Tech vs Notre Dame: 1975-1981

With Notre Dame coming to town on Saturday to play Georgia Tech, it reminds me of several memorable games from back in the late 1970’s. As a freshman rat at Tech in the fall of 1977, I remember the stories the upperclassmen told of the great upset in 1976. I went to the games in 1978 and 1980.

1975: this GT @ Notre Dame was called “The Rudy Game”. Up 24-3, the Irish subbed in bench player Rudy Ruettiger for the last play of the game. He may have “helped” to sack GT QB Rudy Allen. Years later ND QB Joe Montana said that most of the other players hadn’t even realized Ruettiger had been in on the play. “Rudy who?” asked Montana.

1976: Tech scheduled #11 ranked Notre Dame for homecoming – and beat the Irish without ever throwing a pass. On the first play of the game, true freshman GT QB Gary Lanier was sacked by All-American ND DE Ross Browner. Disgusted, GT head coach Pepper Rodgers vowed to not throw a pass for the rest of the game. Tech’s wishbone offense rushed for 368 yards. GT safety Don Bessilieu contained RB Vegas Ferguson (below). Final score: GT 23 Notre Dame 14.

1977: GT traveled to South Bend for a rematch. Late in the game Pepper pulled out his white handkerchief and waved it across the field at Notre Dame head coach Dan Devine – who shook his head no. QB Joe Montana had a big day. Final score Notre Dame 69, Tech 14.

1978: at Grant Field, Montana and the Irish routed the Irish 38-21. During the game Tech fans threw whiskey bottles and fish at the Irish, delaying the game as Devine gathered his team at midfield. After the game Devine wasn't too chummy with Pepper.

1979: Notre Dame beat the Jackets 21-13 in South Bend.

1980: Tech hosted #1 Notre Dame, and started converted tight end Ken Whisenhunt (a freshman) at QB (above). The Jackets tied the Irish 3-3. Later that afternoon in Jacksonville, #2 Georgia played Florida. QB Buck Belue scrambled and completed a pass to WR Lindsey Scott, who then outran the Gator secondary for the game-winning touchdown. The win catapulted the Dawgs to the number one ranking, and on New Years they beat the Irish for the national championship. Young Whisenhunt was moved back to tight end, then played for the Redskins, Falcons, and Jets. Later Whisenhunt head coached the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl.

1981: Notre Dame 35 Georgia Tech 3, in South Bend. The teams did not play again for 16 years.

The Tech/Notre Dame series goes back one hundred years. 

After the Jackets left the SEC they became an independent like Notre Dame, and played teams like USC, Pitt, Auburn, Tennessee, Clemson, Miami, and Duke.

The great Calvin Johnson played against the Irish.

Whether GT QB Haynes King will be able to play Saturday will be a game time decision. King’s passing and running makes defenses unable to stack up against the run (and pass), and requires a defender to be assigned to King – so more Tech receivers are open on their pass routes. Otherwise the Irish can stack the line and play the run.

BOB GIBSON [SABR Bio] was the first National League pitcher to top the 3,000-strikeout mark. On 17-Jul-1974, Gibson struck out CIN’s OF Cesar Geronimo in the 2nd inning. It was the 1st of his 4 strikeouts that day, the 3,000th of his career. He would finish his playing career the following season with 3,117 K. Today he ranks 4th in the NL, 16^th overall. He later coached the Braves, Mets, and Cardinals. His coaching record is here. ATL – NYM – STL. His seven consecutive victories in World Series games is an all-time pitching record: two in 1964 (WS MVP), three in 1967 (WS MVP), and two in 1968. He started 9 World Series games and completed all of them.

Road Rage

Sunny Saturday morning. After golf I stopped at the Northside Drive Goodwill, then RaceTrac, then the East Cobb Goodwill. Had my sunglasses on.

While making a right onto 120 from Timber Ridge Road. Thought the coast was clear when I pulled out – but I failed to see a big dark F150 pickup bearing down on me. I had never seen it. I heard the honk and the pickup sped past, barely missing me. Evidently the guy had been speeding. No daytime running lights. The guy stopped in front of me, right in the middle of the road. So I had to stop behind him, but I didn’t pull too close. The guy got out of his car. He stood there are screamed at me. Then he got back in his truck. He pulled over from the right lane to the left lane and down the hill toward the red light – but didn’t pull all the way down to the car in front of him. I could’ve pulled down to the red light, but didn’t want to pull past him. When the light turned green he swerved into the left turn lane, made the left, and sped off. Replaying this in my mind, the guy had to be speeding the whole time. And if he was turning left, why was he in the right lane? Still, I’ve got to be much more careful.

