This image may be the best sports metaphor of 2010:
Even the Air Force mascot had enough sense to flee the scene of the crime at yesterday’s Independence Bowl.
With the loss, Georgia Tech is on an impressive run.
… Tech finished with a 6-7 record, its first losing season since a 5-6 campaign in 1996. It lost five of its last six games and has dropped its past six bowl games, including the last three under Johnson.
It’s gotten bad enough that Paul Johnson, Mark Bradley’s resident genius, is looking back at the Gailey era with what sounds like a certain amount of nostalgia.
“I want to fix this and get us back to where we belong, where we’ve been,” Johnson said.
Chantastic! As a Georgia fan, I’m down with that.
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UPDATE: If you’re a Tech fan, Paul Myerberg has a depressing observation for you.
… Far from taking another step forward in Paul Johnson’s third season — history had shown the third year under his watch to be a turning point — Georgia Tech enters the winter nursing its wounds, eyeballing a cloudier future at the tail end of a 6-7 finish, the program’s first sub-.500 campaign since 1996. [Emphasis added.]
Maybe the program is bigger than the coach.
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UPDATE #2: Per the Wall Street Journal, TV viewers don’t like watching the Jackets any more than the falcon does.
Get The Picture 
Georgia’s D allowed: 34 points; Air Force’s D allowed: 7 points
Georgia’s O scored: 42 points; Air Force’s O scored: 14 points
But Mike Bobo is the scourge of God!
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Yup, he sure is.
But you don’t understand football, so you post absurd meaningless stats and think you proved something.
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Forgive me for considering points and yards produced as being relevant to the question of whether a guy can coach offense, we have consistently produced both under Bobo. What we have not done is stop others from producing both with any regularity and Bobo unfairly takes the blame for that. You give Bobo the defenses Van Gorder had and Georgia would have won at least 10 more games since the end of 2006, and assuming he wasn’t already a head coach somewhere already all of you armchair coordinators would be trying to figure out how we could beg him to stay. I sometimes wonder what kind of football some of you grew up watching, arena league?, old Ty Detmer era WAC? It sure as hell wasn’t the SEC, otherwise you’d realize its bat shit crazy to expect an offense to score everytime it gets the ball in our league. But you’ll prattle on about play action passes and not putting together a complete game and whatever the hell else you want to, until you run off a good offensive coordinator. Then you’ll have a crappy offense to go with our crappy defense, its what you deserve, its just a shame you have to take the rest of us with you.
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You must not have watched much of Auburn in the second half of the season. That’s pretty much how opposing coaches game planned against the Tigers.
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Auburn didn’t score every time they got the ball this year. They started very slow against Georgia and didn’t do much of anything of note in the first half against Alabama, despite the fact they had Cam Newton, which I think we can all agree that Georgia nor anyone else had anyone remotely like this year.
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I didn’t say they scored every time they had the ball (although they did after the score was 21-7, right?). I said coaches expected that, and coached like they would. Why do you think Richt went for it on that fourth-and-two call early in the game? Against a team with a normal offense, Walsh would have been out there to kick a field goal.
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That call is as much an indictment of Richt’s confidence in our defense as anything else, LSU, Alabama, and Miss State all did much better against Cam this year than we did, if we had any of those teams defense’s we would likely have beaten Auburn.
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That said though, Cam is an incredible player of a mold which does not come around too often, he’s going to make a lot of people look bad so I’m not really kicking Grantham too hard especially considering what he was left with by CWM, but I think our offense performed as well as could reasonably be expected in that game and should bare really no blame for the loss, I look much harder at the other side of the ball.
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I believe the good Senator has a rule about re-posting the same old drivel on this blog. We get your drift. I personally don’t think Bobo is as bad as you continually harp on. You’ve got to stop whining.
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Note also the Falcons reverted to form. Atlanta is still Atlanta.
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Perhaps “where we’ve been” means where they were in his first two years, i.e. 20-7 with an ACC title. In which case it would seem that GT’s ideal situation, the best they can hope for, is a break-even record with the Dawgs. Interesting.
Watched the game yesterday evening with a bunch of Tech fans, and one of them, a guy I’ve been friends with since high school, pointed out (with no small amount of frustration) that we’re now starting to see just how difficult Paul Johnson’s recruiting job is. Despite the fact that his system is markedly different from Chan Gailey’s, the Gailey cupboard did include some good RBs and a game-breaking receiver (Demaryius Thomas) who was the key to their breakout success in ’09. But without Thomas, you’ve seen their offensive production wither, and going forward there’s really no reason for a future D. Thomas (much less an A.J. Green) to sign with Tech. Without the passing threat that gave GT a new wrinkle in ’09 — and arguably gave Air Force one when they most needed it in Shreveport — it would appear there’s a definite ceiling on what the Bees can accomplish.
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Hey, he’s got his narrative, I’ve got mine. 😉
On the recruiting front, I’m not sure it’s sunk in yet how much Chan screwed CPJ over by luring Giff Smith away to Buffalo.
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True.
