AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > September > 08 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USA rout is a rout by any name
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Well, what did you expect? Georgia Tech just beat the heck out of Notre Dame last week, and, “we are the Samford Bulldogs!” Little ol’ Samford from Birmingham, just dropping in to pick up the check. This is not the kind of visit Pat Sullivan is accustomed to making to Grant Field, before it became Bobby Dodd Stadium. He used it twice as a platform to make his case for the Heisman Trophy, and he won it in 1971, his crowning season as quarterback at Auburn. Before his men of Samford University left the field Saturday, press box historians were having to dig back through the ages to the infamous 220-0 Cumberland game of 1916 in search of matching records.
By the way, in case you haven’t noticed, the only two Heisman Trophy winners now head coaches in the USA both happened to be in our state at the same time. Sullivan won it in 1971 and Steve Spurrier, winner in 1966, had an appointment in Athens Saturday night. You see, Heisman Trophy winners usually choose to take their game to the NFL, where even if they don’t make it, there’s money in endorsements and other baubles.
Oddly, both Spurrier and Sullivan had their fling in the NFL, but neither lit it up. This is Sullivan’s second run at head coaching, a considerable retreat from the years he spent at Texas Christian. His six-year tour at that level didn’t turn out shiningly, so he came home as an assistant at Alabama-Birmingham. He is just a homebody kind of guy, anyway, and when the job at Samford opened right there where he grew up, he was available, and here he was on Grant Field again, but this time the worm had turned. You get to the Samfords of world football and your own little football paladium has only 6,500 seats, you have to make sacrifices to balance the budget, and this was budget-balancing day for Samford, by the crushing score of 69-14.
It still wasn’t the worst licking Samford ever took, though the name was Howard College then. In 1920, Centre College of Kentucky shredded the Bulldogs, 120-0, this the same Centre College that destroyed (I jest) Harvard, 6-0, in the greatest college upset of all time — until last Saturday in Ann Arbor.
On the Georgia Tech side, the 45 points in the first half were the most scored in a first half since the 126 scored against Cumberland in 1916. There were various and sundry other scoring records broken, or tied, or approached, more than concerns even Chan Gailey. And speaking of coach Gailey, who happened to coach at Samford in the season of 1993, he was just dishing out a taste of the medicine he suffered that season. Central Florida laid 48 points on him and Troy State followed up with 52 while he left a record of 5-and-6.
Now, what he got out of this game was the satisfaction of having Taylor Bennett put his passing touch on display. This was not a “lackluster” performance, referring to prior grading of his day at South Bend. He completed eight of nine passes for a modest 85 yards, then took a sabbatical. Thereafter, Georgia Tech kept the ball on the ground mainly. The offensive high command was trying to keep the scoring down, but the nervous lads from Birmingham weren’t gracious recipients. Dropped passes, jittery passing, fumbles and careless tackling set them up like ducks on a pond.
Tashard Choice stayed around long enough to collecet ll0 yards, then, too, retired to the sideline, and in result, Jonathon Dwyer, a freshman from Kell High in Marietta, led the ground game with 138 yards and three scores. Names and faces uncommon to the crowd of 40-some thousand kept rolling off the sideline onto the field, and the Jackets kept rolling along. (Oh, and speaking of rolling, the Model-A Ford mascot, made its return from the disabled list, leading the team onto the field, as is custom.) By the end of the game, Bennett and Choice were but sweet memories,
Gailey was naturally was pleased as could be, and as is custom, careful not to allow himself to be too cheerful. Poor Pat Sullivan, on the other hand, handled his situation as well as the captain of any wounded ship. “We were like a deer in headlights,” he said, and then outlined the misbehavior of his troops like a father in pain. Next week, the Bulldogs drop back to their own level with Presbyterian College, and the Jackets brace for the invasion of Boston College, fellow member of the ACC fraternity.
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By Ty
September 8, 2007 7:40 PM | Link to this
Sorry to ‘hijack’ Furman’s article (and yes, it was an old-fashioned “whooping”). Two things for the gang:
1) Was I the only one who thought the “Greatest Moments” piece showing last year’s Samford game was a bit clasless? (I mean, we’re up by 50+ points and then show a long interception return from last year against the same team?)….. many other things could be shown and I know how I would react to seeing another school do that to my Jackets… . we’re better than that.
2) MOST IMPORTANT — we have a debate raging in our “Jacket Household” ….. When did the Tech Band start playing the Budweiser song at the end of the 3rd Quarter?
I’m a ‘81 alum and remember it from my whole time. I also believe my older brother (B.N.E. class of ‘77) had it the whole time he was there.
So, gang, “WHEN” did the Budweiser song arrive on campus???
By Alan
September 8, 2007 9:53 PM | Link to this
I distinctly remember the Budweiser song begin played at games in the mid-1970s because I can visualize my ex wife yelling out the lyrics. I attended Tech (and all of the home games)between 1967 and 1972 but I don’t remember the song being played during that time.
