I have a few questions for the GT expert. 1) Don’t you love being yelled at by the women that work at the Varsity? 2) To most effectively run a Triple Option consistently you need a good Fullback. There has to be a real threat to make the LB’s hesitate. How is yours? 3) The teams that have been most effective in slowing the option, have they been bringing the SS up in the box to play the pitch man? 4) How is Nesbitts arm? (not statistically but in regards to his accuracy, velocity, etc) Thanks!

Also, TNation, I believe you were in the group that thinks penalties aren’t costly. FSU was the most penalized team in the nation during their 99 Championship run if I remember correctly. However, we have really seen penalties cost us drives and points this year. I’d rather not give up a sack OR a holding, but I guess that’s too wishful for a young OL.

Thanks for you hard work.

1) As a fan, when you first learned that Paul Johnson would replace Chan Gailey what was your initial reaction knowing that the triple option would be coming with him from Navy??
2) In your opinion and from what you have seen so far this year from GT what do you think are the biggest advantages and disadvantages of the triple option?
3) Don’t know anything about your kicker but i see that he hasn’t converted on anything longer than 39 yards. If this is a close game like most are predicting do you think this will play a factor at all

Thanks

1) What if anything can be learned about the way VTech played against the Noles in the first half last week? Do the Yellow Jackets have the speed/talent on defense to consistently blitz?
2) How will Everette Browns play last week affect the Yellow Jacket’s play calling, run blocking and pass blocking?
3) My wife and I are traveling from Chicago to see the game, any good places to eat close to the stadium?
4) Has GTech’s performance this year been a surprise to you? What direction do you see this team going in the next 2-3 years?
5) What do you see as GTech’s greatest strengths/weaknesses? What do you see as the Noles greatest strengths/weaknesses?
6) Who will be the game changer this week?

Cheers!

Keep them coming!

Stat is interesting. However it still doesn’t do justice as to how bad we have been (outside of the VT game). I’d be curious to see how many knockdowns and hurry ups we have created, and the average for the nation. I feel like that stat would be just about impossible to find, but we have just NOT been getting pressure as much as we traditionally do.

Do they run the bone 100% of the time? If so, a pass rush isn’t as necessary. They have 1 option at WR. Our guys HAVE to be disciplined. I remember the mysterious shutout against wake at home a couple of years ago and all of their misdirection and motion gave us FITS. We can’t afford to be confused and watch plays this game.

I just read the articles. Very good explanations of the triple option/wishbone/flexbone. Thanks for those stats TN. Thats why I enjoy reading this site. I am not a stats guy, but its a very interesting perspective and analysis. There is always intangibles, but I do appreciate yalls work.

That’s a very creative way to practice. It definitly makes you stay at home and understand YOUR assignment.

In order to avoid repetition, and give the blogger a reasonable amount of questions, I’ve combined some of y’alls questions, and decided to answer anything I knew off the top of my head myself.

Questions for UNC writer
Strategy

The teams that have been most effective in slowing the option, have they been bringing the SS up in the box to play the pitch man? If not, how have teams stopped Gtech’s running attack? Did the Runnin’ Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb expose something besides the 3rd string QB?

Everette Brown (6-4 255) is a First Round defensive end for the ‘Noles. Up until last week, he hadn’t seen anything but double teams. Virginia Tech foolishly tried to single block him, and that was a mistake (5 TFL’s, 3 Sacks). Your LT Gardner is pretty good (1st Team ACC). I assume you’ll attempt to slow Everette via option passing and play action, but if you get in 3rd and long, will Paul Johnson use help, or will he roll the dice with Gardner? On any given option play run to Everette Brown’s side, would you prefer: a) that the QB pitch the ball to the RB, even if it means Brown gets a hard clean shot on the QB? b) that the QB cut inside for a short gain, but avoid a big Brown hit?

In your opinion and from what you have seen so far this year from GT what do you think are the biggest advantages and disadvantages of the triple option? Do you prefer the backup QB, who ran the Option in HS and seems to protect the ball better, while maybe not being the caliber of athlete of your current starter?

Phil Steele ranks GT’s special teams 105th in the nation. Don’t know anything about your kicker but i see that he hasn’t converted on anything longer than 39 yards. Is this an ability issue? Do the special teams worry you? Has the kicking woes caused Johnson to think differently about 4th downs?

GT leads the ACC with 26. Would you attribute this to players still not being 100% comfortable with the new offense as i’m sure it takes a lot of focus to execute correctly? How much are we blowing this out of proportion, given that since Tech is so run heavy, they have more opportunities to fumble? I ran some math here, 26 fumbles on 386 carries is a fumble every 14.8 carries, or 6.8% of the time.

We know about Micheal Johnson, Nesbitt, Dwyer, Vance Walker, and Demarrius Thomas. Give us a name who will have to step up in order for Ga Tech to win this game (even if it means stepping up to average as opposed to poorly).

Is there an area that you perceive as a weakness that the opposition has yet to exploit?

GT has basically ruled out any chance of starting CB CB Jahvid World-Daniels and Starting WR Tyler Melton playing in this game. What about Starting Safety Dominique Reese (concussion), and Starting OL Andrew Smith (Concussion)? Given that young players often fare better with man principles do you anticipate increased use of man coverage due to the newly forced youth/ inexperience in the secondary?

Rivalry

The 1992 FSU-GT game was a big turning point for Seminole football. Charlie Ward’s comeback cemented the fast break offense as an FSU staple. Is that a game Tech fans still talk about? Is there speculation on whether the GT program was as adversely affected by the loss as FSU was positively affected by the win?

Who do Yellow Jacket fans consider their biggest ACC rival? If not FSU, where do we fall in that pecking order?

As a fan, when you first learned that Paul Johnson would replace Chan Gailey what was your initial reaction knowing that the triple option would be coming with him from Navy??

Has GTech’s performance this year been a surprise to you? What direction do you see this team going in the next 2-3 years?

Fun Questions
1) Don’t you love being yelled at by the women who work at the Varsity?
3) My wife and I are traveling from Chicago to see the game, any good places to eat close to the stadium?

Questions I will take
2) To most effectively run a Triple Option consistently you need a good Fullback. There has to be a real threat to make the LB’s hesitate. How is yours?

1) What if anything can be learned about the way VTech played against the Noles in the first half last week? Do the Yellow Jackets have the speed/talent on defense to consistently blitz?

How is Nesbitts arm? (not statistically but in regards to his accuracy, velocity, etc).

How good are your DE’s & how would you rank them as a unit in the conference?