Georgia Tech Edges Clemson

Before we go any further, let's think about something - the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are 6-1. Let me type that again - 6-1.

6-1

That's a really impressive record for the youngest team in the ACC. That's an impressive record for a team with a brand new offense, defense, etc, etc.......... you know the drill. That's just dang impressive.

The Jackets beat Clemson 21-17 to move their record to 6-1, 3-1 in the ACC.

SURVIVE AND ADVANCE
Today's game was pretty ugly.......... 3 fumbles (2 lost for GT)........... 5 fumbles (2 lost for CU)......... 4 INT's for CU. Key penalties at the wrong time for both teams. It was also a physical game, as numerous Georgia Tech players were dinged up.

It was also an emotional game for Clemson with the events of the week impacting players, coaches and fans. Fans were drinking from a fire hose this week just trying to absorb everything and get ready. Let's be real though - the emotion thing carries you to about 3 minutes into the game. Then it comes down to execution.

I give a lot of credit to Clemson in the 2nd half. They really could have gone down for the count. They could have folded like a cheap tent, but they didn't. They fought back, executed some key plays and took the lead. They got back to what has made them successful - some tough inside running and a vertical passing game.

At the end of the day the Jackets made the plays and won the game. They had just enough.

DEFENSE THE STORY AGAIN
I think it's fair to say that while the offense gets the headlines, we are a defensive team through and through. Georgia Tech has yet to give up more than 20 points to anyone. Clemson was held to 51 yards rushing with a 2.1 avg per carry.

Today was about turnovers.......... Dominique Reese gets the pick-6 the start the scoring.......... Morgan Burnett picked off two passes. Rashaad Reid had another. Derrick Morgan forced one INT by smacking Willy Korn's arm and then he receoved a fumble later. A lot of big plays today by the defense.

They did take a few hits in the third quarter as Clemson scored 14 and moved the ball, but ultimately they did their part to give the offense a chance to win the game.

OFFENSE DID ENOUGH
It is apparent that some defenses have figured out some basic strategies that are effective in this offense - force us to pass. Take the dive away and take the pitch away. Make Nesbitt beat you with the run or the pass. Name me 5 pitches that went for positive yardage. There weren't many. This game obviously required the passing game to come through for the win. It did. At the end of the day, winning is about doing what it takes. The running game enables the pass.

Ultimately you have to continue to be concerned about the offensive line. Once again, they were beat numerous times. I saw a couple of complete whiffs on blocks that resulted in plays getting completely blown-up.

Josh Nesbitt was back, but it appeared that his timing just wan't there today. Of course how much of that was the offensive line? Hard to tell without breaking down the film further. However, Josh missed some reads as far as I could tell, and his passes floated a bit too much. However, when it counted, he threw two beautiful balls, one which BeBe Thomas shortarmed for a sure TD, and the other which Thomas did haul in and take to the house. On the day, Josh rushed 26 times for 77 yards and passed 5-12 for 91 yards and 1 TD (0 INT). He made key plays when he had to.

Having said that, I'm interested to hear the Josh Nesbitt / Jaybo Shaw chatter this week. Without a doubt people will question if Shaw runs this offense more effectively. However, I've said it before and I'll say it again - Josh is our #1 guy.

Jon Dwyer went for 109 yards for the 5th time this year. I think that might get him back up over the century mark as an average on the season.

On a side note, I loved the quick Nesbitt keepers. He ran two of these where the Clemson DL lined up with nobody on the center and the two tackles on the outside of both guards. In both cases, Nesbitt ran a quick keeper where he just shot the gap for about 5-7 yards each time. I was watching both times thinkg - man, there's a lot of room in the middle.

BEBE REDEEMS HIMSELF
Demaryius Thomas did the unthinkable - he dropped an easy long bomb which fell right into his arms. He clearly shortarmed the ball. It would have put the Jackets up. Instead it forced a punt. BeBe was distraught on the sidelines. However, he would get a chance to redeem himself, and he did. First he caught a difficult 3rd down pass which gave us a key first down late in the game. It was a tough catch falling out-of-bounds with a guy draped all over hime.

Then the big hit - a beautiful hitch-and-go which fooled his defender. Nesbitt found him along the sidelines and he took it the rest of the way for the go-ahead TD.

On the day he ended with 4 catches for 56 yards, although he knows it could have been 5 catches for about 90. But hey - he made the game-winning play. Just win baby.......... I mean BeBe.

SCOTT BLAIR - MVP
There is a story developing in special teams. It's not so much Scott Blair - Field Goal kicker. He almost missed an extra point and did miss a field goal (a 50 yarder to be fair). The story is really not even about Scott Blair the punter, although he had a wonderful day, sending 5-of-7 punts inside the 20 yard line.

This story is about Scott Blair- special teams tackler. Blair had the play of the game near the end of the 1st half by tackling Clemson's kick returner (Marcus Gilchrist) on what clearly looked like a touchdown. That tackle saved a TD and ultimately Clemson got no points because Burnett got an INT to end the half.

Wes Durham should have his video guys go back and look at film this year, because Blair has a handful of key special teams tackles. Now, that's not good, because if your kicker is making tackles then you're in trouble. However, Blair has some wheels and he actually looks like a football player out there. Way to go Scott - that play was a game-saving play.

QUESTIONABLE PENALTIES
Well, we lost to Virginia Tech on a drive that was kept alive on a very questionable helmet-to-helmet call on Cooper Taylor. Today there were a couple of key calls that may have made a difference (or not). In this case they were in our favor.

First was a roughing the kicker (punter) call against Scott Blair. Technically it was a penalty. However, if it happened the other way, we would have been screaming bloody murder. It was ticky-tack.

Second was a holding on Clemson's offensive line on a 4th-and12 play that resulted in a Clemson 1st down. It came back and resulted in an unsuccessful 4th-and-22. I looked at the replay and it was not a good call. Daryll Richard absolutely bull-rushed Clemson's center, pushing him back fast. The center then decided to duck and dive under Richard in order to take his legs out from under him. It worked, however the referee who called the flag was directly behind Richard. From his angle he probably saw Richard pushing back the Clemson center and all of the sudden get "pulled" to the ground. From his angle, I bet that's what it looked like. But that's not what happened. It really wasn't holding.............. that was game.

Well, like I said, we had the refs work against us versus VaTech. That's what happens when the game is called by human beings. We'll admit it was a bad call............ but we'll take it.

ROOT FOR BOSTON COLLEGE
Key game tonight between BC and Virginia Tech. We absolutely MUST have the Eagles take out VaTech to have a realistic chance to win the Coastal.

COASTAL > ATLANTIC
There's an interesting dynamic that has reversed from pre-season expectations. Most pundits and really fans as well recognized that the Atlantic division was the better group of teams. Going into the season you had top 10 Clemson, always good Wake Forest, resurgent FSU, tough Boston College, growing Maryland and growing NCST. Really noboby thought there was a terrible team in the Atlantic.

Meanwhile in the Coastal, nobody knew what to expect and generally looked at it as Virginia Tech and the 5 dwarfs. UNC was a popular pick because they lost a bunch of close games last year, but people generally though Duke would continue to stink, Virginia would be average and Georgia Tech would be rebuilding.

Here we are half-way through the season and the perceptions have flipped. VaTech, GaTech and UNC are all 5-1 going into the day. The Jackets move to 6-1 and have beaten Atlantic teams BC and Clemson. North Carolina and Virginia Tech could move to 6-1 today. The Coastal is 3-1 versus the Atlantic this year and the VT / BC match-up tonight is key.

With Wake Forest's loss to Maryland, it looks like there could be 3 ACC teams ranked, and they're all coming from the Coastal. Having said that we need VaTech to lose tonight.

DABO GOES FOR EMOTION
Clemson interim head coach Dabo Swinney did everything he could to fire up fans and players:

• Did a "Tiger walk" prior to the game
  
• Made his players wear suits / ties to the game
• Sent a letter to students telling them to show up and support the team
• Called for an "orange-out" for all fans
• Called for players and fans to be "all in" this week
• Gave a spirited pre-game talk, which was broadcast by ESPN.
• Walked his team arm-in-arm, spread out across the entire field from goal-line to goal-line.
  