By bruce
September 8, 2007 10:13 PM | Link to this
Budweiser started in the mid 70s when the school’s administration would no longer let the band play “Dixie.” It was either ‘75 or ‘76.
By JustMe
September 8, 2007 10:14 PM | Link to this
I hope that this game gives our hurt players the time to heal for the ACC games. They all won’t be as easy as this, and we need everyone healthy!
By ryan
September 8, 2007 10:26 PM | Link to this
222 to nothing
By surfrider
September 9, 2007 2:20 AM | Link to this
Well it looks like we are better than advertised BUT it also looks as though Notre Dame is worse than advertised and we have a tough team coming in soon in Boston College. They look real tough against NCST. We will have our hands full.
By WFC
September 9, 2007 7:08 AM | Link to this
Well, it looks like Jonathan Dwyer is the real deal as Tashard’s successor. It’s nice that the guys down the depth chart got to play. They work hard too and every team has a “Rudy.”
By GT71
September 9, 2007 7:16 AM | Link to this
Isn’t it nice to be able to debate a beer song in the blog - means nothing much to carp about…which reminnds me - I was at the ND game when one of ‘ours’ tossed the fish at Ara, but the debate is what year and when in game - pre or post? And WATCH OUT FOR BC….they are for real.
By gatech87
September 9, 2007 8:12 AM | Link to this
If we hadn’t begun to take our starters out at the end of the first quarter the game would have been 125-0.
We’re good, Samford isn’t.
The main thing I got from the game is that we’ve got a stable of running backs who are going to be fun to watch in years to come.
The Bud song started being played when Carson was coach in about 1970.
By son_sir
September 9, 2007 8:51 AM | Link to this
Someone in the administration must have been drinking a lot of Bud when Carson was fired.
By Mike
September 9, 2007 9:32 AM | Link to this
Ohhh, I get it. Bud Song. Bud Carson. Clever!
By misterwax
September 9, 2007 9:49 AM | Link to this
Nothing more American than a bunch of bureaucrats and government employees stifling the freedom of Speech (or in this case) musical expression…. the band ought to revive the southern classic just for good measure. The Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves.
By Keith
September 9, 2007 9:57 AM | Link to this
I enjoyed watching the game yesterday. It was nice seeing a Tech team blow out another team. Hasn’t happened in a while.
By John
September 9, 2007 10:02 AM | Link to this
I agree with the Bud song being started in 1970, but I never associated it with Carson. I think the ND incident occurred on national TV in 1969 when I was wearing a rat hat in the rat section.
By Chris
September 9, 2007 12:13 PM | Link to this
Ok. This has nothing to do with the game yesterday, but I have a few thoughts. Who are the “experts” that do the preseason rankings? Michigan started out as #5 after proving last year that the Big Ten is a joke. Everybody watched them get manhandled by USC while Ohio State got it handed to them by Florida. Also, why was Auburn and FSU so high to begin with. I don’t care what there name is, these guys just flat out aren’t top 25 teams. Auburn struggled in both weeks, and should really be 0-2, while FSU got embarassed by Clemson’s running game and could barely get by UAB. Same goes for UGA and VT. UGA was ranked high because Matt Stafford was ranked #1 by Scout.com 2 years ago, and I can’t help but think that VT got a boost in the rankings because of a national tragedy. Basically what I am saying is that anyone could see that GT was better than quite a few of these teams in the preseason, but got no love from anyone.
By the way, Notre Dame didn’t lose 33-3, GT won 33-3. Give us some credit.
By yellowblood
September 9, 2007 1:12 PM | Link to this
I don’t know if this game meant anything but next weekends game will. Now that UGA has been beaten and has been shut up for the season I would like to share some opinions. I know, many won’t care: 1. The ACC looked terrible yesterday. Tech/Clemson/BC may be the best teams in the conference. 2. Our win over ND now looks meaningless to the polls. 3. Tech must go undefeated and definitely beat UGA in order to have any strong end-of-season credibility. This is tough
By gt2nash
September 9, 2007 2:48 PM | Link to this
Although I always am happy to win a game, the victory against Samford does not qualify as a reason to celebrate. Secondly, Notre Dame appeared completely inept again yesterday, against a not-so-impressive PSU team. Needless to say, GT has LOTS of work to do still. Both our passing and passing defense need some serious work.
I’m just really concerned. LSU looked like the real deal - very efficient and effective - a well-oiled machine with a well-crafted gameplan in place, while the ACC has picked up where it left off last season as the most pathetic BCS conference in the nation.
GT needs to pick up the mantle and, not only win each week, but do so resoundingly. Preseason, Gailey often commented about Bennett’s zeal in watching tapes. Well, Benneett must do more than watch tapes, he needs to start executing during games. (I wished he had played longer yesterday, considering GT’s need to develop a more effective passing game.) ACC coaches appear completely clueless so far when it comes to both recruiting quality QB’s and developing the ones they have.
