Bowden's Post-Richt Offense Getting Hit from All Angles

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel gives us this interesting two page look at the FSU offense.

Some highlights:

This is not the way Bobby Bowden, a man I consider to be the greatest major-college coach of all time, should end his career -- as a bitter Little League father who cannot accept that his son just might not be good enough to be an all-star.
- - - - -
Peter Tom Willis, the former Florida State quarterback who is now a color commentator on Seminole radio broadcasts, said on the air during the loss to Clemson that the Seminoles needed to scrap "this high-school offense."
- - - - -
Bowden's son, Terry, a former head football coach who now does a daily radio show in town (4-7 p.m., WHOO, 1080 AM), has questioned Florida State's offensive philosophy on the air and has called this year's scheme "a jump-ball offense."
- - - - -
For four years, we were led to believe that the old quarterback -- Chris Rix -- was the problem. Now the problem is that the new quarterback -- Drew Weatherford -- is too young and the offensive line too banged up. What's the excuse going to be next year -- not enough depth at tight end?

Rix became a punching bag and a punch line for many of us in the media. He became the convenient fall guy when the program began falling. Did we have it all wrong? Was he the victim and not the villain?

"My son was made a scapegoat for the offensive ineptitude," said Chris Rix Sr., the father of Florida State's much-maligned former quarterback. "Funny, but the many problems Chris was blamed for are still there now that he's gone.

"My son was never developed like he should have been. He was stuck in second gear his whole time there. Chris was recruited by Mark Richt to play quarterback at Florida State, but when Coach Richt left [to become the head coach at Georgia], we weren't playing for Florida State anymore. We were playing for the Bobby Bowden Friends and Family Network."

Interesting.


[Photo: This statue honors Bowden's attempt to point the blame for FSU's offensive problems at the media, fans and players instead of his son.]

Around the Horn

Josh Kendall has a great article on Lumpkin's return to form.

Mayor Kyle of Kyle on Football has his weekend predictions up early.

I'm A Realist looks at Conference Strengths in terms of which conference has the most BCS wins and which conference has more relevant BCS wins.

Lastly, The Drizzle has a post-game analysis for the Dawgs from last week.

Photos from the Tech game

I'm trying to work it out/get approval to add some spectacular pics from the UGA vs. Tech game. If I get them, they will be up tonight. If not, I'll probably delete this post and pretend it never happened.

Most Gratifying Dump EVER

This. Is. Nuts. EDSBS shows the best sideline interview question of all time aimed at Nebraska's Bill Callahan.

When you click over to EDSBS, you'll see the link to the movie file.

John Tenuta to Texas A&M?

Coach Fran is in the market for a new Defensive Coordinator. (ht - EDSBS) Tenuta would be a huge upgrade over Torbush. I could be Tenuta's agent. I'd recommend him for tons of jobs in other parts of the country. ;-)

In other "You're Fired" news, Georgia Southern terminated head coach Mike Sewak. His failures included:
- Not making it past round 1 in the playoffs the past two years
- Not making it to the playoffs at all three years ago
- Pissing off the greatest thing to ever happen to GSU

pwd

Dawg Walk Info for SEC Championship Game

Per Georgiadogs.com

ATHENS - The University of Georgia Dawg Walk prior to the SEC Championship Game Saturday at the Georgia Dome will begin at 3:55 p.m.

The team will arrive and depart the buses at the West Plaza near the Gold Parking Deck off Northside Dr. They will proceed to Stairtower Four at which point they will go down stairs to the players' entrance.

In other words....Gate B.

Photo from AJC.com.

Final Installment in the Turducken News

I mentioned near the beginning of this series of articles, that FoxNews was putting together a Turducken Blog.

The writer is up to episode 3 of her quest to build her first Turducken. In this installment she references our own "Iron Chef Turducken." Iron Chef Turducken provided assistance, advice and tips to the FoxNews reporter, and in return she linked over to ICT's blog.

Also interesting to note, the FoxNews article introduced me to "Quaducant" -- a quail stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a pheasant.

Anyway, this has nothing to do with nothing. Just giving props to Tiffany Iron Chef Turducken.

Good News. Dewberry Qualifies

Darius Dewberry scored a 19 ACT and an 820 on his SAT -- Source: Scout.com

Dewberry is a 5 star linebacker with the speed, size combo that we desperately need. He doesn't project to enroll early.

In the DawgPost.com article, Hargrave's coach *gushes* over Dewberry's abilities.

On the downside, Josh Johnson isn't coming back. Josh was suspended for some games down at GMC. Apparently, he didn't fulfill his commitment to Richt to get his act together so he's not re-enrolling. Glad Richt stuck to his guns.

