Late night post-game gustation and mastication location?
Wingnuts is a classic for late-night on campus. If I'm feeling cheap, it's either McDonald's or Checkers. Gotta love those 2 for $4 Big Chicken Sandwiches. If I'm still feeling up for a beer, I'm probably at Ray's or Barrelhouse...usually not in the mood to go too far.
Your thoughts on the 1969 "Blueprint"; hippie cause celeb, or normally staid GT’s attempt at counterculture?
You know, this was a solid 22 years before I was born...yes, twice as old as I am. However from looking at a quick sample, it seems like counterculture played a large role in its production.
1.) Who looks like the starting A-back opposite Godhigh?
It's going to be close, probably a rotation all year. Zenon was out Saturday, but Charles Perkins and Dennis Andrews looked pretty good, as did B.J. Bostic. Synjyn Days did alright. I think that they all struggled with blocking quality though. No major plays from any of them really.
2.) Which B-back looks the sharpest?
Both Sims and Laskey had some great runs on Saturday, but neither saw a ton of action. Snoddy also had a lot of good stuff, even between the tackles. He got a lot of work back there, as did Connors. I believe Custis was held out and now won't even start school until January.
3.) What pass routes did you notice and which receiver looked the best?
Can't say I observed the passing tree a whole lot. Seemed pretty basic -- seam routes & curls were most common. Nothing across the middle, not that we're surprised about that. Of the receivers, Smelter looked the best. Waller looks marginally improved, and Summers had a couple of nice catches -- he might be a surprise there. Henry was a non-factor, which is a little bit disheartening given some of the hype around him.
Recruiting: Are we done till the end of the season? Are there a few more that will ‘commit’ before the season?
I don't think we're done for now. I think we get another one or two by the time Labor Day rolls around, but that's complete speculation. You never can tell what these kids will do.
What are the odds of our games? A snap shot now vs the week before the game could be cool as the season progresses.
It's coming down the pipe soon, don't worry. :-)
Do you have NCAA 2014? What do the simulations say? I know about the one website that had us going all the way in the ACC, but would like to see what the simulation says for each game. Just for fun.
I don't have it, which is odd because I've preordered it long in advance for years now. I just didn't want to blow money on it and felt like it was probably just the same game. I can tell you from experience though that, for whatever reason, NCAA Football LOVES Georgia Tech. Any time I've ever done something where I use another team (UCF and Louisville are my other two choices...don't ask why on the UCF part), Georgia Tech wins the ACC at 11-1, with the one loss being to the mutts. We're always so good, according to the game, and yet we'll never beat uga, even if the win puts them at 3-9 on the season. That game has some odd quirks.
Does the defense show anything other than a base 4-3?
Sure, they'll use packages to match personnel. Saturday was pretty vanilla though.
What plays were run under each QB?
Vad and Justin both ran a lot of the base with some passing mixed in (passing was largely from the pistol, though they ran some from the pistol as well). Tim Byerly and Brady Swilling did a lot more passing than Vad and Justin. All of them struggled with the OL, who were gassed by the midway point.
Does the QB competition still look like Vad>JT>Byerly?
Yes, but I'd make it more like Vad>JT>>>>>>>>>Byerly. Byerly is nowhere close to starting, but Vad and JT are a lot closer than a lot of folks realize.
Is Scully in danger of losing his job to Butker?
The short answer: Yes. Both guys had a shot at a field goal on Saturday. Scully hit his from about 35, Butker was a bit short from something like 55. Looked like he didn't get all of it though, I'd like to think a clean hit from him would have punched it through.
Which AB looks the most likely to start alongside Godhigh?
See above. Hard to say at this point, likely B.J. Bostic, Synjyn Days, or Dennis Andrews.
How close/far apart are Sims and Laskey?
Quite close. One being named the starter in Week 1 will have no implications on who starts in Week 2 at this point. Both had good runs on Saturday.
Is there any indication if Alford is gone for good – both from the team and the school? If he does come back to school, do you think he would be allowed back on the team?
I read somewhere that he was pretty tired of Tech, which leads me to believe he's not in school any more. If he does return, he'd have to talk to CPJ about that. In that case the team may get polled, with their opinions having heavy weight on the decision.
