BlogPoll Week 4

Here's my Blog Poll Ballot for week 4. Let me have it - where do I need to make changes?

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	--
2	Oklahoma	2
3	Georgia	--
4	Florida	2
5	LSU	1
6	Texas	1
7	Missouri	1
8	Wisconsin	3
9	Texas Tech	3
10	South Florida	4
11	Wake Forest	2
12	Auburn	2
13	Ohio State	8
14	Oregon	1
15	Brigham Young	2
16	Kansas	7
17	East Carolina	1
18	Alabama	2
19	Penn State	2
20	Utah	2
21	Florida State	4
22	Vanderbilt	4
23	Oklahoma State	3
24	Boise State	2
25	North Carolina	1

Dropped Out: Arizona State (#16), UCLA (#19), Fresno State (#23), Georgia Tech (#24).

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.

Live Blogging - Georgia Tech vs Virginia Tech

Watch the Dive

The battle today may be right up the middle. Watch closely the battle of the GT O-Line and the VT D-Line. Watch how effective Jonathan Dwyer is at busting up the gut. VT's defensive tackles are taking a little heat coming into the game and Georgia Tech's O-Line took a little heat for "getting their tails handed to them" last week.

Now, check out Frank Beamer's strategy for this week. It's clear - lots of guys are focused on the dive (or at least that's what they're saying):

Here's DC Bud Foster:

ON A KEY BEING TO GET SOME INSIDE PUSH, LIKE BOSTON COLLEGE DID: “That’s part of it. Their two tackles are war daddies, though, their two defensive tackles. Those guys may not necessarily make plays, but you’ve got to clog up the middle so they can’t get that downhill push. They like to run that track with that fullback real tight. But we’re going to have a lot of people taking care of the dive … we’re going to handle the quarterback, too. But we’ve got to be disciplined. You can’t be taking the quarterback when you’ve got dive, or you can’t be taking the pitch when you’ve got quarterback. And then you’ve got to be disciplined in the passing game. They don’t throw it a lot, but they’re productive when they throw the ball.”

LB PURNELL STURDIVANT
ON HIS PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY DEFENDING THE GEORGIA TECH OPTION: “The dive. (Foster) pretty much put the linebackers and D-ends on the dive this week, just to go in there, pound the fullback. And for the quarterback, the safeties and the rovers take those guys and the wings.”

ON THE LAST TIME HE PLAYED AN OFFENSE LIKE THIS ONE: “My freshman year of high school, the wing-T. That was the last time. It was kind of tricky in high school. I had more responsibility as a linebacker in high school. But Bud took some of the pressure off us this week, so we’ve just got to basically just stop the dive.”

ON HOW CAREFUL THEY HAVE TO BE NOT TO GET LULLED TO SLEEP AND HAVE PASSES SAIL OVER THEM: “Very careful, but as long as I do my job, we’ll be fine. They might have a play fake, but I’m taking care of the dive, so the secondary’s going to be taking care of the pass.”

Are you sensing a theme here?

Michael Johnson Highlights

From the Boston College game:



Also, in case you missed this interview, check it out:

Volleyball - Meet Nicki Meyer

In case you didn't know, Urban Meyer's daughter committed to play at Volleyball at Georgia Tech. Here's a story on her. Evidently she's a bit of a celebrity hound as well. Of course if you're Urban Meyer's daughter, you're going to get some chances to meet some interesting people.


Evidently she's quite the Volleyball player too.

The Player vs Opponent X-Factor

Why do certain players just kill certain teams? I'm sure many of you can name the situations. Happens all the time. A guy doesn't get it done against most teams, but just lights up certain opponents.

Sean Glennon is that guy the last two outings versus Georgia Tech. In 2006 he was 27-53 for 339 yards, 1 TD in a loss and in 2007 he had his famous no-jersey game where he beat us by completing 22-32 for 296 yards, and 2 TD's.

However, Glennon is fighting for his job this season, much as he did at times last year. It's an interesting scenario, because on one hand, you have more to worry about with a mobile QB like Tyrod Taylor. With a drop-back guy it seems more straightforward.

Having said that, Glennon's struggles may benefit Georgia Tech. Will he get the start? Will he be given enough of a chance to make some plays? Can he sting the Jackets for a 3rd year in a row?

Personally, my gut tells me we'll be better off against Taylor, but with our change in defensive philosophy, even Glennon won't have free reign like years past. Taylor's a threat with his feet, but not so much with his arm. Our defense practices everyday against Josh Nesbitt and my hope is that the skills are transferable.

