matter of time before teams catch on or catch up to this gimmicky style of play.
So what do you think, are we in for more surprises and a further elevation of play? Or have we seen the extent of what this offense can produce?
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Short passing game.
1. CPJ’s been talking Nesbitt’s completion percentage as a focus.
2. Without Bay Bay, there’s no great reason to bomb it downfield once per drive.
3. Recruiting QBs will be easier if we can demonstrate that they can sort of play something similar to normal football.
4. Plenty of teams are going to copy the Iowa model (Cover 4, 7 in the box). A short passing threat would nip that in the bud immediately.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
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I agree
the short passing game is one more quick way to get the ball to the corners. I’m intrigued with whether this will start off disguised as a running play or whether we will mainly see this out of the shotgun.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 25, 2010 7:25 AM EDT up reply actions
w/r/t #2
I think Hill definitely qualifies as a ‘great reason’ to bomb it once per drive. He’s just as tall and probably faster than Thomas, and as he was only a true frosh last year, he should be able to bulk up close to Thomas’ size.
"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.
Big, big shoes to fill for a guy with 6 career catches, half of them against d00k and Miss St.
I believe in him, and he’ll get some deep targets, but we’ll see.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
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I'm not sure that Iowa's scheme is what won that game
It was their defensive ends. They simply dominated our offensive linemen.
still wonder if the game might have been different
if Dwyer’s open field up the middle had not been whistled dead due to line movement. That penalty on the first play of the game saved Iowa a touchdown, gave them a chance to settle down and relax while eliminating the shock value of our offense. Had they had to start off playing behind instead of us it might have made them a little more uptight.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 28, 2010 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions
That game
was a comedy of errors. I really wish we could’ve played our bowl game following the ACCCG instead of 30 days later.
I write stuff From the Rumble Seat.
Now you've gone and said it
my only worry about this offense is that the timing is so critical that any long lay off is almost like starting over after spring training. Could we ever show up in a respectable way if we had to wait late into January to play for a national championship?
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 28, 2010 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions
I'd say not until we develop a respectable defense
will we even be in the hunt. And no I don’t think we can win a bowl game against a legit squad with a ton of layoff.
I write stuff From the Rumble Seat.
Uncharacteristically pessimistic of you
to say so but I appreciate the candor.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 29, 2010 8:33 AM EDT up reply actions
yeah I am feeling the nervousness of that fact
We weren’t ready for LSU but whatever. Iowa was just the better team but when do we “step it up”? In the playoffs I tell you…hah
by Winfield Featherston on Jun 29, 2010 9:26 AM EDT up reply actions
Playoffs are CPJ's forte
but I am hoping that over time the basic DNA of the “Tech system” will change so that even new players coming in will already be several steps ahead of where the team was when it was starting from scratch back in 2008. So maybe “we step it up” this year.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 29, 2010 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions
the past two bowl
games just seem like CPJ doesn’t give a crap about game prep. We made awful LSU and Iowa offenses look like world beaters. And our high powered offense acts like they haven’t seen speed (VT) or talent (UNC/uga) before. Just seems like the 30 days off is going to be our bane in bowl games.
I write stuff From the Rumble Seat.
When you say game prep
are implying that CPJ doesn’t focus on getting ready to play a particular defense? And that he just walks his team through the same old offensive sets?
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 29, 2010 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm referring to bowl games
I don’t think he gives rats about winning bowl games. He only cares about the regular season and actual titles. At Navy, you had to get to a bowl game and beat Army. At Tech, you have to beat Georgia, get to bowl games, and compete for titles. So that’s what he does. Being motivated to win bowl games seems to be a ? thus far.
I write stuff From the Rumble Seat.
I don't think he quite understood
how much the rivalry matters to Tech. You can see that in some of his comments post-game.
by Winfield Featherston on Jun 29, 2010 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions
I think he understands the uga rivalry.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have put BEAT UGA on every piece of equipment in the gym and practice field in 2008. I was referring to VT, UNC, and uga as defenses that were equal to or greater in talent than Iowa and LSU in the past two bowl games and we handled those three D’s but struggled against LSU/Iowa.