First impressions of the new announcer?
I like him a lot. Not sure about you, but I love a guy who is really good at getting excited. Case in point, check the sidebar for perhaps his greatest call to date. Looking forward to having him call our games.
If a player does something stupid on twitter and gets all the players banned from twitter for the season, does that ban also extend to CPJ? Why or why not? Suppose a CPJ one-liner on twitter causes a controversy. Does CPJ ban himself from twitter? If he does, does that ban extend to the players as collateral damage?
First off, a blanket ban on the players wouldn't extend to CPJ. He's got executive privileges and such, whether the guys like it or not. However, if HE does something controversial (and sometimes I think he's a ticking time bomb for that kind of thing), it could get real interesting real quick. Nobody wants to look like a hypocrite, right?
I would be happy to see Golden and [Chris Milton] win the starters spots at Safety. Both I think are ball hawks and hitters. I have not been impressed with IJ on coverage or tackling. I know LGriffin will be in the mix as well, but we need guys who can cover first IMO. LB are strong against the run, we need guys who can cover and pick it off!
It's interesting how Isaiah led the team in tackling last year, and was second to Julian Burnett the year before that, and how none of us are satisfied with him as a tackler. I'm with you, I think he likes to drop the shoulder to deliver a blow, which looks sweet when it works but occasionally fails miserably. Griffin may be in the mix if depth becomes an issue (which is certainly a possibility), but as it stands Milton will start at SS, and Golden has a chance to start the season at FS if Johnson isn't healthy enough yet.
Did you go to the scrimmage, and if so, what did you see?
Way ahead of you! Article can be found here.
O-Line update? Specifically is Morgan Bailey suiting up but just not cleared for hitting? How is O’Reilly looking at center? Also, where is Nick Brigham being utilized; OG, OT? Thank you very much for any input.
Ray Beno missed the scrimmage with an elbow issue -- if it were a real game, he would have played. The long and short of it right now is that the OL is running short on bodies. There were about 10 of them who combined to run 100+ plays on Saturday with no halftime or regular time outs, meaning they were pretty useless by the end of the scrimmage. They need to get healthy pretty badly, seems like some of them could be running on fumes and we haven't even hit the midpoint of August.
To answer your other questions, Bailey should be out another 5 weeks with a sports hernia. I didn't see O'Reilly specifically, but I'm sure he'll take some adjusting. To my knowledge, Brigham has been slotted at OT, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him move to guard. At 6'2", if he can add 20 or 30 pounds to break 300, he could be a real road grader.
Normally the media reports on our ticket sales before the season. These odd-number years tend to be more feast than famine for GT. But this year it’s different. We host Georgie and VPI but NOT Clemson. But we get the new guys – Pitt and Cuse.
Pros: Anticipated new QBs. GT sports marketing stepping their game WAY up with updated graphics, ads, billboards, videos, and new ticket packages. Throwback Thursday night on ESPN vs. VPI. Grant Field turning 100 years old (first time an FBS stadium can say that.) Hosting UNC. Get to see how Pitt and Cuse stack up in our place.
Cons: No Clemson. No Miami. The Falcons are a hotter ticket than ever. Dwags look world-beating in the papers, while Tech is garnering the usual "Maybe? JKLOLNope!" articles.
My take = the Pros make it seem like people ALREADY fans of Tech are going to be juiced for 2013 while the Cons tell me there will be no NEW fans of GT football unless we get a hot streak of our own going. Anyone know what the actual sales figures look like so far?
I haven't heard anything specifically, but I'd imagine we're looking pretty good. They've done a couple of different things to try and force as many purchases as possible. I know they ran a sale earlier in the summer of Pittsburgh and Syracuse tickets for really cheap -- not to mention that Pitt is the Homecoming game. Then consider the solid slate of games, upgraded marketing, and positive end to last season (ACC Championship Game, Sun Bowl victory), and I'd imagine the seats will be a little more full than we're used to this year. That said, more than 3 sellouts (VPI, Pitt, uga) will have me really impressed.