Who would you rather see? Glennon, who's struggling coming in, but is a Jacket killer? Taylor, who is dual-threat, but still young and unproven?

Georgia Tech / Boston College Video Highlights

Beesball - Wieters Baseball America's POY

Matt Wieters was awarded Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year award this week. Quite impressive to say the least. He has burned his way through the minors, leaving nothing but charred debris in his wake. Check out these two great stories:

Hall weighs in on Wieters
Taking Flight

Remember the day

Stop for a minute and remember

Academic Consistency - where is it?

Want an eye opener? Mark Alesia of the Indianapolis Star did a study of colleges (that reported data) that let in athletes with qualifying grades / scores below that colleges minimum standards. He looked at the general population, the entire student-athlete population and then just football.

Here's the chart with results for 31 schools, based on the most recent data points of that schoo - PDF here. Some of the most interesting data points include:

University of Georgia in 1999/2000 allowed 7% of their general student population in with lower standards, while 78% of their overall student-athlete population got in without meeting university standards. The kicker - 94% of the football players admitted to the University of Georgia did NOT meet UGAg's minimum admission standards.

Georgia Tech allowed no exceptions (0% statistically) for the student population, 9% of the student-athlete population and also 9% for football players (data from 2004/2005).

Here are some other schools with high percentages of football players not meeting minimum standards - Cal (95%), FSU (65%), KY (64%), Ok(81%), Texas A&M (94%).

Wow. Just wow. Don't forget the SEC's move to lower standards even further. So while UGAg fans will trumpet that their standards are higher than NCAA minimums, it turns out that the point is moot - if you can tote the rock, you'll be a lock.

Here's more interesting background.

Notes from around the ACC

MIAMI IS BACK........ DEFENSIVELY
............ and guess who fans are turning their rage to now? It's our former OC, Patrick Nix. After Miami's solid defensive showing against Florida, combined with a 3 point offensive whimper, "U" fans are piling on Nix bigtime. I looked through Miami's Scout.com message board after their loss and there were threads littered with "Fire Nix". It was a similar refrain - lack of creativity in the playcalling, not allowing the QB to try anything new, conservatism, etc, etc, etc. In fact, the best defense I saw for Nix was that "Shannon handcuffed Nix". Now that's a vote of confidence! Sounds very familiar.

As to "the U" being back, I'll believe it when I see it. Keep winning games please, then we'll talk. If you watched the UM / FL game, you had to be impressed with the D. No doubt. It's a team game though. You win with O, D, ST, and the O and ST are an issue at Miami.

CLEMSON........ WHERE'S THE D?
Clemson beats up on Citidel. Expected, right? Did you check out the box score? Did you know Clemson gave up 340 yards passing to Citidel? What, says Chris Berman? How did that happen? My Clemson cronies here tell me their coverage schemes were man-on-man in the 1st half and their guys were finding the seams. It wasn't until their DC adjusted coverage that they finally slowed down the passing game. I'm not saying it's significant looking ahead, but it bares watching. In fact, after two weeks, Clemson is dead last in the ACC in Total Defense, giving up 423 yards/game.

FRIDGE..... ON ICE?
Our friend Ralph Friedgen is under the gun. Maryland fans have about reached their breaking point. He might make it through this season, but not much longer unless things turnaround. Losing to Mid Tenn St was tough for many. In fact, some are saying it's the worst loss in their school's history. Ouch. Friedgen put up huge win totals his first three seasons using the previous guy's players. With his players, things have steadily gone downhill. Is the Peter Principle in effect here? Is Fridge cut out to be a headcoach? Some guys are just best suited to be a coordinator (just ask NCST fans). No doubt Fridge would get an OC job somewhere (with the requisite paycut), and actually, Miami fans and Virginia Tech fans might be the first to get in line.

UNC'S TATE - WHAT A STAT LINE
I totally missed this in light of the fact that North Carolina barely knocked off mighty McNeese State. Brandon Tate had the following stat line:

3 carries for 106 yards rushing
4 catches for 93 yards receiving & 1 TD
3 punt returns for 142 yards & 1 TD
2 kick-off returns for 56 yards

That's a grand total of 397 all-purpose yards and 2 TD's. All in a day's work I guess. Sure am glad he helped them squeek by Might McNeese. I can't help but wonder - did Butch Davis allow any of his other players on the field?

