October 15, 2002

1. You obviously weren’t around during the 1994 season – now that was about as rock-bottom as a program can be. Tech is still a long way from that, even with the disappointing loss to Wake Forest (and let me say that Jim Grobe has done a wonderful job at a school with the lowest enrollment in Division I-A and a disadvantage in talent level when compared to almost any team on its schedule; Wake is going to win a few more games this season).

   Let’s do a quick look at some of the numbers. Tech’s won-loss record is still 4-2. The defensive unit, with the stats from the Wake Forest fiasco factored in, still ranks 32nd nationally in rushing defense, 32nd in total defense and 12th in scoring defense. Special teams play has been adequate, with a couple of exceptions. Those aspects of the team’s performance have been okay.

   The one factor that will make the difference between a mediocre finish and a decent finish to the season is the situation at quarterback, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. On this issue I must confess that I erred in my preseason assessments. I stated then that A. J. Suggs would be good enough to take over as the leader on offense. Based on his play to date, it’s obvious that I was completely and totally wrong, and I apologize to the other Tech fans who figured this one out long before I did. One need only recite what happened during a 10-minute stretch of the second half against Wake Forest, when Suggs misread his receiver’s route and threw an interception; fumbled away the exchange from center; ran the ball past the line of scrimmage and, instead of continuing on for a five- or 10-yard gain, threw an illegal forward pass; threw incomplete passes on third and fourth downs to fritter away Tech’s final chance at winning the game.

   These are not the mistakes of a young, inexperienced quarterback. These things happened in Suggs’ sixth game as a starter, his second year at Tech and his fourth year in a Division I-A program. He has had more than enough time to learn the offense and settle down under the pressure of game-day conditions. I thought A. J. was the man who could do this and I really wanted him to succeed. That obviously is not going to happen.

   It is time for Chan Gailey to cut his losses and put Damarius Bilbo at quarterback. It was going to happen sooner or later anyway. Let’s go ahead and do it now so that he’ll gain the experience that will get him in position for next year. As my good friend from the Smokerise neighborhood put it, Tech can lose just as easily with Bilbo at quarterback as with Suggs. But as Bilbo gets more playing time and becomes more comfortable as a starter, Tech could possibly win another three or four games and salvage something out of this season.

   On the other hand, the more Suggs plays, the more he will get booed and the more disgusted Tech fans will become. Why subject him to that humiliation? The most humane thing Gailey can do is get Suggs out of the spotlight, where he will only be the target of more hatred and vituperation, and give Bilbo the opportunity to get some real playing time at quarterback.

   When you find yourself in a poker game where every hand you’re dealt is a losing one, the smart player gets out and stops throwing good money after bad. I hope Gailey is shrewd enough to realize this.

1. It could be that some of us had expectations that were just too high. I’ve already admitted my mistake in evaluating the talent level at quarterback. We may have expected more out of the offensive line than it is able to deliver. With the exception of the Wake Forest game the defense has performed up to its capabilities, but we were wrong to think that it could carry the team for the whole season. Some of us may also have underestimated the difficulty of making the transition to a new coaching staff. It appears to me that not all of the gears are meshing very smoothly right now. It may take Gailey a season or two to get that worked out.

1. I’m not sure I would put much credence in those rumors. At this point in the season, Tech does not look to me like a team that has quit on its coaches.

   Now, will there be changes in the coaching staff after the season is finished? I think there will. It would not surprise me if both of the coordinators decide to accept opportunities elsewhere with other programs. I have also heard a lot of complaints about the overall strength and conditioning of the players. Gailey may decide that a change in that area would be beneficial as well. Coaching staffs at most schools turn over a position or two or three every year – why should Tech be any different?

1. This is another reason why Gailey should go ahead and make the change at quarterback now. If he continues to play Suggs, the fans will boo more and more loudly. At some point those boos will be directed away from Suggs and toward Gailey. If you are Dave Braine, and you’ve got to figure out a way to put fannies in the extra seats that you’re spending millions of dollars to construct, you do not want to hear your customers making those kinds of complaints. Not at all. I have to believe that Braine has already had some conversations with Gailey on this very point. If he hasn’t, then he is not doing the job he was hired to do.

1. The numbers will show you that Georgia is a middle-tier team with a mediocre offense that is having an extraordinary run of good luck this year. They rank 95th nationally in rushing offense (10th out of 12 teams in the SEC), 58th in passing offense (fifth in the SEC), 94th in total offense (11th in the SEC) and 46th in total offense (tied for sixth place in the SEC). And this is under a head coach who was touted as an "offensive genius" when he was hired away from Florida State.

   Normally, a team with an offense that bad would already have lost a couple of games by now, and in any other season this would have happened with the mutts. But let’s go back to that good luck I mentioned: Georgia beat Clemson by three points because the Tiggers’ placekicker blew two field goal attempts; they beat South Carolina only because the Gamecocks’ running back fumbled the ball twice inside the five-yard line; they beat Alabama by two points after the Tide blew two field goal attempts; and they played Tennessee the week after the Vols’ starting quarterback was injured. This is also one of those years when the SEC is having a down season. Florida has already lost three games, while Tennessee, Alabama and Auburn have already lost two games. Georgia is not very good offensively, but it has the excellent fortune to be playing teams that aren’t very good either. Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good. We’ll see if that luck runs out at some point.