• Hugged and kissed Howard's Rock
  
• Ran down the hill so fast he outran every player by about 30 yards (see photo)
  

At the end of the day, emotion is down on the list of important factors. Talent, scheme's, playcalling and ingame adjustments ultimately matter more. Emotion is a piece of the puzzle but comes in much lower in the priority list.

CLEMSON AD ROAMS SIDELINES
There was another weird sight today - Clemson AD Terry Don Phillips roaming the sidelines in a Jerry Jones-esqe fashion, even getting in Swinney's ear a couple of times (once as a result of that hook-and-ladder play). Why is your AD getting on the field? I don't mean the sideline. The guy was on the field at least once. Strange, just strange.

INJURIES
Jahi-Word Daniels pulled a hamstring
AJ Smith was banged up
David Brown was banged up.

CONCLUSION
Georgia Tech is 6-1, again with the youngest team in the ACC. I have a hard time seeing how we would have done this well with the prior regime. Paul Johnson's mental toughness just seems to make such a difference. He's made enough good calls and the players have executed enough of them to win. We'll take it. This team just has a don't quit attitude. They never give up, and never seem to think they're out of it. They fight and fight, even when they aren't quite making plays. What a great trait.

Josh Nesbitt is a sophomore
Jon Dwyer is a sophomore
Roddy Jones is a freshman
BeBe Thomas is a sophomore
Morgan Burnett is a sophomore
Derrick Morgan is a sophomore
Kyle Jackson is a freshman
Correy Earls is a sophomore
Brad Jefferson is a sophomore
Dominique Reese is a sophomore
Jaybo Shaw is a freshman
Cooper Taylor is a freshman

Are you sensing a trend here. These are guys that have proven something on the field this year, and they're all underclassmen. Wow! This doesn't count the guys who've come in and haven't had their chance yet.

The future is bright.

Game Blogging

Put your in-game comments here.

FIRST QUARTER
GT 7
CU 0

• Lots of 3-and-outs to start by both teams
  
• Bam - D.Reese INT for a TD on some attempted Tiger trickeration. Nice playcall Dabo - welcome to the big leagues
  
• Wow - we barely made that extra point - bonked off the upright, 7-0
  
• Tigers trying some option stuff. Clemson starting to get a couple of first downs
• Another INT - Derrick Morgan causes the INT - WOW!!
• Wonder if Korn's arm is hurting
• Missed FG - not even close from 50 yards.
• Cullen Harper back in the game - bad shoulder and all
• Wow - GT defense looking STOUT!!! Another 3-and-out
• GT calls a weird timeout with Clemson punting - what's up with that?
• Michael Johnson coming off the edge on the punt block - almost got that one.
• Paul Johnson hasn't figured out the right adjustments offensively yet.
• Did Dabo Swinney actually call a normal play in the first quarter? Like, you know, run up the middle?
  

SECOND QUARTER
GT 14
CU 3

• GT defense continues to excel - 6 possessions for CU - 4 punts, 2 INTs
• Offense on the other hand, hasn't figured out anything yet.
  
• Is it just me, or do you fear everytime a GT player has to catch a punt?
• 15 yard messing with the punt returner
• Guys are dropping like flies - Michael Johnson shaken up, Tyler Melton some kind of leg issue, David Brown shaken up,
• There's fumble #1 - Dwyer hit right on the handoff from Nesbitt - Clemson recovers
• Ok, we're getting a little shaky now - offsides on D-Rich
• Fumble Clemson - we get the ball back - Whoah!!! Derrick Morgan recovers - he's everywhere!! Third turnover for CU
• Wow - our O-Line not getting it done right now. Again, the offense just perplexed right now. Another 4th down punt. No answers from Paul Johnson
  
• We go for it on 4th down and would have had it had Lipfert not slipped - 1 foot short - man!
• I guess with the defense playing so well, Johnson is comfortable taking some chances
• Now Clemson is giving Harper some time to throw - and he's moving the ball. They're near the redzone.
  
• 3rd down sack by Sedric Griffin! Nice!!
• Field goal good - Clemson on the board
• There we go - Dwyer breaks a long run on 3rd down - and now Nesbitt finds Roddy for a long pass. The adjustments have begun. We're close to the redzone now
• TD Nesbitt on the keeper............ I'm a Ramblin Wreck from Georgia Tech...................
• 1st 6 drivers 62 yards, last drive 80 yards, adjustments working
• Wow - a great return - Scott Blair has made more TD-saving tackles than anyone on the team. That's a problem
• Wow, Morgan Burnett saves the day with INT #3 on the day.
  
• That's the end of the half
• You have to like what you see in the defense, the offense started to show life at the end of the half
• Scott Blair for MVP

HALFTIME STATS:

Team Statistics
	Yellow Jackets	Tigers
First Downs	6	5
Passing	1	3
Rushing	5	1
Penalty	0	1
Third Down Efficiency	2-7	1-7
Fourth Down Efficiency	0-1	0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS	138	82
Total Plays	31	30
Average Gain Per Play	4.5	2.7
NET YARDS RUSHING	101	22
Rushes	28	14
Average Per Rush	3.6	1.6
NET YARDS PASSING	37	60
Completions-Attempts	2-3	9-16
Yards Per Pass Play	12.3	3.8
Times Sacked	1	1
Yards Lost to Sacks	9	6
Had Intercepted	0	3
PUNTS	3	4
Average Punt	36.3	36.3
PENALTIES	2	1
Penalty Yards	10	15
FUMBLES	2	3
Fumbles Lost	1	1

Dwyer 52 yards at the half
Nesbitt 2-3 passing, 37 yards, 15 rushes for 31 yards
Defense has created 4 INT's and 1 fumble - wow

THIRD QUARTER
GT 14
CU 17

• Jackets receive - bad return by Dwyer
• 15 yard illegal block penalty hurt, but Nesbitt makes a play to get a key 1st down on 3rd-and-2
• Another fumble - Dwyer again - all his fault this time Clemson recovers on our 45
  
• TD Clemson on an underthrown ball - looked like Jahi pulled up lame with some kind of hamstring issue - looks like he'll probably be out for the rest of the game.
• Again, the turnover leads directly to 7 points - the defense can't do everything folks
• Looked like Dwyer got banged up on that return - Quincy Kelly is in a B-Back
• GT offense has caught 2 balls, GT defense has caught 3. Wow
• Easy first down pass, dropped by Correy Earls, result = punt
• Wow - VERY questionable running into the kicker penalty - lucky break for GT. Really a bad call, but I'll take it.
  
• Dwyer back in and goes 15 yards for 1st down
• We're starting to push it up the middle a lot. Nesbitt on some quick keepers up the middle. Dwyer up the middle.
• Nesbitt's throws don't look good. A lot of floaters. Of course when you're pressured and throwing off your back foot, that's going to happen. Another punt. Clemson will start at their own 20 with about 6 minutes to go in Q3
• Clemson on the move again - convert a key 3rd-and-9, no pressure on the QB.
• Wow - D-Rich just missed the easiest sack of his life and Harper completes a 1st down pass as a result - key play?
• Screen pass for a TD Clemson, so much for Willy Korn, right.
• The defense AND the offense need to step up now.
• Give Clemson credit - they have changed the "big Mo" - clearly in their favor right now

FOURTH QUARTER
GT 21
CU 17

• The offense is doing NOTHING now. NOTHING. Punting..... again
• Roddy Jones in at punt returner - good. He catches the ball and gets a few yards too.
• Nesbitt throwing the ball looks terrible. Finally hits a pass and it's holding. Coming back
• 3rd and long is a bad bad situation in this offense (well, any offense really)
• BeBe Thomas just dropped an easy TD pass - a bomb right into his hands. He just shortarmed that ball - wow - That's a TD folks. Pitch and catch. Now, instead it's a punt.
• Defense does the job. We get the ball back again with good field position.
• D.Thomas makes amends with a key 3rd down tough grab
• AJ Smith banged up...... again. Will that guy ever play a full game?
• There are VERY few pitches to A-Backs in this game. It's Nesbitt or Dwyer.
• TD BeBe Thomas on a key 3rd down!!!!!! Wow.
• Ok, so Nesbitt's arms has woken up.
• Nice to see BeBe get a 2nd and 3rd chance and come through
• Can the defense hold?? 5:13 remaining
• Clemson is keeping extra guys in to protect Harper. Seemed like they had 8 in pass protection
• 3rd down and 12 for Clemson at their 47...................... no dice
• 4th down and 12 for Clemson at their 47. They're going for it ..................... 1st down....... but HOLDING on Clemson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
• 4th down and 22 for Clemson at their 37. They're going for it...................... NO GOOD!!! Jackets take over............ the hook-and-ladder-and-pitch ain't gonna work. Wow!!!
• That should be ball game............. should be
• Morgan Burnett gets the INT to ice it.
• Wow - what a game. A lot of mistakes but the Jackets manage to make the big play when it's needed.
• Credit to Clemson for a solid 2nd half. They came out and battled back, but the Jackets just made key plays at key times.