OH, DUKE, HOW LOW HAVE YOU SUNK
Again, our man Ted Roof helps cement his head coaching legacy (unfortunately) and Duke cements their legacy with this story. Most of you know that Duke broke a contract with Louisville to play a game last year. Louisville sued, claiming that they didn't give them enough time to find another quality opponent (like Duke). Duke argued that there is NOT a team worse than Duke, which obviously means you could schedule anyone and be "comparable".

The kicker - Duke won the court case.

Adding insult to injury - there's video of DUKE's lawyer....... let me repeat that........ DUKE's lawyer arguing why Duke is the worst team in football and how anyone would be crazy to put them on television. I guess it just goes to show that sometimes the legal system really does work the way it was intended.



WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE ACC?
First, I have a hard time seeing any team competing nationally and staying in the Top 10. The only undefeated teams left are GT, FSU, WF and UNC. I have a hard time seeing Wake going undefeated and we just don't know enough about FSU. Ain't gonna happen at GT or UNC. As for the ACC title, it's a muddled mess and completely wide open for someone to step up and grab.

If I were doing a "power poll", based on actual results, with only a slight tinge of "expectation" built in, here's how I would rank them:

1. Wake Forest - Not quite top shelf talent, but very good, very disciplined and well coached. They're the flagship right now.
2. Clemson - have the talent, should win it, but I question gameday coaching and the mental edge, which was clearly lacking in week 1. They're still 0-0 in the ACC though.
3. Georgia Tech - 2-0 with a road ACC victory under our belt. However, we fumble..... a lot. The D will keep us in most games and our offense should get better each week.
4. FSU - they've played one game, a nobody, and crushed them. Let's reserve judgement until they face better competition.
5. Miami - 1-1, lost to a good Florida team and opened some eyes defensively. We've beaten them 3 years in a row. That just doesn't happen much, and 4 years in a row seems a stretch. With our man Nix manning their offense, there's always hope.
6. Boston College - Defensively stout. Offensively...... crickets chirping.......
7. Virginia Tech - still laying the wood defensively and on special teams. See #6.
8. UNC - just don't know yet, but struggled in week 1
9. Duke - energized, but not talented
10. Maryland - Fridge on defrost
11.Virginia - Al Groh is Al "Gross" so far. Fans antsy again....... see "Tommy Bowden".
12. NCST - Still cleaning up the bottles on the lawn from the clown party.

Guest Blogger Week 3 - "Gobbler Country"

Time again for an enemy blogger Q&A again, so we turn to Virginia Tech blogger "Gobbler Country" for some insight into this year's edition of the Hokies:

You have a QB controversy. Tell us about which QB you think will make you most successful on offense and why. How much of the offensive issues are at QB?

Like most fans, I believe Tyrod Taylor gives this offense the best chance to be successful. However, unlike most fans, my reasoning has nothing to do with the way Sean Glennon has performed. Taylor is a more mobile quarterback and a better playmaker, which is something this offense lacks. There are no returning starters at wide receiver, running back or fullback. The starting tight end from last year currently sits No. 3 on the depth chart because he is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered last year against Georgia Tech.

There is simply no one on offense right now who can make plays better than Taylor, so having him on the bench isn't a good idea to begin with. The clincher is that the offensive line isn't as improved as we hoped and suffered a big loss in tackle Blake DeChristopher on the opening drive of the season. Glennon doesn't have the mobility to compensate for the struggles on offensive line right now and Taylor does.

The issues on offense have nothing to do with the quarterback. Glennon isn't a terrible quarterback, but hasn't improved like someone who was coming into his third year as a starter should have. The problem with the offense lies with the offensive line and the offensive coordinator. The play-calling has been questionable this season and the offensive line has been very inconsistant.


Is Virginia Tech's defense just as strong as in years past?

It's not, because the depth just isn't there. In the past, the Hokies could run four or five defensive ends or linebackers in the same game and the level of play wouldn't go down much. This year there is very little margin for error. You lose a key player, like Macho Harris, and everything goes to hell. The Hokies currently have their only returning starter at linebacker (Cam Martin) and top pass-rushing defensive end (Jason Worilds) on the mend for the game against Georgia Tech. Last year and the year before, this wouldn't have worried me a lot. This year it does because the guys replacing them just don't compare to them.

If you were developing a gameplan to beat Virginia Tech, how would you do it?

It pains me to say this, but I would run it up the gut until the Hokies could prove they could stop it. Tech's defensive tackles haven't done a very good job through two games and got absolutely worked by the ECU offensive line.