After a long hard week, Ceil was ready to crash after driving back from SC. Friday night the Hall's brought us a pie from Pizzeria Lucca in Roswell. I got to catch up on the episodes of Only Murders in the Building that I had missed.

After a trip to the grocery Saturday morning, Ceil napped through most of the afternoon football games. I wasn't cold out in the 50 degree weather until I got back in the house, so I bundled up.

After church we ate chicken fajitas at Pappasitos. They had a big after church crowd but they seemed to be better staffed than they are on week nights. Ceil quipped on how the waitress might’ve done too good of a job refilling my Coke Zero time after time.

Got home from lunch at almost 3 pm. Ceil worked me the rest of the day, moving furniture out of the living room and foyer. Workers are going to sand off the bumpy ceilings. We also cleaned out an old chest filled with old pictures and Christmas cards. Found photos of Lang and Claire from where they had come over to our house on Hillpine when our dog Speedle was a tiny puppy. Also photos from my single days, with Don Head and David Hurt, like this one.

MONDAY: up early to lift weights at the gym this morning. After work I went over to the track next to our plant, and ran for the first time since July 4. “Sprinted” the straightaways and walked the corners at each end of the soccer field. Two miles. My second workout of the day. Didn’t count because my watch battery had run out. 

Then I stopped by Dollar Tree and Baskin Robbins and the convenience store, so I didn’t get home until after 7 pm. Beef tips for supper, which I don’t like because it takes forever to chew them up. Then they’re left over and never get eaten until I break down.

Watched the Manningcast. Jets wearing throwback Joe Namath era uniforms, with grey facemasks even. Old Aaron Rodgers looked better in that uni. Not sure it helped him play better.

Our house was a mess because the workers were sanding the ceilings smooth. Lots of plastic covering everything. Hopefully they’ll finish today. Making progress.

TUESDAY: up early to go to the gym. After work I had a focus group on nutritional drinks.

A Christian pastor in England was arrested after commenting on Islam, and saying God made humans just male and female.

DENISON: the American legal system stands on the belief that our laws can be objectively interpreted. If someone being prosecuted for a crime can successfully argue that the charges are “just the prosecutor’s interpretation of the law,” there can be no law. Scientists use the scientific method to guide their investigations. When they publish findings, if critics can successfully argue that these results are “just the researcher’s interpretation of the data,” there can be no science. Human subjectivity and error enter the equation. This is why we have courts to weigh legal opinions and judge according to accepted jurisprudence. It is why we have peer review of scientific research. And both legal and scientific positions can change as more information comes to light. But in neither case do we believe that the enterprise itself is subjective and thus untrustworthy. The same mindset should prevail with regard to biblical study. When it doesn’t, we should ask whether the skeptic is working on the basis of objective reasoning or rejecting truth claims they don’t happen to appreciate personally.

WALTER JOHNSON [SABR Bio] his major league career strikeout record lasted for more than 60 seasons. Johnson passed Cy Young in 1921 and finished with 3,509. He wasn’t passed until 1983 when Gaylord Perry, Steve Carlton & Nolan Ryan all went past the mark. Ryan finished with 5,714. Johnson was intending to sign and play in the startup Federal League for a huge pay increase from $7K to $25K year, but his loyalty to his team, his city, and his Senators’ teammates as well as a strong personal persuasion from PIT’s well-respected player/manager Fred Clarke. This was following Johnson’s 1913 year which many baseball historians hold to be the greatest season ever pitched. His record 110 SHO total may never be reached.

Quarterbacks Who Punt

Learned something new this weekend: saw a clip of QB Terry Bradshaw punting for the Steelers.

I made a list of NFL QB’s who have punted: Bradshaw, Norm Van Brocklin (below), Dan Pastorini, Ben Roethlisberger, Randall Cunningham, Bob Lee, Danny White, Kordell Stewart, Tom Brady (above), Matt Cassell, Sammy Baugh.

At Georgia Tech Billy Lothridge played QB and punter. GT QB Mike Kelley famously set the school record with a 90 yard quick kick. Lions CB Lem Barney also punted.

Good win by the Falcons. Not perfect. After passing for 504 yards last week the Birds had a big day running the ball. RB Bijon Robinson scored several TD’s, and Algiers had at least one TD. Hopefully this was Robinson’s break out game. Loved how the announcers pointed out that the receivers weren’t blocking - #5 and #8. That needs to change.

