August 22, 2001

1. I've been asked several versions of that same question from Georgia fans who still can't bring themselves to believe that a slow-footed white guy with average arm strength could have outplayed their "Heisman Trophy candidate" so decisively last year. To them, it couldn't possibly have happened in the world they inhabit, so it must have been a mirage.

   There are mirages, of course. I once met a woman who looked mighty good at two in the morning after I had consumed six or seven Guinness stouts and a few Crown Royals, but I found out the hard way that she was just a mirage. Here's reality: in the first half of the Tech-Georgia game, George Godsey rolled out around right end and sprinted (if you can use that word to describe what he was doing) 33 years for a touchdown. It was the first touchdown he had ever scored as a high school or a college quarterback. He was running against a D-line that included two eventual first-round NFL draft picks at defensive tackle and a defensive end who was allegedly so talented that his coach only needed "Two Words" to describe him (I would also use two words to describe Charles Grant: seriously overrated). Godsey was also running the ball against a group of linebackers that Georgia fans have been bragging about for three years now as the deepest, most talented set of linebackers in college football. And yet, none of these big, deep, talented young men laid a hand on the Goose - and this is a guy who's so slow that his 40-yard dashes are timed with a calendar instead of a stopwatch. George waltzed 33 yards against this defensive juggernaut for a score. He also completed 20 of his 35 passes against the mutts for 222 yards and another score. I guess that was all a mirage to the Georgia fans, but it looked real enough to me.

   Of course, this is not the first time Georgia fans have ever seen a mirage. Every overweight running back they recruit is inevitably touted as "the next Herschel Walker" before they rub their eyes and reality sets in. Back in 1997, Georgia fans were telling us they would never lose another game to Tech as long as Jim Donnan was coach. That was a mirage. In 1999 they loudly boasted there was no way Tech would win two in a row against a team that was pulling in "Top 5" recruiting classes every year. Another mirage. In 2000 they were convinced that the loss of Joe Hamilton and the presence of Quincy Carter on their roster was an ironclad guarantee that Tech would not win three in a row. Still another mirage.

   If there's a mirage out there, it's only the one Georgia fans are looking at when they behold their own program. George Godsey looks like the real deal to me. Now, there are obviously some Tech fans who worry about George's ability to come back from the knee surgery and wonder if that will cut down on his effectiveness. Godsey worked hard during the offseason and his performance in the preseason scrimmages indicates he has rehabbed the knee. As for losing any speed or mobility, well . . . it would be difficult for George to run any slower than he did last year with a healthy knee, so I don't think he loses much with a surgically repaired knee.

1. Several of them are now listed on the two-deep chart and should make a contribution this year playing as backups. Others have been impressive in practice and may well get a chance to play as true freshmen.

   Levon Thomas will be in the rotation at wide receiver after the season-ending injury to Nate Curry. James Butler will get some PT at safety and Dennis Davis could get some minutes at cornerback.

   Nat Dorsey has made the two-deep at left tackle and is getting early raves for his footwork and agility. He is also huge, at 6-6 and 320 pounds - he looks like a younger version of Jon Carman. Kyle Wallace is also on the two-deep as the backup right tackle.

   Tony Hargrove is getting raves already as someone who will one day be "playing on Sunday." He was originally slotted as a linebacker but may wind up at rush end. Omar Billy is getting props for the way he manhandles blockers at DT. He could end up in the rotation this year on the D-line.

   Damarius Bilbo seems to have put a little separation between himself and the other freshmen QBs with his impressive arm strength. He may make the traveling squad as the third-team QB.

   Along with a lot of other Tech observers, I figured that Salih Besirevich, a 6-7 tight end out of Bosnia and Colorado, would bulk up and be moved to O-tackle, but he's done so well at TE that the coaches are leaving him there.

   Reuben Houston came out of Fayette County as a widely recruited D-back, but don't be surprised if he eventually is moved to wide receiver.