For the folks who watched UGA vs. GT on TV

Click to enlarge. Hard to fully appreciate the humor in this one if you missed it on TV.

Pic hosted by ToonDawg.

Breaking Scheduling News: UGA to Play Cincy

Mike Floyd just gave me a heads up on this one.

"Sounds like we've signed a two-for-one deal with the University of Cincinnati, with the Bearcats coming to Athens in 2008 and 2014 and our Bulldogs playing @ Cincy in 2011. It's an interesting choice that falls in line with Damon's stated intention of scheduling non-conference BCS programs, although I'd be shocked if the Big East is still a BCS league in a few years.

Read more here from today's Cincinnati Post.

Also, it's interesting to note that they would be playing us in Paul Brown Stadium. This is not the Bearcats home stadium. It's where the Bengals play.

2008 non-conference schedule looks like GT (home), Arizona State (road), Cincy (Home) and 1 more open date non-conference. Not bad considering that we will also have UT (home) and Bama at home that year.

Rumors of a 2011 and 2012 matchup with UCLA are still out there, and we have two more open slots for non-conference teams in 2007. Damon is doing a good job of upgrading the schedule. (NOTE; the UCLA series looks dead per AJC.com)



[Photo: University of Cincinnati Booster Club]

81Dog's Towering Home Run Shot

It doesn't get any better than this.

Recap: GT vs.UGA

Random musings. Fast break style.

-- Demario Minter just made himself very rich. Calvin Johnson had 2 catches on the night, and one of them was nabbed off Paul Oliver.

-- Best line of the day came from an architect sitting with a friend of mine. On the topic of Bobby Dodd Stadium: "This place looks like something Frank Lloyd Wright shat."

-- The entire game plan looked to me a battle of wills. It was as if Gailey said "I'm going to be patient and I'm going to work my way down the field without turing the ball over and beat UGA."

Whereas Richt/Martinez must have said, "Tech is not going to beat us with Calvin Johnson and big plays. We're going to avoid the big plays, play Calvin tough as nails, keep GT in front of us, and force them to drive 65-80 yards and convert 6 to 8 third downs per drive to beat us. We don't think that they can do that without screwing up so we will win." We blitzed just enough to make it work.

Richt/Martinez were right. The penalties and turnovers KILLED Tech's offense.

-- Shocked GT didn't try to hit Calvin more. Somewhat shocked that we continue to catch the ball so poorly in Game 11. Bummed that Inman was injured so early and that Shackleford is still so clueless. Glad that we won.

-- It was lucky for the Dawgs that it was cold. A hot night like that with GT's time of possession in the second half, and we would've been in much more trouble.

-- Our RBs picked up the blitz pretty well. Given how much Tech blitzed, I didn't feel like it affected our passing game that much. What killed us were dropped passes. Sure, GT altered the timing of some of DJ's passes and tipped some balls, but if we catch the ball, we win by 14-17 points.

-- Tech had a good showing in the stands. It was the biggest percentage of GT fans to UGA fans since I've been attending the games in BDS 95-2005. That said, with GT fans not wearing anything resembling gold, the only way that I knew they were GT fans was them standing pre-game for the fight song. Just under 20k Georgia fans?

-- I have no idea where our QB draw went. I have no idea why we can't run the swing pass to the RB to slow down the blitz. I have no idea why we can't execute a screen pass to save our lives. I have no idea why we didn't roll the pocket, or why we decided to turn DJ into a pocket passer for this game. But it's annoying.

-- More Lumpkin next week.

-- Overall, our coaches put together a plan that was a winner. As Richt said at halftime, "We have to do a better job of throwing and catching." If we can EVER get that hitched up, we'll be fine. When we weren't dropping balls, we looked good.

What time is it?

6:46...or if you prefer...14 to 7.



(Thanks to JeromeFromDecatur for finding this pic)

Blog Poll Ballot -- Week 14

Week 14
1. Texas - I know they didn't look like world beaters vs. Texas A&M, but you know what? When has USC's defense looked impressive this year? The Trojans gave up 42 points to a team that just lost to Nevada.

2. Southern Cal - How do you let Fresno State put up 42 points on you. The more I reflect on that game, the more I can't help but wonder WTH? I watched all but the final 5-10 minutes of that game, and I think the giddy glow of watching Reggie Bush put on a staggering show takes about 2 weeks to wear off. When it does you realize that USC can't play a lick of defense.

3. Penn State - I really like this team.

4. Louisiana State - Arkansas is horrible. If Georgia's Dan Inman (starting OT) is healthy for the LSU game, Georgia wins.