FINAL STATISTICS

Team Statistics
	Yellow Jackets	Tigers
First Downs	13	11
Passing	3	8
Rushing	9	2
Penalty	1	1
Third Down Efficiency	6-16	2-12
Fourth Down Efficiency	0-1	0-0
TOTAL NET YARDS	298	250
Total Plays	64	56
Average Gain Per Play	4.7	4.5
NET YARDS RUSHING	207	51
Rushes	52	24
Average Per Rush	4.0	2.1
NET YARDS PASSING	91	199
Completions-Attempts	5-12	19-32
Yards Per Pass Play	7.6	6.2
Times Sacked	1	1
Yards Lost to Sacks	9	6
Had Intercepted	0	4
PUNTS	7	6
Average Punt	39.0	36.8
PENALTIES	6	4
Penalty Yards	45	35
FUMBLES	3	5
Fumbles Lost	2	2

GEORGIA TECH
Dwyer - 21 carries, 109 yards
Nesbitt - 5-12, 91 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 26 carries for 77 yards
D.Thomas - 4 catches for 56 yards (but should have been 5 for about 90)

CLEMSON
J.Davis - 8 carries, 26 yards
J.Harper - 10 carries, 26 yards
C.Harper - 15-25 passing, 171 yards, 2 TD's, 2 INT's
W.Korn - 4-6, 28 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
A.Kelly - 7 catches, 119 yards

Football: Survive and Advance

Well, who'd a thunk it? The Jackets win a nail-biter, 10-7, against arguably the worst team on their schedule, 1-AA Gardner-Webb. I don't have time for an in-depth breakdown, but here's what we know.

O-LINE HORRIFIC
The offensive line did not block anyone today. I'm not so sure anyone else did either. Paul Johnson basically said that after the game. Any blame on the offense starts in the trenches. These guys were terrible today.

OFFENSE IS OFFENSIVE
There's a reason Nesbitt is #1 and Shaw is #2. They can run the system. Calvin Booker, bless his heart, did his best as the starter, but he just looks slow as molasses running the triple option. Plays just develop so slowly. Combine that with a swiss cheese O-Line and it makes for a long day. Calvin had a poor day throwing the ball as well, except for a short screen pass on a scramble to Jonathan Dwyer who managed to take it to the house for a 79 yard TD. Bryce Dykes gave it a shot as well, but it just wasn't happening.

The Jackets rushed for 79 yards today. That's amazing considering what they've done to much better defenses. Amazing.

DEFENSE KEEPS US IN IT
The defense played a solid game today by holding the opposition to 7 points. Had Michael Johnson not gotten called for an illegal jump on a field goal, they would have gotten shutout #2 in a row. The front four were great today, wreaking havoc with multiple sacks and tackles-for-a-loss. Derrick Morgan saved the day with by tipping a potential game-tying field with 3 seconds on the clock. Crazy that it came to that.

INJURY REPORT
The most concerning issue was Sedric Griffin, who evidently had some type of seizure on the sideline. No report yet on this condition. However, just today the Macon Telegraph did a nice story on Sedric detailing a medical condition he's had since his youth.

Aside from that there were some guys that got banged up like Dwyer and Bowen.


WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Well, there are more questions that answers right now. For me, today was less about execution and more about mental preparation. Gardner-Webb has a very respectable run defense, but their team is full of guys who would never had made our roster. They were better prepared, more focused, communicated better and executed. Those guys played their hearts out and deserved to win the game.

The Jackets clearly were not focused properly on the Bulldogs, and they almost let this one slip away. It seems to me they took these guys lightly. So what are the questions we are left contemplating?

1. Can this staff keep these kids focused on the task at hand?
2. Is the overabundance of youth on this team showing?
3. Are we truly that close to the edge of the season going the other way?
4. Is this system really THAT reliable on an effective system QB?
5. Where are we headed from here?

Bottom-line is that our expectations just got ratcheted down today. We have all been "drinking the Kool-aid" about this offense as we've watched the team rack up big plays and big numbers. If we can almost lose to a team like Gardner-Webb, then nothing's off the table. Clemson could very well run us out of Death Valley next week with their new QB change and about time for the Bowden turnaround story that repeats every year. Anything can happen.

Georgia Tech won today, but it doesn't feel like and it shouldn't. It should be treated as a loss by coaches and players. I have no doubt that nobody will be harder on the coaching staff that the coaching staff. Nobody will be harder on the players than the players.............. and maybe the coaching staff. Nobody will be as upset as Paul Johnson. Johnson apologized to the fans in his post-game press conference.

"It was a comedy of errors, really. It looked like a poorly prepared, poorly coached football team out there." - Paul Johnson

To show you how whacky the world of college football is sometimes, Mississippi State beat undefeated Vanderbilt today and mighty Michigan got beaten by 2-4 Toledo in the Big House (with their new coach). Take nothing for granted people.

The ugly stats:

Team Statistics
	Runnin' Bulldogs	Yellow Jackets
First Downs	14	9
Passing	11	3
Rushing	2	5
Penalty	1	1
Third Down Efficiency	5-18	5-15
Fourth Down Efficiency	0-1	1-2
TOTAL NET YARDS	226	199
Total Plays	69	58
Average Gain Per Play	3.3	3.4
NET YARDS RUSHING	72	79
Rushes	45	47
Average Per Rush	1.6	1.7
NET YARDS PASSING	154	120
Completions-Attempts	14-24	3-11
Yards Per Pass Play	6.4	10.9
Times Sacked	7	3
Yards Lost to Sacks	51	14
Had Intercepted	1	1
PUNTS	10	7
Average Punt	45.6	47.0
PENALTIES	6	6
Penalty Yards	50	48
FUMBLES	1	3
Fumbles Lost	0	2

Jackets Smother Duke

It was a fun game yesterday as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets crushed the Duke Bluedevils by a final score of 27-0. The defense pitched a shutout and the offense showed that they're not one-dimensional with the run.

I ended up taking my 4 & 6 year old girls by myself while Mama stayed home with the sick baby. It was a beautiful day, sun shining and fans cheering.

PITCHING A SHUTOUT
Well, Paul Johnson said that until we pitched a shutout he would never say there weren't things to improve on. Well, the D stepped up with the goose eggs and Johnson pretty much gave them their due. He did mention that they let a couple of receiver slip past them in the secondary, but that was reaching a little since none of those passes were completed.

The defense really stepped up.
- Duke had 132 yards of total offense. Wow. Game ball to the D.
- 132 yards is the 3rd fewest given up by GT, ever.
- Duke punted the 1st eight times they had the ball
- Duke was only 2-12 on 3rd down conversions
- Duke had -1 yard of total offense in the 3rd quarter
- The D-Line dominated the action in the trenches

OFFENSE DOMINANT
The 3-0 halftime score was really deceiving. The Jackets controlled the first half. Unfortunately, they just couldn't close the deal. They had drives of 12 plays, 11 plays, 11 plays, 8 plays and 8 plays. I missed the first drive getting to the game, but a Shaw / Dwyer fumble during a handoff doomed that drive. Two others stalled on downs as we were unsuccessful on 4th down. The offense chewed up yardage all game long but just struggled in the redzone. They racked up 454 yards of total offense, 230 on the ground and 224 on the ground.

The big play capability of this offense is really setup by the masterful playcalling of Johnson. You just always feel like it's "when" and never "if". You just know it's going to happen. Duke sells out to stop the run and the pitch, which obviously left BeBe open.... a lot. He got his chance and he came through numerous times.



BEBE GETS HIS
Jaybo Shaw completes 9 balls for 230 yards today. BeBe Thomas catches 9 balls for 230 yards. I would say you can call that a "go to guy". He runs right by his incredibly overmatched defender for an eye-opening 88 yard bomb and takes it to the house. BeBe was just a warrior today. Between the blocking and the "baby Calvin" type catches, he clearly was the standout. He got a nice ovation when he came out at the end of the game, and it was well deserved.

