AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2008 > February
February 2008
Leaky roof, leaky season
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m not quite sure what to say … a losing record and a leaky roof that causes a “rain out” against a Virginia team that’s actually worse than we are and which provides a good chance at a win to pull to 5-6 in the ACC?
A Tech buddy of mine e-mailed me yesterday and said he was going to bring a ladder and a caulk gun to the next home game. So hopefully someone will be prepared to deal with a leaky roof …
Football recruiting
We’ve gotten three extremely early commitments from future offensive and defensive linemen. John Drew is a 6-3, 295 defensive tackle from Columbus, Emanuel Dieke is a 6-7, 205 defensive end from College Park (think Michael Johnson clone once he puts on weight?), and the previous mentioned JC Lanier is a 6-3, 340 tackle/guard from Twin City, Ga. We’re off to a good start with some very big and very athletic kids who have attended camps on campus at Tech. It looks like this new coaching staff is falling right in line with Giff Smith and our retained guys to really make a splash on the recruiting front. Tech has always been able to recruit skills positions! … but we’ve historically struggled to get the “big uglies” to man the offensive and defensive line. We’ve taken undersized guys like Joe Anoai and grown them into quick/mobile tackles. Plugging Drew and Lanier into the defensive line together would be an instant 600+ pounds of defensive tackle. I like the sound of that.
License plates?
So now the Georgia House of Representatives has voted to stop making out-of-state university mascot tags if neighboring states don’t return the favor? This is ridiculous … especially following so closely on their ill advised and transparent gambit to push for a football playoff system, by passing a resolution that lobbies the NCAA to throw away a BCS system that functioned correctly but didn’t place UGA in the title game.
Make no mistake about this latest resolution…this is all about the Mutts vs the Gators. The UGA disciplies in the state House could care less about Auburn tags, Clemson tags, Florida State tags, or anything else. All they care about is the fact that a smallish number of Florida fans are able to get Gator tags. And to prevent that from happening they are willing to make fans of ALL out of state colleges give up their license plates. That’s right … if you are a fan of ANY school outside of the state boundaries, you may lose your tag if your school’s home state doesn’t allow UGA tags be created and registered there. And alumni clubs trying to get approval and support for new tags will suffer as well.
It’s ridiculous, infantile, and a waste of tax payer money and legislative time. And that’s not even considering the fact that the Georgia House is willing to THROW AWAY extra registration revenue from these specialty tags. They’d rather not see Florida Gator tags than pocket the money from Florida alums.
So now they are wasting tax payer money in an effort to reduce incoming license revenue. A double whammy of sorts.
I tell ya folks … we sho ‘nuff got us some smart politikin’ down hayuh ‘n Georgia … yup …
Go Jackets!
THWG!
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Solid signing day for Jackets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
National Signing Day has come and gone and while this 2008 recruiting class at Georgia Tech won’t be as star studded as the 2007 class, its very solid and probably better than Chan Gailey’s first few classes overall. To be fair, we have to give Gailey some credit for the quality recruits coming in this year. He had the recruiting machine clicking last season and the Jackets were headed for another Top 20 class before he was fired. That firing led to defections from a few highly ranked blue chippers like Chris Jackson and Sean Renfree, but Giff Smith and the defensive coaches who were retained were able to keep some critical recruits committed and on board.
Lets take a look at a handful of the guys I think will make impacts very quickly on the Flats:
Nick McRae - Nick committed back in May and will be a big part of our offensive line in the future. By big I mean 6-4 and 290 lbs. Scout.com considers him one of the Top 10 centers in the nation coming out of high school. Nick hails from Dublin and was a huge in state commitment. Nick picked GT over Maryland and others.
Steven Sylvester - Another in state guy, Steven is a very athletic RB / LB out of Union Grove. Scout.com considers him one of the Top 25 weak side linebackers in the nation. After Gailey’s firing, Steven appeared to waver a bit but was quickly back on board after meeting with Coach Johnson. Bama, UNC, NCSU, and South Carolina were after Steven as well.
Richard Watson - Richard Watson will carry the football alot for Paul Johnson. He’s considered the #4 fullback in the nation by Scout.com but he’s the prototypical “B Back” in Johnson’s offense. He’ll be the big bruiser carrying the ball and a likely backup to Jonathan Dwyer this coming season. Johnson’s team won the Florida 1B title when he was Junior and played in the finals when he was a senior. He ran for over 100 yards in both games and was a leader both years. He’s perfect for Coach Johnson’s offense. Bama, Arkansas, Boston College, and UCLA were also after Richard.
Marcus Wright - People scratched their heads a bit when Marcus Wright switched from an early Tulsa commitment and decided to come to Georgia Tech. I’ve already mentioned him in a previous blog. The kid put up obscene numbers and was the Texas State 5A Offensive Player of the Year. While small at 5-7 and 170 lbs, he still snagged a spot in the Army All American game and was named a Parade All American. He’s going to be a home run hitter in the slot back position in Johnson’s offense and will give Georgia Tech an offensive backfield that contains two Parade All American running backs.
