Several takeaways..

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hiveredtech

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1) Electric atmosphere at game. The fans were great, , player walk successful, and the stadium looked sharp (love the new Georgia Tech signage behind south endzone)...best pre-game showing we have had with killer national anthem, firworks, and F18 flyover.

2) RECRUITS everywhere!...and they were hanging with the team. They even participated in the player walk prior to the game. Right there with the team and equally pumped up were Kyle Jackson, Nic Claytor, Joseph Gilbert, Steven Threet, Jon Dwyer, Josh Nesbitt, Chris Jackson, and several others. I have followed recruiting close for 20 years and the turnaround is not just in the commitments...it is in the overall feeling and attitude towards GT from the local kids. btw....there is one excellent OL we have would have always taken in the past that has offers from other ACC and Big East schools that is begging to come to GT and we just cant take him because of limits. He comes to EVERYTHING we do. What a great position for us to be in.

3) Our commitment to defense is still there...from recruiting...to putting athletes on that side of the ball...to practice...to game plan. We still seem susceptible to big plays, which happens with an attacking defense. We had some arm tackling that gave up some big runs by Walker..and the late 1st drive was a killer. We should have gone into half with a 10-0 lead...but we did not.

4) Offensively I guess you could take a glass half full approach and say we were as productive as the Heisman Trophy candidate led offense of Notre Dame. However, some things were all to familiar. Good move by Notre Dame to stick a CB up tight on CJ with a safety over the top to prevent any screens or short passes to him in the second half. Reggie continues to throw off the back foot even when he is not pressured....I really believe he cannot see anything when he is straight back. The delayed blitz with a LB confused the crap out of our OL and Reggie had a tough time figuring out how to step up and side step him instead of going backwards or just sinking to the ground. I also thought we abandoned the running game too quickly...but at the same time the Notre Dame offense ate a lot of clock in the 2nd half and we did not get a lot of offensive plays either or so it seemed....I need to check that stat.

5) Special teams coverage still weak. One good punt coverage and nothing on kickoffs. When we had chances to pin ND back after scores in the 1st half we let them right back out immediately...how deflating!

6) Overall this is a team that is going to win games...and the feeling around our programs from the players (including the high school kids) is that the tide is turning and we consider ourselves a top program...which is the first step. Everything about that game was one of excellence.

7) Yes...you cannot let a call or two make the difference in your game. But the reality is that this was a tight hard fought game where one stupid call can make a big difference. Ask Miami in the National Championship game against Ohio State...or ask Missouri on the 5th down against Colorado in 1990. Some games are tight and the officials need to recognize that...such a play as our defense making a critical red zone stop to lead to a 4th down should have kept the flag in the ref's pocket. But it did not, and ND got 7 instead of 0 or 3.

8) Samford and Troy- I really want to see Taylor Bennett get at least two quarters in each of these games. I just cannot help but think a TB led offense could do any worse than the 10 pts last night. Not that this is all a RB problem...it is just sometimes you need a chance to spark the team. TB is not likely to be the future QB of GT (Ingram, Threet, or Nesbitt will be)...but we are still in 2006.

9) The Yellow Jackets are my team and GT is my school...including players, staff, admin, and students...I am proud to have these young men wearing white and gold...there WILL be big wins this year.
 
Excellent points as always. My takeaways;

1. As always, our D will keep us in most games. Don't know how the coaches keep the team together because I would think the D side of the ball would be frustrated.
2. Our O is stuck and will not get better regardless of who is calling the plays until 1)the line improves 2) we utilize all of our weapons and 3) we attack all areas of the field. We must force defenders to account for the FB and TE. We also must make them defend in the intermediate area of the middle of the field. As had been pointed out countless times, I would ask Tenuta for some input on improving the offense.
3. Special teams remain a critical weakness (obviously)
4. I thought the game and TV coverage was a huge marketing tool for us. Initially, crowd noise was impressive but felt like the crowd was not into in the second half based on what i was seeing/hearing on my TV.
5. I thought that both Darius Walker and Jeff Smyrdjia (sp?) were as good or better than advertised.
6. I don't think Nix can overcome CCG's "play not to lose" mentality. Although, IF we address the issues in 2 above, philosophy becomes less of an issue. I don't see us turning down an OL prospect right now unless the coaches believe that he is not significantly better than what we have in the program.
7. Although the intensity was there and we played very well, the game appeared closer than it was due to ND's field goal misses.
8. Nothing to say about our QB that hasn't been said before. He is what he is.

At the end of the day, we had our chances. I don't think 8-9 wins is out of reach for this team. We will find out how good ND really is fairly quickly as they have 3-4 more tough games in September. We will have to get through Uva and VT before we have a firm read on this team.
 
It was a great game day. I was sitting in the North end zone (about half way up). and looking to the South, East, and West it was 95% Tech fans.

Couldn't see behind me, but at LEAST 80% (is my guess) in the stadium were Tech fans. You could see the sections which were cheering and there were few Irish fans outside the North Stands.

For those sitting in other parts of the stadium, what % of fans were Irish, do you think?

BTW, there were many recruits from other sports at the game as well. I believe there were basketball, men's tennis, and women's tennis recruits as well at the game.

Overall it was a win-win for recruiting in all sports.

Threet and Nesbit (assuming he commits) must be licking their chops at a shot at qb next year. You know they think they could do better...
 