For all the hard work he puts in and for keeping his chin up, and for blocking like a mad man, he was rewarded. Today was a reward for being a leader. Oh yeah, did you notice Thomas line up at OT on a few plays? He did.

JAYBO STEADY
For a true freshman getting his first start, you have to say that Jaybo Shaw handled himself well. He played a steady game. He was a little choppy early, and fumbled a couple of times (lost one). He was evidently nervous too:

“Well,” said coach Paul Johson, “I’m sure you couldn’t have driven a straight pin up his tail with a sledgehammer.”

Another classic line from the coach. It's possible Shaw will start again against Gardner-Webb, but make no mistake - Josh Nesbitt is the #1 guy when his hamstring is back. Overall, Shaw had a nice game, made easier by the play-calling........... give to Dwyer......... pass to BeBe........... give to Dwyer............. pass to BeBe............ sensing a pattern?

We are blessed to have someone who is a capable QB in the 2nd string slot. The QB is so critical in all offenses, but in this one particularly. I can't wait until Nesbitt gets back, and it's nice to know we're in good hands regardless.

DWYER IS THE MAN
Jon Dwyer is the best running back in the ACC. Let's just say this - I wouldn't want any of the other ones. His combination of size and speed is just devastating. He is fun to watch. He finished today with 23 carries and 159 yards, both career highs. He had a couple of speed plays he broke and he also had some bull-rushes, where he just dragged guys. Just another day in the office I guess.

O-LINE GETTING HIGH?
Once again, you'd have to say that our interior offensive line was a bit exposed today. Strong penetration from Duke. After the game, Coach Johnson said that they were keeping their pads too high again and that you can bet they'll be working on getting low in practice this week.

CONDITIONING
All we heard about was Duke's fantastic conditioning. I have no doubt they are in better shape than last season, but they weren't the only ones putting in the sweat equity. Conditioning is the cornerstone of Paul Johnson's teams as well, and it was the Jackets who went the distance today while the Duke players were sucking wind on the sidelines. Having said that, when you almost double your opponents time of possession, the opposing defense is going to wear down. It's just a matter of time.

WEIRD STATS
In this "run dominated" offense, something interesting happened. BeBe Thomas went for 230 yards in the air. If memory serves me, Calvin Johnson NEVER went for more than 200 yards in a game. Go figure. Oh yeah - 230 yards receiving was only 15 yards shy of the all-time GT record, held by Dez White, who happened to be at the game........ from a run dominated offense. Go figure.

Someone needs to confirm another strange stat - what are the most yards receiving by a guy when no other receiver catches a ball?

TURNOVER COUNT
Not a good day in my book on turnovers. We fumbled 4 times today and were fortunate enough only to lose one of those. That one was costly as it occurred in the redzone.




THINGS TO WORK ON
Already mentioned turnovers. Still #1. Need to work on procedure penalties on 4th down. We had another two of those this week. Not the first time either. Interior of the offensive line needs to get their pad level down. Special teams was ok, but still needs more focus in my opinion. I want to see Greg Smith stop trying to stretch every pitch out wide and sometimes duck in earlier and get some tougher yards.

NATIONAL STATS
Well, we are among the national leaders in some very interesting stats:

OFFENSE:
#5 rushing yards per game
#19 passing efficiency

DEFENSE:
#5 pass efficiency defense
#4 scoring defense
#3 pass defense (yards)
#16 sacks
#4 tackles-for-loss

In the ACC we lead in rushing offense, offensive passing efficiency, scoring defense (tied w/BC), pass defense and tackles-for-a-loss.

Individually, J.Dwyer now leads the ACC in rushing at 110 yards/game. BeBe Thomas is now 2nd in the ACC in receiving yards at 79.5 / game. Wow on that one. Derrick Morgan is 4th in sacks.

Bottom-line is this - this game was so lopsided defensively that it put us on the national map statistically. Of course the "W" in the win column is the most important stat of all.

NO RESPECT IN THE POLLS
Looks like it's going to take more wins before the "expert" voters take notice. The Jackets didn't crack the top 25 in either the AP or Coaches poll. However, they sure as heck will in my poll. In the AP poll, we are effectively #32 while the Coaches have us #31. Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and North Carolina are ahead of us in both polls.

Here's the real travesty - Auburn, with 2 losses and no offense, is still ranked in the top 25 in both polls. Talk about SEC bias. Even Auburn fans are flabbergasted.

Here's how Georgia Tech stacks up in various polls:

Voter	Rank
Sagarin Top 50	11
Colley Matrix Top 50	26
Harris Interactive	29
USA Today Coaches' Poll	31
AP Poll	32
Billingsley Top 50	N/A
Massey Ratings Top 50	N/A

Here is the breakdown of who ranks us and who doesn't in the AP poll. Some notables giving us love in the top 25 are Adam Van Brimmer, Kirk Herbstreit, Steward Mandel and Chris Fowler.

ACC STANDINGS
So here are the standings:

(As Of October 4)
ATLANTIC DIVISION
School	Conference	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Wake Forest	1-0	1.000	3-1	.750
Maryland	1-1	.500	4-2	.667
Clemson	1-1	.500	3-2	.600
Boston College	1-1	.500	4-1	.800
Florida State	1-1	.500	4-1	.800
NC State	0-2	.000	2-4	.333
COASTAL DIVISION
School	Conference	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Virginia Tech	2-0	1.000	5-1	.833
Georgia Tech	2-1	.667	4-1	.800
Duke	1-1	.500	3-2	.600
Virginia	1-1	.500	2-3	.400
North Carolina	1-1	.500	4-1	.800
Miami	0-2	.000	2-3	.400

We do not control our fate. Virginia Tech is in the driver seat with a 2-0 conference record and tie-breakers over GT and UNC. We need them to get knocked off twice in the coming weeks and we need to keep winning. Tall order on both counts. It's entirely possible to go 11-1 and not play for the ACC championship, although let's not jump that far ahead yet (ya hear my #93?).

Overdue Post-Game Thoughts - Mississippi State

It was a long day Saturday... a long wonderful day. It started at about 7:00am, when we woke up our three girls and made breakfast. It ended with our clan pulling up into our driveway at about 8:30pm that night. In between was a glorious, fun day at Bobby Dodd Stadium. We arrived just after kickoff, missing the first drive, which would prove to be Josh Nesbitt's last. Hamstrings are the darndest things. They can be better in one week or 6 months.

My 4 and 6 year old girls had a good time in section 218, part of the "Jackets Nest". Their favorite part? The cheerleaders of course..... and "the Bug" (that would be Buzz). Their faces reddened as the day wore on, the sun shining brightly on a mostly cloudless afternoon. It was their first time at BDS. I asked them last night if they wanted to go again sometime, and with baited breath, I heard those magic words I was longing to hear - "yeah daddy". Honestly, they were troopers, considering the heat, and the fact that every Minute Maid Frozen Lemonade stand ran out of Frozen Lemonade at Halftime. That was a bit of a crusher, because $4 Dove bars just aren't the same as frozen lemonade on a hot day.

I'm sure you're more interested in the game. However, when you're there with your wife and young kids, it's hard to focus completely on the happenings on the field. That's fine by me though, as Saturday was about the family first. So here are my stream of consciousness thoughts.

Pic from AJC

OFFENSIVE DOMINATION
Let's take stock of a few things. 1) Mississippi State's head coach, Sylvester Croom, said that he and his staff knew exactly what we were going to do and that we did nothing Saturday that surprised them - nothing they had not prepared for..... 2) They had practiced against "the wishbone" for more than one week - they had run option in practice during fall camp - everyday. Croom even said they started preparing for this game at the beginning of summer with his staff....... 3) Mississippi State has (had) a good SEC caliber defense. They did hold Auburn to 3 points, and this is the team that won 8 games last year and went to a bowl, and beat Auburn and Arkansas. Oh yeah, and their head coach is the reigning SEC Coach of the Year in the best conference in football. 4) Georgia Tech's starting stud QB goes out on the first series, leaving a true freshman to run this complex, precision offense.

So you take all that into consideration, and it's eye-opening that Georgia Tech won 38-7. It's mind-boggling that we ran up 500 yards of total offense, including 438 on the ground. It's whacko that 10 different guys carried the ball, and none of them had more than 9 carries. At least 4 guys had over 50 yards on the ground.

