November 25, 2003

1. Surprisingly enough, the opening line on the game by the professional oddsmakers has Georgia as an eight point favorite. Considering that Georgia is 9-2 and ranks number five in the polls while Tech is 6-5 and managed to lose to Duke by 24 points, that’s downright incredible. The Vegas guys obviously see this as a much closer game than Georgia fans do, so maybe that means something.

   On the other hand, one of the best leading indicators of Tech’s performance against Georgia is how Tech does against Clemson. Generally speaking, Tech usually loses to Georgia if they have also lost to Clemson in that same season. That doesn’t always hold, of course – way back in 1969, Tech lost to Clemson at Grant Field and then beat Georgia 6-0 in a huge upset at the end of the season. But over the last two decades, it’s been a reliable indicator. Tech beat Georgia in 1984 and 1985 – after beating Clemson both of those seasons. Ditto for 1989 and 1990. Ditto for 1998, 1999 and 2000. It’s weird, but there seems to be some sort of cosmic connection between the outcome of those two games (although there have been some seasons, like 1997 and 1992, when Tech beat Clemson and lost to Georgia anyway).

   Another leading indicator that Georgia fans always used to throw at Tech fans was this one: Tech never beats Georgia when Georgia has won at least eight games going into the Tech-Georgia game. But the Jackets exploded that myth in 1998 when both teams were 8-2 going into the final game and Tech won 21-19 on the last-second field goal by Brad Chambers.

   There is also the bounce-back factor. Whenever Tech gets truly embarrassed by Georgia, they usually bounce back the next season and either beat the chihuahuas or lose a close one. In 1968, a Tech team decimated by injuries traveled to Athens and got blown out, 47-8. The next year in Atlanta, the Jackets won 6-0 (as I mentioned above). In 1988 Tech lost 24-3 in Athens, but came back in 1989 and spanked the chihuahuas 33-22. Georgia beat Tech 48-10 in 1994, but the following year Tech was leading until the closing seconds when Kanon Parkman kicked a knuckleball of a field goal to give Georgia a one-point victory. Since Tech was humiliated 51-7 last year, you have to think they will come back and make it a much closer game this year. On the other hand, Tech followed a 43-10 loss to Georgia in 1993 with an even more crushing 48-10 defeat in 1994, so who knows?

   Here are more reasons to be encouraged: Tech’s defense has been awesome on several occasions this year, holding Auburn and Maryland without a touchdown, containing Phillip Rivers’ short passing game against N.C. State, and limiting Wake Forest’s multi-option offense to only seven points. Although sycophant sportswriters like Mark Bradley would have you believe that Mark Richt is an offensive genius whose teams can score 50 points whenever they feel like it, Georgia’s offense has been extremely ordinary this season: they were held to one touchdown by LSU and Florida, which you would expect, and by UAB, which you would not expect. Richt’s offensive scoring machine was also shut out for a half by Vanderbilt. I would ordinarily be tempted to think that Jon Tenuta could conjure up his smoke and mirrors one last time to hold Georgia in check long enough to give Tech a shot at victory.

   Alas, I don’t think that’s going to happen. Tech has no size and no depth on defense, which we’ve known since August, and that lack of depth really started to show once the team got into the month of November. The guys on that side of the ball are just worn out – as evidenced by the fact that they surrendered 41 points to Duke, 24 to UNC and 29 to Virginia. My feeling is they’ve run out of gas, and not even Tenuta can finesse his way through that. Even a team with a mediocre offense like Georgia should be able to score on Tech – dammit!

   Looking at past games between Tech and Georgia, the closest analogy I can find is the 1992 game, when Tech was 5-5 – even with talents like Shawn Jones, Coleman Rudolph, Bobby Rodriguez, William Bell and Dorsey Levens on the roster – and Georgia was 8-2 coming into the game. Georgia won 31-17 in Athens. That sounds about like what we’ll see this year, considering the relative talent levels of the two teams. That’s not good, but at least it would be an improvement over last year.

1. Well, why not? If Dave Braine wants to recognize Vince Dooley this weekend, then let’s take the next logical step and honor Jim Harrick prior to the Tech-Georgia basketball game. Then we could come back next year and pay tribute to Jim Donnan, Ray Goff and Quincy Carter at Tech’s home opener. That makes about as much sense to me.

   If Tech is really going to “honor” Vince Dooley at Saturday’s game, then here is the script that the public address announcer should use:

   “Ladies and gentleman, please direct your attention to the center of the field where today we recognize a person who has been an integral part of college football for the past 40 years – Vince Dooley!

