September 6, 2001

Observation number two: lots has been posted on the Hive about George Godsey's "rustiness," but I want to credit him for making the most crucial play of the game. It came in the fourth quarter after the Syracuse punter shanked a lame kick that somehow rolled out of bounds at the Tech one. This was crunch time - Tech was only leading by six and Syracuse was in position to go ahead by one if the Jackets messed up. The game was absolutely on the line. On the first play, backed up against his own end zone, Godsey threw one of his ruptured-duck passes to Kelly Campbell for 10 yards and a first down. Then he hit Kelly with another 21-yarder to get Tech safely out of a hole. By the time Syracuse got the ball back they were well on their side of the 50 and they never really threatened again.

That little 10-yard pass from Godsey to Campbell was the play that wrapped up the victory for Tech. It was as important as the pass Godsey completed in the opener last year against Central Florida, when Tech was facing third and 18 and was trailing UCF by 10 points. George hit Jon Muyres for 27 yards and a crucial first down to get Tech back on the road to a 21-17 victory. That throw saved the game and possibly the season for the Jackets. The throw against Syracuse may do the same for the team this year. Godsey may not be the most elegant quarterback out there, but he showed once again that he's a winner.

1. The Syracuse game was proof that the torch of the offensive coordinator has indeed been passed - except that it hasn't been passed to Bill O'Brien. It should have been obvious to everyone that George O'Leary was the real offensive coordinator in the Kickoff Classic. The play calling was classic O'Leary, whose idea of a perfect game is one where you run the ball off tackle every play and win 7-0. I have to believe he was overruling O'Brien on many plays and calling for Joe Burns to smash it into the line, particularly when Tech was inside the red zone and arguably should have tried to throw the ball a time or two. Until Tech got the ball with three minutes left in the game, Burns had carried the ball 27 times and gained 42 yards - which is about a buck and a half a carry. Ralph Friedgen would never have kept calling Burns' number when it was obvious the running plays weren't working, but Friedgen isn't here anymore and O'Brien doesn't have the stature yet where he can stand up to O'Leary and call his own game. I think the team is in a similar situation to 1999, when it looked like O'Leary took over many of the defensive coordinator duties and didn't give Ted Roof a free rein. It may be that O'Leary doesn't trust O'Brien to make all the calls yet, but that's certainly within his prerogative as the head coach. The question then becomes, will O'Leary ever give O'Brien the freedom and flexibility Friedgen had to run the offense? We should know the answer to that one by the FSU game.

   I'm not concerned about the closeness of the final score. The Kickoff Classic was actually right in line with the oddsmakers' handicapping - they established Tech as a seven-point favorite most of the week and the Jackets won by six, so the final margin seems about right to me. I never did think Tech was going to run up a big score on 'Cuse anyway. The Orangemen had one of the top defenses in the country last season and that defense is still very stout. They were much more of a challenge for an opening game opponent than, say, Arkansas State or Georgia Southern.

   I feel very good about the Tech defense, which has so much more speed than it did three or four years ago. Example: Syracuse popped one long running play in the first half when Tech got caught in a safety blitz and James Mungro burst through the line for a 30-yard gain. Key Fox ran down Mungro from behind. With the exception of Syracuse's touchdown drive in the third quarter, the defense played a rock-solid game. The open-field tackling was crisp and on target, and Troy Nunes got his bell rung on more than one play. I liked the way Fred Wright and Jeremy Muyres knocked down passes late in the game. The front seven was stuffing the run as effectively as they did against Georgia last season. And they did all this even as Syracuse was throwing formations and shifts at them that the coaches had not seen in the films and were not expecting.

   Another plus - Tech played virtually a mistake-free game, which is an indicator of good coaching and disciplined players. There were no stupid penalties and no turnovers, which is almost unheard of for an opening game. Kelley Rhino caught all his punts cleanly and broke off a couple of nifty returns. He obviously has put the misplays of the Peach Bowl completely out of his mind.

   Tech also took over the game and dominated physically in the fourth quarter, which tells me they were in better condition than the Syracuse players. The defense forced three-and-outs on each of the Orangemen's last two possessions, and the offense finally wore down Syracuse's front seven on that final offensive series, enabling Joe Burns to rip off some long gainers.

   The offensive line was somewhat erratic on the running plays (until that last drive, anyway), but that's something the coaches can address in practice. While Godsey was pressured on several passing plays, Dwight Freeney had only two sacks in the first half and wasn't really a factor the rest of the game. Jason Kemble got called for holding Freeney on one play, wiping out a completion to Campbell, but he did not seem to be overwhelmed by the pass rush. Freeney got one sack when he lined up at linebacker and came up the middle, and his second sack when he got outside Russ Matvay's block. He definitely did not "destroy" Kemble as so many Tech fans feared he would.Godsey was playing like he did in the early stages of last season when he was still getting used to the idea of being a starter: some of his passes were wobbly or one-hopping, and most of Kelly Campbell's receptions happened when Kelly made mid-course corrections and came back for short passes. It looked to me like Godsey was still favoring his rehabbed knee a little. When you think about it, because of the knee injury Godsey has essentially had to re-learn how to be a quarterback at the Division I level. He's not all the way there yet, but he should be able to complete that relearning process over the next two games and, hopefully, get his timing back by the time they travel to Tallahassee.