Panthers looked like blueberries in their blue jerseys and pants, with black socks and shoes. Falcons wore their dreaded black pants, but for a change wore all white knee high socks and cleats.

Buccaneers beat the Saints to keep pace with the Falcons. Washington gave the mighty Ravens a scare. Lions blew out the Cowboys.

Yankees vs Cleveland and Dodgers vs Mets. I haven’t been following the baseball playoffs either. Celebrities at Dodger games: LeBron, Pat Sajak, Rob Lowe, Jimmy Kimmel, Jason Bateman. Dodgers beat the Mets. I’m rooting for Freddie Freeman and LA to beat the Mets. A Dodgers / Yankees World Series would be nice, but Cleveland is hot.

Saw where LeBron complained about having to fly to Milwaukee to play a preseason game. He received a lot of backlash for complaining. If he thinks the NBA needs to do a better job of scheduling regional preseason games so be it, but LeBron would’ve been better off lodging his complaint to the powers that be in private. You’d think he would have figured stuff like that out be now. This weekend when a football player faked an injury to stop the clock, someone said that he was “pulling a LeBron”. 

After returning from SC late Thursday night, Anna spent this past weekend down on 30A near Seaside FL.

700 Georgia State @ Marshall Thursday Oct 17

Noon Virginia @ Clemson

1245 SC @ Oklahoma

330 Notre Dame @ GT

330 Bama @ Tennessee

700 Ball State @ Vandy

730 UGA @ Texas

745 Kentucky @ Florida

100 Seattle @ Falcons

VIDEO: Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez answer questions rapid fire style.

Election interference: Google continues to make certain election information hard to find, burying it 16 pages deep when you search for it.

One of the presidential candidates is being charged with plagiarism. Doesn’t matter. Most Americans don’t care. Not sure what it’s going to take to get them to care.

Hall of Fame pitchers who hit grand slams.

Pitcher        GS Date    Career W-L ERA

Carlton......16-May-1984....324-244...3.22

Drysdale...09-Aug-1961.....209-166...2.95

Gibson......29-Sep-1965.....251-174...2.91

Gibson......26-Jul-1973(1)

Griffith.......27-Jun-1891.....237-146...3.31

Grove........27-Jul-1935(1)...300-141...3.06

Johnson....21-Jun-1914.....417-279...2.17

Ruffing......14-Apr-1933.....273-225...3.80

Jackets Nip Heels

Nice road win for Tech, after starting QB Haynes King left the game with an injury and UNC came back to tie the game after being behind by 10 points. GT defense seemed to run out of gas. Nice to score the late 68 yard game-winning TD run with 16 seconds remaining, on former GT head coach Geoff Collins' UNC defense.

Might've been a  good strategy for Tech to keep QB Haynes King's helmet on, instead of his ball cap, to throw off UNC, as if he might be coming back into the game.

For the most part the Jackets just kept running the ball, and the Heels rarely were able to stop them. Tech finished with 370 yards rushing, a season high. Matt Harpring's son, a young tight end, had a key reception.

GT head coach Brent Key is doing a great job, and I suppose his assistants are as well, like offensive coordinator Chris Weinke. Key is supposed to be a great recruiter, which is sorely need at Tech. One thing I did not like during the game was how GT defenders kept faking injuries to stop the clock. But since there is no penalty for faking an injury2, Key is just using the system to his team’s advantage. Can’t argue with that.

Tech wore white face masks with their white helmets, which was a huge improvement over the dark masks. First time in GT history the Jackets wore white masks. Very nice. Too bad the GT helmet logo wasn't gold to match the jersey numbers. Now they need to wear gold masks with their gold helmets. Watch them wear something crazy against Notre Dame.

Clemson took care of Wake Forest. Both GT and Clemson were playing at the same time. C kept wanting me to flip back to the Clemson game even though Clemson was at halftime and GT was already playing the second half.

I kept it on GT. She finally pulled up the game on her phone, but quit watching since Clemson had such a big lead. She fell asleep and missed the exciting Tech game.

Notre Dame won big over Louisville. Louisville beat Georgia Tech. Will the Jackets hang close to the Irish? Will GT QB King be able to play on Saturday? Not sure how good a passer the backup is. Notre Dame will cram the line of scrimmage and dare the Jackets to pass. GT has a freshman QB Aaron Philo from Prince Ave Academy, who broke all of Brock Vandagriff and Trevor Lawrence’s class A records.

Gamecocks put a scare into Bama, but were unable to tie the game with a 2 point conversion. They did look good wearing their traditional uniforms.