It just seems that the SEC and other BCS conferences take their jobs more seriously and actually work for their paychecks, while the ACC is content with mediocrity during football season while praying for basketball season to start earlier and earlier each year. (Well, SEC now seems to own div-1 basketball as well.)
I hope GT continues to effectively prepare (mentally, physically and strategically) for every game and execute with purpose and confidence through the duration of each game.
Let’s whip BC this week!
GO JACKETS!!!
By chopper84
September 9, 2007 3:12 PM | Link to this
Regarding our ND victory. Our 33-3 win is on par with #14 Penn State’s 31-10 win, so it’s not meaningless, yet. However, if Michigan beats ND 30something-3, and if Michigan’s D holds ND to no touchdowns, then yes anybody beating ND gets nothing.
Regarding the ACC, our half of the ACC was awful yesterday. VT & Miami getting demolished by top 5 teams, UNC losing to East Carolina, and a UVA victory only because they were playing Duke. Wake on the other hand played #16 Nebraska even despite losing, Clemson winning on a short week, and BC outlasting NCState all looked decent. We’ll find out about 2-0 Maryland this week against WVU, and FSU isn’t the FSU of old but still dangerous (see 2nd half against Clemson). So only NCState looks weak on that half.
I know it is only two games, but right now we definitely look to be the class of the Coastal division. Our 3 toughest ACC games may turn out to be the 3 cross-divisional games (BC, Clemson, & FSU).
By JustMe
September 9, 2007 3:13 PM | Link to this
To the guys on here that ‘poo-poo’ the win against Samford….
I betcha that Michigan and Auburn wishes they could have beaten their 1-AA opponent.
Never ‘poo-poo’ any win.
By CW
September 9, 2007 3:14 PM | Link to this
Had to Tivo the game and watched the first three quarters last night. Tech could have literally named any score they wanted. Tech looked great, but Samford looked like they might have lost to Hoover High School yesterday. Everybody looked great, but J. Dwyer looks like he is going to be an absolute BEAST. To already have great runners like Choice, Grant and Evans and then throw Dwyer into the mix—John Bond must be in heaven with all those weapons.
Last year I just wouldn’t buy the arguments that the Big East had passed the ACC, but this week’s games sure helped change my mind. Cincinnati embarrased Oregon St and So. Fla beats Auburn while FSU struggles with a UAB team one week after being spanked by Mich St. Miami losing to OU was not unexpected, but clearly that team gave up late in the game. And what in the world is wrong with Va Tech to give up that many points? Clearly the ACC has a number of competitive teams, but it seems like Tech, BC and Clemson all need to step up and defend the honor of this league.
By jacketFan
September 9, 2007 4:41 PM | Link to this
Let’s just hope that the other ACC teams hit their stride as the season goes on. Tech needs some quality wins if they want a shot at the NC. As it stands now, Tech needs to pulverize every team they face - that means beating teams like BC, VT, Miami, and Clemson as soundly as they beat Samford - well, maybe not that bad, but you know what I mean - at least as bad as LSU destroyed VT last night. Then, Tech has to solve the UGA problem. I think the Jackets can redeem the themselves for the past six years with a solid defeat - 30 points or more - over UGA. We shall see, but this team certainly looks more promising than any we’ve seen in recent years. Go Jackets!
By Um
September 9, 2007 5:23 PM | Link to this
We beat a bad ND and a worse Samford. Until we play someone ranked liked BC lets try to keep our shirts on…
By G P Burdell
September 9, 2007 5:37 PM | Link to this
There were many fishes thrown that cold evening in 1969. Before, during and after the game. Wish they had layed out the head fish eater. But even better was the good, old fashioned cussing out Ara received from a Tech player after the game for trying to run up the score. Ara, et al tried to get the player’s scholarship but were unsuccessful. Big coverage in the Chicago papers. Bisher will remember it.
By JustMe
September 9, 2007 6:32 PM | Link to this
IMHO, ND isn’t that bad of a team….
They played us and hadn’t settled on a QB.
They played Penn State with a true freshman QB. They kept the game close early on. But the freshman QB showed his colors.
I am NOT a ND fan, but I think that once their frosh QB settles down, they will get some quality wins - especially against the very sad Big 10 conference.
By BuzzFactor
September 9, 2007 8:29 PM | Link to this
The running game looks great. The D looks great. Bennett will be ready for BC. He’s not going to be at his peak yet, but he’ll do what we need him to do. Agree with comments on the apparent non-conference problems the ACC is having. VT and Miami hurt us. Wake’s loss was respectable, but still a loss. Bottom line is we can’t change what happens to the rest of the ACC, but we control our own destiny. We need to take down BC with not too much trouble.
Our schedule is good, because our hardest games are at home. Keep Ramblin!
By Pago Pago
September 9, 2007 9:52 PM | Link to this
GT looks pretty good. The Dawgs look awful..