What did we have in 2014

[johncu]

Indeed he was.

But what does it say about a program that falls apart this much 2 years after a single O lineman has left the program?

Perhaps one of the biggest indictments of a coaching staff I can imagine.

Falls apart? We are probably going to win 6 games this year. Maybe 7. That is pretty dead on average for GT ever since Dodd left. Why is it a surprise that years like 2009 and 2014 are not the norm? They never have been.

 

[johncu]

We also had a much easier schedule that year, although most don't want to hear that.

What??? We played #19 Clemson and then 3 consecutive top 10 teams, and won 3 of those 4 games. Look at our scoring margins after the UNC loss:

56-28 Pitt
35-10 UVA
56-23 NCSU
28-6 Clemson
30-24 UGA
35-37 FSU
49-34 Miss St

We beat down 5 of our last 7 opponents, 4 of whom were elite teams. Let's not minimize how good we were that year. All we needed was 1 or 2 turnovers per game and we were just about guaranteed to win because our offense was so unstoppable. We lost against FSU because they didn't turn the ball over. If they'd coughed it up even once, we win that game.

 

[BuzzLaw]

Falls apart? We are probably going to win 6 games this year. Maybe 7. That is pretty dead on average for GT ever since Dodd left. Why is it a surprise that years like 2009 and 2014 are not the norm? They never have been.

I guess you are saying PJ got our expectations too high. Maybe he did. I do remember Chan winning 7 games a year regularly... and it got him fired. We won 3 games last year and I'm not as confident as you that we win 6 or 7 this year. But I hope you are right. I hope we win 8. But we lost by 19, 14 and 28 to Clemson, Miami and UNC. Our wins this year have come against Boston College, Mercer, Vanderbilt, Georgia Southern and Duke. So, basically, we are competitive against the lower tiered ACC schools. We can't even stay on the field with the schools at or near the top of the ACC. Two years in a row of this takes away the argument that it is an aberration. One more year of this and you can call it the norm. I've been one of PJ's biggest supporters, but he has flat out been lousy since the Orange Bowl.

 

[NEJacket1]

Indeed he was.

But what does it say about a program that falls apart this much 2 years after a single O lineman has left the program?

Perhaps one of the biggest indictments of a coaching staff I can imagine.

It was way more than just Shaq.

 

[18in32]

I don't know what we had in 2014... but whatever it was -- and this is the important part -- it is something we can have again, and potentially have frequently.

It wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime uber-talent that we'll never have again ("My God he's a freshman!"), it wasn't a perfect schedule with no challenges, it wasn't a senior QB with 50 consecutive starts, it wasn't even the lights-out D we've all been dreaming about for a decade. We were just a really consistent and efficient O running CPJ's crazy system very well, combined with a D that did well enough and got slightly more than its share of breaks. That's why this year and last are so frustrating -- they didn't have to be.

 

[gth874t]

I guess you are saying PJ got our expectations too high. Maybe he did. I do remember Chan winning 7 games a year regularly... and it got him fired. We won 3 games last year and I'm not as confident as you that we win 6 or 7 this year. But I hope you are right. I hope we win 8. But we lost by 19, 14 and 28 to Clemson, Miami and UNC. Our wins this year have come against Boston College, Mercer, Vanderbilt, Georgia Southern and Duke. So, basically, we are competitive against the lower tiered ACC schools. We can't even stay on the field with the schools at or near the top of the ACC. Two years in a row of this takes away the argument that it is an aberration. One more year of this and you can call it the norm. I've been one of PJ's biggest supporters, but he has flat out been lousy since the Orange Bowl.

Good points all around. Essentially, we're beating the teams we should and losing against the teams we should, with the exception of Pitt. Which is a bit of a change from the CCG years - we'd have a headscratching loss every year (UVA 2004, NC State 2005, UVA 2007, dwags/WF 2006, for example) but then win a game we probably shouldn't every year (VPI 2006, Miami 2005, NC State 2003, Auburn 2003, for example)

For a while, we'd been able to win some of the big games under CPJ but that advantage is slipping. We'll know more this Saturday against a tough VPI squad.

 

[05GTCorndog]

We lost against FSU because they didn't turn the ball over. If they'd coughed it up even once, we win that game.

We lost because the other team didn't screw up.

Is there anything CPJ related you won't make excuses for?

#FOP

 

[johncu]

We lost because the other team didn't screw up.

Is there anything CPJ related you won't make excuses for?

#FOP

I am a FOP, but I've criticized his defense plenty lately. I love our offense but PJ is not an OC, he's a head coach. I honestly have no idea what the solution is because we're on DC #3 with mostly the same results.

 

[Deke]

I kind of don't like admitting it, but I honestly think one thing we had going for was that no one expected us to be good. Going into that season weren't we picked near the bottom of the conference? Compare that to 2015 when we were predicted to compete for the ACC title, and a lot of teams had us in their sights. Now, I'm by no means saying that's the only reason (as previously mentioned, some key senior leaders helped the offense hum, and the defense was super opportunistic), but I do think it was a small factor that helped us "sneak up" on some teams. I still think we had a stellar team in 2014 though (not trying to say otherwise).