B said:
I don't see us turning down an OL prospect right now unless the coaches believe that he is not significantly better than what we have in the program.
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We are definitely holding off several players that want to commit to GT...and have offers to other ACC, SEC, Big East schools...because we only have 4 spots left...one of which will go to Nesbitt...thus 3 left. Claytor and Gilbert are going to be great OL's...and we have another DL that will probably end up at OG.

We are really hoping to land a DE as at least one of those like Peters, Morgan, etc....plus Everson at QB...and we are pushing Burnett.

The thing is....there are a lot of extremely good players we are slow playing right now that we could get. Things have definitely changed and show no signs of slowing down. We already have a couple in the bag for next year.
 
"Samford and Troy- I really want to see Taylor Bennett get at least two quarters in each of these games"

We will not see TB play unfortunately. I don't see Gailey gong w/ another QB. I would be suprised to see it.
 
76tornados said:
"Samford and Troy- I really want to see Taylor Bennett get at least two quarters in each of these games"

We will not see TB play unfortunately. I don't see Gailey gong w/ another QB. I would be suprised to see it.
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We should be ahead enough at half where Reggie will rest the 2nd.
 
Make no mistake - if we get a substantial lead we WILL see Bennett. It's crucial that he get PT.

Fellas, make no mistake: our lack of offense in the 2nd half was due to poor line play. Ya gotta open holes for the RBs and give the QB protection. It all falls apart withouy that.
 
GEETEELEE said:
Make no mistake - if we get a substantial lead we WILL see Bennett. It's crucial that he get PT.

Fellas, make no mistake: our lack of offense in the 2nd half was due to poor line play. Ya gotta open holes for the RBs and give the QB protection. It all falls apart withouy that.
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I don't disagree with you. Just looking for a spark.
 
I disagree geeteelee. The poor line play was due to our play calling imo. We ran almost all shotgun with one back. The ND defense was able to key only on Choice and knew if he got the ball it would be a delay with him going towards the opposite side from where he lined up. They simply had the LBs key on him and there went our running game. We didn't help the line at all with formations, lead FB, anything. Reggie typically had time to throw until near the end. Our O didn't do anything after halftime but I don't blame the OL.

In particular, running the shotgun on short yardage and trying to run for the first down is simply stupid. There's no other word for it. We laughed about Wake trying to do it against us last year, but now we think it's the OL's fault if it doesn't work.

Nix was simply way to conservative in the second half. Plain and simple.
 
In particular, running the shotgun on short yardage and trying to run for the first down is simply stupid.
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It's not stupid if you've set up the short passing game first, and you're controlling the line of scrimmage. Meaning: it would have worked in the first quarter, when we'd done both.

I really need to see a replay of this game before I make any Xs/Os judgements on our playcalling. My first impression was that we didn't stick with the stuff that worked, most particularly that swing pass to CJ we got a couple good gains off of in the first half, but before I lay any blame, I'd like to see the tape to determine what D adjustments ND made at the half.
 
Good comments beej. And I agree, if your offensive package is working then a run in short yardage from the spread can work. But by the second half we had cut our play selection down so far that ND was jumping almost everything we ran. If you're going to use the shotgun formation you have to use all it's options to be successful. Power running will not work from it unless the D has to defend the whole field.
 
Regarding Samford and Troy, "we will be ahead by halftime"... Yes, maybe we'll be ahead but it'll only be 7-0 or so. I think Reggie played a fine game, the OL and play calling was inadequate. But I still think we need to see Bennett this year just to see if he can make different kinds of throws that Reggie can't and see if that helps our offense.
 
Great points all.

Pre game atmosphere, walk, fly over, anthem, all were fantastic!:biggthumpup:
 
gtyellowjackets said:
For those sitting in other parts of the stadium, what % of fans were Irish, do you think?
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We are in CL3 and there were several ND fans around us. Still many...many more Tech fans, however, there were a fair share of ND fans.
 
hiveredtech said:
We should be ahead enough at half where Reggie will rest the 2nd.
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Bennett won't see the field against Troy. With our offense that should be a pretty close game.
 
hiveredtech said:
7) Yes...you cannot let a call or two make the difference in your game. But the reality is that this was a tight hard fought game where one stupid call can make a big difference. Ask Miami in the National Championship game against Ohio State...or ask Missouri on the 5th down against Colorado in 1990. Some games are tight and the officials need to recognize that...such a play as our defense making a critical red zone stop to lead to a 4th down should have kept the flag in the ref's pocket. But it did not, and ND got 7 instead of 0 or 3.
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Both of the examples you cited were late in the 4th quarter or overtime when the blown call led directly to the final result of the game.

Calls in the middle of the 3rd quarter don't change the outcome of the game nearly as much as those...there are just way too many variables involved.

I argree with your other points, though.
 
I don't think it's right to slam knox for his statements on this thread.
To watch most of the first half when we were the aggressor, with a 14-0 lead in our hands, only to see us revert to playing on our heels in a game that we had nothing to lose is nauseating.
The entire Tech fanbase should be madder than hell. I have no doubt that these players can win with the right direction and leadership.

I am very proud of the players, but not the coaching.
I am all for Reggie calling his own plays if this is the only alternative. I think he is better suited to understand what he can do best versus the garbsge that we ran in the last :34.
 
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