I would also test Macho Harris early to see if his ankle is at 100 percent. He hurt it in the last scrimmage of the season and missed the ECU game. He is critical to run defense because he plays boundary corner, meaning he lines up on the short side of the field every play. Because of this, he has more responsibilities for stopping run plays to that side of the field. There's so much open space on the other side that the field corner needs more help, therefore the best run-stopping cornerback VT has will play boundary corner because he can be left more on an island in running situations.

On defense, I would stack the box and make Tyrod Taylor prove he can beat you with his arm. He did it against Clemson and Florida State last year, but he had much better targets to throw to then.

What is the confidence level of VT fans right now, heading into the ACC conference slate?

Morale is not very high right now. Most fans (if not all) want the offensive coordinator fired. The defense made uncharacteristic mistakes against ECU. We were up only 3-0 at halftime against Furman. The current mood is probably a mild panic. A loss to Georgia Tech would send the fanbase in to full fledged torch-and-pitchfork mode.


GUEST BLOGGER WEEK 2 - "EAGLE IN ATLANTA"

What about the defense?

The quote of the week, from Virginia Tech Head Coach Frank Beamer Monday, on having success in the past finding soft spots in Jon Tenuta's zone behind the blitz, and comparing it to Georgia Tech's current defensive scheme:

“I always said (Tenuta) gets you or you get them, but this (GT's current defense) is more diverse. You get more fronts and they’re coming at you out of all the fronts. They make it tough. They don’t just line up and do one thing.”

Wow. Frank Beamer just completely summed up how most everyone feels about Jon Tenuta's attack. A bit of a one-trick pony, but one that succeeded more than it failed, almost solely because most college QB's make bad decisions when forced to make them quickly.

At the end of the day, our current defense is more diverse in terms of schemes, fronts and coverages. One thing we do know is that Georgia Tech might not end up a top 20 run defense, which became common under Tenuta. However, we may end up more balanced. When you consistently have 8 in the box, or send 5 after the QB on every play, you're going to stop the run a lot. It's not a coincidence that we were 4th in the nation in Tackles-for-a-loss and led the nation in sacks. We won't do that again.

Statistically, our defensive rankings are a bit of an anomoly compared to the Tenuta years. After two games, we are #60 in the nation against the run. However, we are #25 in pass defense (139 yards) and #24 in pass efficiency defense (89.39). This is all a bit misleading though

Let's compare 2007 to 2008 (not really a fair comparison after only 2 games)

Rush Defense

2007 #20 (114 yards/game)

2008 #60 (121 yards/game)

Pass Defense

2007 #41 (216 yards/game)

2008 #25 (139 yards/game)

Pass Efficiency Defense

2007 #58 (125 rating)

2008 #24 (89 rating)

So here's what I see - fewer guys tasked to stop the run up front, yet only giving up 7 more yards / game, and more guys tasked to stop the pass, with a significant reduction of 77 yards/game and a much better pass efficiency defense rating. At the same time, we're still #9 in the nation with 9 sacks and 23rd in TFL with 7/game. I would argue that if we continue to only give up 121 yards/game on the ground, we will end up in the top 30 in the nation in rushing defense (121 yards/game last season would have slotted you in at #24, right behind Clemson).

Again, two games isn't a real comparison, and our first opponent was clearly overmatched, even though the QB was Ryan Perrilloux. The Boston College game was legit, as this was "O Line U", right? Their weakness at QB ultimately killed them though. BC folks believe that they have gone from the best to the worst QB in the ACC (although Maryland and NCST fans put up a good argument).

Also, in case you're curious, "pass defense" is nothing more than passing yards given up. "Pass Efficiency Defense" takes into consideration yards, completion percentage, INT's and INT rate, TD's and TD rate, yards / attempt and yards/completion. It's a more complete number. Here's a nice primer (http://www.nationalchamps.net/2004/articles/1019_stat_class.htm_)

There's one more thing that happened Saturday against Boston College - we made halftime adjustments defensively that worked. We gave up 202 yards in the first half and only 60 in the 2nd half. It helped that we decided to actually keep the ball on offense. BC dominated time-of-possesion, which of course typically translates in the yardage category. However, there were a couple of run plays that were killing us in the 1st half and Dave Wommack made some adjustment at the half and seemed to close the spigot on the Eagles.

All in all, I enjoy watching a more diverse defense, one that covers receivers more effectively and shuts down passing lanes. Having said that, the blitz was fun most of the time. I have to admit it. In many ways, Tenuta was to defense what Paul Johnson is to offense - unique and hard to prepare fo. In many ways, the same "only one week to prepare" applied to our defense, not our offense. So we've switched that to the offensive side of the ball. Our defense is now more "traditional" and our offense isn't. We all got frustrated when our unique defensive scheme wasn't working, because we rarely changed or adjusted during the game. It either worked or it didn't.......... (see Beamer quote above).

