Hello Jacket Fans
I've been lurking for a while and I've really enjoyed the discussions here at Stingtalk so I decided to come out of mothballs and start posting some. I've had some random thoughts bouncing around my head and I wanted to get your thoughts. I've been thinking about some basic principles for success in college football and wanted to discuss how those principles will effect GT in '06.
1. Quarterback is the most critical positon on the field. Football is the ultimate team game, but in the modern landscape of college football the quarterback can make a huge difference. That is why you see teams with tons of NFL talent like Miami and FSU struggling because they lack effective Quarterback play. Very good college quarterbacks can take an average surrounding cast a very long way, but it is very difficult for a strong surrounding cast to take a poor quarterback very far. I see this principle effecting GT in two ways. First, we will face a great quarterback in game one and that has me worried, I believe Notre Dame is very beatable when you look at the depth chart, but they've got the best QB in the land right now. On the other hand, I hope that Reggie's 37 starts will pay off this fall. Those 37 starts are valuable currency and we need to cash in this fall.
2. The line of scrimmage is where football games are won and lost. A great Quarterback may be worth a couple of extra touchdowns a game, but to be a truly solid football team you must be outstanding on the line of scrimmage. Teams that are strong on both lines do not fall victim to the rapid momentum swings of games because they are stout enough to run the ball when they need to and stop the run or rush the passer when the other team is hyped up. This year GT will feature the best combination of depth and talent along both lines that I can remember. I don't know how good we will be on the OL, but we should be very solid and this will help Jacket fans rest easy at night.
3. Teams usually improve the most from Game 1 to Game 2, except, when they are a huge underdogs in game 1. We saw it last year and I've seen it time and again. When teams are playing as huge underdogs in the game 1, they usually play outstanding football. Because they've been focusing on the game for 9 months. The whole offseason has been about Game 1. When you hear that teams usually improve the most from Game 1 to Game 2, it is usually coming from the coach of a team that was heavily favored and played poorly against an underdog in Game 1. I hope this will work to GT's advantage against Notre Dame. When you add in the fact that we return an offense loaded with experience, we should be at our peak for Notre Dame.
Anyway, these were just some things bouncing around my head. Looking forward to the season and posting more often.
I've been lurking for a while and I've really enjoyed the discussions here at Stingtalk so I decided to come out of mothballs and start posting some. I've had some random thoughts bouncing around my head and I wanted to get your thoughts. I've been thinking about some basic principles for success in college football and wanted to discuss how those principles will effect GT in '06.
1. Quarterback is the most critical positon on the field. Football is the ultimate team game, but in the modern landscape of college football the quarterback can make a huge difference. That is why you see teams with tons of NFL talent like Miami and FSU struggling because they lack effective Quarterback play. Very good college quarterbacks can take an average surrounding cast a very long way, but it is very difficult for a strong surrounding cast to take a poor quarterback very far. I see this principle effecting GT in two ways. First, we will face a great quarterback in game one and that has me worried, I believe Notre Dame is very beatable when you look at the depth chart, but they've got the best QB in the land right now. On the other hand, I hope that Reggie's 37 starts will pay off this fall. Those 37 starts are valuable currency and we need to cash in this fall.
2. The line of scrimmage is where football games are won and lost. A great Quarterback may be worth a couple of extra touchdowns a game, but to be a truly solid football team you must be outstanding on the line of scrimmage. Teams that are strong on both lines do not fall victim to the rapid momentum swings of games because they are stout enough to run the ball when they need to and stop the run or rush the passer when the other team is hyped up. This year GT will feature the best combination of depth and talent along both lines that I can remember. I don't know how good we will be on the OL, but we should be very solid and this will help Jacket fans rest easy at night.
3. Teams usually improve the most from Game 1 to Game 2, except, when they are a huge underdogs in game 1. We saw it last year and I've seen it time and again. When teams are playing as huge underdogs in the game 1, they usually play outstanding football. Because they've been focusing on the game for 9 months. The whole offseason has been about Game 1. When you hear that teams usually improve the most from Game 1 to Game 2, it is usually coming from the coach of a team that was heavily favored and played poorly against an underdog in Game 1. I hope this will work to GT's advantage against Notre Dame. When you add in the fact that we return an offense loaded with experience, we should be at our peak for Notre Dame.
Anyway, these were just some things bouncing around my head. Looking forward to the season and posting more often.
