November 8, 2002

Let’s consider the situation at tailback, where the top three players at the beginning of the season were Tony Hollings, Sidney Ford and Jermaine Hatch. All three of them have been knocked out of action with various injuries, and Hollings was only leading the nation in rushing when he tore up his knee. That would have destroyed the running attack for most teams, but what did Gailey do? He put Ace "Hardware" Eziemefe at tailback in game five and all Ace did was tear through North Carolina for 136 rushing yards. And he was Tech’s fourth-string tailback. Eziemefe then sprained his ankle, which forced Gailey to move to his fifth- and sixth-team running backs: Gordon Clinkscale, a fifth-year senior who hadn’t played since his freshman year, and P. J. Daniels, a walk-on. Clinkscale gained 87 yards against Maryland, 74 yards against Virginia and 94 yards against N.C. State (where he also scored the winning touchdown). Daniels gained 95 yards against Virginia and scored a touchdown. Now, honestly, if Tech’s talent level is really that low, then how are they able to get so much production from fifth- and sixth-string running backs?

Let’s move to wide receiver. Tech has been able to play Kerry Watkins, Will Glover, Jonathan Smith, Levon Thomas, LeKeldrick Bridges and Nate Curry (briefly) at that position. That’s six players by my count. Would anyone argue that any of those six aren’t capable of playing productively at the Division I-A level? Doesn’t that indicate some depth of talent?

Consider the defense. Tech did have one bad game against Maryland when they gave up 34 points and a disappointing game against Wake Forest when they did a poor job of stopping the run. But the Jackets are still the 16th best team in the nation in scoring defense and the 28th best team in rushing defense. They held Virginia, a team with a six-game winning streak that included a thrashing of South Carolina, to 15 points. They held N.C. State, which was undefeated and averaging 41 points a game, to 17 points. Could they have done all that if the level of talent was as low as some Tech fans have been saying?

I am not arguing that Tech is the most talented team in the nation. Oklahoma would probably beat the Jackets by three touchdowns. They’re not even the most talented team in the ACC. But there is some talent there – good enough, probably, for Tech to finish with a winning season and earn its sixth bowl invitation in a row. That’s not as much as we’d want, but it’s not bad.

That’s my vent for today. Now, on to the questions.

1. I wouldn’t say that Tech fans are any more bitter than fans at other colleges. I think they have a good reason to be pessimistic about the future of the program, based on the experience of the past 36 years. Look at the team’s performance since Bobby Dodd left and you’ll see a lot of inconsistency and poor play. If Tech finishes with a winning record this season (which I think they will), it will mark the team’s sixth straight winning season. That’s the only such stretch since Dodd retired. I’ve already mentioned in an earlier column the constant turnover at the head coach’s position. Obviously, most college coaches do not see Tech as a plum assignment that’s worth keeping for the long haul. The coaches who do come here tend to bail out as quickly as they can. That should tell you plenty right there. What do they see in the program that scares them off?

1. I’m with Andy Rooney on this one, and the spectacle of Samantha Ryan during the Tech-N.C. State telecast should give you all the proof you ever need that women don’t belong on the sidelines. "Sam" was evidently fascinated by the fact that T. A. McClendon throws up before football games and treated us to this discourse on his hurling:

   "Guys, N.C. State is 9-0 whenever T. A. McClendon throws up before the game, and I’ve just been told by the team physician that he threw up before today’s game. It was a mixture of ham, scrambled eggs, four slices of wheat toast, two helpings of grits and a large orange juice. That was followed by an energetic bowel movement where the texture was described as being somewhere between chunky and well-chewed, with some blood. Guys . . ."

   That may have been the all-time low point in the history of college football broadcasting.

1. You’d have to look a long time to do better than Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker, particularly since the university announced last week that Smoker has been suspended from the team and is battling substance abuse. That’s the greatest name for a substance-abuser since Bill Bong was playing nose tackle at UCLA.

1. Florida stepped up to the plate and exposed Georgia as the frauds that they are. Georgia is a team of average talent that has loaded up on a weak schedule and benefited from being the luckiest team in Division I-A. Florida put a stop to that nonsense, and for those Georgia fans who can count, that’s 12 victories in the last 13 games for the Gators.

   Of course, if all you read was the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, you’d be excused for thinking that Georgia was the greatest assemblage of talent in the history of college football and that a victory over Florida was a mere formality. The AJC about a month ago simply stopped covering Georgia Tech football because the geniuses running the newspaper decided that Georgia was on its way to a national championship. The newspaper has ignored the Jackets and become cheerleaders for the chihuahuas ever since. All you’ve seen for weeks now are Mark Bradley columns gushing about the "offensive genius" Mark Richt, Tim Tucker columns comparing the 2002 Georgia to the 1982 Georgia team, and article after article by Mark Schlabach about Musa Smith being "the next Herschel Walker" and Boss Bailey being the little brother of Champ Bailey and David Greene being the "best young quarterback in the SEC" and on and on and on, until you want to join T. A. McClendon as he hurls chunks. Last Sunday’s sports page was all too typical – it devoted twice as many pages to a Georgia loss as it did to a Tech victory over an undefeated team on the road. Hey, that sure sounds fair and balanced to me.

   Fortunately, games are played on the field and not on paper. So what did we see on the field?

   Mark Richt, the "offensive genius," called a game that saw his offensive juggernaut put exactly one touchdown on the scoreboard and go 0-for-13 in third down situations. Richt also made the brilliant tactical decision to put D. J. Shockley in at quarterback so that Shockley could throw an interception that Florida returned for a touchdown.

   Brian Van Gorder, the "defensive genius," had no answers for the short passing game of Rex Grossman. Florida could have easily put 30 or 40 points on the board if they had not committed so many turnovers.

   Terrence Edwards showed that his name really ought to be Roberto Duran after he displayed his "hands of stone" on the long incompletion from David Greene.

   George Foster showed that he’s got to be the dumbest player in Division I-A, costing Georgia a field goal by jumping on a Florida player and leg-humping him until the officials called a personal foul. That’s a real smart play.

   David Greene, the "best young quarterback in the SEC," went 11 for 29 passing for 141 yards and failed to convert a single third-down situation.

   One of the funniest scenes of the game was at the end of third quarter when Georgia players, leading 13-12 at that juncture, held up four fingers to signify the old adage, "We own the fourth quarter." Somebody must have forgotten to let Florida know that – the Gators scored the winning touchdown in the last quarter and held Georgia scoreless.

   All those Georgia fans who thought they were going to finished undefeated and play for the national championship? Forget it. Not going to happen.

   All those Georgia fans who thought they would re-establish dominance over Florida with the departure of their tormentor Steve Spurrier? Forget it. Not going to happen.

   Georgia fans need to realize that Herschel Walker is gone and Lindsay Scott doesn’t live here anymore.