jacketguy
Damn Good Rat
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- Nov 25, 2001
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FROM The Macon Telegraph..
Posted on Sun, Sep. 07, 2003
Tech turns Tigers every which way but loose
ATLANTA - It'll come at some point around lunchtime today.
A phone in one small college town will ring, the call originating from another small college town about four hours away.
"Coach Bowden? Hey, bubba, Coach Tuberville here."
And there will be a moment of silence, interrupted only by a knowing sigh. In the living room of each home, the smell of bacon as a hot seat warms up each Tommy's backside.
And just as suddenly, those speculating that Georgia Tech might use a late-season open week for a coaching search might just want to sprinkle some horseradish on those words.
Certainly Chan Gailey and his staff have almost worn greeter vests to the Second-Guess Suite in a year on the job. While Saturday wasn't necessarily a masterpiece, it was a moderately masterful job of coaching and preparation.
There wasn't much of a running game, but it sufficed. Wisely, Gailey chose to put the offense in the hands of an 18-year-old who had a recruiting dalliance with Auburn. What could've made him pick the Tigers?
"One phone call. At least I would've committed."
And now?
"I wouldn't go to Auburn right now."
Two games are in the books, but Reggie Ball has shown he's a player. A serious major college quarterback. This is now his team, all of eight quarters into his career.
He has the arm. He has the feet. He has the mind. He has the confidence. And, yes, those comparisons that trickled in a little bit after the BYU game are accurate.
There's some Joe Hamilton to this youngster, and it doesn't get much better than Hamilton, the Heisman Trophy runner-up as a senior at Tech in 1999.
It was an amazing sight indeed. The kid with four quarters under his belt outquarterbacked the bigger, more heralded junior by such a stretch it boggled the mind.
Ball's numbers were fairly pedestrian Saturday - 9-for-21 for 149 yards and a touchdown, but no interceptions. But he threw some awfully sweet passes, from the pocket and while moving. He brings more than stats, though.
"This week, he looked like a totally different player," linebacker Key Fox said. "Somebody who had a lot more confidence, a lot more knowledge of what's going on."
As good as Ball is and can be, Tech's defense was ridiculous. Auburn was already one-dimensional. Tech made the Tigers look half-dimensional.
In particular, end Eric Henderson and linebackers Daryl Smith and Fox were everywhere. This was in nearly every way a defensive win. The big number: Auburn ran for 105 yards, lost 65, and finished with 40. Seven different players were in on sacks. Nine different players had a tackle for loss. Four Jackets had double-digit tackles.
"I think we definitely had control right there," Fox said. "They didn't know where we were coming from. We had a great scheme; it started up front. They looked like they never picked up on it."
Conversely, Campbell may not be the answer, and he's only one of the many questions.
Indeed, for the Plains won't be so lovely for the Tigers, who have laid back to back eggs big enough to feed three countries and two sumo wrestlers.
Auburn has gone 60 minutes without a touchdown and if you listen closely, you can hear the Tigers losing yardage this very moment.
Auburn said it was eager to play in Atlanta, and yes, Tiger fans are still waiting for the Tigers to play in Atlanta.
Auburn has gone from the cover of ESPN The Magazine to having the team's subscription to ESPN The Magazine cancelled. The front of Mad magazine might be available next month.
The Tigers became their own version of Tech's campus: The Flats.
It got to the point where Larry was at tackle, Curly at corner, and Moe had a headset. I thought I saw Abbott with his arms folded in an Auburn suite while Costello huddled up with the offense.
Up I-85 a week ago, fans of another set of Tigers were stunned at how ill-prepared their team was in playing a Peach State group.
Rest easy, Clemsonites. Auburn trumped you Saturday, and yes, it was far more surprising.
Nobody expected an undermanned, undersized and underrespected Tech team grab Auburn by the ear and promptly march to the woodshed. Sure, it was only a 14-point margin, but so in control was Tech it seemed like twice that much.
The Jackets outhit 'em, outcoached 'em, outplanned 'em. And the managers probably washed the uniforms better, too, properly separating colors and whites.
Who knew?
Gailey questioned reporters on who picked Tech to win, and took joy in seeing no hands go up. Of course, this is already a year of the improbable, so don't count those wins at Vanderbilt or Duke yet.
Then again, Tech was so convincingly dominant Saturday. Auburn couldn't do a thing, and pretty much wasn't allowed to.
Absolutely the only thing that could salvage the day for Auburn? A safe ride home.
Absolutely the only thing that could ruin the day for Georgia Tech? The fact that they couldn't keep playing Auburn for another hour or so.
