Mailbag 10/7

Can you answer my question first? - Notwima13

Ben: Not that you have any way to actually verify this, but I intentionally made this the last question I answered.

Carter:

Jake: Sir, what even is there to answer?

Is the answer to this question No? - SullyGT

Ben: That’s not the answer I’m giving it.

Jake: Yes.

Louisville is giving up 30 points per game, but how much of that is because Miami is apparently good this year? - SullyGT

Ben: Is Miami really good this year, though? It’s kind of tough to gauge how good either one of them is because the are the other’s strongest opponent thus far. Miami’s other big win came against FSU, which is a team that looks worse and worse as each week passes. So, in short, I really have no idea what to expect on Friday!

Carter: We’re about to find out just how good Miami is. My guess is better than Georgia Tech, but right now that ain’t saying much.

Jake: There’s four ACC teams in the top 10, the most of any conference. What is the world in 2020? I think the numbers back up Louisville’s defense in general being a leaky faucet, so, to paraphrase Jeff in the writers’ slack, this seems like the battle of a stoppable force and a moveable object.

Does Tech score more than 21 this week? And is it enough for a win? - SullyGT

Ben: I think they’ll score more than 21, but that’s because Louisville hasn’t given up less than 21 this season, and Tech has done a good job getting into scoring opportunities. How they do in those opportunities will determine if it’s enough.

Jake: “Scoring” “points” have been two rather foreign words for the Jackets in the last, oh, season and a third. However, Louisville’s got one of the least-vaunted defenses we’ve seen, so if there was a time for it, it would be now. Right now, I fear getting boatraced.

Carter:

SNL’s returned for the 46th season. Please to power rank: Funniest cast members, Best skit characters, Most memorable lines. - DressHerInWhiteAndGold

Jake: Oh gosh. My SNL exposure is strongly correlated to “what’s on box set in my parents’ living room” and “skits that became movies.” It’s a poorly kept secret that I am a Chicagoan (Superfans?) whose favorite movie is the Blues Brothers and has a strong connection to Wayne’s World and whose favorite show is 30 Rock (Tina Fey’s edition of the Weekend Update). I really like the “Best of Will Ferrell” DVD they have, so he’d have to be up there on my list of cast members. However, I would be remised not to add that my house is a no-go zone during Christmas with my parents constantly singing Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah carol, so there’s that, too.

There are many problems in the CGC tenure so far, but none bother me as much as place kicking. I just don’t get it. CGC prides himself on a “development” program. If that’s true, why are all of our placekickers REGRESSING? To wit, golden boy Wesley Wells. Perfect (9 for 9) in 2018, couldn’t kick right in 2019. How? I also assume that our recent string of kickers weren’t total chumps coming out of high school. I’d be shocked if they missed 3 or 4 out of every 5 FG attempts in high school and were then accepted by CGC. The same goes for practice performance in college. So what gives? - GTBuzzed

Ben: Oh boy, there’s a lot here. In short, most kickers are head cases, and I fully believe that’s the reason for Wesley Wells’ decline. As for why Georgia Tech has not really been able to develop any kind of special teams player under Collins, I think it’s also important to remember that Paul Johnson struggled mightily with that as well. Save for Wells lone season under Johnson and Harrison Butker’s final season, Tech struggled to produce solid special team players. Personally, and I won’t pretend to be an expert on this, I think trying to rank kickers and punters is kind of a crapshoot given how inconsistent they can be and how little exposure they get at various camps. Heck, look at Butker this year. He’s missed three PATs. At the NFL level, that’s really bad. Those are supposed to be easy, and kickers are supposed to virtually perfect in that regard. TLDR: kickers are headcases, trying to recruit/rank them is a crapshoot.

Jake: There’s also the open admission that they hadn’t practiced kicking at all in camp this year...I don’t know. Kickers are only a certain amount of headcases, and you’d think one of the several we have seen over the 2019 and 2020 seasons would work out at least a little bit. At least last year they were going wide right or left, now they’re getting blocked and getting drilled into linemen. Not great!

Why is Sims throwing so many picks? - jabsterjacket

Ben: Well, a large part of it is because he’s not getting a ton of time to actually throw the ball. Under constant duress, Sims is having to try to get the ball out quickly, and sometimes, whether it’s a bad throw or just plain bad luck, he gets picked off. I will say, it’s certainly been a mix of bad throws and bad luck.

Jake: Luck, inexperience, linemen and (I presume) giant tubs of lard on the sideline that make his hands really slippery.

Seriously evaluate the talent of Georgia Tech’s opponents and tell us against whom the next victory will come. Last weeks games made all of the preseason predicted victories look very shaky. Bonus points if you can tell us who the third victim will be. - YankeeJacket

Ben: Honestly, Georgia Tech is going to have to fight very hard to get two more wins on this schedule. They’ve got some pretty tough games ahead. But if I have to pick, I think right now, Duke and NC State are probably the two most winnable.

Jake: I think if we can get a vintage Bad Kenny Pickett moment against Pitt, there’s a shot to get a win there. The Pittsburgh Panthers are, like always, a great half-team. If we can figure out some of our offensive-related struggles in time to face their D, we could make something happen there. Also, I’m still not convinced Boston College is any good, while being thoroughly convinced that Duke is bad, given that they couldn’t beat the 2/3rds of Virginia Tech’s team that still existed for their game. NC State is also bad. I’m going to be the optimist and say we have a shot in all four.

Carter:

Do the dwags have Cape Day? If not, what are they doing to support Children’s? - jabsterjacket

Ben: Based off the Google search I did, it does not appear that UGA participates in Cape Day, but they did visit CHOA on the week of the Georgia-Georgia Tech game last season.

Carter: Confirmed: the Georgia Bulldogs hate the children.

Jake: I mean, they also hate their students if they’re letting them all get that close to each other in the stands. Real talk, though, I’m sure they do some sort of nice charitable thing, though there are plenty of good causes to support besides CHOA, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be them.

Why are dwag fans wearing cones of shame to the Cesspool? - jabsterjacket

Ben: Because they have fleas, duh.

Jake: Because wearing a giant plastic cone that definitely fogs up is less intrusive than a small cloth mask, that’s why all the cool kids are doing it. (I had never seen this before this game and it boggles my mind).

Wow, that was a fun weekend. So much college football chaos and none of it involved a GT loss. Granted it would’ve been great to see uga eat dirt against Auburn, but you can’t always get what you want. I’ll settle for the Big 12 falling apart and watching the mid tier of the ACC and SEC eat themselves. Anyway, my question is who do you see winning the World Series this year and why? I want to say the Braves or failing them maybe the Athletics. I feel like it’s more realistic to pick the Dodgers or the Rays (I can’t figure out how the Ray’s keep winning, It’s weird). What are your thoughts? - Richard Alcock (received via email)

Ben: Oh man, I don’t quite follow baseball like I used to, but it is pretty exciting to see the Braves actually win a series. I’m not holding out hope for anything past that because, well, we do live in Georgia.

Jake: cries in Chicago baseball — Cubs’ offense was...offensive, but the Sox had a shot. Also had hopes to see the Twins have some fun, but obviously they’re terrible after the regular season ends, so that was misguided. Anyways, out of the teams that are left, I like the A’s and the Braves, but I’d like to see the Padres do well, because I think Tatis and the gang have been Good For Baseball™. A bunch of useless afternoon midweek wildcard series, though? Bad for baseball, and they need to get shot into the sun. 16 teams is far too many.

Carter: The answer is: you, the viewer at home! Because this guy will be DJing the whole thing. (He’s the best.)