We've been competitive in 95% no wait 94% of CPJ's games

18in32

Petard Hoister
Joined
May 23, 2010
Messages
27,979
In the category of 'looking on the bright side of things'... one thing that strikes me is how few times we've really been blown out under CPJ. In other words, I generally felt like we had a chance (insert Jim Carrey gif) in most of our losses.

As of today, CPJ has a record of 76-52 at GT. (EDIT: This formerly said 75-52... the Tech media guide does not count the 2009 ACCCG as a win for CPJ. But I do.) Of the 52 losses —
1-8 pt losses: 28
9-16 pt losses: 10
17-21 pt losses: 8
22+ pt losses: 6

So 6 out of 127 games have been blowout losses (or 14 if you call a 17 pt loss a blowout). That's some consolation from my perspective as a fan. By way of comparison, CPJ has 2 losses of 30+ points on 10 years. Kirby Smart has 2 in 2 seasons.

Here's the annual breakdown if any cares....

2008
1-8 pt losses: 2
9-16 pt losses: 0
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 1 (LSU)

2009:
1-8 pt losses: 1
9-16 pt losses: 2
17-21 pt losses: 0
22+ losses: 0

2010:
1-8 pt losses: 4
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 1 (Miami)

2011:
1-8 pt losses: 2
9-16 pt losses: 2
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 0

2012:
1-8 pt losses: 3
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 2 (BYU, UGA)

2013:
1-8 pt losses: 3
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 1 (Clemson)

2014:
1-8 pt losses: 3
9-16 pt losses: 0
17-21 pt losses: 0
22+ losses: 0

2015:
1-8 pt losses: 6
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 2
22+ losses: 0

2016:
1-8 pt losses: 1
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 1 (UNC)

2017:
1-8 pt losses: 3
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 0
22+ losses: 0
 
Last edited:
on the surface that's probably fairly accurate. but for instance, ND only beat us by 8 in 2015 but it sure felt like a blowout. We got our tails thoroughly whipped and it never felt like we were in that game.
 
on the surface that's probably fairly accurate. but for instance, ND only beat us by 8 in 2015 but it sure felt like a blowout. We got our tails thoroughly whipped and it never felt like we were in that game.

This.

I'd measure this by deficit-minutes to get a more accurate picture of competitive-ness.

And this.

We beat the crap out of Miss State in OB but their last scoring drive in the 4th resulted in a 14 pts difference for final score.

This year I would say we have 3 very close losses and 1 blowout loss yes. 2015 is a bad year to do any comparison, this year doesn't feel like 2015.
 
We’ve been competitive in 100% of CPJ’s games in which I determine what the value for competitive is

We choked 3 times this year so we're extremely competitive.
 
In the category of 'looking on the bright side of things'... one thing that strikes me is how few times we've really been blown out under CPJ. In other words, I generally felt like we had a chance (insert Jim Carrey gif) in most of our losses.

As of today, CPJ has a record of 75-52 at GT. Of the 52 losses —
1-8 pt losses: 28
9-16 pt losses: 10
17-21 pt losses: 8
22+ pt losses: 6

So 6 out of 127 games have been blowout losses (or 14 if you call a 17 pt loss a blowout). That's some consolation from my perspective as a fan. By way of comparison, CPJ has 2 losses of 30+ points on 10 years. Kirby Smart has 2 in 2 seasons.

Here's the annual breakdown if any cares....

2008
1-8 pt losses: 2
9-16 pt losses: 0
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 1 (LSU)

2009:
1-8 pt losses: 1
9-16 pt losses: 2
17-21 pt losses: 0
22+ losses: 0

2010:
1-8 pt losses: 4
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 1 (Miami)

2011:
1-8 pt losses: 2
9-16 pt losses: 2
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 0

2012:
1-8 pt losses: 3
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 2 (BYU, UGA)

2013:
1-8 pt losses: 3
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 1 (Clemson)

2014:
1-8 pt losses: 3
9-16 pt losses: 0
17-21 pt losses: 0
22+ losses: 0

2015:
1-8 pt losses: 6
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 2
22+ losses: 0

2016:
1-8 pt losses: 1
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 1
22+ losses: 1 (UNC)

2017:
1-8 pt losses: 3
9-16 pt losses: 1
17-21 pt losses: 0
22+ losses: 0


If you are going to do this analysis, you should look at the other side of the equation as well. How many of our wins were from 1-8 points? If we are winning a higher percentage of close games than losing, well that's a good sign, right?
 
Nice post OP. I'd be interested to know how well we've done against the spread under CPJ. It sure feels like our losses are always by fewer points than Vegas expected us to lose by. This year I think we've beaten spread in all of our games except for UVA and Clemson which was a push.
 
My perspective is solely from the 'fan in the stands'. The idea of 'game control' that you guys are talking about — the loss to ND in 2015, or the losses to Clemson last year and this year — is beside the point. (Think about how we 'controlled the game' against UT, but lost anyhow. I'm the UT fan in this metaphor.)

I'm the kind of fan who thinks we're gonna win the NC every year. So that kind of optimism means that I think every game in which we're getting beat is pretty winnable — so long as the score is close enough and there's enough time on the clock. "I bet *this* drive we're execute on all cylinders and score, and then we'll hold them to four-and-out and do it again!"

So for purposes of 'how I feel in the stands', it feels totally different to be down by 14 with 45 minutes left to play, and to be down by 14 with 4 minutes left to play. The 2015 ND game is a good example. I left the stadium and was walking to my car when I heard about the TD and the onside kick and I got really excited... "We're gonna do it! We're gonna pull an amazing comeback!" I realize from the perspective of an objective observer, ND was the better team and had been all day. But from the perspective of a hopeful fan... there was still a chance we'd win.

And that feeling — losing but being competitive, a/k/a "hope" — is much better than the feeling that you've been skunked — like after 51-7 losses or the 2008 Peach Bowl.

So from my perspective, being down by one score means every play, every drive is — like in baseball — the potential home run at-bat that levels everything up. Being down by two TD and two (long-shot) 2 pt conversions, is a harder dream, but still dreamable. Down by 3 scores is pretty unlikely. More than that and you know you're gonna lose, a good long time before the clock reaches 0:00.
 
Last edited:
on the surface that's probably fairly accurate. but for instance, ND only beat us by 8 in 2015 but it sure felt like a blowout. We got our tails thoroughly whipped and it never felt like we were in that game.

.... But we still had a chance. That's what matters. One possession is always close, no matter what happened previously in the game. Just flip one possession and gt wins.
 
There seems to be an awful lot of games where we did get blown out. However, they look better because we scrape together desperation 4th quarters where we close the gap a little bit. On paper it looks better but we were still never in the game. I suppose now you want an example.....
 
Another interesting stat would be to compare how many FBS or P5 teams we've beaten by >21 vs the number we've lost to by >21.
 
The only stat that matters is the scoreboard at the end of COFH. CPJ beat them gaggers three times in the last 9 years, and i know he will beat them some more.
 
The only stat that matters is the scoreboard at the end of COFH. CPJ beat them gaggers three times in the last 9 years, and i know he will beat them some more.
Easily could've had 4 more.
Not a knock...just sayin'. Only outclassed twice in 9 tries. We've been right there 7 times and won 3 of them.
 
Nice post OP. I'd be interested to know how well we've done against the spread under CPJ. It sure feels like our losses are always by fewer points than Vegas expected us to lose by. This year I think we've beaten spread in all of our games except for UVA and Clemson which was a push.
I'm pretty sure we destroy the spread under CPJ. IIRC we went 10 or 11 straight games without losing to the spread before we choked at UVA.
 
Back
Top