5. Virginia Tech - I'm tempted to put them ahead of LSU.

6. Auburn - Best team nobody wants to play.

7. Ohio State - After the Irish struggled with a 5-5 Stanford team, I dropped them a notch.

8. Notre Dame - Great offense. Bad defense. A game with Penn State would be very interesting.

9. Oregon - The Rodney Dangerfield of 10-1 teams.

10. UCLA - I'm pulling for USC next week vs. the Bruins only because I want to see Reggie Bush vs. the Longhorn defense.

11. Georgia - If we catch the ball vs. LSU and if Inman is healthy we win. I moved us over Miami b/c we beat the team that beat Miami, and we have the same record.

12. Miami (Florida) - A befuddling team.

13. West Virginia - Extremely impressive showing vs. Pitt. Sideline interview quote of the decade comes from Wannstead during the Pitt/WVU game "We're going to tell our kids that they've got to run faster."

14. Alabama - Alabama vs. Michigan in the Outback would be a very good football game.

15. Texas Tech - Cotton Bowl bound for only their third time in history (1995 and 1939). No wonder they are so in love with Leach down there.

16. Florida - The Gators destroyed FSU. It was the worst defeat of an indian people on US soil since the Battle of Wounded Knee.

17. TCU - Stuck in non-BCS purgatory. Bummer for them that OU was so bad the one year that they beat 'em.

18. Louisville - For all their offensive hype, who has Petrino really beaten up there? Did you know the only team that he's beaten in three years that has finished the season ranked in the Top 25 is Boise State? No. He didn't beat FSU in the rain. That was John L. Smith.

19. Boston College - The best team that no bowl wants. They can thank their fans for that one.

20. Michigan - This holiday season, Lloyd Carr gave thanks for Phil Fulmer because Tennessee was the only team in America that did less with more.

[Photo: Autographed picture that Fulmer sent Carr.]

21. South Carolina - If Georgia wins the SEC Championship game, the Gamecocks might head to the Outback Bowl. If not, it's probably off to Shreveport. The SEC won't let a bowl select a team with 2 fewer wins over another team. In other words, South Carolina can't get picked for a bowl until Georgia has been selected. Florida however is under no such protection at 8-3.

22. Wisconsin - This season was starting to give me flashbacks to Kareem Abdul Jabbar's last season in the NBA. Everywhere you turned it was another "Last time that Alvarez will do _______" or another "Alvarez tribute." Personally, I think it's a disease called "Vince Dooley Syndrome." It's best recognized for the inability to quietly walk away.

[Photo: After Alvarez retires, will he do Zucker films like Kareem?]

23. Iowa - I expected more out of this team pre-season.

24. Oklahoma - I am not a Stoops hater so I was glad to see them give Ok State the beat down.

25. Fresno State - I have a policy that says if you lose to a total joke of a program, I can't rank you. Luckily for Fresno State, I have already violated that rule with TCU. So they are safe.

Dropped Out
Georgia Tech - well duh

New
Iowa

UGA vs. Clemson in the Peach Bowl?

There are four main bowl scenarios right now for the Dawgs. Technically, there are more, but the most likely based on this weekend's games are discussed below.

Sugar - Georgia Bulldogs vs. West Virginia
-- WVU locked up the Sugar yesterday when Uconn beat USF. The Mountaineers looked like a legit Top 10 vs. an overmatched Pitt team so this isn't the debacle many of us feared a few weeks ago. Still not ideal, but as long as WVU beats USF next week it will have some national appeal. If Georgia beats LSU, we get this matchup.

Peach -- Georgia vs. Clemson

-- When FSU loses to Virginia Tech this coming weekend in the ACC Championship game, the Noles will be on a four game losing streak. I can't see the Peach selecting a team with so little enthusiasm or respect. That leaves the Peach to choose between Boston College (8-3), Clemson (7-4) and Georgia Tech (7-4). BC's fans don't travel, and Tech is local. The Peach would have to choose between a 9-3 Georgia Team and an 8-3 Florida Team. If Georgia loses to LSU, this is a real possibility. The chance to beat the Tigers a sixth time in a row would be fine by me.

[Photo: Bruce Thornton celebrates our win over Clemson in 2003.]

Peach -- Georgia vs. Boston College
-- If the Peach takes BC, they are going to need someone to sell tickets to the game. The two SEC fan bases who would sell the most tickets to this game are Georgia and South Carolina. SC will sell more tickets to any non-BCS bowl than any other SEC team this year. However, proximity would mean a ton of Georgia ticket sales here.

