Wow what a strange day in college football and especially the ACC. Right now as I type this, not only is Texas stomping a new ass in those pansies from Columbia, but Virginia somehow managed to eek out an OT victory over North Carolina. I am amazed at what Al Groh has done after looking like the worst team in college football up until a few weeks ago. Glad the game is at Bobby Dodd next week.
Virginia Tech is losing at halftime to Boston College-if this continues it really opens up the path for Georgia Tech, although they do have some tough games left on the schedule.
Oh and Georgia Tech is almost guaranteed to be ranked tomorrow now that North Carolina, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt and Michigan State all went down.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Updating
I've been away from the blog (and pretty much everything else) because of a family medical emergency that happened last Friday. With things looking better, I've been able to catch up on all the college football around the country.
Last week was no doubt, ugly for Georgia Tech as they went down to the wire and held off a very poor Gardner-Webb team. As I tried to follow the game online, I could only surmise that third string QB Calvin Booker was not meant to run this offense in any way shape or form. Think Beau Davis running the triple option. That being said, after today's win on the road at Clemson, Paul Johnson has his young and transitioning team at 6-1 and right in the thick of the ACC race. We must have a Boston College win over VT tonight to really get into this thing and keep the conference hopes alive.
I said at the beginning of the season that there would be many games just like the one today against a Tommy Bowden-less Clemson team. It's not pretty but as Mark May said today on ESPN, its a W and we'll take it. With games ahead against North Carolina and Florida State, we're going to see a few more just like this. The weak link on this team is clearly the offensive line. Not only are they West Coast offense type, but they aren't very good either. The defense continues to play very well-there is a toughness about this team that allows them to persevere when the chips are against them. Down 17-14 late in the 4th quarter, the Tech defense held serve and allowed Nesbitt and company to score the winning TD on a pretty pass to BeBe Thomas.
This team should handle Virginia next week at home and then be 7-1 heading into a huge showdown against Butch Davis and North Carolina. Both teams should be ranked at that time and it should be the first of many classic games between Johnson and Davis.
One other thought comes to mind right now-if the voting took place for national Coach of the Year at this time, Paul Johnson would certainly be at or near the top of the list. Again, wait until he gets his own players in.
Last week was no doubt, ugly for Georgia Tech as they went down to the wire and held off a very poor Gardner-Webb team. As I tried to follow the game online, I could only surmise that third string QB Calvin Booker was not meant to run this offense in any way shape or form. Think Beau Davis running the triple option. That being said, after today's win on the road at Clemson, Paul Johnson has his young and transitioning team at 6-1 and right in the thick of the ACC race. We must have a Boston College win over VT tonight to really get into this thing and keep the conference hopes alive.
I said at the beginning of the season that there would be many games just like the one today against a Tommy Bowden-less Clemson team. It's not pretty but as Mark May said today on ESPN, its a W and we'll take it. With games ahead against North Carolina and Florida State, we're going to see a few more just like this. The weak link on this team is clearly the offensive line. Not only are they West Coast offense type, but they aren't very good either. The defense continues to play very well-there is a toughness about this team that allows them to persevere when the chips are against them. Down 17-14 late in the 4th quarter, the Tech defense held serve and allowed Nesbitt and company to score the winning TD on a pretty pass to BeBe Thomas.
This team should handle Virginia next week at home and then be 7-1 heading into a huge showdown against Butch Davis and North Carolina. Both teams should be ranked at that time and it should be the first of many classic games between Johnson and Davis.
One other thought comes to mind right now-if the voting took place for national Coach of the Year at this time, Paul Johnson would certainly be at or near the top of the list. Again, wait until he gets his own players in.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
My Favorite Video
Yeah, we'd never want to run an offense like this at Nebraska. A collection of Paul Johnson coached offenses at Georgia Southern, Hawaii and Navy. By the way, isn't that Adrian Peterson run towards the end just amazing?
Monday, October 6, 2008
Respect for Bo
Even after a crushing loss on Saturday night, I earned a good deal of respect for Pelini. Yes, the team played terrible and there are some obvious issues with this team right now. But unlike Callahan, who regularly shifted blame for losses to his players, Pelini stood up and was sincere about putting the responsibility on his shoulders. There was nothing phony about his post game press conference and I applaud him for accepting responsibility for the loss. Its a big step and something positive to take away from a nightmarish night. Pelini looked like one of the Husker fans that were devastated by the result of the Missouri loss. Hang in there coach.
Tony Barnhart: GT offense is "Relentless"
Respected CFB writer Tony Barnhart shares his impressions on GT:
2. Michael Johnson’s not blowing smoke: Young Johnson said that the only team that could beat Georgia Tech is Georgia Tech. It sounds like bulletin board material but let’s look at that. Georgia Tech beat a very sound Duke team 27-0 on Saturday . Trust me when I tell you that the game was not that close. Georgia Tech dominated the game in the first half and had only three points to show for it. But the Georgia Tech offense is just relentless. It just wears out opponents both physically and mentally. And Coach Paul Johnson showed yet again on Saturday that he will do whatever it takes to win. You want to put eight guys up there to stop the option? He’ll use a true freshman quarterback (Jaybo Shaw) to throw nine passes to Bay-Bay Thomas. But Georgia Tech has a chance to win every game it plays because Johnson has never had a defense this good to back up his offense.