Saturday was about complete offensive domination. Players executed more effectively both on the inside and on the perimeter. Many more key blocks were made that just didn't happen last week. Paul Johnson's playcalling was masterful. True freshman Jaybo Shaw handled himself and the offense very well. It is such an incredible feeling to know that you have some confidence if your #1 QB goes down, especially in this offense.

We racked up 500 total yards, including 438 on the ground. That now places the Jackets #3 in the nation in rushing, only behind Navy and Oklahoma State. In essence, Paul Johnson has two of the top three rushing offenses in the country right now.



WHAT ABOUT THE DEFENSE?
I have mixed feelings about the defense. On one hand, we held them to 7 points, and that's all that really matters. On the other hand we gave up over 400 yards in total offense to Miss St. On the other hand, our starters really only gave up 200-250 of those yards, mostly in the 1st half, and 70+ of them on one broken running play. Paul Johnson challenged the defense at halftime and they rose to the challenge in the 3rd quarter, until most of the starters were removed before the 4th quarter started.

I'm still a little unsure about this defense. We rely on our D-Line to get pressure and we blitz a lot less than I thought we would. I was never expecting Tenuta-like blitzing, but I just don't see as much aggressive play going after QB's outside the front four. I'll say this much - I don't think our secondary has been challenged yet. Let's face it - we haven't faced even an average passing team yet. Perriloux had nobody to protect him or anyone to throw it to. BC's Crane was lost against us and was a not even close to making BC fans forget Matt Ryan. Tyrod Taylor didn't complete a pass over 10 yards and beat us with his feet and some untimely penalties and turnovers, not his 43 yards passing. Beamer never opened the playbook for him.

Miss St was more effective in the passing game, but let's put a little perspective on the Dogs - they did lose to Louisiana Tech, the new home of Taylor Bennett. So I still have unanswered questions. It looked to me like the corners were playing soft again, willing to give up the short pass. I still think our banged up linebacking core is a step or two behind the standards of years past. There just isn't enough consistency.

There could be another explanation. With the game well in hand early, DC Dave Wommack may have decided to call off the dogs and hold back on some of his tricks for a future opponent. It seems to be a Paul Johnson trademark that he has things up his sleeve we haven't seen. Maybe he wants his defense to keep some Aces up their sleeves as well.

One thing we might say is that our defense could be considered a "big play" defense. We talk about big plays on offense, but what about the goal-line stops, the INT's, the 4th down stuffs, the fumble recoveries? This defense does generally bow up in the red zone and so far they have a knack for creating turnovers. Some of that is the putrid offenses we've seen. Miss St handed some of those stops to us on a silver platter. Now, if Tech can just force more 3-and-outs further back on the field, we'll really be cooking.

Again, hard to complain about the defense when you only give up 7 points late against the 2nd / 3rd string. Paul Johnson put it best - giving up over 400 yards of offense is not a good defensive performance.

TURNOVERS KEY
You want to know why we had no turnovers today? We fell on the loose balls before the Dogs did. We can't lose sight of the fact that we put the ball on the ground three times Saturday. We were just fortunate to get all of them back. I would not classify our turnover performance as better this week. We just had the bounces go our way. That's how I see it. I have no confidence that we've "taken a step" to improve.... yet. I still believe we are going to be frustrated with our ability to control the ball. There's no magic cure here. In 4 games, we've fumbled 14 times and been fortunate to lose it only 7.

INTERIOR O-LINE - NEW BLOCKING SCHEME? NEW FORMATION?
There was some online scuttlebutt that maybe the Jackets switched up the blocking scheme on the interior of the Oline, and that was a primary driver in the success of fending off the Miss St DLine. I cannot confirm this, although I'd welcome any comments for those in the know. On his post-game interview, Johnson said that they unveiled a "new formation that we'd kind of been saving, that gave us a little jump on the toss early on". Whatever changed, it seemed to be working more effectively. I don't remember seeing DT's bust through the line untouched. I don't remember seeing QB's tackled before they could get the snap. Miss St's massive DT was the SEC lineman of the week against Auburn and I think we held him to one tackle. Overall, those guys in the trenches were more effective, for whatever the reason. Kudo's.

So what was the new formation? I did notice we went away from our "balanced" formation on a number of occasions. In fact, Jonathan Dwyer's 88 yard TD run came on a counter-option play where we were over-weighted on the left side, along with thre Miss St's defense. Not sure about the formation comparison, but that counter-option is the play that Dwyer took 43 yards for the game winner against BC and also resulted in one of those TD's against Jax St. It's been a very effective way to break open a big play if enough guys make their blocks downfield. In every case, Lucas Cox has gone in motion from right-to-left as the A-Back, only to change direction and head back right as the lead blocker for Dwyer on the pitch.

PJ COVERS THE SPREAD
For the bettors out there, Tech has covered the spread in every game so far. On another note, the "over / under" for total points in this game between both teams was 37 (I think). We managed to eclipse that all by our lonesome.

DON'T GET TOO ENAMORED WITH THE "SYSTEM"
It's going to be easy to focus on nothing but "the system". The media is going to it constantly, particularly the opposing teams media. Let's not lose sight of the fact that Paul Johnson and his staff are fiery competitors and winners. Johnson won't accept anything less and nobody will be harder on him than he will. Clearly he had this team ready and focused, and he had Croom's boys on their heels and in a state of confusion all day. The system doesn't make the coach. The coach makes the system. The system has nothing to do with discipline, hard work, buy-in and aggressive play. That comes from the heart of each player in combination with a leader they would go to battle with.

FOCUS, INTENSITY, PHYSICAL
Those were the three words Johnson gave his team last week. I'd say they were the right three.



THERE IS NO QB CONTROVERSY
Across the discussion boards, there were some interesting debates about Jaybo vs Josh, and who should be our QB moving forward. When Josh went out early, Jaybo stepped in and never missed a beat. So what will Coach Johnson do? I think the answer is simple - play Josh Nesbitt when he's healthy again. It's that simple. Jaybo does the little things well and seems to have a better grasp of the mesh/tuck/pitch sequence. Of course, you would expect that since he's a coach's son who ran the exact same system with the exact same terminology in high school.

Josh has had a steeper learning curve in terms of the offense. However, when you compare "upside", it seems clear early on that Josh Nesbitt is more athletic and has a better arm. Nesbitt can do things Shaw can't. We saw it against BC and VT. He makes things happen with his feet when the pocket breaks down. Shaw is quick, but the damage he does with his feet come within the course of the play after making the proper read, and doing it quickly. If things break down, we haven't seen a significant scrambling ability from Shaw.

In terms of throwing strength and accuracy, it's probably too early to tell from the games, but I still have to give the edge to Nesbitt here. Time will tell, but Nesbitt has shown more true "dual-threat" capability so far.

So Shaw might be the better fit now, but Nesbitt might have the bigger upside, so it's worth getting Nesbitt every snap possible. Nesbitt has the potential to be the next Tommy Frazier, possibly the best option QB that ever played the game.

FREAK DAY
Michael Johnson. Field goal block. Check. Sack. Check. Defended passes. Check. Fumble recovery. Check. QB hurries. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. It was that big play day people were waiting for. Hopefully more to come.

Andrew Gardner's performance netted him his second ACC lineman of the week award.

AREAS OF CONCERN
As always there are still areas to get better. Kick-off coverage needs improvement. The secondary needs to step up more effectively against the pass. We still put the ball on the ground too often. We are still incredibly penalty prone.

VIRGINIA TECH CONTROLS COASTAL RACE
With VaTech's win over UNC, they now control their own destiny. They're 2-0 with wins over GT and UNC. We need VT to get knocked off at least a couple of times, and soon. You know, people were so ready to write those guys off and they just win. All that QB controversy stuff last year, and who goes and wins the ACC title? Beamer is an outstanding coach with a very good coaching staff. They get their players ready. Losing to them just the way we did just might be a sting that continues to linger as the season progresses.
CITRUS BOWL REPS AT THE GAME
Evidently it's not too early to start enjoying comp tickets to college football games. The Citrus Bowl is the stadium where the Champs Sports Bowl and Capital One Bowl are held, and per reports from the Hive, they had some reps at our game.