Independence -- Georgia vs. Nebraska/Missouri/Oklahoma/Colorado
-- The Shreveport Bowl reps told the Jacksonville paper that they are expecting to select Florida. If the Dawgs slip past the Peach, this is where we will wind up. (*******NOTE: Since I first wrote this, I realized that the SEC may not allow a bowl to select a team with 2 fewer wins than another SEC team. In other words, South Carolina at 7-4 can't get selected until Georgia at 9-3 gets picked. So I don't think that we can fall to this bowl, but I'm not totally positive.)

The Capital One bowl isn't an option. They don't want the loser of the SECC game if they can avoid it. Auburn is almost a mortal lock on that game. The Outback Bowl isn't an option because we've been there three times in the past 8 years. A fourth visit isn't going to happen.

The Cotton Bowl can select Auburn, Alabama or LSU and get a better geographic fit than they would with Georgia.

That really only leaves the Sugar, Peach or Independence.

Here's how I think it shakes out (most likely)

If UGA beats LSU:
Sugar - Georgia vs. West Virginia
Capital One - Auburn vs. Wisconsin
Cotton - LSU vs. Texas Tech
Outback - Alabama vs. Michigan
Peach - South Carolina vs. Boston College
Independence - Florida vs. Nebraska

If LSU beats Georgia:
Sugar - LSU vs. West Virginia
Capital One - Auburn vs. Wisconsin
Cotton - Alabama vs. Texas Tech
Outback - South Carolina vs. Michigan
Peach - Georgia vs. Clemson
Independence - Florida vs. Nebraska

As always, the wildcard is the Outback Bowl. If they select Florida (again), then the Peach will take South Carolina. And we're off to Louisiana for the holidays.


Image from Georgiadogs.com

Thanks to the Georgia Tech Seniors

On behalf of all Georgia fans, I just want to say to the outgoing Georgia Tech senior football players...."Thanks. I wish you could stay longer."

SEC Championship Tickets Needed

I'll pay $125.00 each for tickets to the SEC Title Game.

Email me at decaturdawg [at} hotmail . com (obviously without the spaces).

In terms of quantity, I need several. Let me know how many you have, and we'll go from there.

If you are a UGA fan, I'll throw in a 2 CD-Double Album of Munson Mixes including U2, James Brown, Willie Nelson, AC/DC, Stevie Ray Vaughn and many others all mixed in with famous Munson clips from the early 70s thru 2004.

All-Time Best Comment this site has ever gotten

From a Tech fan calling himself "YellowJacket4Eternity":

This crap just prooves what an ignorant bunch of inbred, sess pool bathing, homophobic, no brains everyone associated with your "school" really are. Gotta love the power of stupid people in this state.

I swear to you that is as funny as it gets. Dude didn't even spell "proves" correctly. Much less "cess pool." If you are going to post on a person's blog that he's dumber than you are, the least you should do is spell your insults correctly.

What a dumbass.

Pre-Season Flashback Article "Tech Announces 2005 Team Slogans"

This was a heap of fun. Tech Announces 2005 Team Slogans. (Originally published Aug. 26, 2005)

pwd

UGA vs. GT Factoid of the Week

From Underdog, one of our readers, comes this nugget.

GT has not won a game in this series in 20 years without Ralph Friedgen on the sidelines.


Photo: Nobody puts Ralph in the corner.

Open Letter to the Techies circa 2002

A dawg fan/reader sent me this note:


"The note that follows was written by my friend and UGA classmate, [Name withheld], a few years ago BEFORE the GA-GA Tech game. He has several nerds in his office, so he wrote this little tome for them. It remains one of the best examples of smack/bragging/whatever that I've seen."

---------------------------------
Gentlemen,

I consider it a mark of cowardice to gloat about a victory after it has already been won. It takes cajones to bluster before the battle and take the risk of making a fool of oneself in the event of a loss. So, I'm going to go out on a limb and start telling y'all, in advance, how much Tech sucks.

When Keith, Chuck, and I enter the building Monday morning we will be strutting. You Tech nerds can stand to the side and glare in sarcastic wonder at your betters. UGA's imminent triumph will confirm UGA's superiority over Tech. It will mean that UGA football players are better than Tech football players, but it doesn't end there. By extension, it is axiomatic that UGA students and alumni are superior to Tech students and alumni.

Indeed, UGA, in general, is superior to Tech, in general. In short, this contest will be demonstrate the ultimate conquest of good over evil. It will be reminiscent of other epoch battles that stand out in the collective memory of mankind...of the Mongol horde being driven from the banks of the Danube back into Asia...of Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon...of Luke Skywalker's victory over Darth Vader and the evil Empire.

Life teaches us that the outcome of our lives is the sum result of the string of decisions, big and small, that each of us make as we swim through the continuum of time. We are not mere lumps of protoplasm, but intelligent beings who have been endowed by our Creator with a free will...the freedom to shape our own destiny.