The question long-term is how effective we can be defensively and how will we adjust with personnel? My belief is that it will succeed this year, largely because our D-Line is the best unit on the team. Those four guys up-front do the work of 5-6. Their talent and athleticism allows Wommack the flexibility to drop more guys in coverage. What happens when Vance Walker, Michael Johnson and Darrly Richard are gone next season? It will be interesting to watch. You adjust to your strengths, and I would expect changes. Our secondary is so young, but I would argue that there's more talent there than in years. We are also young but oozing with potential at the Linebacker spots. Will the new guys like man-child TJ Barnes step in on the D-Line and be our next "Vance"? Don't know, but it's going to be interesting to watch.

Anyhow, we get so much talk about the offense, that I thought it would be prudent to focus on the defense, especially after they won the game for us against BC.

The ACC may stink, but.......

.... it is clear the league has no issues playing tough competition. ESPN did an interesting statistical survey of the top BCS teams that don't avoid competition. They ranked teams by the percentage of non-conference games against BCS opponents. Check out the list:

#1 FSU
#2 USC-west
#3 Georgia Tech
#4 UCLA
#5 North Carolina
#6 Michigan State
#7 Iowa
#8 Miami
#9 (tie) Clemson, Duke, Penn St, Syracuse, Virginia

Are you sensing a theme here? Of the top 13 teams, 7 are from the ACC. How many from the SEC? Try zero. What's up with that? Look I'm not saying the ACC is better - it clearly isn't. However, SEC, it's time to buck up and play some more BCS teams.

Blog Poll, Week 2

Here's my Blog Poll for week two. Before it becomes official, I encourage you to provide any feedback before the final ballot is due Wednesday.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	--
2	Florida	--
3	Georgia	--
4	Oklahoma	--
5	Ohio State	--
6	LSU	--
7	Texas	1
8	Missouri	1
9	Kansas	1
10	Auburn	1
11	Wisconsin	1
12	Texas Tech	1
13	Wake Forest	1
14	South Florida	1
15	Oregon	1
16	Arizona State	1
17	Brigham Young	1
18	East Carolina	8
19	UCLA	1
20	Alabama	1
21	Penn State	1
22	Utah	1
23	Fresno State	3
24	Georgia Tech	1
25	Florida State	6

Dropped Out: West Virginia (#7), Boston College (#24).

FSU was in the poll last week by mistake, so I had to get them in a more realistic position. Honestly, they shouldn't be in the top 25 at all, but hey, I need a little ACC love at this point.

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.''

Jackets Win !!!!!

I'll have more later, but the Jackets win a big one today on the road against Boston College. I have to go do some work since my wife took care of the kids while I liveblogged the game (thanks honey).

Great win!

LiveBlogging Georgia Tech vs Boston College

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Notes for Tomorrow's game

By Lennie Mac

Two things to think about for tomorrow:

- No one will bring more preparation for Paul Johnson's offense than defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani. A little trivia on Frank Spaziani, he was the defensive coordinator for Virginia in 1990 when Shawn Jones and GT got their greatest victory 41-38. He was the interim head coach for BC in the Meineke Car Care Bowl victory over Navy. Navy gave BC the game on a platter when Reggie Campbell fumbled the ball in the last 2 minutes with the lead and BC with no timeouts. Paul Johnson's offense moved the ball that day very well until the last quarter. Paul Johnson's comments after the game:

"They were so big it took away almost everything we wanted to run inside," Navy coach Paul Johnson said. "We had to make it a perimeter game and in the second half they did a good job."
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=263640103&confId=null

Most of those "so big" players on their front 7 are playing in this game as well. I would expect to see a lot of plays run to the perimeter.

- BC plays on the turf at the house that Flutie built, and the rain is slated to start around 4AM. I would expect a lot of slipping and sliding on the turf, as well as a game where we keep 8 in the box and let Chris Crane beat us.

Football - Jax St / GT Highlights

More video highlights from the Georgia Tech / Jacksonville State game

The Paul Johnson Interviews

ACC Teleconference - link here.

Paul Johnson Call-In radio show - LISTEN

Monday's press conference LISTEN

Wes's Highlights from the JaxState game - LISTEN

Football - Paul Johnson Show Notes

A few quick hits from Paul Johnson's Radio Show last night:

On BC's tackles and their massive size
"One's a doughnut away from 350lb".