Football - Jackets Lose @ VaTech

Another game and another week with a game there for the taking. Against Boston College, Georgia Tech took it. Against Virginia Tech, we just couldn't get it done. Georgia Tech loses 20-17 in a heartbreaker that truly could have gone either way.

The keys to the game were crystal clear:

DIFFERENCE #1 - TURNOVERS
Really, you can stop at this one and have your answer. Dwyer fumbles at the end of the 1st half with a little over a minute to go and the result is 7 points for Virginia Tech. When you lose by 3, that's the difference. Throw in a Josh Nesbitt fumble in the 1st half at the Virginia Tech 33 and you've killed another potential scoring drive. Then you have a Nesbitt INT in the 2nd half that led to a Field Goal. Let's take stock:

Fumble #1 - 3-7 potential points lost -
Fumble #2 = 7 points VaTech
INT #1 = 3 points VaTech

10 hard points for VaTech on turnovers and another 3-7 lost for the Jackets on a potential scoring drive. That's your ballgame.

DIFFERENCE #2 - MISSING THE BIG PLAY
Last week, Jonathan Dwyer hit the big play with the 43 yard run. This week we missed it..... but it was there. On 3rd down and 7, Josh Nesbitt dropped back and went deep for Roddy Jones. He was wide open, but the ball was overthrown. That was the play. That was the chance. 2:24 on the clock, but it didn't happen this week. Incomplete, and 4th down.

DIFFERENCE #3 - DEFENSIVE PERSONAL FOULS
The last Virginia Tech drive was a back-breaker and never should have happened. On 3rd and long, we forced Tyrod Taylor out of bounds, but Cooper Taylor is called for a personal foul, leading with the helmet. Shades of Brady Quinn and the Philip Wheeler (or was it Guyton?) call a few years ago. Technically, Cooper did lead with his helmet to the helmet. Did his helmet hit Taylors? Yeah? However, I can go through the game and show you about 40 plays where guys hit other guys with helmets. Why call that one then? Tyrod Taylor is NOT a QB on that play. He's a running back, and that's how just about every other tackle looks. Also, it wasn't that hard of a hit, and it was the difference in the game. Automatic first down. The next play Michael Johnson gets called for a face-mask, riding Taylor out again. It was "incidental", but there is no 5-yard variety any longer, and it was another 15 yards and a first down.

Johnson's comment on the helmet-to-helmet - "We pushed the quarterback out of bounds and got a helmet-to-helmet call," Johnson said. "Wow. Wow. 17-17 game. Wow."

Johnson's comment on the facemaks - "That," Johnson said, "was a facemask."

Here's the helmet-to-helmet call:



JOSH NESBITT - RUNNING ON FUMES
Joshn Nesbitt is going to be soooooo good in this offense. He's such a playmaker. He's also soooo young. My perception is that he made more of the right reads today compared to last week. However, he had some critical turnovers as well. Nesbitt ended the day 5-8 passing for 108 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT and 28 rushes for 151 yards, setting a Georgia Tech QB rushing record.

Clearly VaTech had a strategy - #1 stop the dive, #2 - stop the pitch. What's left? Either a pass or a QB run. Well, when you only throw the ball 8 times, that's a lot of QB runs - 28 to be exact. At the end of the game, Josh was drowning in sweat and just trying to catch his breath. Poor guy got run into the ground. You have to wonder if we're going to ride that horse too hard and will he last all season.

He sure is fun to watch though, and to think - he's got 2 more years after this one. I ssoooo wish he had been redshirted last season.

DWYER BRUISED UP
Jonathan Dwyer just couldn't get anything going. VT set up their defense to stop the dive, and they did. Just not much going, and he got tackled hard in the 2nd half and left the game with a back bruise. We'll be watching closely this week to see his status.

PAUL JOHNSON - BRASS TACKS
Well, strap it on, because there's no conservatism in this guy's playbook. 10 drives - 2 punts. Going for the 2 point conversion even after a 5 yard pentalty backed us up further (which we converted to tie the game). Then going for it on 4th late in the game - although I think with the new clock rules it was probably the right play.

Bottom-line, we play to win. Doesn't mean it's going to work out all the time, but I like the attitude it brings.

PAUL JOHNSON - WORKING OFFICIALS
If Johnson's not careful, he's going to get a rep as the Coach K of football. He works officials like nobody's business, with quite colorful language.

INTERIOR OLINE STRUGGLING
To my untrained eye, it looked like our interior line once again struggled mightily. Hokie defenders were shooting gaps for much of the game. There were a series of plays in the 1st half where the VT DLman was tackling Nesbitt literally milliseconds after the snap. They shot the gaps and there was nobody on the O-Line that even touched them.

Now, if a team is determined to take away the dive, they can do it. It's then up to the playcalling to adjust. The Hokies did decide to take away the dive, so it's not all the fault of the interior line. However, they just appeared to struggle once again.

SPEED KILLS.... NOT NECESSARILY
There's this notion that fast defenses will kill the triple option. Miami fans think they'll kill us. UGAg fans are sure of it. Many VT fans thought the same thing. Take away the turnovers and we win today. Boston College had the toughest, strongest front 7, but they lacked speed on the edge. We stayed in it and won at the end. Virginia Tech has one of the fastest defenses in the ACC. We put up 386 total yards, including 278 on the ground and fell short by a field goal. Again, this game is ours without stupid mistakes.

WHERE'S THE PASS?
Ok, let's be honest - we don't pass much. Yes, when we do, it's downfield and usually for lots of yards. Nesbitt complete 5/8 for 108 yards, which is 13.5 per attempt. Compare that to Tyrod Taylor, who was 9/14 for 48 yards. That's 3.4 per attempt. Big difference, and we're a long bomb to Roddy Jones and a drop by Greg Smith away from even more yards.

Having said that, I'm going to be the first to tread on some touchy territory - questioning the playcalling. I'll preface it by saying the game is about winning - not how you do it. But it just seems like we should throw it more. Nesbitt seems to show a good arm, and he's got guys pretty open most of the time..... I know, I know...... They're open BECAUSE we run it all the time. I get it.

There is another issue - pass protection. You have to have it to throw, and it really wasn't there, so maybe it's not fair. I'll tell you what though - if I'm a WR recruit - I'm watching this game thinking, forget what was said - this is pretty darn close to Navy's offense, with 50/58 plays running. That's 86% and that's Navy territory. Again, I know it's all about winning, and the last thing I should do is start letting these things creep into my subconscious. Can't help it. It's there. Why not throw more? There, I said it.

GREG SMITH - ROUGH SEASON SO FAR
Greg Smith was in the doghouse coming in. He didn't help himself with a key drop on a long pass right in the breadbasket. The kid's got great talent, but for some reason he just hasn't gotten his head together enough to showcase those skills. However, I believe his best days are yet to come. We haven't heard the last of Greg Smith.

1-1 VERSUS ACC CHAMPIONS
Let's be real - if I told you we would come out of back-to-back road trips against the defending Atlantic Champions and defending Coastal (and ACC) Champions with a 1-1 split and only 3 points from winning both - you would have been pretty happy. Honestly, I just don't feel that down. There's so much to look forward to, and we just played two good football teams tooth-and-nail to the bitter end. We took one by a hair and lost the other one by that same hair.

We are the youngest team in the ACC by far and have frosh and sophs at every skill position. Our players are learning new schemes, plays, blocking techniques, etc, etc, etc. From a big picture perspective, there's every reason to like the direction we are headed, since our downfall today was mistakes that are totally correctable. We didn't get "whooped". We gave Virginia Tech this game. That's an encouraging sign for such a young team.

OTHER THOUGHTS
I have other thoughts, but just no time to explore. Is our D-Line really getting the job done up front? Can special teams go one game without missing a FG or extra point? Can we have a game with all good snap & holds? There's more, but no time.

Good night my friends.

Georgia Tech - Boston College Insight

Here are some thoughts on the Georgia Tech victory in Boston (with corrections in red):

A WIN IS A WIN
The win today was super-ugly, but it still counts in the win column all the same. However, we're not going to beat many good teams with performances like this. What today was about was hanging tough and keeping the faith. As PJ said - 19 points is always more than 16 points.

However, I think Boston College has a lot of weaknesses. Yes, they have a stout front D-Line, but I don't see them winning the Atlantic Division. So don't think we went out there and beat the best we'll see this year. The best D-Line - probably. The best team, probably not.