Also, Boston Globe writer Mark Bladschun says Georgia Tech has a shot at winning the ACC
"Then there is Georgia Tech, with first-year coach Paul Johnson, sitting at 4-1 in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. The Yellow Jackets knocked off Duke, which already has won three games this season, 27-0 Saturday."
2. Michael Johnson’s not blowing smoke: Young Johnson said that the only team that could beat Georgia Tech is Georgia Tech. It sounds like bulletin board material but let’s look at that. Georgia Tech beat a very sound Duke team 27-0 on Saturday . Trust me when I tell you that the game was not that close. Georgia Tech dominated the game in the first half and had only three points to show for it. But the Georgia Tech offense is just relentless. It just wears out opponents both physically and mentally. And Coach Paul Johnson showed yet again on Saturday that he will do whatever it takes to win. You want to put eight guys up there to stop the option? He’ll use a true freshman quarterback (Jaybo Shaw) to throw nine passes to Bay-Bay Thomas. But Georgia Tech has a chance to win every game it plays because Johnson has never had a defense this good to back up his offense.
Also, Boston Globe writer Mark Bladschun says Georgia Tech has a shot at winning the ACC
"Then there is Georgia Tech, with first-year coach Paul Johnson, sitting at 4-1 in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. The Yellow Jackets knocked off Duke, which already has won three games this season, 27-0 Saturday."
Sunday, October 5, 2008
More GT Stuff
This from the Sporting News' Matt Hayes:
On the outside
On the outside
Georgia Tech: You laugh at the funky flexbone offense, but understand this: No coach wants to game-plan for it. It's a logistical nightmare. 'Jackets are three key turnovers away (vs. Virginia Tech) from being unbeaten.
Also, Larry Hartstein tells us what we learned about GT Saturday.
One thing is for sure-Paul Johnson just simply outsmarts every defensive coordinator that tries to stop his offense.
--------------------------------------------------
Until Nebraska fans, administrators, boosters and everyone else starts listening to what I'm saying, the Husker program is going to continue to be mired in mediocrity. Again, to reiterate my point from a week ago, please start the search for a new offensive coordinator immediately and start recruiting accordingly. It was a terrible miscalculation to keep Shawn Watson and the leftovers of this stupid Callahan offense. Its pure garbage and doesn't belong at Nebraska.
Please run the damn flexbone offense that Paul Johnson runs and scares the crap out of teams with. Go reclaim the Husker identity. Yeah, you didn't hire PJ and yeah we're going to be kicking ourselves for a long time. You have a 2nd opportunity-hire his offensive coordinator. Pay him whatever it takes. Go to this site and find a few QBs that can run the flexbone. And watch the success of this program get reclaimed. Time is ticking.
http://www.flexboneassociation.com/directory/directory.htm
This About Sums it up for Nebraska
This one goes to you Bo. Good luck-you're going to need it the rest of the year.
Jackets beat Duke 27-0
Some initial thoughts regarding GT's 27-0 victory over Duke.
-After a slow start, the Jackets were able to methodically wear down a game Duke defense and get their first shutout since 2006 and 2nd since 2000. It was the passing of Jaybo Shaw and the receiving of Daymarius Thomas that really made the difference in this game. Thomas was, at times, wide open because Duke was so intent on stopping the flexbone. Teams will quickly realize that Paul Johnson's offense is not as "one dimensional" as its made out to be.
-ESPN showed a stat during the game that talked about Jaybo Shaw and the fact he is one of 4 true freshmen in the country that start at QB. Love Jaybo, but its clear that Nesbitt needs to get healed up ASAP. Jaybo just doesn't have the physical tools or experience right now to make this offense work perfectly and it looked like Paul had scaled down the offense knowing he had no backup behind Shaw.
-This defense is NASTY and getting better each week. We all knew the front 4 would be wicked but yesterday it was the hard hitting secondary and linebackers that stood out. This defense is just flat out tough both mentally and physically. They play with a confidence and swagger and enthusiasm that matches any other team I've seen in college football this year. I wonder if it has to do with practicing against a physical smashmouth offense nearly everyday. Run the ball and stop the run-do those and you will win a bunch of games. Also it certainly helps that the Jackets are finally getting healthy.
-Gardner Webb will be one last chance to fine tune things before a huge game October 11th at Clemson.
-After a slow start, the Jackets were able to methodically wear down a game Duke defense and get their first shutout since 2006 and 2nd since 2000. It was the passing of Jaybo Shaw and the receiving of Daymarius Thomas that really made the difference in this game. Thomas was, at times, wide open because Duke was so intent on stopping the flexbone. Teams will quickly realize that Paul Johnson's offense is not as "one dimensional" as its made out to be.
-ESPN showed a stat during the game that talked about Jaybo Shaw and the fact he is one of 4 true freshmen in the country that start at QB. Love Jaybo, but its clear that Nesbitt needs to get healed up ASAP. Jaybo just doesn't have the physical tools or experience right now to make this offense work perfectly and it looked like Paul had scaled down the offense knowing he had no backup behind Shaw.
-This defense is NASTY and getting better each week. We all knew the front 4 would be wicked but yesterday it was the hard hitting secondary and linebackers that stood out. This defense is just flat out tough both mentally and physically. They play with a confidence and swagger and enthusiasm that matches any other team I've seen in college football this year. I wonder if it has to do with practicing against a physical smashmouth offense nearly everyday. Run the ball and stop the run-do those and you will win a bunch of games. Also it certainly helps that the Jackets are finally getting healthy.
-Gardner Webb will be one last chance to fine tune things before a huge game October 11th at Clemson.
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