It may be instructive for you to take a little time to ponder where you went wrong so that you might be able to recognize similar future turning points and be able to salvage some meaning out of the remainder of your life.

Of course, one obvious wrong turn was made when you signed your name to that application and dropped it in the mailbox, but you have to dig deeper. What events lead up to that? Was it that one problem you missed on that math test in the 3rd grade that caused you to make a B? Was it the time when your best friend picked you last to be on his team? Search your soul for that black event that caused you to begin to give up any hope of attending UGA.

On Monday when you go down on bended knee in our awful presence, you Tech nerds will finally understand Nietzsche's concept of the "uber man" and can begin to reconcile your lowly place in the order of things.

Be content in the knowledge that you will have been vanquished by your physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual superiors and that there really was nothing that you could have done to prevent it.

Sincerely,

JS

Georgia Sports Blog talks football with the GoldenTornado Blog

When time permits, many of the college football bloggers do roundtable style articles where we ask interview our rivals, and they in turn interview us. I'm a gigantic slacker and bailed on my roundtable with Orson pre-UF. So this is my first one of the season. Next season, I'm hoping for more of these.

This one was coordinated by Nathan from GoldenTornado. He went back and forth with me, Kyle "The Mayor" King and Hey, Jenny Slater. Only HJS has the recaps up as of 10:00 am this morning.

My questions for Nathan are in bold. Nathan's answers are below.


1. For as long as I can remember, Georgia Tech has said that it "stood for something more." That the "Total Person Concept" was taught at Tech as part of Bobby Dodd's legacy. Tech fans constantly belittled UGA's player discipline as "They only sit players for homecoming." Given that long history of rhetoric, how do Tech fans justify Gailey's decision to play Reuben Houston vs. Miami given Reuben Houston is awaiting trial on a 100 lb federal felony drug charge and that the courts did not force Gailey to play him? Do you agree with Lou Holtz's comments on ESPN News today that Gailey made the decision that a pro coach would make. Holtz basically said that no college coach would have played Houston b/c it reflects so poorly on the school. How many times do you think that Bobby Dodd rolled over in his grave when Houston took the field?

Nathan - First off, at this point it seems pretty much a forgone conclusion that Houston won’t be convicted of anything, and that some of the more sensational of the accusations aren’t true (100lbs of MJ in his diaper bag, etc). However, he was involved in a drug deal no matter how minor the role and as such should have never seen the field again in a GT uniform. Once the judge ordered that he hadn’t violated the code of conduct and threatened to hold the institute in contempt of court for failing to follow earlier rulings – Braine basically told Gailey to use him as a normal player. Personally, it was a terrible move and something that 90% of Tech fans strongly disliked, we do feel that we “stand for something more”.

That being said, I don’t ever want to hear Lou Holtz and his sorry cheating weasel of a self talking crap on anyone’s program. I’m waiting for his fellow ESPN staff to call him on the carpet for the crap that he’s left USC-E with, and the fact that he hasn’t yet left a program without NCAA sanctions. Him calling out ANY coach for ANY reason is hypocrisy of the highest order.

Also, I’m not sure Bobby Dodd is rolling over. While he wasn’t quite as ruthless as some old SEC coaches, he basically followed the Vince Dooley school of recruiting – if you get them on campus, it was worth it. I’m not saying he cheated per se, but some of his tactics would end you up on probation today, as would Dooley’s or Bear Bryant’s. That’s just the way it was back then, we pay much more attention to off the field behavior now than in the 50’s.

I don’t like the judge’s ruling. I don’t like Houston on the field. I don’t like being on probation, even if the NCAA found the school had no “intent”, just incompetence. I don’t like even being remotely in the same conversation as UGA in this matter, it’s not what GT stands for and the people responsible for it need to hit the pavement, pronto.

PWD Note: I agree on the Holtz "pot calling the kettle black comment."

2. You asked me "Am I shocked that Braine hasn't been fired?" I would ask you the same question.

Nathan - I cannot believe he’s not hitting up AtlantaHelpWanted.com as we speak. He’s done some wonderful things for the GT athletic department, especially in women’s sports. He’s also presided over the two biggest black marks in GT history (Flunkgate and now this probation). You can’t do that to Ma Tech and keep your job. We can’t fire him fast enough, imo.

3. Does it worry you that 2 of Tech's 3 losses have come to mobile QBs much in the same mold as Shockley. Why is it that Tech has struggled so much this year with mobile QBs like those of VT and UVA? (BTW --- ignore the 3 of 4 losses comment in the responses I just sent you. I was using Reggie Ball's abacus to count to 4)

Nathan - Marcus Vick didn’t beat us running the football, heck – VT’s offense didn’t do much that game – their special teams and defense just obliterated us. Marques Hagans on the other hand owns us completely, and has for his career.