1. Walk-ons are one of the most inspiring stories of college football - the kids who aren't offered a scholarship but come out and try to play anyway. They usually spend four years getting their brains beat out on the scout team. If they're lucky, they may get in for a play or two during the final seconds of a blowout. On very rare occasions, they play so well that they actually get a 'ship or a starting position. While Nebraska is nationally renowned for its ability to take walk-ons and turn them into contributors, Tech has had good luck with them as well. Who could ever forget Kevin Tisdel from Columbus and his stirring kickoff returns in the national championship season of 1990? Walk-ons like Charlie Cheney and Alex Tetterton have won jobs as deep-snappers on the special teams. Dan Dyke was a walk-on who is now one of the top punters in Division I. Will Heller, a teammate of Hugh Reilly and Kelley Rhino at Marist, walked on two years ago and played himself into the rotation at tight end in his freshman season, earning a scholarship in the process. Matthew Etheridge, another walk-on, has played well on special teams and is currently on the two-deep chart at linebacker.

   The classic walk-on story is David Schmidgall. He was overshadowed by the exploits of a teammate named Ben Brown in high school and was not heavily recruited, so he came to Tech and paid his own way. David was a little undersized at first, but he worked with the grunts on the scout team and hit the weight room until he not only earned a scholarship, but is going into his second season as the starting center. David should be an inspiration to every overlooked high school player who still wants to give the game one more shot at the college level. One of the most interesting of this year's walk-ons is P. J. Daniels, a running back out of Houston, Tex. He got into school late and was not given a 'ship, but is now practicing with the team and is getting the coaches' attention for the way he's been running the ball. Bill O'Brien says Daniels "is about a year away" but could be competing for playing time next season. Keep your eye on him.

1. Why would that worry you? Bill Curry hasn't been part of the program for more than 15 years and we're doing just fine without him. Oh, wait - were you referring to NATE Curry? Nevermind

1. Tech has never been put on probation for NCAA recruiting violations, while Georgia has been nailed three times since 1982 and may get caught yet again because of the recruiting scandal surrounding that Memphis high school player. Why, then, would Georgia fans say that Tech "lies and cheats" when the evidence is clear that Georgia is really the guilty party? This sounds like something the psychiatrists call "projection," which is a clinical term for a defense mechanism in which a person attributes to other people impulses and traits that he himself has but cannot accept. It is especially likely to occur, psychiatrists tell us, when the person lacks insight into his own impulses and traits. Projection can be seen as the externalization of internal unconscious wishes, desires or emotions on to other people. To take one example, a person who feels subconsciously that he has a powerful latent homosexual drive may not acknowledge this consciously, but it may show in his readiness to suspect others of being homosexual. Or, to take another example, an aggressive man might accuse other people of being hostile. The cheater is convinced that everyone else is dishonest. The adulterer accuses his wife of being unfaithful. Basically, this person projects his own unpleasant feelings onto someone else and blames them for having thoughts that he really has.

   In more down-to-earth terms: it takes one to know one.

   If you read some of the messages that are posted on the Vent, you'll see an unusually large number of Georgia fans who claim that "all Tech fans are faggots" or make sneering references to "George O'Queery." I'll bet you that each of the fans posting those messages is a deeply closeted gay who's projecting his homosexual tendencies onto those he perceives to be his enemies, i.e., Tech fans. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened.

   But that's just one guy's opinion.

1. Hey, I like Spurrier. I know that he turns a lot of people off with his ego (which would fill the Grand Canyon on a good day), but you've got to say this for the guy: he's a helluva good coach, he makes fun of Roy Kramer, and he loves to squash the bulldogs. What's so bad about that? We admire George O'Leary for possessing those same qualities, so why are so many Tech fans down on Steve Spurrier? We should cherish his contributions to SEC football. I know I do.

1. I'd like to fall back on the same answer George O'Leary uses: come on down to Tallahassee and find out. But I won't. It's tempting for Tech fans to pick the Jackets over the Semi-holes, and there are lots of reasons why one could feel that way. FSU is breaking in a new quarterback, has lost two of its best wide receivers for the year with ACLs, and saw a lot of last year's starters move up to the NFL. Tech certainly doesn't fear the Seminoles, and even in the days when FSU was taking out the Jackets by 38-0 and 49-3 scores, the FSU coaches always acknowledged that Tech hit them harder than anyone else. Tech's team speed has gotten better and better every year. In last year's game, when George Godsey was still getting used to the idea of being a starting QB, Tech came within five points of FSU and lost an opportunity to go ahead late in the fourth quarter when officials made a horrible no-call on a blatant pass interference by Stanford Samuels.