Tevin Washington - Tevin is an option style quarterback out of Alabama. He was a three year starter at quarterback for Wetumpka Highschool, throwing for over 5000 yards (42 TDs) and running for over 2000 yards (25 TDs). He was considered an All State “athlete” by the media in Alabama but Coach Johnson thinks he’s one of the best option quarterbacks in the nation and a steal in this recruiting class. Louisville and Arizona State were suitors for Washington as well as Georgia Tech.
Omoregie Uzzi - Uzzi is considered one of the best offensive guards in the country by Scout.com, which ranks him in their Top 10. He was the “big fish” on the Tech recruiting board as National Signing Day approached and one that many Georgia Tech fans were anxious to land and bring to campus. In the end, Uzzi picked Georgia Tech ahead of Alabama and Virginia. And after losing Chris Jackson to Alabama this was a fight Georgia Tech recruitniks didn’t want to lose. Omoregie is the jewel of the Tech 2008 signing class and will be an impact player quickly for the Jackets.
And while the 2008 class is now signed and delivered, it looks like 2009 is already off to a stellar beginning with a commitment from ECI defensive tackle JC Lanier. JC committed to Georgia Tech the day after Signing Day. He is a 6-3 340 lb defensive tackle who is projected to be a Top 20 national recruit…regardless of position. That puts him up in the Calvin Johnson stratosphere of recruiting rankings and figures to make him the corner stone of a 2009 class that should benefit from an expected deep talent pool in Georgia that has good academics. I’m looking forward to a huge class next season once Coach Johnson has a year under his belt at Tech and a known product to sell.
Jackets get on the ball
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since my last blog, Paul Hewitt’s Yellow Jackets have gone on the road and secured ACC wins against North Carolina State and Virginia. Suddenly we’re 10-9 and in a logjam in the middle of the ACC at 3-3 along with Clemson, Wake, Boston College, and Maryland.
The Jackets face Maryland (13-8 overall) this coming weekend and are playing extremely solid and gutsy basketball of late. Ball movement on offense is much improved and defensive intensity has remained high. With a win over Maryland, the Jackets would be on the positive side of an ACC record and would be looking at a four game ACC winning streak with games against Wake Forest, UConn, and Clemson coming up. Coach Hewitt seems to have slowed down his substitution rate and he seems to be allowing the guys to play longer stretches of minutes together. He’s also letting Matt Causey do his thing when he gets hot … which resulted in Causey nabbing ACC honors last week after averaging about 18 points over the three game win streak.
This Maryland team can be beaten. They’ve lost to teams like Virginia Commonwealth and someone called “American” this season. They have wins against Morgan State, Delaware, Savannah State, Charlotte, and Holy Cross. The Yellow Jackets have very obviously played a tougher schedule and are more tested. And we get the game at home, in the Thriller Dome. Let’s go make the win streak a nice even FOUR. Should be a fun one to watch.
Football recruiting
Recruiting is winding down and it appears that coach Johnson and his staff are going deep into the well in an effort to finish out this class.
There’s been a raging debate on the message boards about the wisdom of not using all of Tech’s allotted scholarships this season. Some people argue that its better to save them for next season when talent in-state will be deep and when UGA won’t be taking a large class. Some people argue that not using all of the scholarships is akin to putting yourself on voluntary probation and that we should use them all, getting kids that might be able to play after a redshirt season and a little coaching.
I’m getting the impression that the coaching staff is trying to use them all up. We’ve recently offered and spoken to some guys who are well off radar. I think we’ll see this more with Johnson’s option style of offense than we ever would have under Gailey pro-style setup. There are a TON of high schools out there that run an option or spread offense. So the talent pool will be deeper for coach Johnson’s scheme. He won’t need NFL calibre recruits in order to score points … in theory. And from time to time we’ll snag an undersized guy like Marcus Wright who was overlooked by many schools and who will suddenly pop up as a Parade All-American when its all said and done.
Just think … we’ll very likely have a pair of Parade All-Americans (Dwyer and Wright) in the backfield with Nesbitt next season … running what many folks on the message boards have already nicknamed the “Tech Spread”.
Women’s Sports at GT
There may not be many women at Tech, but the ladies on campus excel both in the classroom and on the playing fields. Mike Knobler’s recent article about the success of the women’s teams was a nice read. The UGA gymnastics and women’s basketball teams have gotten alot of press for years. Its nice to see our ladies claiming their piece of the spotlight as well now.
BCS vs Playoffs
First Michael Adams and now the Georgia Legislature? Are you kidding me? The sour grapes are spoiled and rancid by now. Come on … again … say it with me … “UGA was #3 in the SEC … they had no claim to a national title game appearance!”
