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TENUTA PRIORITY #1
Well, we all know the priority is wrapping up Jon Tenuta as the DC for years to come. Not so easy, as Coach T wants his own gig. He said this after the Miami win in a rare post-game interview.
"If I get an opportunity to become a head coach, I'm going to do that. You worry about Coach Gailey and us and you worry about the players. We've still go to play Georgia," Tenuta said.
BOWLING FOR PEACHES?
Check out the Peach Bowl blog, and here's what the Peach Bowl chairman had to say about the Jackets:
GEORGIA TECH
What a win for coach Gailey and the Wramblin’ Wreck on the road against third-ranked Miami! This puts Tech in our mix and a win against Georgia this week could cap the deal and give the Jackets their first Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl bid since 2000.
Now, interestingly, he had this to say about UGAg:
GEORGIA
If the Bulldogs run into the same Tech team that stunned Miami, and if things don’t go their way in the SEC Championship Game, Georgia could be making their first trip to the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl since 1998.
Let me get this straight - we beat UGAg and we're going to the Peach Bowl. If UGAg then goes on to lose the SEC championship game, then the Dawgs would also be in the Peach Bowl, setting up a rematch? On one hand, it would probably sell out. On the other, who wants to play the mutts two times in a row? Do we really think this will happen? I don't buy it........
ACC REACHES DEAL WITH MUSIC CITY BOWL
That's tie-in #7.......
THAT'S EASY FOR YOU TO SAY COACH
UVA Coach Groh:
"You've got the Georgia Tech team that Virginia beat the week before beating the Miami team that soundly beat the Virginia Tech team that beat the Georgia Tech team 51-7 [and later] beat the Virginia team," Groh said.
"Once again, it just pointed out to me, you better be on your game every week, whether it's tactically, execution-wise or emotionally, and you better . . . not have any of those game-changing plays."
COINCIDENCE OR NOT?
Check out the headline of this story on Georgia O'Leary and his coaching at UCF - "O'Leary's UCF vacates winless ranks to go 8-3". Are you kidding me AJC? Is this a joke. "Vacating" happens to be the terminology used by the NCAA to "vacate" our records for many of the years that George O'Leary happened to be there. Coincidence? Some headline writer must have had fun with that one.
MEDIA LINE OF THE WEEK
On the Miami loss
What a tough week for the Miami Hurricanes. First, several current and former players came under fire for recording a lewd rap song. (Lewd rap? Go figure.) Then the ’Canes were upset by Georgia Tech, and now their national-championship hopes aren’t even worth 50 Cent.
Here's another good one:
Tech's romp past U.Va. was eye-popping. Georgia Tech's triumph at Miami was mind-blowing. The Hokies figured to win in Scott Stadium, if not win big. The Jackets figured to go quietly in Dade County. Instead, they made more noise than an 850-horsepower engine at Homestead. The shock waves were felt as far away as Frank Beamer's living room.
Here's what kind of week it'd been for the Jackets: awful. It began when AD Dave Braine announced a five-year contract extension for unloved coach Chan Gailey and put forth the proposition that Georgia Tech "will never" win nine or 10 games consistently.
The coach you're recruiting against says that, you call him a skunk. Your own AD says that, you call him close to retirement.
ACCOLADES
For the Miami win there were many to go around. Jon Tenuta was given the DC of the week by the Master Coaches Survey, made up of 16 former coaches. Rivals.com also gave him coordinator of the week................. K-Mike Hall gets ACC LB of week......... Ben Arndt gets ACC special teams player of week and the Master Coaches gave him Special Teams POW also ............... The Tostitos Fiesta bowl named us national team of the week................. We know that Stewart Mandel gave us some backhanded team of the week at SI.com.......... USAToday has Philip Wheeler as one of 5 nominees for national player of the week - go vote..... Nice going team - you all deserve awards.
WILL FANS GIVE REGGIE BALL A BREAK?
A Charlotte writer says this:
UP: REGGIE BALL
The final numbers, 162 yards passing and 28 rushing, didn't beat Miami, but his guts did, particularly when his coach made the curious decision to turn the offense into a single-wing in the fourth quarter. Will Georgia Tech fans finally forgive Ball for his past transgressions -- all those interceptions and poor decisions? If not, he should cash in on his newfound popularity in Blacksburg, Va.
FRANK BEAMER GIVES REGGIE A BREAK!!Check it out:
"Talk about Virginia Tech starting to get real tight with Georgia Tech," Beamer said. "We had our strength coach [Mike Gentry] walking around [Sunday] with a Georgia Tech hat on."
In another gesture of thanks to Georgia Tech, Beamer said he may fire off another note to Yellow Jackets quarterback Reggie Ball. While he didn't have a great game numbers-wise, Ball repeatedly found All-ACC wideout Calvin Johnson for key completions against Miami's No. 1-ranked pass defense.
"I just got around last week to writing Reggie Ball a note because I was real impressed for him to come back [from viral meningitis] and play as hard and as tough as he did in our game," said Beamer, referring to the Hokies' 51-7 rout of the Jackets on Sept. 24 in Blacksburg.