I write stuff From the Rumble Seat.
well
If you go back and see some of the quotes..maybe he saw the whole pictures. I personally don’t think one truly understands any rivalry until you are on the losing end.
by Winfield Featherston on Jun 29, 2010 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions
I hate to interupt this
internecine squabble between Bird and Winfield but may I interject one brief comment. Paul Johnson hates to lose. Period. The more pundits talk about his inability to win bowl games the more motivated he becomes about systematically destroying defenses.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 29, 2010 3:52 PM EDT up reply actions
He's also lost to defensive powerhouses like Miami and Virginia and scored only 10 points on Gardner-Webb.
I don’t think we’d argue that he was unmotivated for those games. Two bowl games is a really, really small sample size.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
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He understood ending the seven-year drought was a huge deal.
And he understands hanging banners will (or at least SHOULD) always be a bigger deal than beating UGA, except in the case of an extended losing streak.
Is winning the ACC a bigger deal than beating Georgia? No matter how much we like to apologize for our conference’s national perception, yes, winning the conference matters more.
Now let’s go do both in the same year.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
SB Nation Atlanta · The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
One solution
…a playoff system. Paul Johnson was very successful at GA Southern because they had a playoff system, which kept the schedule fairly regular. As long as the bowls are controlling the postseason, I don’t know if Georgia Tech will ever be all that successful after the regular season.
Not to mention
that in a playoff system the other team doesn’t have as much time to prepare for a single game but must be good to go at whatever system they face.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 29, 2010 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions
Sure, if any team without a top-notch front seven tried cover 4 all game, we'd just nickel and dime them to death. 20-minute touchdown drives.
But don’t you think UNC, whose defense will be more or less as good as Iowa’s, is considering the Hawkeye strategy? We need to have a counter ready to go, and a crisp short passing attack would do it.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
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Against Iowa
it seemed that getting quickly to the corners was the only way to soften them up for runs up the middle. So yes, a short passing game would be the equivalent getting it past the linebackers on short outside routes or in the flats.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 29, 2010 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions
More straight down the middle bombs to Embry Peeples...
and other things that CPJ figures out and draws in the dirt with a sharp stick after figuring out that the weakside linebacker is cheating up and in on 2nd and long….
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Jun 24, 2010 10:28 PM EDT reply actions
So Peeples
becomes the new BayBay?
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 25, 2010 7:27 AM EDT up reply actions
embry has to know how to catch first
by Winfield Featherston on Jun 25, 2010 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions
No, Hill is
"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.
Draws, screens
This offense has alot of screen opportunities to the B-back and the wide receivers. Also the draw play to Dwyer last year was killer the first three times we ran it, I’m sure CPJ can incorporate it more if it is open.
CPJ also seemed
to add in more reverses last year, or at least that is my impression.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 25, 2010 7:28 AM EDT up reply actions
Flea Flicker? Statue of Liberty?
We are all about misdirection and guile, these seem a natural extension. Also it is harder to stay with your assigned lanes on D when player change action in the middle of the play.
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Jun 25, 2010 8:20 AM EDT reply actions
This Spring We went out of the shotgun
I think that ends this discussion. He said it wasn’t anything, but why waste practice time on it if it wasn’t? He’s got something big coming.
I'm thinking
the same thing which is why I started this discussion. I agree with the post below that he likes to mix in things slowly. Once he gets part of an offense down to perfection he adds in the next wrinkle. This could be an interesting year. I am thinking that the conversation about losing four players to the pros will be forgotten by the second game of the season and people will be debating about “how long it will be until defenses catch on” to this new variation of the flex.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 26, 2010 8:12 PM EDT up reply actions
I was never worried about the offense this year
and even the defensive backfield gives me little to no concern. Its the D-line that’s gonna lose us 2-4 games, we’re gonna have something between bull and s**t for a pass rush. Now maybe Groh plays up the LOLB or ROLB (can never remember their designations) or throws a corner blitz in there now and again, but I think teams will pick up on that late in the season and take advantage of the long ball in those situations. Unless the linebackers and the safetys are faster than I think, and then I see us losing 2 games max.