   All of those are good reasons for thinking Tech might have a chance this year, and maybe it will happen. But I am reluctant to pick the Jackets until they show me that they can actually beat FSU on the field, and that hasn't happened yet. It's true that Bobby Bowden recruits an alarmingly large percentage of thugs and criminals, and it's equally true that Mickey Andrews is a psychopath who should have been kicked out of the league by ACC officials years ago for sending his players in to purposely maim opposing quarterbacks, but that doesn't change the probability of what's going to happen between the goal lines. I'll pick FSU - not because Tech only scored 14 points in the Peach Bowl, but because they've still got to prove they can do it.

1. He told me he'll be on the sidelines this year. "There are some things you can't see when you're on the sidelines, obviously, but I've got some good eyes in the press box," he said. I think that's a good move. Bill is a young guy who relates well to the players, and I think the sidelines is the best place for him to be as he grows into the job of offensive coordinator.

1. You're asking lots of questions here. Let's take them one at a time.

   You're worried about the inexperience up front, but I see an O-line that returns three starters, although some fans are concerned about the fact that two true freshmen (Kyle Wallace and Nat Dorsey) are listed on the two-deep. I think back to the situation in 1997 when Tech was breaking in youngsters like Brent Key, Chris Brown, Jon Carman and Jason Burks on the line. Remember how everybody thought Tech would get squashed in the opener at Notre Dame? That young line hung tough against the Irish, got better as the season went on and provided the foundation for effective offenses in 1998 and 1999. Just because a player is young and inexperienced doesn't mean he can't contribute. Last year, there were only two starters returning (Key and Brown) on the offensive line, but Tech still somehow managed to average 33 points a game. Why should they be worse off this year when they actually have more returning starters? It helps that the Jackets have a good line coach in Mac McWhorter. He whipped them into shape last year and I'm confident he'll do the same this year.

   I hated to see Nate Curry go down with that knee injury, but wide receiver isn't exactly a position where the team is thin. Kelly Campbell, Kerry Watkins and Will Glover between them caught more than 100 passes last year - that ain't exactly chopped liver. Jonathan Smith and Levon Thomas can help take up the slack now that Curry's out for the season, and Smith may turn out to be as dangerous a deep threat as Curry was last year. By my count, that's five top-flight receivers.

   I'm not sure I agree with you that Tech completely lacks a breakaway threat at running back. Joe Burns, Sean Gregory and Jimmy Dixon are certainly in the category of power guys who are most effective banging off tackle, but Sidney Ford has quickness and "wiggle," and if he can avoid those annoying injuries that have plagued him for the last two years I think he'll give Tech a lot of speed out of the backfield. There's another "running back" on the team who's capable of going the distance anytime he touches the ball - Kelly Campbell. Kelly has run the ball several times on reverses or option pitchouts from his wide receiver position and has averaged 15.6 yards on each of his rushes.

   I don't understand why everybody continues to harp on the replacement of Ralph Friedgen by Bill O'Brien. If losing an offensive coordinator is such a problem for Tech, why isn't it equally a problem for FSU, Georgia, N.C. State, Clemson, Virginia and North Carolina? Yes, Tech looked terrible in the Peach Bowl loss to LSU, but I attribute that more to the fumbles and the rustiness of a five-week layoff than to the play-calling. As bad as that 14-point performance was, keep in mind that Tech only scored 13 points against Miami the year before in the Gator Bowl - when Friedgen was still the offensive coordinator. Does that mean the Fridge was a complete failure?

   Your questions are legitimate, but I think you're being a little too pessimistic here. Let's at least get a couple of games into the season before we start proclaiming that Tech is doomed.

1. I certainly like beavers - but not necessarily the Oregon State variety, if you get my drift. They had a great season last year but they're probably going to slide back a game or two this year. I look for these Beavers to split - if you'll pardon the expression - their games against UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon, which would mean at least two losses for them. As my role model and hero JoBu (of "JoBu's Bulbous Mail Sack") once said: "The Pac-10 couldn't break up an AIDS conference, let alone the nation's elite football conferences."