JOSH NESBITT A DIFFERENCE MAKER
Josh gets the game-ball today. He didn't just execute, he made the critical plays when things broke down. The O-Line was not containing the D-Line much and Nesbitt was on the run a lot. His handful of critical scampers on 3rd down were classic. The one where he ran down the side line, then dropped in the field of play during the tackle to keep the clock going was just incredible awareness. This guy is just such a good fit for this offense.

DWYER'S TD LOOKED VERY FAMILIAR
Jonathan Dwyer was strong again today, with another 100+ yard effort, averaging about 6.0 yards / carry. The 43 yard run for a TD was interesting for a couple of reasons. First, Nesbitt made a good read when he realized two BC guys were on him. He pitched the ball and Dwyer was off to the races.

However, the actual play call, if I'm not mistaken, was the same one that Dwyer scored on against Jacksonville State. It goes like this - Lucas Cox, the right side ABack, goes in motion to the left. However, after a few steps he reverses field. His motion tends to cause the LB's to shift and lean to the wrong side and by the time he reverses field the LB's angles are off. Then Nesbitt gets the ball, Dwyer runs right for the pitch option. Nesbitt pitches him the ball and blockers and cutting guys to the ground all over. WR's cut their guy to the ground. The right tackle fires out and cuts the LB, who hops back up, but is too late, as Dwyer runs by him. It was poetry in motion, and I think it's worked twice now.

"The problem with this team is, if you miss your assignment on one play, it could go to the house," BC linebacker Mark Herzlich said. "That's what happened."

DEFENSE STEPPED UP
You have to hand it to the D. The first half they didn't look sharp, but they bowed up every single time BC got into the redzone. Only one TD in the 2nd half, but many more chances, and with all the Georgia Tech fumbles, they were on the field more than they should have been. The second half was more impressive. Darryl Richard had some fantastic plays, and the safety by Derrick Morgan and Vance Walker was a game-changer.

The linebackers did just ok, based on my novice opinion. Considering we had two guys out, I guess you have to give them a thumbs up. Kyle Jackson has nice instincts and played well. Sedric Griffin got the start today and held his own. Tony Clark played very well. Other than a potentially disasterous late hit call on the QB, Griffin played with nasty streak. Sed is out for heads when he tackles. That is clear. Steven Sylvester won't redshirt this year, as he saw his first action of the season. Too bad, but hey, we need to win this year, and with AT Barnes and B.Jefferson out of action, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. The second half performance by the LB group was much better than the first.

I thought the DB's did a nice job today. Coverage was generally pretty good and tackling was ok. They had a couple of key INT's to help change momentum in the 2nd half.

TURNOVERS - OUCH
I don't think there's much to say about the turnovers. They happened. This is a high risk offense. Hopefully, we'll reduce these as we grow into the offense.

DWYER HAS A SECOND GEAR
Back to Dwyer. When was the last time we had a running back with take-it-the-house, breakaway speed? I think the last guy was the Haley's Comet-like career of Tony Hollings. PJ Daniels and Tashard Choice was all heart, and tough, between-the-tackles, backs, but they just never had that breakaway speed once in the clear. Dwyer is different. He's got a 2nd gear, and it surprises me, quite frankly, because he's so big and strong. He's got that speed, but he broke a lot of tackles today. It's hard for one guy to take him down.

PLAYING TO WIN
There is something magic about option football. It's college football at its purest, if you ask me. However, there's something else magic about college football - playing to win. Playing "not to lose" is the domain of the NFL and we saw a little too much of it on the flats. Sure, you can win your share of games that way, but you're going to lose a bunch too.

Playing to win is a mentality. Paul Johnson went for it on 4th and inches with the Jackets up by 3 late in the 4th quarter. A field goal would have put us up by 6 and forced BC to score a TD. Johnson decided to go for it, was successful, and then we ran out the clock. Coach Gailey would have kicked the field goal, and maybe we would have still won, but going for it just exudes a different attitude. Go for the throat. Swagger. I like it.

INTENSITY
Something else that's pretty cool - in-game fire and intensity. Paul Johnson and his staff bring the heat during the game. Greg Smith felt the wrath of his A-Back coach and Johnson after making a couple of mistakes. It's nice to see fire from your head coach. Having said that, it's not out-of-control. He generally exudes a calm confidence, but most of his fire is reserved his own players who make mistakes. Anyhow, I like the fire and attitude.

SPECIAL TEAMS = SPECIAL NEEDS
Opening kickoff fumbled
Punt fumbled and lost
Two missed field goals

The only real bright spot on special teams was Jonathan Dwyer, who had a 50+ yard return that was very impressive. Maybe we could give Scott Blair some kudos for punting the ball solidly. ther than that, it's back to the drawing board. Our snap / hold / kick trio needs work. Low snaps, poor holds, bad kicks. We did hit a 27 yard field goal, but not good enough. Blair is 1-for-5 on the season.

RODDY SMITH ROCKS
I'm sorry, but Raycom, the ENTIRE staff at Raycom, should be ashamed. For the entire game, we had to hear about "Roddy Smith". Who the heck is Roddy Smith? There was a guy named Roddy Jones carrying the ball everytime they said "Roddy Smith". Maybe that's who they were talking about. Of course his name was right on the back of his jersey - "Jones". I guess "Jones" and "Smith" are just those generic names, and nobody on the entire staff, announcing crew, film truck, bathroom attendants, etc, decided that maybe they should let the announcers know they were making a mistake.

WHAT ABOUT THE O-LINE?
Ok, we know that BC's D-Line is stout. They were #2 in rush defense in the nation last year and they brought most of those guys and more back this season. Clearly they are talented. Having said that, the O-Line is still a major question mark in my mind. Some of those guys just aren't getting any push off the line. Some guys seem to just miss their assignments. I don't know if it's just an experience thing, a communication thing, a technique thing or an effort thing.

However, give them credit for hanging tough and continuing the fight. Again, a win is a win.

INT'S - THE ANTI-TENUTA
You know what happens when you leave DB's and LB's in coverage? You actually pick off a few more balls. Last season we had a grand total of 5 INT's, with Morgan Burnett grabbing 3 of them. After two games, we already have 4 INT's, and 3 different guys have them (as opposed to 2 last season).

SCOUTS OUT
There were 16 NFL scouts at this game, watching a bunch of guys on both sides of the ball.

ACC REDEMPTION?
Wake Forest barely slips by Ole Miss, but a win is a win. East Carolina beats up #8 West Virginia, so does that mean Virginia Tech is better than we thought after losing to them last week? Hard to tell. VaTech beat Furman today, but it wasn't a trouncing. Clemson crushes Citidel. Virginia shuts out Richmond. NCST beats William and Mary. Florida State is shutting out Western Carolina 42-0 as I type this. Maryland did lose to Mid Tenn State (in a game I was sooooo tempted to pick). Duke lost to Northwestern 24-20.

Lastly, Miami is hanging with Florida, down 9-3 in the 3rd quarter, so at least their playing respectably. Does this mean the ACC gets a little reputation back? Maybe a little, but not much. Need more wins.

COASTAL THE STRONG ONE?
Going into this season, one thing was VERY clear - the media all thought the Atlantic conference was the clearly stronger ACC conference. Maybe it's not so clear. Georgia Tech just beat Boston College. Miami is looking strong against Florida. UNC should be better. Duke is better (but still Duke). UVA - not sure. But over in the Atlantic, you have the Clemson debacle, BC losing, Maryland losing, NCST losing last week, etc. Wake has won two quality games and FSU is rolling over a nobody. Maybe the Coastal is stronger than people thought.


Said Dwyer: “The coach was saying to us all week, ‘You can’t get respect — you have to take it.’ “

"We thought we had them,'' said the Boston College left offensive tackle."And then we didn't.''

Hoops - Tech Sweeps Wake Forest

Well, there's nothing in terms of a post-season to play for, but it's clear that the team is still putting up a fight. The Jackets get the overtime victory over Wake Forest today. They led most of the game although they lost focus in the 2nd half and gave up the lead.

The guys are clearly playing hard and good things happened today........ Mo Miller continues to develop as a Point Guard. You can see a real future with him................. A-Mo was hitting shots, which is always fun to see..................... Jeremis was Jeremis. Banging... double/double... getting beat up and knocked on the floor multiple times...... Gani continues to have flashes of impressive play.