What it also shows is just how difficult it’s going to be to recruit receivers into this system. I think he’ll be able to get many of the linemen he wants, and the running backs will get big stats if they come. Quarterbacks who can throw won’t come, but Johnson doesn’t want them. But he clearly wants physical receivers who can block in his scheme and yet also catch the ball and make a difference when he has to pass. I just don’t think many of the guys he wants are going to come. He’ll get receivers who are blockers, but not exceptional enough to get offers at other passing schools. If I was a wide receiver with any talent at all, I wouldn’t want to go there. You’re looking at 3-5 catches a game, and the rest of the time getting beaten up while blocking for the option game. Sure, he can sell rush yardage on reverses or end-arounds, but it’s a tough sell.
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True one-dimensional option teams do not fair well in bowl games. What makes this sad is that they lost to what should have been an athletically inferior, one-dimensional team who was somehow less one-dimensional than Tech. I had concern that Tevin Washington might be a better passer than “the most interesting [non-factor] in college football,” but I was wrong. Without a legitimate passing threat and some stud athletes on defense (’08 & ’09 D’s also featured guys that Gailey recruited), Tech will be mediocre. End of story.
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Hogbody, not sure where you’re coming from there. The Falcons lost a close one to the defending world champs; how’s that reverting to form? The Saints are a tough team, and it’s hard to beat them twice. I think Mike Smith has done a hell of a job, and last night Van Gorder did a hell of one, too, despite the loss.
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I’m with you, I’d rather them get the loss out of their system now before the playoffs start anyway.
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I could not have said it better. Thanks for summing up my entire argument against (extended) playoffs in less than 20 words.
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+1, at the end of the day what does that game last night really matter, just seating at worst.
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Not even seating if the Birds win next week. Homefield all the way through.
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Falcons are a near lock to have the #1 seed and home field advantage in the playoffs. We’re talking about the ….Falcons! That’s a truly remarkable coaching accomplishment. I’d take Smith/Van Gorder at UGA in a ny minute.
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The falcon was found, eventually, by one of its handlers. It has perched on top of a building in Shreveport, Louisiana where the bowl game was played.
Luckily enough, Air Force won the game despite the loss of the bird.
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I maty be mistaken….but, I think Paul Johnson has them exactly where they are historically found. They Suck…Job Well Done Johnson!
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And the great thing is, they’re going to be keeping him around a long time because of that ACC Championship miracle last year. Most of the ACC schools have been playing some fairly soft defense in recent years, which is going to mean Tech will get their wins in conference. Friedgren got to keep his job at Maryland for what, 10 years? That was more or less based on one ACC title in his first year. Tech will be the same story. Johnson will have them in position to be interesting enough in the league to keep his job a long time. Hopefully, we won’t let things slip enough for them to be a serious threat against us anymore.
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You mean sort of like Mark Richt at UGA?
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Sad, really sad to see you make a comparison like that. Haters have really hurt this program. Recruits that read UGA message boards and blogs just can’t wait to join in the fun and be ripped to pieces. Guess it is a perverted form of “tough love”. Funny, I don’t see a board anywhere (except North Avenue) that would put CPJ in the same category as CMR.
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I was talking about Freidgen living off early success. That was the point made in the first portion of GD’s post. And realizing CMR is not the answer is not being a “hater.” I am a UGA fan and alum. I want UGA to succeed, not Mark Richt. If both can happen, fine. If CMR turns it around I’ll gladly eat my words. I would actually prefer that. This season showed me the Emperor has no clothes, however. If Auburn wins the BCSNC Game next week that will be the 4th SEC team to win the BCSNC since CMR arrived (2 of them-FLA and LSU-did it twice). Where does that put UGA in the SEC under CMR’s watch? Pretty far down the list. What are you anyway–his brother-in-law? You sure sound like it. Brad, is that you?
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Yeah, if someone doesn’t criticize his every move, or cheapshot him at every conceivable opportunity they must be related. Just you haters got it right. Tear it down man, one post at a time. If it’s not him, it is any staff member. Grind it, just keep grinding.
Being a fan, or an alum, doesn’t mean what you post is right. You represent your own opinion, nothing more(which by the way, is much more like the GT fans than UGA’s fans). And it is repeatedly the same, day after day. The guy never does anything right. Riding on his past successes like RF and CPJ No offense but, what a tool. Maybe you can get a job at the AJC, you seem to have the same balance in posting from what I see here.
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Damn Brad, I must have struck a nerve. Calm down and have another drink of Inver House, Grant’s or whatever it is that you really drink.
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P.S. Other than blubbering I notice that you cannot refute any of the points I made in my AJC-like post.
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Refuting – Mark Richt is not like Ralph Friedgen because in his seventh year his team finished ranked 2nd in the nation and many believed his team was the best in the country. In his eighth year the team started the year ranked #1 in the country.
He is also not like RF because he has won 2 conference titles and played for 3.
He has won 75% of his games, compared to RF 60%.