The problem with mobile QB’s is that they negate GT’s biggest advantage on defense, our speed on the d-line and linebackers and uses that against us. Tenuta would blitz the tuba player from the band if he could, and that leaves openings if you are quick enough to exploit them. Will Shockley recognize them quickly enough is the question. I think he’ll do alright, though he hasn’t seemed to run as much this year as I thought he would. This isn’t going to be Cox or Wright sitting back there like tackling dummies.

On the other hand, UGA’s offensive line isn’t nearly as good D’Brickashaw and company up at UVa. They are more of a slow plodding type of line, and our d-line has given those types of lines fits. It doesn’t matter how much your QB can run if it’s a jailbreak every play. (FWIW, my brother actually knew Dan Inman growing up – he’s from the same part of NC as I’m from, doesn’t mean I don’t hope he gets abused by Oliver/Robertson over there).

4. What is your biggest worry about the UGA offense? What is your biggest worry about the UGA defense?

Nathan - Lining up behind that big slow o-line and running it right at us. Our d-line is undersized and can get pushed around by a power running game. Again, watch UVa or NCSU tape for this (NCSU has a couple of tremendous young backs by the way, they are like Arkansas in that regard). Wrotto is our only really large DT, and he’s a better o-lineman than d-lineman.

Leonard Pope scares the poop out of me. Philip Wheeler and KaMichael Hall will both play in the NFL, but it’s going to be a tall task to keep him under control. That guy is inhuman.

Try anything fancy though and our D will shove it right back up where the sun don’t shine. It’s not a mistake we looked faster than Miami last weekend, because we are. Gailey’s recruiting model has been to get kids with speed and big frames that might take a year or two to fill in. Everyone on Tech’s defense can really run.

Biggest worry about the UGA defense? Well, you don’t rush the passer tremendously well, and that’s what killed us in Blacksburg. Other than that game, our offense is basically good for 300-350 yards and about 20 points every game. It’s going to be on our defense to keep UGA below that number, we’re just not built to win shootouts – and I’m not sure UGA’s defense really matters into that one way or the other.

5. I haven't followed Tech's special teams this year. However, I watched the Miami game and saw a special teams display of total ineptitude. Are you special teams "Special" in the "short bus" sense of the word? Or are they normally "Special" in the "Key contributors most weeks but not vs. Miami"
sense of the word? (Note: If Luke Manget sneaks onto the field, I'm going to frigging lose it).

Nathan - Helmet Stickers for GT’s special teams...


Lets just say that as both the Special Teams Coach and GT’s Recruiting Coordinator, David Wilson shouldn’t be feeling too good about his job security – on either front.

Thanks to Nathan for putting this roundtable discussion together.

pwd

Georgia Tech Parade Honors 15th Year Anniversary of National Relevance

Written by Paul Westerdawg
Farks by NoleDawg

On Sunday, November 20, 2005, Georgia Tech hosted a special parade through downtown Atlanta. The parade honored the 15th Anniversary of Tech's 1990 co-National Championship.

The parade route started on Peachtree Street before eventually making its way to North Avenue. The parade consisted of the "Yellow" Jacket marching band, the famous Ramblin Wreck hooptie, players from the 1990 team, clowns, storm troopers, gnomes, ewoks, hobbits, and "men" dressed as super heroes and other oddities.


[Photo: Techies in full parade mode. Click to Enlarge]

"Georgia Tech is a school that can host a good parade every 40 or so years, but it can't do that consistently," said Dave Braine, Georgia Tech Athletic Director and Ticket Salesman. "This parade marks a celebration of unexpected relevance, a fond look back at what was, what could've been and the attempt to get to that level via cheating and malfeasance."

The loudest ovation of the day was reserved for the parade grand marshal, a Tech student in Klingon costume standing in for Tom Osborne. Osborne is widely credited as the "man who made the 1990 Mythical National Championship possible" by leaving Colorado entirely off his coaches' poll ballot in protest of Colorado's 5th down, enabling the middling Georgia Tech team to split with Colorado.

In doing so, Osborne made the impossible possible--vaulting a team playing in the humble Citrus Bowl into a national title.


[Photo: Klingon's for Osborne]

"This day honors the achievements of Coach Osborne," said Braine. "He's never been properly thanked for what he did for our floundering program. He postponed our move to Division I-AA by at least 20 years."

Bobby Ross, former head coach of the "Yellow" Jackets was on hand at the Parade. He said, "The 1990 team was special. Back then we didn't have progress towards graduation rules and the NCAA wasn't breathing down our backs all the time so we could 'make things work' academically."