Posted on Sun, Sep. 07, 2003
Tech turns Tigers every which way but loose
ATLANTA - It'll come at some point around lunchtime today.
A phone in one small college town will ring, the call originating from another small college town about four hours away.
"Coach Bowden? Hey, bubba, Coach Tuberville here."
And there will be a moment of silence, interrupted only by a knowing sigh. In the living room of each home, the smell of bacon as a hot seat warms up each Tommy's backside.
And just as suddenly, those speculating that Georgia Tech might use a late-season open week for a coaching search might just want to sprinkle some horseradish on those words.
Certainly Chan Gailey and his staff have almost worn greeter vests to the Second-Guess Suite in a year on the job. While Saturday wasn't necessarily a masterpiece, it was a moderately masterful job of coaching and preparation.
There wasn't much of a running game, but it sufficed. Wisely, Gailey chose to put the offense in the hands of an 18-year-old who had a recruiting dalliance with Auburn. What could've made him pick the Tigers?
"One phone call. At least I would've committed."
And now?
"I wouldn't go to Auburn right now."
Two games are in the books, but Reggie Ball has shown he's a player. A serious major college quarterback. This is now his team, all of eight quarters into his career.
He has the arm. He has the feet. He has the mind. He has the confidence. And, yes, those comparisons that trickled in a little bit after the BYU game are accurate.
There's some Joe Hamilton to this youngster, and it doesn't get much better than Hamilton, the Heisman Trophy runner-up as a senior at Tech in 1999.
It was an amazing sight indeed. The kid with four quarters under his belt outquarterbacked the bigger, more heralded junior by such a stretch it boggled the mind.
Ball's numbers were fairly pedestrian Saturday - 9-for-21 for 149 yards and a touchdown, but no interceptions. But he threw some awfully sweet passes, from the pocket and while moving. He brings more than stats, though.
"This week, he looked like a totally different player," linebacker Key Fox said. "Somebody who had a lot more confidence, a lot more knowledge of what's going on."
As good as Ball is and can be, Tech's defense was ridiculous. Auburn was already one-dimensional. Tech made the Tigers look half-dimensional.
In particular, end Eric Henderson and linebackers Daryl Smith and Fox were everywhere. This was in nearly every way a defensive win. The big number: Auburn ran for 105 yards, lost 65, and finished with 40. Seven different players were in on sacks. Nine different players had a tackle for loss. Four Jackets had double-digit tackles.
"I think we definitely had control right there," Fox said. "They didn't know where we were coming from. We had a great scheme; it started up front. They looked like they never picked up on it."
Conversely, Campbell may not be the answer, and he's only one of the many questions.
Indeed, for the Plains won't be so lovely for the Tigers, who have laid back to back eggs big enough to feed three countries and two sumo wrestlers.
Auburn has gone 60 minutes without a touchdown and if you listen closely, you can hear the Tigers losing yardage this very moment.
Auburn said it was eager to play in Atlanta, and yes, Tiger fans are still waiting for the Tigers to play in Atlanta.
Auburn has gone from the cover of ESPN The Magazine to having the team's subscription to ESPN The Magazine cancelled. The front of Mad magazine might be available next month.
The Tigers became their own version of Tech's campus: The Flats.
It got to the point where Larry was at tackle, Curly at corner, and Moe had a headset. I thought I saw Abbott with his arms folded in an Auburn suite while Costello huddled up with the offense.
Up I-85 a week ago, fans of another set of Tigers were stunned at how ill-prepared their team was in playing a Peach State group.
Rest easy, Clemsonites. Auburn trumped you Saturday, and yes, it was far more surprising.
Nobody expected an undermanned, undersized and underrespected Tech team grab Auburn by the ear and promptly march to the woodshed. Sure, it was only a 14-point margin, but so in control was Tech it seemed like twice that much.
The Jackets outhit 'em, outcoached 'em, outplanned 'em. And the managers probably washed the uniforms better, too, properly separating colors and whites.
Who knew?
Gailey questioned reporters on who picked Tech to win, and took joy in seeing no hands go up. Of course, this is already a year of the improbable, so don't count those wins at Vanderbilt or Duke yet.
Then again, Tech was so convincingly dominant Saturday. Auburn couldn't do a thing, and pretty much wasn't allowed to.
Absolutely the only thing that could salvage the day for Auburn? A safe ride home.
Absolutely the only thing that could ruin the day for Georgia Tech? The fact that they couldn't keep playing Auburn for another hour or so.