On the success at the O-Line:
"If we're getting knocked back inside (the interior of the O-Line), it makes everything bubble out, and it's slower to get the perimeter, and it allows those guys to make plays a lot easier. You can't zero in on reading them because everything is bouncing and they have more time to read what you're doing."

On throwing on the first play:
"They told me right before the game that it (throwing) was legal."

On the forecast of rain impacting the game-plan:
"Once we get there we'll see what it's like. It might change how you call the game, but there's not much you can do about it. The gameplan is in.............. They have to play in it too.......... If it rains, it rains. I learned a long time ago not to worry about things I can't control."

On the picture of Johnson yelling at Embry Peeples on a TD
"I got one note telling me what I needed to do to motivate guys, and that yelling doesn't build character.... La-di-da-di-daa..... So I immediately forwarded that email to the Marine Corp, because I knew that they want build character and they've never yelled at anyone.".............. "It was much more to do about nothing. Embry and I laughed about it. Those guys know or they will get to know that during a game I get intense. We'd had a long play and Roddy had scored a touchdown, but I was trying to make a point about a certain area to block. I joked with Embry and told him - I got you in the paper all week. This week you're going to have to do something to get me in the paper."........... "It wasn't personal. Embry is going to be a good player for us, but I think he'll know who to block on that play from now on."

On a side note, check out this paragraph about Navy's game one and their new head coach Ken Niumatalolo (a Paul Johnson disciple), who displayed the same game intensity last week:

Ken Niumatalolo showed a little bit of Johnson, too, in how he reacted to Bryant's fumble. He grabbed Bryant's jersey and made sure Bryant knew that sort of “complacent” (Niumat's word) play was not acceptable. To Bryant's credit, when asked later about Niumatalolo's reaction to the fumble, he said, “I deserved it.” That little scene, and its aftermath, said a lot about Navy football.

Football - Negating Speed

Talk long enough about the option, and you'll hear the following - fast defenses will kill the option. This typically comes from uninformed fans. However, speed does not equal shutting down the option. Speed + discipline is a deadly weapon against option teams, however.

The reality is that in many ways, defensive speed is negated with the triple option. Check out the following comment in regards to Boston College's game prep this week:

"In practice this week, the Eagles' defenders are focusing on getting to their spots and waiting, rather than flowing with the ball. A mistake in judgment could result in a touchdown."

Speed doesn't matter as much if you're sitting and waiting, right? Get the spot fast, but then wait. I like the sound of that. While they're waiting for us, hopefully we'll be running right by them. Remember, #1 - go for numbers advantage, #2 - go for angles, #3, go for talent mismatches. Those are the keys in order that Paul Johnson uses to design the offensive game-plan.

PAAAK THE CAAR, NEW ENGLANDERS, IT'S WISHBONE TIME

Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski keeps referring to our offense as the wishbone. I wonder why? He absolutely, positively knows it is not the wishbone. We can probably assume that he knows Paul Johnson does not like it called the "wishbone". So why does he do it? Is he trying to make Johnson think he doesn't truly understand the system? Is he trying to get under Johnson's skin? Is he just ignorant? Discuss.

Person Jeff Jagodzinski

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Football - Grading Games

Paul Johnson's recent press conference gave some interesting insight into how players are graded based on game film.

The staff breaks down film of every single player in every single play in every single game. They give each player two grades on every play - an effort grade and a technique grade. Johnson said every guy doesn't have the same ability, but everyone can control how hard they play. For example, BeBe Thomas couldn't control if Johnson called a pass play, but he could give full effort, and he did. He never sulked about not getting the ball because he was focused on helping the team win. He basically said BeBe is going to get his chances. He talked about how hard Daryl Richard worked all game long. Michael Johnson worked hard but got gassed from being on too many special teams plays, so they're going to cut him back and focus on his D-Line work.

For "effort" grades, if a player doesn't hustle the entire play, he gets an "effort", which means he basically gave up on the play before it was over. Most of these seem to boil down to players deciding that they are too far away from the play to make a difference, so they stop working before the whistle. For example, if a QB completes a pass and doesn't immediately start chasing after the ball, that's an "effort". Johnson tells his players that they are going to have to go downfield to the ball for the next play anyhow, so why get down there and hustle during the play? If there's a fumble or a guy cuts back across the field for some reason and you could have been there had you kept running, it could mean the difference between winning and losing. Johnson highlighted the Greg Smith fumble (the play was later ruled down by contact), where Jax St had 8 guys around the lose ball, and we only had four. "Where were our guys?", he asked.