[Photo: Bobby Ross pre-quitting/retiring/coming back]

A surprisingly large crowd of over 100 turned out for the Parade. "We really caught a break on the weather," said Braine. "It was going to rain, but we had sunny skies all day. I guess you could say 'The Force was with us.' Now if we could just bribe these folks into the stadium."


UGA_Law_Dawg contributed to this article.

NCAA Publishes Revised Scoreboard Pics for UGA vs.GT

The Georgia Sports Blog's investigative team has learned that the NCAA's penalties regarding Georgia Tech are still unfolding. Most recently, it has announced that Tech fans must replace all photos of vacated GT post-game scoreboards with more accurate photos that reflect the true history of their program.

Georgia vs. GT
1998 scoreboard picture as revised by the NCAA


UGA vs. GT
2000 scoreboard pic as revised by NCAA

George "Three Fingers" Godsey never actually played for GT according to NCAA records. Therefore, his 3 fingered salute was also removed from the scoreboard.

Photos by NoleDawg.

Catching Up with Flag Boy

By Paul Westerdawg

DAYTONA BEACH -- It has been almost 15 years since Georgia Tech debuted the now legendary Flag Boy. Today, the Flag Boy tradition at Georgia Tech remains strong. The twirling flags, the Total Person spirit and the commitment to reaching out and helping your fellow man. All of the traits of the original are still there.

However, all is not well with the first flag boy. Mortimer Tinklejohn, age 35, now lives in Daytona Beach where he struggles to make ends meet and lives hand to mouth as a performance artist.

[Photo: Tinklejohn has hit rock bottom and is now beginning to dig. Click to enlarge.]

"To be out there on the field during a football game, leaping into the spotlight and giving the best performance that you can. That's special. I was always spinning, tossing and catching. I was a high profile and important person on campus. People knew me," said Tinklejohn. "How can you top that in life? It was all down hill from there."

The young Tinklejohn's ego got the best of him in late 1994. He grew dissatisfied with the critical accolades from the Georgia Tech student newspaper, and he made a decision just before his senior year that dictated his every future move. A decision which caused him to be one of the least successful -- and critically mocked -- flag twirlers in history.

He decided to turn pro.

"I should have never walked away from my senior year. It was my undoing," said Tinklejohn. "One more year in the program and I could have been a superstar."

At first, his One Man Flag Twirling Show in Atlanta's midtown district drew large crowds. Famous celebrities like Kato Kaelin, Ian Ziering and Bob Sagat could regularly be seen at his shows.

Reports from that period are unclear, but it is rumored that Tinklejohn went through a heavy period of drug use at this time. It is believed that Tinklejohn and musician Michael Bolton exchanged a torrid night of drug-enduced love-making before Tinklejohn's act fell apart.

[Photo: Was it heartbreak that caused Tinklejohn's downfall?]

Shortly there after, Tinklejohn disappeared for 8 years. He only appeared at a pitiful set of shows in Jesup, Georgia and Monks Corner, South Carolina as an opening act for a cock fight and later a tractor pull. That period is a shadowy time for the former Tech legend. A time with more questions than answers.

Two years ago, Tinklejohn re-emerged as a fixture in the seedy Daytona Beach Biker Scene.

"I have no regrets. My experience at Tech made me what I am today," said Tinklejohn. "Sometimes when I'm feeling low, I look in the mirror and I know. I'm still a Yellow Jacket."
- end-


Obviously, this is parody/comedy. Any resemblenace to current or former GT students is strictly coincidental. For a legit update on the Flag Boy experience, which is funnier than my parody, check out the GT student newspaper.

Full Disclosure: the idea for 3 paragraphs modified/stolen from this Behind the Music parody.

Gailey Should Win National Coach of the Year

I don't know why they are even bothering to vote this year. Forget Weis at Notre Dame. Forget Mack Brown. Forget Mike Shula. Chan Gailey should win Coach of the Year in a landslide.

Why you ask. Because took a program that hadn't won a game since 1997, and now they are 7-3. Hell, that makes him one of the best coaches in history.

Bryant at Texas A&M and Alabama. Yeah, turning them around was impressive.
Synder at Kansas State. Not shabby.
Barnett at Northwestern. Impressive, but not Chantastic.

No my friends. After 7 long years without a single win on the books, Georgia Tech has entered victory lane 7 times this year. The ChanWagon is now full.

UGA vs. UK Recap

The Athens Banner Herald had the best headline for this game -- "Finally."

Realistically, Kentucky would've needed Tubby Smith and Bear Bryant to coach that collection of also rans into a victory over a Top 25 team, and Georgia only wasted about 10 minutes of game time showing that.


