Technical Tidbits 8/14

Before we get started with our daily rundown of all things Georgia Tech, please note that our very own Ben Tankersley will be making a live radio appearance today at 4:00 PM to talk Georgia Tech! You can listen in by following this link to hear everything that he has to say. Best of luck to Ben!

Justin Thomas, Georgia Tech's potential big-time play maker at quarterback, got a rating of "okay" for his overall off-season performance by Paul Johnson. Thomas's performance during the regular season will need to be a whole lot more than just "decent" or "okay" if the Jackets hope to continue their bowl streak and hopefully add a few more than six wins to their total; a lot of Tech's success will depend on the way Thomas can pass and run the option. We haven't yet seen Justin Thomas in action this off-season; he missed the spring game with an injury and the recent scrimmage for precautionary reasons, so no one really know what to expect from the RS Sophomore signal caller come late August. The longer we go without any truly good news relating to Thomas, the more I imagine we will see Tim Byerly getting some early snaps at QB. He has the skills to run the option and should give Justin Thomas the extra push he needs to become a really proficient quarterback.

The ACC has a very slim margin for error when it comes to the newly formatted NCAA playoffs, writes ESPN. That, while it isn't a statement that I particularly like, is one that is absolutely true; the ACC hasn't yet reached the same level of respect as the SEC gets, especially when it comes to strength of schedule. I'd be shocked to see any ACC team make it into the playoffs with more than one loss on the season. Their schedules, for the most part, are too light for the national spotlight to take notice if any one school suffers more than one loss. All of that said, I wouldn't be surprised to see an ACC school in the playoffs this season (Florida State, obviously) and maybe even more than one if everything falls into place for another school, maybe on like... oh, I don't know, Georgia Tech?

Phil Steele, in his way-too-early bowl predictions, picked the Yellow Jackets to make an appearance in the Military Bowlagainst AAC opponent East Carolina. In my humble opinion, an appearance in the Military Bowl versus a non-power five school would just about guarantee a coaching change at the end of the season (7-5 likely won't cut it for Paul Johnson) and a berth in any bowl against a non-power five team would be disappointing in general for Tech fans. At the very least it would keep the bowl streak alive, which is always welcome, but it wouldn't be in the most... convincing fashion possible. I doubt that the Jackets will end up in a bowl of a caliber that low (I foresee at least 8 wins for this Tech team) but anything is possible for the Jackets. We've seen that all too many times.

Former uga commit Rico McGraw, who recently flipped his commitment to Alabama, made some comments during an interview yesterday that Alabama's superior facilities are part of what influenced his decision to abandon the dwags. While this isn't exactly pertinent to Georgia Tech, I think it does bring up a good talking point about how much a school's facilities impact a recruit's decision to attend said school. Georgia Tech, it would seem, would be at somewhat of a disadvantage in this department, but we don't see too many guys flipping directly because of facilities. I feel like part of that is because guys who commit to Tech probably have a bigger focus on academics than anything else, but it's certainly open for debate. Hey, speaking of debate....

How much do a school's facilities truly impact a recruit's decision to commit? Do Tech recruits have different values than those of other schools? Does Tech have a disadvantage as far as facilities?

Have a great Thursday!