clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Technical Tidbits 8/17

Paul Johnson said something positive. Is this the apocalypse?

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

It only took two full weeks of practice for Paul Johnson to finally see something he liked out of his Jackets. In a drastic change of tone from previous practices, Johnson remarked on how well guys like Patrick Skov and Shamire Devine performed as well as freshman Marcus Marshall, who worked with the starting B-Backs. I still don't think that there ever was a sense of urgency regarding how bad the team was looking in practice, but words of encouragement from Paul Johnson carry a lot of weight. He of all people knows what to look for.

As I hinted at earlier, the player who received perhaps the highest praise of anyone was senior B-Back Patrick Skov, whose physicality and finishing ability were quickly noticed by Johnson. Skov, who transferred from Stanford after Tech's B-Back depth was so heavily depleted earlier this offseason, should be in line for a heavy workload. As a former fullback while with the Cardinal, he certainly has the size and athletic ability to succeed in a B-Back role for Paul Johnson's team and will have the opportunity to do so as early as week one unless someone else comes from behind and blows the staff away. As the most experienced rusher at his position, the job is likely his for now.

Three-star wide receiver Jair Anderson of Northview High School has officially narrowed his list of college choices down to two: Georgia Tech and Cincinnati. Anderson, a member of the class of 2016, also has reported offers from Georgia, Army, and Appalachian State among others. He is a top-100 player in the state of Georgia and the 147th-ranked wide receiver in the entire nation, though those numbers are liable to change following his senior season in high school. He is expected to commit in the next few weeks.

ESPN released another NCAA Playoff ad the other day and it just might be the coolest one yet. As fun as it is to bash ESPN for just about everything, you have to admit that they know how to sell their product -- they consistently produce some of the coolest ads anywhere. This is no exception. They also indirectly called Georgia Tech better than Georgia by putting Buzz in front of UGA's dog mascot in the final scene. Of course it was intentional!

<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome to the battle for <a href="https://twitter.com/CFBPlayoff">@CFBPlayoff</a> on New Year&#39;s Eve. &#10;&#10;Who&#39;s In? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFPonNYE?src=hash">#CFPonNYE</a>&#10;<a href="https://t.co/jJZXuqdBay">https://t.co/jJZXuqdBay</a></p>&mdash; ESPN CollegeFootball (@ESPNCFB) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNCFB/status/632287097420775425">August 14, 2015</a></blockquote>

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


What kinds of irresponsible and unreasonable conclusions can you draw from ESPN's new playoff ad?