Johnson said that in the spring scrimmage there were 170 "efforts", which was way too many. He said the team cut that number down significantly last week, but it was still not good enough. Here are some comments from the press conference:

"Guys are going to do what you make them do - that's the bottomline. My daughter does what I tell her to do. That's the bottom-line. It's expectation level. My goal is that after a year, or whenever, it's just second nature. You don't have to talk about it. That's just the way everbody plays, because they know if they don't, they're going to get pointed out on the film, and everybody's going to look at them and say - man you ain't playin' very well".............. "Everybody thinks they're playing hard. Nobody intentionally says - I'm going to take this play off. I think it's a taught deal."............. "If you play with great effort, you give yourself a chance. It doesn't guarantee a win, but you give yourself a chance."........... "I don't care how good you are - if you don't play with effort, you're not going to be consistently good".........

On offense, they review "efforts", missed assignments and defenders cut to the ground. Said that at Navy they would sometimes have 100 defenders cut, but last game against Jax St, we probably only had about 50. Not to Johnson's standards yet.

On defense, "efforts", missed assignments, missed tackles and big plays are tracked. Said that generally if the big plays weren't more than missed assignments and missed tackles, then you didn't play that good on defense. Last week there were more missed assignments and missed tackles than big plays, so our defensive effort last week was "just ok". Said it wasn't bad, just not the standard he expects based on the talent of the guys on the defense.

Interestingly, Johnson said BC might be one of the toughest teams in this league. Not real complicated with what they do. You have to beat them though, because they don't usually beat themselves. PJ on the key to this weeks game - "The onus this week is going to be on those guys upfront (O-Line). They better get their tail in gear, and they know it. Because if they get physically slapped around, then we're going to have a hard time."

While I am not sure about the grading systems used under Chan Gailey, we do know that "efforts" were not emphasized with the religious zeal that we see with Paul Johnson. What Johnson is seeking certainly is not 2nd nature yet for most of these guys. Blocking downfield was important, but was never stressed the way it now by every single guy on the team. In the end, guys are being held accountable based on the CSI-like breakdown of gamefilm.

I like it..... a lot. So far there just never seems to be much mystery around why some guys play and some don't. You follow the system and make plays and you'll play. I have never felt so strongly that the best players are on the field as I do now.

Guest Blogger - "Eagle in Atlanta"

Boston College blogger "Eagle in Atlanta" invited me to a Q&A session prior to this Saturday's game. I answered his questions and they are posted on his blog here. In return, here are his answers to four questions about the BC Eagles:

1. What can we expect from Boston College on offense? What does the post-Matt Ryan offense look like?

We are still trying to find out. If Kent State is any indication, the offense will look very different. First the focus is in the run game. BC only threw the ball 18 times last Saturday. Instead what you saw were a variety of runs. Toss sweeps, zone stretches, draws, dives, QB options. Even if he throws more this week, Chris Crane is unlikely to duplicate Matt Ryan's fireworks from the Flats last year. Crane is not as sharp nor as accurate. He also seems more comfortable throwing on the move instead of staying in the pocket. The biggest concern for GT should be the offensive line. It is much improved and gave Crane and the running backs all the time they needed.


2. Is BC's defense as strong as last year? We know the D-Line is the heart-and-soul of the D (just like GT), but what about the rest of the defense?

The defense has the chance to be better. The defensive line is clearly improved. The linebackers are probably as good. The secondary is still somewhat of a question mark. They have athleticism and speed, but are untested and young. Will these young guys prove to be as smart as Jamie Silva and Dejuan Tribble. Who knows? As for stopping the Yellow Jackets, the defensive backs looked good in run support in week one. That success will hopefully carry over to the GT game.

3. If you were an opposing coach, what strategy would you use to beat BC?

Load eight in the box and dare Chris Crane to throw it. Even if he makes improvements from Kent State, he's still likely to make a mistake or two. On the offensive side of the ball, I'd also try to air it out. Kent State kept it on the ground for the most part and got shutout.


4. What is your prediction for Saturday?

Although both teams are very different from 2007, I think BC's transition was a less dramatic shakeup. It's early in the season, but I think BC's defense will disrupt Johnson's new scheme and the BC offensive line will control the game enough for BC to win and cover the spread.