I'm confident Bama will be able to  get their act together for the stretch run.

UGA keeps saying they want to run the ball, but keeps calling one pass play after another. Many think QB Carson Beck is having an off year, but he had lost all his receiving core from last year.

Longhorn QB Quinn Ewers appears to have shaken off some early rust against Oklahoma. After giving up a first quarter field goal, Texas outscored Oklahoma 34-0. Are the Longhorns that good? Were the Dawgs holding back, or did they really struggle against Mississippi State? Where they looking ahead to Texas? I think UGA will give the Horns a good game.

Social media is all over Kirby for pushing the Miss State QB, but it was evident Smart was completely focused on the referee.

Man Florida sure gave the mighty Vols a scare on Saturday, before flopping in overtime. Was sure glad to see Ohio State lose to Oregon.

Last week unranked USC lost to woeful Minnesota. This week they took number 4 Penn State to overtime. Besides Texas, I’m not sure there are many super times in college football this season.

I made it to the end of Vandy / Kentucky. In the second half the announcers mentioned that the injured player was back on the sidelines in his “travel clothes”. Might’ve had a concussion but that’s all. Vandy has a tough schedule the rest of the way: after Ball State they got Texas, Auburn, SC, LSU, and Tennessee. Would like to see them bump off all of those guys, but at least Auburn and SC for sure. They’ll need one more SEC win to get bowl eligible, but these days some bowls take 5 win teams.

DENISON: What is going on at CBS? Culture has jettisoned its belief in objective truth for what Stephen Colbert calls “truthiness,” defined as “the belief in what you feel to be true rather than what the facts will support”. Some journalists believe their value no longer lies in reporting the news but in changing society.

ME: does Colbert, a former Sunday School teacher, want his guests to come on his show and lie?

DON DRYSDALE [SABR Bio] was the first Hall of Famer to die outside the United States. Drysdale passed away in Montreal where he was to broadcast a game on 02-Jul-1993. His body was found in his hotel room, victim of a heart attack. At the time of his retirement in 1969, he was the career leader in hitting batters with pitches: 154 batters. He was the first Cy Young Award winner to have a teammate win the award the following season. Drysdale won in 1962 and teammate Sandy Koufax was the 1963 (& 1965 & 1966) winner.

Diversity AND Inclusivity?

I am an old fart, and perhaps the world is passing me by. Lots of things going on that just don’t make sense to me. You could say I am a knucklehead. Don't know how to fire a shotgun. If you read my blog, you probably already knew this about me.

Large corporations like mine are seeking to foster a more diverse and inclusive workplace. I’m fine with uniting people with shared interests, identities, and backgrounds – but isn’t diversity kind of the opposite of inclusiveness? A group of a certain race or life experience isn’t diverse, its homogenous. To have a diverse group of employees you’d want to include people of different races, religions, and life experiences. In my experience, in general people tend to naturally group off by skin color or religion or life experience – and that’s okay in my book. But if you want a diverse world of people living and working all together in harmony, at some point all these people of various races and creeds and life experience are going to have to leave their individual groups and mix in all together and work toward a common goal, be it peace or profit or whatever. Isn’t that right?

What am I missing? Is it wrong for a company or organization or government or airline or manufacturer to want to hire the best most qualified individuals regardless of race, creed, or color? 

I challenge you to read this in-depth look at critical race theory.

Matthew had just returned from his guys’ trip on Monday. They had flown into Philadelphia and also spent time in Delaware, New Jersey, NYC, and Brooklyn. It was his first trip up to the northeast. He and a buddy golfed at his dad’s country club in Delaware. His friend’s parents live near Joe Biden. They said they saw Bryce Harper when they were getting cheesesteaks in Phlly.

Wednesday: we ate leftovers and had a peaceful evening. We had already retired to Lennie's garage apartment by the time Anna and Matthew arrived to spend the night at Ceil's parents house.

Thursday: worked all morning. Anna's cousins came to visit. 

LEFTY GROVE [SABR Bio] has the highest lifetime WAR of any left-handed pitcher: 106.8 which is 26th overall among all players. Randy Johnson at 101.1 is the next highest lefty pitcher. No one won more season ERA titles than Grove, who won AL ERA crowns for PHA in 1926 (2.51), 1929 (2.81), 1930 (2.54), 1931 (2.06), and 1932 (2.84). Also for Boston in 1935 (2.79), 1936 (2.81), 1938 (3.08), & 1939 (2.54). Grove won 31 games in 1931 for the A’s, which hasn’t been equaled by a left-handed thrower since then.