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MoD, you used to be what is great about this blog. Strong opinions, but thoughtful commentary and debate. I disagree with must of what you have to say, but I am (was) happy to listen because it creates perspective. What has become sad though is your cynical comments with respect to your attitude towards the program and CMR. Answer me this question: How are your incessant railings against CMR beneficial to the program? What impact do you think your comments ultimately have? What purpose do they serve? Do you think they will influence (McGarity’s decision on) Richt’s tenure at UGA? I’m just trying to figure out the pros of you constantly tearing down our coach on this blog. I know you love the University and I know you want success, so I just can’t quite put my finger on it. Clearly you don’t support the man any longer, which is your right, but I am just trying to figure out what impact you think your constant negativity towards him on here actually has in the big picture. It obviously doesn’t help recruiting. Help me out here, man. What are you trying to accomplish by tearing down the winningest coach in the history of our football program?
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No. The winningest coach in the history of our football program is CVD with 6 SEC Championships (tied for second most in SEC history) and 1 MNC. His winning % is only 2 points or so less than CMR’s, which is what you base your “winningest” statement about CMR on. It also looks like CMR’s winning % will be behind CVD soon the way things are going. But I do not wish to quibble about percentage points. Someone once said to Harry Truman: “Give ’em Hell Harry.” To which Truman replied: “I just tell the truth and they think it’s Hell.” But you are right about one thing. Me griping won’t change anything just like you and others on this blog making excuses for CMR won’t change anything either. So why don’t all of us just STFU?
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Seems go be one of your favorite expressions these days, which is inconsistent with the purpose of the comment section. Perhaps just learning to have civil discussions rather than being an attack dawg would reduce the number of times you have to suggest someone/everyone STFU.
As a UGA fan/alum you cannot really ignore the ramifications of constant internet discussions/arguments about the HC’s ability and competency. The fools like F’Bomb, Jim Rome, and the AJC get their aammo directly from fans who seem obsessed with the on-going public undermining of our program. If you really feel CMR is a louse and has no redeeming values, you should schedule an appointment with the greatest AD of all time, your friend GM, and tell him to fire the bum. Otherwise, save it for the coffee shop group in your local diner. As was pointed out to you above, all you do is damage. I don’t think CMR is perfect, and I have concerns, jusst no where near the degree you see. I point those out without calling for heads, or implying our program is in the tank. Why would any recruit/parent choose Athens if they read several hundred posters with your attitude about where things stand, or where they are going? Fortunately, the majority do not agree with you, just the loudest.
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As usual you pretend to be for open communication of ideas on this blog but, in reality, you only want people to say things that you agree with. If someone says something you don’t like it is “damaging the program.” Left-wingers like you are all for free speech except when someone says something you don’t like. I’ll tell you what–I’ll quit harping on CMRs deficiencies when you quit making up excuses for him.
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First, let me be the first to apologize for making fun of your problem, I didn’t realize you had suffered a head trauma. Not to make fun of it, but it is pretty funny that for the first time in history someone has called me a “left-winger”. In fact, no one has ever called me a conservative without the adjective “radical” preceding it. To reiterate, many of us have some concerns about various aspects of the program, including some of CMR’s weaknesses. The difference is all but 4-5 of you express them in a constructive way, you choose the destructive approach. So while you see yourself as a fan/supporter, I see you as someone who does more harm than many of the posters who despise UGA. The enemy within is usually more dangerous than the ones out front doing battle with you wearing the enemy uniform colors. I don’t for a moment think you are doing it intentionally, I just don’t think you ever see yourself from this perspective. The only reason for continually bringing it up in response to your posts is hoping it will click in. We need good fans, and not just sheep either, but we don’t need people attacking our program so vehemently on a public forum.
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As much as I enjoyed watching Tech crap their pants against AFA, I must admit I felt sort of sorry for #80. He pretty much handed the game to Air Force.
Reading Sting Talk wasn’t as much fun as I was expecting. Seems all the nerds are resigned to the fact that they suck, and will continue to suck for a long time.
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How many tickets did each side sell? It looked like there were maybe 25k in the stands and the stadium barely holds 50k anyway. Last year, the stadium was full. I know a lot of Aggies went (they’ll buy tickets to just about anything), but we seemed to have a lot of fans there as well.
I realize Tech graduates work all over the place, but you’d think their boss would give them time off from manning the computer call center for this big game.
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A lot of flights from Mumbai and Ho Chi Minh were delayed b/c of the blizzard in Moscow.
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Ags playing in Shreveport after not being to a bowl for several years vs. Air Force and Tech with their small fanbases?
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What I really love is that just a few years ago, the techies were bragging about how they had one of the highest winning PERCENTAGES in bowl games of any program, six losses later you can kiss that s$%t goodbye.
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As a long time member of the Fans of Chan,[FOC], a return to those thrilling “Days of Chan” would be as welcome to me as an Oasis would be to a thirsty desert nomad. The Great Chan has a place in my heart right beside the Bulldog’s most beloved Techie, Reggie Ball. How I miss those days of Chan at Tech and Phat Phil at UT. Kiffin and Dooley just ain’t funny! Now if we could just get “giv’em hell Pell” back with the Gators.
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O’Leary still own Georgia. And so does GT in real life.
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