Preseason Coaches Poll (GT #28th)

jacket67 said:
We had too many injuries/suspensions for that game. Tech would have won handily if we had most of our starters on the field. Kicking is a game of odds, and we were unlucky in that respect.
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What? Kicking is a game of odds? I have to get some of those drugs you're taking. Kicking is a game of skill and ours were awful. We don't have accurate or strong kickers. When 35 yards is the edge of their range, you have a problem.
 
GT1992 said:
What? Kicking is a game of odds? I have to get some of those drugs you're taking. Kicking is a game of skill and ours were awful. We don't have accurate or strong kickers. When 35 yards is the edge of their range, you have a problem.
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Well, I'm not going to argue that skill and strength are not important over the course of the season. I'm just saying that even the best kickers in the country make some bad kicks, and sometimes that costs their team a game. Even the pros miss an extra point sometimes. I just don't think you can blame the bowl game loss to Utah on the kickers and ignore the rest of the plays. If your kicker has limited range and a high miss rate, the coach has to factor that into his decisions and hope to play the odds the best he can.
 
wesleyd21 said:
Crapshoot?
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You have to admit...Burnett, Young, Smith, Uzzi, and Sims. That's just obnoxious to be playing without. We're a running team playing without our two best OL and our starting TB/BB. Throw in our leading tackler on defense and the 6'1" CB would have been guarding the receiver that caught the game-tying TD right over our 5'10" replacement CB.
 
jacket67 said:
Well, I'm not going to argue that skill and strength are not important over the course of the season. I'm just saying that even the best kickers in the country make some bad kicks, and sometimes that costs their team a game. Even the pros miss an extra point sometimes. I just don't think you can blame the bowl game loss to Utah on the kickers and ignore the rest of the plays. If your kicker has limited range and a high miss rate, the coach has to factor that into his decisions and hope to play the odds the best he can.
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They were 2/5 combined and none of them were 50 yarders. I will be the first to agree with you that it's the coach's fault for not recruiting the position better. He's learned that lesson and signed one for 2013. But, beyond the field goal misses, Utah was set up in better position all game long due to our pathetic kicking game. I also blame the play calling in the 3rd and early 4th quarters where we essentially pulled back and left it on the defense with 3 consecutive 3 and outs.
 
GT1992 said:
They were 2/5 combined and none of them were 50 yarders. I will be the first to agree with you that it's the coach's fault for not recruiting the position better. He's learned that lesson and signed one for 2013. But, beyond the field goal misses, Utah was set up in better position all game long due to our pathetic kicking game. I also blame the play calling in the 3rd and early 4th quarters where we essentially pulled back and left it on the defense with 3 consecutive 3 and outs.
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I think we agree that the kicking game could have won the game with a decent kick here or there. My point is that those 5 FG tries could have been touchdowns if our offense performed better. And we gave up 30 points to a Utah offense that was about the worst of any bowl-eligible team. I don't like to single out a couple players for a loss that the entire team and some bad injuries all contributed to.
 
gtrower said:
You have to admit...Burnett, Young, Smith, Uzzi, and Sims. That's just obnoxious to be playing without. We're a running team playing without our two best OL and our starting TB/BB and our biggest playmaker on offense and during the game the next best guard we had (Mason). Throw in our leading tackler on defense and the 6'1" CB would have been guarding the receiver that caught the game-tying TD right over our 5'10" replacement CB.
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.
 
jacket67 said:
I think we agree that the kicking game could have won the game with a decent kick here or there. My point is that those 5 FG tries could have been touchdowns if our offense performed better. And we gave up 30 points to a Utah offense that was about the worst of any bowl-eligible team. I don't like to single out a couple players for a loss that the entire team and some bad injuries all contributed to.
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Untimely injuries, starters being out due to discipline issues, lack of quality depth and especially horrific special teams play has just killed us in bowl games and others as well. I just hope that the the ST coach can make a difference this year, I am getting really sick of losing the last couple of games every year for one reason or another.

And one lingering effect of finishing the year with a whimper is a lack of respect for preseason polls the following year, so we are our own worst enemy in that regard
 
jacket67 said:
I think we agree that the kicking game could have won the game with a decent kick here or there. My point is that those 5 FG tries could have been touchdowns if our offense performed better. And we gave up 30 points to a Utah offense that was about the worst of any bowl-eligible team. I don't like to single out a couple players for a loss that the entire team and some bad injuries all contributed to.
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We wouldn't have given up 30 points if the offense could have executed in the late third and fourth quarters. I played defense and if you leave them on the field too long against a good team, any defense will start to crumble. The offense knows where it's going at all times and a defense has to react to it, hence they have to run further and have less breaks when the offense completely fails as they did late in the Sun Bowl.
 
gtrower said:
You have to admit...Burnett, Young, Smith, Uzzi, and Sims. That's just obnoxious to be playing without. We're a running team playing without our two best OL and our starting TB/BB. Throw in our leading tackler on defense and the 6'1" CB would have been guarding the receiver that caught the game-tying TD right over our 5'10" replacement CB.
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not to mention the effect the lack of depth had on the fatigue of the O-Line (especially given the altitude :wink:)
 
wesleyd21 said:
This is why the bowl game was important.

Could have finished ranked AND started ranked.


Too bad our idiot kicker(s) ruined all that.
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Talk about an ill-informed and emotional post.

I was at the Sun Bowl...and there was plenty of blame to go around including special teams, a couple of blown defensive assignments in the 4th quarter...and multiple offensive blown assignments when we just needed a single first down to win the game and yet kept going 3 and out. The 4th quarter was just ugly.

As far as kicking goes....I am shocked we hit a couple FG's as it was (32 in reg and 34 yd in OT by Moore)...and shocked that we even hit the upright on one miss...Moore missed a 42 in Q1 and 42 in Q2. Scully missed a 48 yd attempt in Q4. Those are not sure bets in good conditions but that day kicking beyond 30 was tough. The kicking conditions were horrible with extremely strong swirling winds. The Sun Bowl was like a big wind tunnel that day and you could not tell on television because it was sunny out...so the weather looked good.
 
Lack of depth on the DL.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
hiveredtech said:
Talk about an ill-informed and emotional post.

I was at the Sun Bowl...and there was plenty of blame to go around including special teams, a couple of blown defensive assignments in the 4th quarter...and multiple offensive blown assignments when we just needed a single first down to win the game and yet kept going 3 and out. The 4th quarter was just ugly.

As far as kicking goes....I am shocked we hit a couple FG's as it was (32 in reg and 34 yd in OT by Moore)...and shocked that we even hit the upright on one miss...Moore missed a 42 in Q1 and 42 in Q2. Scully missed a 48 yd attempt in Q4. Those are not sure bets in good conditions but that day kicking beyond 30 was tough. The kicking conditions were horrible with extremely strong swirling winds. The Sun Bowl was like a big wind tunnel that day and you could not tell on television because it was sunny out...so the weather looked good.
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Most field goal attempts are a result of the offense failing to make a first down or score a touchdown. A field goal attempt is almost never the objective of an offensive possession.
 
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