Blog Poll Vote - Week 2

Here is my Blog Poll ballot for week 2. When full results are posted for the entire poll, I'll link back.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Southern Cal	--
2	Florida	--
3	Georgia	--
4	Oklahoma	--
5	Ohio State	--
6	LSU	--
7	West Virginia	1
8	Texas	1
9	Missouri	3
10	Kansas	--
11	Auburn	--
12	Wisconsin	1
13	Texas Tech	2
14	Wake Forest	3
15	South Florida	4
16	Oregon	4
17	Arizona State	4
18	Brigham Young	4
19	Florida State	5
20	UCLA	6
21	Alabama	5
22	Penn State	4
23	Utah	3
24	Boston College	2
25	Georgia Tech	--

Dropped Out: Clemson (#7), Virginia Tech (#14), Tennessee (#16), Illinois (#18), Michigan (#23).

See, here's the way my voting works early on - you lose, you're out. Simple right? Clemson did nothing to earn my #7 vote last week, and they did everything to earn a fall from grace. So they're out. Same for VaTech. They lost in week 1. So they're out. Everybody else basically moves up to fill those spots, with the exception of Missouri, which jumped a few spots because they beat a ranked Tenn team (although again, pretty irrelevant).

Georgia Tech keeps my homer vote at #25 and did nothing to lose it.

College Pick'em Week 1 Results

Well, week one is in the books and one Jacket fan stands out among the rest - theGTgent. With 76 points and an 11-1 record picking, theGTgent leads the pack. However, there are a bunch of folks not far behind, including yours truly.

I've set the matchups for week 2, going as always with every ACC game, the UGAg, and I've added the USF / UCF match-up. George O'Leary tries to knock off a ranked USF team.

Get your picks in for week 2 and let's see who's got game. Can theGTgent keep up the pace? Will someone else rise to the top?

Oh yeah, what's up with "Papa P", who managed to go 0-12. How does that happen? Even if you're trying to get them all wrong, that has to be just as hard as getting them all right, which nobody managed to do. That might be the most impressive pick sheet of all.

Standings

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Standings for Week 1
Rank	Selection	W-L	Pts
1	theGTgent	11-1	76
2	Team Greater than the CGE	11-1	75
2	augustabuzz's picks	10-2	75
4	VegasJacket's picks	11-1	74
4	GTKirk99's picks	10-2	74
4	cowtownjkt	10-2	74
4	gtduck's picks	10-2	74
4	ARCHER_DAVE's picks	11-1	74
9	magicode's picks	10-2	73
9	GTRIBuzz's picks	10-2	73
9	Zach	10-2	73
9	GTCardinal's picks	11-1	73
9	duckylummox's picks	10-2	73
14	rlafayette's picks	10-2	72
14	Mark's picks	11-1	72
14	Good Buzz' picks	10-2	72
14	Dusty's picks	10-2	72
14	GTBlogScott's picks	10-2	72
14	Blue Pants's picks	10-2	72
14	mkcele's picks	10-2	72
14	upstatejacket's picks	9-3	72
14	YlJacket's picks	10-2	72

Injury Report and more

JEFFERSON OUT, BARNES IN
Brad Jefferson will not play against BC, which is a blow to the defense. Travis Chambers get the start, which is an interesting story of 2nd chances. The good news is the A.Barnes is listed in the new depth chart as the starter.

GARDNER ACC O-LINEMAN OF THE WEEK
Kudos to Andrew Gardner, who was named the ACC's O-lineman of the week for helping the Jackets rack up major yardarge (484 total). Now, I'm curious if there's a serious analysis done on his specific performance, or if he's the senior, high profile guy on the line. By the way, Gardner is one of 4 guys that lead the nation in consecutive games started, now at 40.

DIGGING INTO DEPTH CHART
Not much has changed in the latest depth chart.

ACC WEEK 1 RELEASE
The ACC has released week 1 stats / notes. As for "fun with stats", how about this - Jaybo Shaw leads the ACC in passing efficiency at 234. Ok, so he was 3-3 with 0 TD and 0 INT's. Not many attempts, but he hit every one. Josh Nesbitt was 8th in the league in efficiency at 103. As a team, GT was 4th in the ACC in week one in passing efficiency. Morgan Burnett leads the ACC in INT's of course. Jonathan Dwyer is 2nd in rushing, and surprise surprise, Georgia Tech leads the ACC in team rushing (7th nationally) and total offense. However, the Jackets were the most penalized team last week.

Here's a funny stat after week 1 - Clemson has the top four players who lead the league in tackles. Of course when you're on the field ALL game and have tons of plays run against you, somebody has to make tackles.

Of course stats are meaningless for 1 week and mostly against cupcakes.... well except for Clemson, who turned out to be the cupcake.

Lastly, how about some highlights from our victory: