Technical Tidbits 12/15

This football season began with low expectations and calls for Paul Johnson's firing before the first snap against Wofford was even played. A close call against those Terriers only served to escalate these calls; many felt that 2014 was a failure after just one game. After all, what kind of coach at a Power Five school needs a high-scoring second half to pull away from an FCS team? The good kind, apparently -- Johnson's Jackets have won 10 games with a possibility to claim victory number 11 on New Year's Eve. That great success has only served to solidify CPJ's standing with the school -- and to cool off his seat --  as we move into 2015.

Speaking of overachieving, Vegas projected this Georgia Tech team to win just short of 7 games -- their official projection was 6.5. As you hopefully know, Tech has won well over that number, 3.5 over to be exact. That is tied for the sixth best in the entire nation and is a hilarious testament to just how stupid it is to put stock in preseason projections. If you ever feel bad about yourself, just remember that there are people in Nevada who get paid to suck at what they do.

Georgia Tech basketball will get back into action tonight against Appalachian State in what will be a do-or-die game for the Jackets, who can ill afford another ugly loss if they hope to get any postseason consideration down the road. After a solid start to the season, the Jackets were dropped by a lowly USC-Upstate team two Saturdays ago, falling 59-54 to a Spartans team which has already lost to Wright State this season. There are plenty of teaching points for Brian Gregory to touch on, but I think that free throw shooting has to be the biggest. The Jackets continue to be one of the worst teams in the nation from the stripe and could easily be undefeated if they had just made a few more of the easy ones.

The Heisman Trophy Presentation took place over the weekend, culminating with Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota taking home college football's greatest honor in a landslide win. Mariota is by far the best player in college football (and has been for the past few seasons, if you ask me) -- he owns an obscene 101/10 TD/INT ratio at Oregon. Not only is he the indisputable best player in the nation, but he is also the perfect person to fix the shriveling reputation of the NCAA which has taken such huge hits recently -- his humility and character are inspirational given his unique and exciting situation.

Is Marcus Mariota the solution to football's ethical dilemma? Am I the only one who wants to see him reunited with Chip Kelly in Philadelphia?

Have a great Monday!