Week 7 Football Racap

 

Good article in the AJC by Steve Hummer, on how Tech has fallen below Duke. It just shouldn’t be that way. Cutcliffe is a good coach, and a good fit at Duke – an older coach that other schools passed over in favor of the young up sand coming hotshots. I figured out who Tech should get to replace Paul Johnson: Gus Malzahn. Auburn will be firing him soon, so Tech should snatch him up.

 

Tech would’ve been in the game had it not been for those three straight fumbles. One was the worst kickoff return I’d ever seen. Dude runs to the 20, encounters tackers so he turns around and runs back to the ten – and then fumbles.

 

With linebacker Curry already lost to an injury, another Tech linebacker lost control and started punching a Duke player, getting the linebacker thrown out of the game. A very ugly incident. The thug needs to be held out of another game. Contributed to the loss.

Q: Three groups of teams – which group would you want Georgia Tech to be associated with?

A. Towson, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Liberty UAB, James Madison, Troy, Western Michigan, Duke. 

 

B. Old Dominion, Tulsa, Utah, Minnesota, Utah State, Western Kentucky, Rutgers, Troy, UConn, Appalachian State, Illinois, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina.

 

C. Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State, Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, LSU, Wisconsin, Auburn, Southern Cal.  

 

Group A has recently worn white jerseys with dark pants, like Tech did on Saturday.

Group B has recently worn both dark jerseys and pants, like Tech is sure to do later this year.

Group C includes ten of the top 15 teams in the country – teams that wear traditional uniforms. These days I guess if you can’t be successful, just wear a different uniform every week. 

UGA/LSU: sure Georgia should’ve run the ball more. The play-calling was as much to blame as anything. LSU hadn’t stopped the run in the first quarter. Holyfield was running over people (below), reminding Danielson and Nessler of Herschel. The Dawgs ran it down the field, then in the red zone offensive coordinator Jim Chaney called three straight pass plays. It may not have been Jake Fromm’s day, but he really wasn’t terrible. Several passes were dropped. Of the two interceptions, one was a remarkable diving catch just off the ground. The other was late in the game when LSU was expecting the pass. 

On the key third down play LSU blitzed and Holyfield picked up the blitzer. Fromm bought time by scrambling. He looked for his safety valve, but Holyfield had been tied up blocking. People put all the blame on Fromm, but it was Chaney who kept calling the pass plays. When Fields entered the game LSU stacked the box, knowing it was a run play. Chaney did nothing to change things up.   

 

Even with the poor play-calling and poor passing game and Georgia giving up 275 yards rushing, LSU played a near perfect game. The diving interception. Scoring on fourth down. Stopping the fake field goal. So many calls and spots all seemed to go LSU’s way. Two facemask penalties weren’t called. 36-16 could’ve just as easily been 26-23 and it’s a whole new ball game. Not sure why my full post doesn't display, but please click the read more link below.

Great to see Rodrigo carry the ball, something he did regularly in high school. Few know he was voted Most Athletic at Sprayberry High, playing both soccer and football. Nice stiff arm.

Even if they had won, the Dawgs still have to beat Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee to advance to the SEC Championship Game. They still have to beat Bama to advance to the playoff. Perhaps they learned some things in the loss that will help them the rest of the way.

Bama didn’t score forty points. Tua left the game with an injury. But the Tide still rolled over Missouri, having a much easier time than Georgia did.

 

Tennessee beat Auburn. Stidham looked bad. Florida struggled to beat Vandy, in a game marred by fisticuffs.

The Falcons beat the Bucs, but kicker Matt Bryant was injured. A beautiful day to have the roof open. The Pats beat the Chiefs, perhaps gaining home field advantage for the AFC Championship Game.