so it sounds like
Tech is in the same boat it was in last year -great offense with a defense that makes almost every important game a nail biter.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 27, 2010 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Not so fast, my friend
The ENTIRE defense was horrible last year, now the only thing that should be bad is the D-Line
I simply going on your prediction
that the D-line could lose us 2-4 games. That sounds like last year’s entire defense which also put us in the position of losing 2-4 games. Just trying to understand your point.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 28, 2010 8:24 AM EDT up reply actions
If you are saying the defense is goint to be better
overall I agree with you. Which for my money means that Tech could actually be better. All of the pundits are worried about offensive production falling off this year. You and I, I think, are saying that the offense could be as good or better than last year.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 28, 2010 8:26 AM EDT up reply actions
I agree
…I think we may see some more issues on defense until we see some veterans work their way up on DL. Seems like Tech’s defenses have always been predicated on the play of the DL and/or blitzing LB’s. So we’ll see what happens next year.
I write stuff From the Rumble Seat.
Shotgun, Power I, Wishbone, Flexbone...
Hell CPJ may shock us all and bring back the Tight End.
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Jun 25, 2010 11:28 AM EDT reply actions
Shocking
is what I am expecting if the last two years are any indication.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 26, 2010 8:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Just look to his days @ Hawai'i
That will give you plenty of ideas as to what is still left to be seen. However, he likes to take things in small steps, so I would assume that we would start with a short passing game from our usual formation that would eventually lead to shotgun run-and-shoot formations he likes to use.
"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.
Exactly
He gets a basic series down pat and then he adds the next level. 2008 was flexbone 101. 2009 his offense graduated to the 200 level courses. 2010 may be the year the offense gets to the 300 level, declares an areas of concentration and works on a dual degree program.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 26, 2010 8:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes.
1989 was CPJ’s third year as Hawaii’s OC. 1989 Hawaii vs 6-1 (eventually 10-3) BYU: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwnbkqkV0VI
Utter zaniness. Shovels, no huddle, power I, bootlegs, and back-to-back trips stack screens.
1999, third year at GSU. National title game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOhszINT8v4
Look at that bizarre QB pirouette at 1:20, 2:20, 3:02, etc. It’s like a fake everything. More power I. A straight-up regular tackle football toss sweep.
2004 Navy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmYyI6IWgUA
Option counter to motion man’s direction — don’t remember GT doing that yet. 2:10: West coasty two-step drop go. Motion A-back pass downfield to QB. Play action.
Great topic. I’m gonna try and turn this into a post for SBN ATL next week. Nobody swipe my idea.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
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Last sentence was tongue-in-cheek, of course.
It’s not my idea, but I do want to write an article on it.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
SB Nation Atlanta · The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
This is great.
THIS IS GREAT.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 29, 2010 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Thanks!
Now I am going to waster hours analyzing and reanalyzing.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 29, 2010 3:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Go to this video of CPJ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtEXHGicjQ0
…and check out what he says around 0:45. It’s pretty funny.
Now that's funny!
Yeah, no doubt about it, everyone’s catching up to this offense.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 28, 2010 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Just a few short passes please
I love a good running game as much as anyone. I remember our win against notre dame in the 70’s where we did not attempt a pass. However…Glad to see some comments regarding short passes. CPJ has been quoted as saying he prefers a run to a short pass. This is the only area where I disagree (but hey, he gets the big bucks) – It would only take a few plays a game to force the defense to play honestly. Currently the defenses only have to worry about a run or long pass.
A few more pass plays would seem to help Nesbitt stay sharper with his aim. Only throwing once or twice a quarter and he overthrows too often.
CPJ will do what he has to do
to win. And if that includes short passes this year then my guess is that we will see a lot more of those.
by Atlanta's original team on Jun 30, 2010 8:13 AM EDT reply actions
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