AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 25
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Tech was motivated, but maybe Chan is cursed
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m beginning to think that Chan Gailey is simply cursed when it comes to facing UGA. There’s no other reason to explain how a series coached by two devout Christian men ends up so lopsided. How else do all the breaks go one direction for six years running? It just doesn’t make any sense.
I mean…really…Tech wasn’t outcoached or out-athleted yesterday. I laugh when the local media tosses that explanation out for general public consumption. UGA didn’t play harder, they weren’t more motivated, they weren’t better coached, and they didn’t have better athletes that hit harder or ran faster.
They simply got all the breaks…again…while Tech left 20+ points lying out there on the field…because we couldn’t catch them or fall on them.
Consider…
A wide receiver with two steps on a burnt toast corner back drops a beautifully thrown deep ball that hits his hands…in stride.
Two fumbled kick returns bounce into the endzone…GT players are all over them…but they turn into UGA touchbacks.
A lateral is picked up and returned to the UGA goal line, where its fumbled into the endzone and touched by a UGA player on its way out of bounds…another UGA touchback.
If Tech catches that pass on the first possession, falls on just one of the fumbled kicks, and doesn’t fumble that lateral return…we’re looking at 21 points up on the board fairly early in the game. UGA is then forced to throw the ball while Tech is able to grind yards and clock with Tashard Choice. UGA never gets the chance to grind our defense down with Thomas Brown. Moreno remains the non-factor that he was for the first three quarters of the game.
What became a 14 point UGA victory could have easily been a Tech blow out…if we grab the points that were waiting to be seized.
In the end…I walked out of that game sad more than anything, because it became another chapter in a Tech vs UGA series that has seen the Jackets play hard and inspired…yet fall short because of some strange mistake, a late turnover, a missing referee whistle, or a weird bounce.
I wasn’t upset with Chan Gailey last night. The team played inspired. They were motivated and prepared. They just couldn’t get the free points that were bouncing around in the endzone three times last night. Chan can’t go out there and fall on a loose ball for them. The players have to make that happen.
But…I think this loss may shut the door on Chan Gailey’s tenure on the Flats. The losses at UVA and Maryland set the stage for this game…well earlier in the season. If the team had played as hard (for four quarters) in the early games, as they did last night, then we’d be sitting at 9-3 right now instead of 7-5. We’d be griping about bad luck against UGA more than we’d be talking about a return to the “mediocre” status quo of 7-5 and a west coast bowl game.
Chan…quite simply…burned up his margin for error in games we had no business losing…well before UGA came to town.
And it may cost him his job…