   “Vince Dooley symbolizes everything that people have come to associate with the University of Georgia. The NCAA has already recognized Coach Dooley’s contributions to the game by placing Georgia’s football program on probation three different times – in 1982, 1986 and 1997 – for violations of recruiting regulations. That’s a record that Georgia Tech has never been able to match in 110 years!

   “Coach Dooley also brought worldwide recognition to the University of Georgia through the academic scandal involving Jan Kemp that happened on his watch. Ms. Kemp, an instructor at the university, successfully sued Georgia in federal court in 1986 over the preferential treatment given to football players and was paid a settlement of more than $1 million after she won her lawsuit against the university. The scandal brought such humiliation to Georgia that the university president lost his job. Coach Dooley hung on to his position even though he would have probably been fired at any other school. He’s definitely a survivor!

   “Coach Dooley is also renowned for the adoration in which he is held by the sportswriters at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who have been licking his boots in print for many, many years. Thanks to Coach Dooley’s persuasive personality, these lapdog sportswriters have made sure that no criticisms of him ever make their way into the pages of the Journal-Constitution. They have been a loyal group of butt-boys for the coach!

   “Coach Dooley gave new meaning to the word ‘cowardice’ by refusing to schedule teams outside the southeastern states. For the past 40 years, he has avoided playing tough road games against out-of-conference opponents whenever possible and has loaded up Georgia’s schedule with easy home games against the likes of VMI, UAB, Arkansas State and Cal State-Fullerton. He also made sure he scheduled as many conference games as possible against teams like Kentucky and Vanderbilt so that Georgia’s record would always be inflated with cheap victories.

   “Coach Dooley will also be long remembered for overseeing an athletic program that for years has been overrun with thugs arrested on charges involving drugs, firearms, rape, assaults and other healthy activities.

   “For all of those reasons, the Georgia Tech family wishes to salute Georgia Athletic Director Vince Dooley. Congratulations, Vince – you did more to tarnish the reputation of your school than any Tech fan could have done in a million years. Let’s have a big hand for Coach Dooley!”

   That’s the speech I would give if the decision was made to “honor” Vince Dooley prior to the Tech-Georgia game. In the words of that esteemed Albanian philosopher Wolley Stekcaj, "When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas."

1. Bowden has had a season with even more ups and downs than Tech’s, and you’d normally think that bad losses to teams like Georgia and Wake Forest would be enough reason for the Clemmons authorities to can him. As we’ve pointed out in earlier editions of this column, the last three Clemson coaches to lose to Wake Forest were all fired that same season. I’m not sure I’d be that quick to fire him, however. With an 8-4 record, a win over FSU, and victories in four of the last five seasons against his SEC instate rival, I’d say Tommy deserves to keep his job. But remember, this is Clemson, where they’ll run you off for finishing 9-3 (as they did to Ken Hatfield a decade ago).

1. We won’t know the final numbers until after the Tech-Georgia and FSU-Florida games are played this weekend, but it’s worth noting that even if Tech loses to Georgia, they still finish the season with a winning record against SEC schools.

   Here’s the breakdown by school: Tech is 2-0 against Auburn and Vandy. Clemson was 1-1 with a loss to Georgia and a victory over South Carolina. Duke lost a very competitive game to Tennessee. Virginia lost to South Carolina. That’s a 3-3 split between the two conferences with two games to go.

1. I don’t think Gailey was ever in danger of getting dismissed by Dave Braine, even if Tech had gone 2-10 (as many people thought they would). After last season’s pukefest against Georgia, I would have fired Gailey on the spot for rank incompetence. At the time, I didn’t see how any college coach could have done a worse job of preparing a team for a game than Gailey did against Georgia last year. Not staying on top of his players’ academic performance was just more proof to me that he was in over his head.

   But, give credit where credit’s due. Gailey made a gutsy decision at the beginning of summer practice to go with a true freshman at quarterback. That’s a “bet your career” kind of move that many coaches would have been afraid to make. Reggie Ball has had his difficulties, but I don’t think anyone would argue that he was still a big improvement over last year’s starter.

   Gailey and his defensive coordinator have also gotten much more production out of a thin, patched-up defense than I ever thought they would have (even though the lack of depth finally caught up with the defenders). Winning six games this year, given everything that’s happened, entitles Chan to get another year as head coach. The way I see it, having to play a bowl game in Idaho in January is probably worse punishment than getting fired. Besides, if Braine were to get rid of Gailey, who do you replace him with? Dan Reeves?