   Yes, Tech was a little ragged in their opener, but that's not unusual. Nebraska didn't exactly take it to the house against TCU either. TCU is just four years removed from a 1-10 record under Pat Sullivan, and yet their defense was pushing the Huskers around all afternoon. Word of advice to Nebraska Coach Frank Solich: lose those red knee-socks. They make your players look like a bunch of dope-smuggling Central Americans in an opening round World Cup match. Which may be a big reason why they had so much trouble with the Horned Frogs.

1. One positive outcome, in my opinion, is that the national media will write off Tech because they only beat Syracuse by six points and shine their spotlight on someone else. Here's what USA Today, for example, had to say: "At least Georgia Tech gave the ACC a winning team on the first weekend of the college season. The Yellow Jackets struggled to score and fought on defense to preserve a 13-7 victory over Syracuse on Sunday in the Kickoff Classic, but the Yellow Jackets' performance failed to suggest they might be a national-title contender, much less an ACC championship contender capable of beating Florida State on Sept. 15 in Tallahassee." I'm glad to see the media lose interest right now. That's probably a good way to keep things toned down until the game on Sept. 15.

1. Considering that Syracuse is much tougher and stronger on defense than Georgia could ever hope to be, Tech will do just fine. I know the Georgia fans are already giddy with excitement because Tech only won by six points, and that's fine with me. Let them read the wrong interpretation into it. It'll make the victory in November that much sweeter.

1. It was downright embarrassing to watch the games involving new coaches Al "Miracle" Groh and John "Baby" Bunting. The performance of Virginia and North Carolina provides more ammunition, alas, to those who call the ACC a bogus conference. It's hard to argue with them after watching games like those. The ACC's problem is the dropoff in quality from the top-tier teams to the mid-tier and basement programs. FSU, Tech and Clemson are Top 15-quality teams - just check out their records against Florida, Georgia and South Carolina over the past three seasons - but I only see those three teams and possibly N.C. State qualifying for bowls out of the ACC this season. And, of course, there's the decade-long domination of the conference by the Seminoles. How can you say you've got balance or quality throughout your conference when one team keeps winning everything year after year? The best thing for the ACC - and ultimately, for FSU - would be for Tech and Clemson both to beat the Seminoles this season. That is, admittedly, a very long shot.

1. Think about it this way: two of Tech's starting linebackers in 1998 were Matt Miller and Matt Uremovich. If circumstances had taken a slightly different turn for these guys, it's possible both of them would still be playing this season as fifth-year seniors. If both of them were still on the active roster and able to play, do you think either of them would be starting ahead of Daryl Smith, Reco Wimbush, Ather Brown or Key Fox? No slam intended on either of the Matts - they were hard-nosed guys who'd run through a wall for you. No one should ever question their willingness to go out on the field and knock somebody's hat off. But it's an indication of how much the talent has been upgraded in the last three years that two starters from the 1998 team wouldn't be starting if they were still around today.

1. That's no misprint - the astrophysicist Wes Colley is indeed related to Will Colley, a Georgia letterman from the late 1980s. There's a delicious irony here, because Georgia fans are always taunting Tech fans about being computer geeks and techno-nerds and such. Who would have ever guessed that the ultimate computer nerd would come from a family of Georgia fans? Of course, I welcome this broadening of the intellectual atmosphere among our friends to the east, and I'm going to ask some of the wealthier Tech alumni to contribute to a special fund that will be used to buy pocket-protectors for all incoming Georgia freshmen next year. I think we can raise a lot of money for this because, as we all know, Tech graduates have all the cool, high-paying jobs in this state while Georgia graduates mop their floors and swab their commodes. Or something like that.

1. That's a tough one to answer, but right now you'd have to say Nebraska and Georgia are tied for first place in the BCS (Burglars, Criminals and Sleazebags) rankings, with FSU a couple of percentage points behind. Now, I don't mean to dump on Georgia's new coach, Mark Richt, who's evidently a fine Christian man and who seems to be committed to cleaning out the stables over in Athens. In fact, Richt has already taken several steps that just might get the program turned around. I understand he's secured Vince Dooley's approval to expand the Butts-Mehre Center by adding a magistrate judge's hearing room (that will enable players to be processed more quickly into the criminal justice system after they're arrested and save the taxpayers' money). The Georgia media guide will now include two photos of each player, a front and a side view. Athletic department officials have also made an arrangement with the Athens police to install a weight room at the city jail.