Photo from Georgiadogs.com.

Thoughts from the Game:

--Shockley - DJ Shockley continues to impress. At first glance, his stat line from the game doesn't blow you away. 17-31 for 159 yards. Then you look a bit closer and see 4 TDs, 0 INTs and only three quarters of play.

When you factor in the half dozen or so dropped passes for the game, his stat line begins to look ridiculously good. On the year, he is 132-231 (57%) for 2001 yards, 20 TDs and only 4 INTs in nine games. He has also rushed for 329 yards and 3 TDs. In other words, he has played nothing like the QB that looked like hell vs. Tech last year.

-- TEs - Leonard Pope once ate a cigarette machine. He's half man, half legend, half parenthetical thought. GT has no answer for UGA's biggest big man. We should rename the Fade Pattern to #81..."The Papal Authority."

-- WRs - Outside of Bryan McClendon and Mo Mass, this group continues to struggle. Some folks question, "Why aren't we running the ball better with all of these running backs?" Other than the obvious answer that our OL doesn't play very consistently, there is the broader issue of our WR play.

Richt warned us back in the summer that if our WRs didn't make some plays down the field, that people would crowd the box and make running tough for us. You better believe that Georgia Tech will play us that way. They are going to dare us to throw it. Our guys have to step up and make some plays. Interestingly, 17 players have caught a pass this year and nine have scored TDs.

-- RBs -- Two things stuck out from this game. First, was Danny Ware's 52 yard run. I can't help but think that part of his run was fueled by an overwhelming desire to not listen to Gordon Ely-Kelso talk smack about having the longest run of the season. The punter should not lead the team in yards per carry. The second thought was..."Damn, Kregg Lumpkin looked like the Lump of 2003. Sweet."

-- Gordon Ely-Kelso - Up til now, he's been best known as a solid punter and Dean Wormer's worst nightmare. But that 32 yard scammer down the sidelines really woke up the team. Helmet stickers all around. lol.

-- OL - Continue to be up and down. In the first quarter we couldn't get a yard when we needed it running the ball. The rest of the game, Shockley had all day to pass. We still can't execute a screen to save our lives. So it's up and down. Good and bad. Your basic freakshow.

-- Coutu -- This kid is turning into the JJ Reddick of kickers. Only without the annoying personality. He starts kicking when he gets off the bus. He nailed the 56 yarder this week. Nice work.

-- DL - Gant and Owens continue to improve. Realistically, I wonder what was gained by having Golston play vs. UK. He needs to get healthy. Moses and Johnson continue to shine, and I continue to wonder why Marcus Howard...who is honestly smaller than Demario Minter, plays defensive end and not linebacker.

-- LBs - The LBs played their best game since Tennessee. Some of that was Taylor being out. Playing him vs. Auburn wasn't fair to him or the rest of the defense. Brandon Miller looked as good or better than he's looked since the ULM game. Nice to finally have most of this group clicking again.

-- DBs - Minter will basically have to mug Calvin Johnson in this game just like last year. CJ will get 6-7 catches for 70-90 yards and a TD. If we can hold him to that, we should win the game. If we let him go nutty on us, we're in trouble. He is without a doubt the best WR in college.

-- Coaching - I love the no huddle. I'm glad that we finally found a way to use it without the SEC calling insane delay of game type penalties for moving to quickly on offense. Or whatever that penalty was called. I continue to pine for the days when we blitzed more frequently, and I long for the days when we get consistent OL play. Otherwise, I'm pleased. We're in the SEC Title game for the 3rd time in 4 years. How can you not be pleased.

[Photo: Richt describes a cheerleader whose tits were "out to here."]

Nothing else really stood out. Keep Tyson Browning in your thoughts and prayers. The leg break looked really nasty on JP Sports.

Go Dawgs. Stay tuned all week for some GT game analysis and insults.

PWD

Neither here nor there....Did You Know

Did you know that Middle Tennessee is the State Champion of Tennessee? They beat Vandy. Vandy beat Tennessee. Oh wait, on second thought, Georgia is still Tennessee State Champs. Never mind.

Speaking of Tennessee being a low-class outfit without dignity. Check out this recap of the post-game in Knoxville after their loss to Vanderbilt.

"As senior offensive tackle Albert Toeaina left the field following Rick Clausen's interception to end the game, he angrily hurled his helmet and then cursed and spat on one of UT's JumbroTron cameramen, Scott Liston.

Toeaina's helmet was one of nearly 10 that Tennessee players threw down in disgust and left on the field for managers to take into the locker room."

Very nice. UT not going to a bowl is about the best news of the weekend.

In a non-funny news item. Georgia Tech elected to play Reuben Houston this weeke