Great Holiday Video - UGAg Hitler

Back for a quick hit.

GT - Clemson Video Highlights

Nice highlight package:



Just for fun, thought I'd throw in this video "The Legend is Born"

Georgia Tech Cool Stuff

Some cool stuff goes on in the research labs around Georgia Tech - like this, wireless power. That's right - the holy grail - getting rid of batteries:


Wirelessly Powered Robot Swarm from Travis on Vimeo.

Sarah Palin Rap

This isn't about politics. It's about the humor. This cracked me up:

Watch and Listen

Listen to this clip (right at the end) from a new HBO series "Generation Kill".

South Carolina fans roast Dabo

Ah, the sweet smell of rivalry.........

Buzz Gets the Fumble

Buzz knocks the ball lose and takes it back a few yards. A sign of things to come?

Clemson fans.... see for yourself

Football - GT / Gardner-Webb Highlights

If only to see the 79 yard screen pass, a couple of nice sacks and Derrick Morgan's field goal block at the end. Calvin Booker's scramble for a 1st down near the end was impressive... for him.

Not many highlights, but fortunately there were just enough:

GTG's - "The Ratio"

Those whacky Georgia Tech white rappers are at it again, this time with a mega-love ballad, a smooth R&B tune called "The Ratio", crooning about the realities of the guy-to-girl numbers at Tech. Of course, the "ratio" has improved over the years, especially if you go back to the days when my Mom was a student there. She was a cheerleader and all the girls lived in the same house on campus. The numbers have certainly swung more in favor of the guys, but the ratio concept is still just as alive today as it was back in my day in the late 80's.

Dominique Reese - Player Testimony

Ran across this on YouTube. Nice statement by Dominque Reese. Way to stand up and be heard.

More on the Ladys - Hoops

Don't forget the ladies:

Georgia Tech Promo Video

What? There are other sports?

Hey, I could easily be accused of not spending enough (or any) time on other sports. We have an exciting volleyball team, so check it out!!!

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.

Michael Johnson Highlights

From the Boston College game:



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

Georgia Tech / Boston College Video Highlights

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.

Football - Jax St / GT Highlights

More video highlights from the Georgia Tech / Jacksonville State game

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: