AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2008 > August > 26
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tech’s going to be better than some think
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The curtain comes up in a couple days, and Georgia Tech football will not be the same.
The offense won’t look the same. The defense won’t look the same. The uniforms won’t look the same, and dare I say the same ol’, same ol’ vibe will be gone and soon easy to forget (some clearly have tried very hard already to wash away memories, right?).
Jeez, is it ever going to stop raining? I digress.
My hunch is that one of the most refreshing changes in Tech football will be a different level of accountability. If the defense stinks, Paul Johnson will say it. I don’t mean he’s going to indict people or coaches, but the days of, “We’ve got to get better,” as an accounting measure are gone.
Blandness? Uh, no. Gone.
But that doesn’t mean Jerry Glanville’s coaching on The Flats (again), either. Johnson will be a straight shooter. Sometimes defensive, yes. Sometimes, prone to stretch statistics out of whack or mangle their context, sure. But not one to trot out boilerplate and coach-speak ad infinitum, either.
While there is a temptation to say that it will take a while for Johnson’s offense and Wommack’s defense to grasp new systems, that’d be excuse-making. Forget that. Isn’t it reasonable to suggest that Johnson has more talent to work with on offense than he’s had before? I’d say yes, but that’s just a semi-educated guess.
Yes, his team is incredibly young. Even if he does indeed have more talent on the offensive side than he’s ever had, he has virtually no experience that relates to his scheme.
Still, I think the unique nature of his scheme will mask some of the youth. Where scheme masked talent deficiencies at Navy, I think this season it can mask youth. But I’m not saying Tech is going 9-3. The system didn’t mask anything the first year at Navy. The Middies were 2-10.
But there’s more talent on this team than that team, young or not. That’s a better mesh. And on defense, if you area of your team is going to be super strong and the other two young, it’s best to have the fellas up front with the experience. That’s Tech.
And from my vantage point, the Jackets have a much better feel about themselves than they had much of last season. Couple that with reduced expectations/pressure (remember, last year’s team had a lot of returning starters back from a team that played in the ACC championship game), and I’m not going to be surprised if Tech wins seven. Maybe even eight.
I think the Jackets are going to score quite a few points this season, especially by the Miss. State game, when I think the offense will start grooving. They’re probably going to give up more than in the past few seasons, too, however.
Bottom line: you read it here — at least seven wins, and a bowl game.
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