"I told my wife [Cheryl] how much I really respected that guy after that and she said, 'you ought to write him.' Well, I finally got around to writing him last week. I think I'm going to write him again this week. Wow!"
FASCINATING DISCUSSION
Miami fans have a very fascinating discussion about talent versus coaching comparing GT vs Miami. Very spirited for sure, but some very interesting reading.............
JIM ROME LETS COACH GAILEY HAVE IT
In response to Coach Gailey's comment to the media - "None of you thought it would happen. Don't say you did.....", Rome had this to say on his radio show yesterday.........
Jim Rome:
"Yeah Chan Gailey. You're right. None of us thought it would happen. Why would we? Why would a we think a team that got beaten at home by NCST state, loses to Virgnia and gets rolled up 51-7 by VaTech would beat Miami on the road? Why would we? Why would we think you would ever get the head coaching job with the Dallas Cowboys? We wouldn't.......Instead of blasting the media, why don't you spend your time figuring out how to field a consistent team".
Hey Romie, that take was just phenomenal .............. ................. .............. .............. ........ ....... ................ ................. ................. ................. ................. ................. ................. ................. ................. ................. ................. You're out................. ................ .............. of line.
LET IT GO - GT WAS THE REAL 1990 NC
A Q&A on the 1990 GT/CU controversy:
If Colorado played Georgia Tech in a bowl game in 1990 who would have won? They were co-national champs. Mike Burkart - Boulder, CO.
Mike, let me guess. You are a Colorado fan who wishes it was the good old early `90s again. Long before Rick Neuheisel, Gary Barnett, and Katie Hnida, the Buffaloes were a Big Eight power. Yes, 1990 was one of the three times in the last 15 years that we have had a split national football champion. Back then there was no BCS, but Colorado won the AP title while Georgia Tech took the UPI.
Colorado finished 11-1-1 led by quarterback Darian Hagen and running back Eric Bieniemy on offense and linebacker Kanavis McGhee and defensive back Deon Figures on defense. Still, their 10-9 Orange Bowl victory over Notre Dame is best remembered for a play that didn't even count. The electrifying 91-yard punt return by Raghib "Rocket" Ismail with 35 seconds left that was nullified by clipping penalty
against Greg Davis that wasn't even seen by the two officials closest to the
play. Also in their Oct. 6 33-31 victory over Missouri, the Buffloes scored in
the final seconds on a controversial five down series in what has be one the
most egregious college football refereeing errors in the last 25 years.
The Yellow Jackets didn't lose a game in 1990 going 11-0-1 culminating in a 45-21 Citrus Bowl route over Nebraska. Coached by Bobby Ross and quarterbacked by Shawn Jones, Georgia Tech didn't have the star power of the Buffaloes but seemed to know how to win late in games. Scott Sisson's 37-yard field goal beat No. 1-ranked Virginia (Yes, Virginia was ranked number 1 for a part of the 1990 season) and there was a narrow last minute 6-3 victory over Virginia Tech the following week.
Georgia Tech won an ACC that didn't include Florida State or Miami, which explains how they were undefeated and yet only invited to the Citrus Bowl. Colorado certainly had better personnel, but they had a knack for playing down to their competition that season (see the 23-22 loss to Illinois and the above mentioned Missouri game). I think it would have cost them against the Yellow Jackets.
Sorry, Mike, I'd take Georgia Tech. CU's best team was actually the year before when they went into the Orange Bowl undefeated and ranked No. 1, only to lose 21-6 to Notre Dame.
THADDEUS YOUNG GOING ON TOUR
Well, at least his high school Memphis team is preparing for quite a high profile season........... Check out this interesting quote about why they lost the state championship game:
Top 5? This same Mitchell squad that was ousted from state tournament contention by Brownsville Haywood just a season ago?
Indeed, it's that 91-76 Class AA sectional loss at Haywood last season that still bugs Johnson. After all, Mitchell had won 17 straight games in dominating fashion prior to back-to-back losses to Raleigh-Egypt and Haywood to end the season.
"That's the only tape that I looked at over the summer from all the games we played last year," Johnson said of the Haywood loss, one in which his Tigers were outrebounded, 49-22. "I looked at it over and over again, and I saw that a lot of my players weren't playing the positions they were assigned. It was like they had outside influences.
"The plan was for Thad to be a point guard in the third quarter. Well, he was playing point guard in the first quarter. (Senior post Andre) Thornton was outside. (Senior guard) Brandon (Powell) was trying to drive, and that wasn't the plan. ... (Georgia Tech) coach Paul Hewitt was in the stands, so I guess maybe they were trying to impress somebody or something."
So what you're saying is that the head coach wasn't controlling the positions players played on the floor? Weird story if you ask me.
SHOCKLEY GETTING READY
"Georgia Tech is always going to bring out the best in us," quarterback D.J. Shockley said. "It's an in-state rivalry and we know a lot of guys on that team."