Re: When/if Ga Tech ever sees the day we can\'t beat a BYU
Hey Tech fans, this is an honor to write a first post on your board. My dad graduated AVIS from GT back in I think 51 so I grew up loving the wrambl'n wreck. I have followed GT ever since. Hey I even own a Mustang GT... so of coarse I am a big TECH fan. Now for a reality check however, I have covered the west for many years and I read a lot of wonderful things about the hopes and dreams of your program. You should be optimits as Tech has a lot going for it in spite of the academic losses. Brains win games and you have smart players. The other side of that coin is the problem of being overconfident. A lot of times, BYU has traveled south and east and played teams and lost. Sometimes people look only at the box scores. They also look at BYU's bowl record which is pretty unimpressive. But again, BYU is a cold weather program and so most people following the sport in general never get into the nuts and bolts of differences which exist in programs. Michigan was horrible in bowls during the same era and precisely for the same reasons, cold weather team playing in the south or west, long road trip, never the home team, limited practice time, finals schedules which conflict, etc. Football at the college level is subject to so many external influences and that's why any team can sometimes just get good enough execution and the right bounces to win on any given Saturday. As a football writer, I've seen the ball bounce in a lot of funny ways. The one thing I can say in defense of your Thursday Evening opponent is, they are a tremendous program. Most of GT's players will find that their travel to Provo is much more exciting than a bus trip to Athens. They will be playing in thinner, dryer air most likely. They will more than anything take on a team which has exceptional athletes and far more team speed than you realize. BYU is big and strong albiet untested up front. But their RS freshman on the OL will be exceptional athletes. You don't start or make the 2-deep there if you can't bench over 400 Lbs and it's been that way for 25 years. Up front, they are a lot like Tech size-wise, although this year they've gone to smaller, leaner tackles with a lot of extension and good feet. They don't have tons of experience and that's where Tech has an advantage offensively. Conversely, BYU was always strong at stopping running games until two or three seasons ago. They have a new scheme but I think 19 of ther first 22 defenders back from last year and a secondary that is much deeper and returns great depth. They have very fast linebackers that all move laterally well and go three deep on the D-Line in their new 3-3-5 alignment. They are smaller and quicker like GT. They have been moving the ball pretty well against their own defense and frankly, their own defense my very well be a top 25 unit this year. Last year was an abberation for them. They spend a lot more time in the top 25 than they do in the bottom 70. Nebraska isn't expected to have another year like last year either and bad years are bound to happen every once in a while... 40 something years for Nebraska, 30 for BYU... What I am telling you is that NCJacket is correct. GT struggled to defeat a badly beaten up Cougar team at home last year, capitalizing on mistakes late in the game which could have gone either way. This BYU team is much more like the unheralted group that went 12-2 the previous season, but has a much better defensive set (most of those 2001 d-players are still at BYU), they are at home and they expect to win. If TECH loses this game, I worry the Jackets will lose respect for themselves instead of gaining respect for a very formidable opponent on the road in a tough venue. History, don't let it repeat... #3 ranked Pitt made that mistake on opening day in 1984, losing to what eventually became the National Champion BYU team that sent 27 players into the pros. Pitt not only tanked their season, they dropped off radar for several years after that because they just couldn't bare the thought of losing to a BYU. They forgot to respect their opponent. My family is from the South and so I grew up believeing in God, country and football... but you know, they hit like trucks out west and know how to play with the pig there too. So good luck, be thankful you have a great nucleus (Sagarin has GT at #30) and if you win, great, but if you lose, then go out and defeat Auburn the following week. Thanks for letting me come on board and for my father's sake, I hope TECH has a great year.