As far as Wake Forest, they have some nice players and should be formidable next season with the amazing recruiting class they have coming in. That one dude they have though (McFarland?) - I did not like his game. That guy has some nice potential, but the guy just flat out plays dirty. He pushes. He shoves, He pulls jerseys. He goes over the back. He undercuts people. He's the first guy I've seen in the ACC this season where I just thought a guy was a truly dirty player. It's sad because he's got some skills. But evidently he's fouled out of at least 5 games this year, so he's used to hacking.

Anyhow, we move on to UVA on Monday. It would be nice to see a few W's prior to the ACC tourney, then actually make a little bit of noice. Not likely, but it would be nice.

GO JACKETS!!!!

Hoops - Dreams..... Faded.....

Jackets lose again today....... this time to Miami........ this time at home...... Hard to say exactly what happened this time. Just that it was something different that failed them today. Seems that the effort and energy were much greater than the Clemson game. However, ball control was clearly lacking as evidenced by something like 22 turnovers. Also, while they held Miami's leading scorer, J.McClinton in check the 1st half, they let him go off in the second half, including dagger-like threes late in the game, after major defensive miscues.

No time for an in-depth analysis, but if you ask me, it just all seems to come down to Point Guard play. Both Javaris Crittenton and Jarrett Jack were in the house tonight to see what happens to teams when they leave early. That wasn't all, but it sure seems to always make the difference in a win vs loss. Causey was decent today, but he played out of control in stretches, and Mo Miller was seeming absent.

Not sure where we head from here. We're finally breaking through for a few road wins, and somehow we are 4-6 at the "Thrillerdome". We're 1-4 against ACC teams at home. Go figure.

Coaching? Who knows. It's easy to knock Coach Hewitt and what he isn't doing. I'm not qualified to really say what he's doing right or wrong. I just know it's been another disappointing season. I wanted more. We all wanted more. we knew it was going to be tough with all the roster turmover. With a 4th PG in 4 years. We knew it was going to be tough.....

........ losing Javaris Crittenton
........ losing Thaddeus Young
........ losing Mario West
........ losing RaSean Dickey
........ losing Mouhammad Faye
........ losing Paco Diaw

But you know what? That's life in the big city. That's the college game. Build a system. Build continuity. Develop depth. Get guys to buy in to what you're doing. That's how you weather the storms of losing key guys.

Well, it was another frustrating day, and most likely the nail in the coffin for any postseason hopes. In case you're curious, Dave Glenn has an interesting statistical look at historic ACC records that get you to the dance. Even making the NIT is tenuous since that requires a winning record. You know, I like the guys on the team. Seem like good guys. They seem to represent the school well. Most importantly, THEY are the ones that chose to be at GT and try their hand here at big-time college hoops. It's frustration to see guys you appreciate not getting it done on the court. I'm sure it's doubly frustrating for them.

Happy Stinkin' Valentine's Day

I'm actually writing this at the 16 minute mark of the Clemson / Georgia Tech basketball game. Actually, let me rephrase that - Clemson's scrimmage against a high school team parading as a college team.

I am not exaggerating - there has not been a single stretch of more than one minute where we have not had reason to be frustrated.

.... can't inbound the ball

.... can't move on offense

.... can't get a defensive rebound

.... can't dribble

.... can't defend

.... can't defend for the ENTIRE shotclock

.... can't find anyone to step up

.... can't find anyone to box out

.... can't find anyone who is playing with confidence

.... every shot challenged

.... every point a chore

.... can't find a ref who knows the concept of "over the back"

Shall I go on?

Clemson plays harder

Clemson plays smarter

Clemson plays more disciplined defense

Clemson moves the ball better on offense

I know that it's just one game on one night, and Coach Hewitt has certainly gotten this group in better shape recently, but...................

....... I hate to write this, but Coach Hewitt, his staff, and this team embarrassed themselves tonight. They layed an egg. And here's the crazy thing. It wasn't like they weren't trying. They just look undisciplined, unsure, uncoached, un-this and un-that. This was a team without a plan and without a counter-plan. This was a team without a leader. This group had no answers tonight, and I'm not even sure they knew what the questions were.

By the way, I also want to give props to Clemson and in particular to Oliver Purnell. Every year that guy has been at Clemson he has made his team better. He has had a plan since day one and he has gotten his kids to buy in to that plan, and he has executed the plan. Having said all that, he has yet to take his team to the NCAA tourney. This year looks to be the first since he's been at Clemson. Coach Hewitt has gotten higher profile recruits, and has had more success than Purnell. Purnell hasn't sniffed the NCAA tourney and Coach Hewitt played for a National Championship. However, Clemson has seen a slow steady climb with Purnell while Tech has been on a roller-coaster ride since day one. You see a progression at Clemson. As a fan, you can buy in that he is building something with the Tigers. I don't see it at Tech. However, I'm not sure which is better. Talk to me when Purnell is getting his team to the dance and winning some games. However, when it's a roller-coaster ride, it's sure hard being a fan.

One last thing - this loss wasn't just "one of those nights". We stunk. We were outplayed in virtually every facet of the game. Great job Clemson. You took it to us............. meanwhile..... back to the drawing board for Paul Hewitt............. of course we need a winning record to even quality for the NIT, so who knows where this season will end up.

So like I said........... happy stinkin' Valentine's Day.

Hoops - Jackets Lose at UConn

A little late but better than never. The Jackets did lose to UConn on Saturday. If games were 34 minutes long, we would be celebrating. But alas, they are not, and we are not celebrating. The Huskies trailed much of the game, but took over late without any sort of real last charge by the Jackets. UConn's 8 foot tall giant was a monster everywhere (Hasheem Thabeet). No doubt he's progressed in his time with Calhoun. He altered countless shots and block about 7 others.

Bottom-line with this game for me was reinforcement of how much we miss a guy like Luke Schenscher. Having a long-armed 7-footer underneath who knows how to help defend, takes up lots of space in the paint and alters shots counts for a lot more than statistics will ever show. We all kind of hope that Brad Sheehan can eventually provide that type of role, but he has become a non-factor as a redshirt freshman this season. Just not strong enough........ yet. Maybe in a year or two he'll be that guy. Of course we all shouldn't forget that Luke went through a very similar process. It just takes time for big guys.

Hoops - Jackets Nab Another Close Road ACC Victory

On a day when people are focused on the results of Super Tuesday, and the college world is focused on football recruiting and signing day activities, and much of the hoops world is focused on the first Duke vs North Carolina bout of the year......... another little game was played at a school I like to call Wake Forest. In that little game, our group of rambling wreckage did it again. They got another ACC road win. They looked left for dead in the 2nd half again. They came back and took control of the game in the final minutes.

Some key points:

• The Jackets are now 3-1 on the road in the ACC.
• The Jackets are 1-3 at home in the ACC....... go figure.
• On the season the Jackets are 6-5 on the road + neutral courts.
• On the season the Jackets are 4-5 at home. So much for the Thrillerdome this season.
• The Jackets snapped a 16-game home winning streak by WF.
• The Jackets won for only their 2nd time at WF since Coach Hewitt arrived.
• A-Mo was a beast in the 2nd half, scoring all but 2 of his points and pretty much sealing the game by draining free throws
• Speaking of free throws, the Jackets shot almost 80% as a team. Wow.
• Here's something. This team is seriously taking care of the ball in the 2nd half of their games. I think Wes said that in our last 4 games, we've only had something like 18 turnovers in the 2nd half combined. That's outstanding.
• What is the deal with Harvey Hale playing the Jackets? He throws bricks against everyone else, but rains three's from all over the floor every time he plays us?
• I've said it before and I'll say it again - Matt Causey is a firey little cuss. He did it again tonight, intentionally fouling James Johnson, who then started clapping in Causey's face, made contact, which led to a little scuffle. Causey got booed everytime he came on the floor from that moment on. Well........ Matt's Matt. That's all there is to say about that.
• Up next is UConn on the road. At this point, we need that win to keep any flicker alive for an NCAA hope. Heck, any loss is almost a nail in the coffin. A .500 record in the ACC ain't going to cut it for these Jackets with their poor out-of-conference showing. The way I see it, it's going to take at least a couple of games over .500 in conference, then do a little damage in the ACC Tourney.

Regardless, another solid road win in the ACC. Heck, we've had more road ACC wins the past month than we had the past 2+ years.

Great going Jackets!!!