Spring 2026 Media

MtnWasp

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takethepoints said:
I never understood why folks were so upset with WR screens.
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It isn't the play. It is predictability. If blunt minded fan at home knows what is going to be called, then so does the defense.

It is okay to run a play until the defense takes it away. But if they take it away, then move on.

I understand why the play was bread and butter. If the offensive coordinator sees the corners playing off the line, then the play is safe and it doesn't require a battle in the trenches.

But I can also see why this would be a point of contention between Key and Faulkner as Key wants to win in the trenches. As a former OL, he isn't likely to enjoy watching a scheme that takes the OL out of the game.

But my problem with all the flat passes was that there were just too much of it, and it was way too predictable.
 

Spalding Jacket

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SOWEGA Jacket said:
I have no issue with WR screens as they are good plays as other have outlined above but it’s the timing of the play call that matters. Calling it in the middle of the field works and has benefits, but when the field shrinks it’s not that difficult to defend because the safeties are already closer to the LOS. The OC’s most important quality isn’t play design it’s play timin, ie. calling the right play at the right time.
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Agreed, last year against Clemson on 4th and goal was maddening, thought that would cost us the game. On 3rd downs or going for it on 4th downs (more than a yard) we need plays with options in case primary gets snuffed out.
 

TechPhi97

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cpf2001 said:
Here’s a fun stat to consider re: Oline: 113th worst 4th down conversion percentage. https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/stat/fourth-down-conversion-pct

42%. 7 for 16.

The top 10 teams in that stat were all above 70%. It’s not a sample size difference where they just were like 3-for-4 either. The top ten teams in the stat all tried at least 15, most trying more than we did.
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There IS a sample size issue though. Statistically, a team would have to go 13 of 16 to be better than our performance. Use this: http://www2.psych.purdue.edu/~gfrancis/calculators/proportion_test_two_sample.shtml.

Sample size is way to small to say that this made a difference.
 
Lil G

Lil G

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Spalding Jacket said:
Agreed, last year against Clemson on 4th and goal was maddening, thought that would cost us the game. On 3rd downs or going for it on 4th downs (more than a yard) we need plays with options in case primary gets snuffed out.
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I remember this well. Made we want to throw up. Awful, awful, awful, play call
 

alagold

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MtnWasp said:
It isn't the play. It is predictability. If blunt minded fan at home knows what is going to be called, then so does the defense.

It is okay to run a play until the defense takes it away. But if they take it away, then move on.

I understand why the play was bread and butter. If the offensive coordinator sees the corners playing off the line, then the play is safe and it doesn't require a battle in the trenches.

But I can also see why this would be a point of contention between Key and Faulkner as Key wants to win in the trenches. As a former OL, he isn't likely to enjoy watching a scheme that takes the OL out of the game.

But my problem with all the flat passes was that there were just too much of it, and it was way too predictable.
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If your outside guys can't/won''t block its a dead deal and this is where size matters some..
 

cpf2001

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TechPhi97 said:
There IS a sample size issue though. Statistically, a team would have to go 13 of 16 to be better than our performance. Use this: http://www2.psych.purdue.edu/~gfrancis/calculators/proportion_test_two_sample.shtml.

Sample size is way too small to say that this made a difference.
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“statistically” doesn’t mean much in a vacuum without additional numbers - from your link they have a 0.05 default. The site isn’t working on my phone for the actual calls though, so I’ll assume that’s what you used.

Are you confident based on the tape of our 4th down attempts last year that we were as good as the best teams in the country but just had a nearly-once-in-twenty-seasons sequence of bad luck vs the teams that did put up 75%?

Or is the effect size difference bad enough that it’s reasonable to use a lower confidence level when deciding if it was really a great OL, or an area with some weaknesses?

Now let’s look at the previous two seasons under Key. 53%, 50%. Add in those samples and compare them to our neighbors in Athens. Feels like we don’t have the same kind of firepower up there.
 
iceeater1969

iceeater1969

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BurdellJacket said:
I've noticed a number of comments similar to this about our OL not being a particular strength. This is hard for me to understand given that Tech was in the top 10 in the 4 major conferences in both yards per game in rushing offense and fewest sacks. Maybe someone could 'splain this to me?
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Key loved the counter.
It worked great outside redzone and at end of year
 
slugboy

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BurdellJacket said:
I've noticed a number of comments similar to this about our OL not being a particular strength. This is hard for me to understand given that Tech was in the top 10 in the 4 major conferences in both yards per game in rushing offense and fewest sacks. Maybe someone could 'splain this to me?
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For the first ~8 games of the season, the OL was up for an award. For the last ~4 games plus the bowl game, it wasn’t as effective.

Center was a weakness most of the year. On the other hand, we had one of the best OTs in the country.

We also had problems blocking the screen—receivers and TEs didn’t make their blocks.

iceeater1969 said:
Key loved the counter.
It worked great outside redzone and at end of year
Click to expand...

It was a base play of the offense. Had that Denver Broncos-style athletic and fast OL strategy. Unfortunately, other teams started anticipating disrupting our blocking. Probably why we have a new OL coach
 

Root4GT

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slugboy said:
For the first ~8 games of the season, the OL was up for an award. For the last ~4 games plus the bowl game, it wasn’t as effective.

Center was a weakness most of the year. On the other hand, we had one of the best OTs in the country.

We also had problems blocking the screen—receivers and TEs didn’t make their blocks.



It was a base play of the offense. Had that Denver Broncos-style athletic and fast OL strategy. Unfortunately, other teams started anticipating disrupting our blocking. Probably why we have a new OL coach
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Who was the OT that was one of the best in the Country. Rutledge was the Right Guard.
 

stinger 1957

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CBK said Bohannon had some good ideas, he'll have some input I'm pretty sure. We're looking ball control with something CPJ never had after his first two years and that is a good defense to go with BC. We'll be very effective in the passing game I'm betting. All IMO and I have been wrong before, we'll see.

If I'm right my question is how long does it take for it to come together as a winning combo.

Do we have some sort of option in our package? I'm guessing we do.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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I love where the program is right now. We aren’t winning 10plus games outside of some crazy luck, but I know we will be competitive every game. That’s what we were under many previous coaches and I’m happy being there now. We’ll have a magical season every so often and have a lot of nice wins along the journey. We’ll also lose some games and have our hearts broken in the final minute, but that’s all fans of non-factories can ask for. I’m looking forward to the future and I’m not letting a few losses along the way get me down.
 

Root4GT

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This season will be interesting at minimum. Hopefully successful as well. We have so many new people as coaches and players it really will be something to watch closely from the first game on and seeing how both sides of the ball progress. Cautious optimism. GT beats unbridled optimism out of one! ;)
 

stinger 1957

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SOWEGA Jacket said:
I love where the program is right now. We aren’t winning 10plus games outside of some crazy luck, but I know we will be competitive every game. That’s what we were under many previous coaches and I’m happy being there now. We’ll have a magical season every so often and have a lot of nice wins along the journey. We’ll also lose some games and have our hearts broken in the final minute, but that’s all fans of non-factories can ask for. I’m looking forward to the future and I’m not letting a few losses along the way get me down.
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I know where you're coming from and history says you're right but I sense that GTFB is going to be different, there seem to be a lot of forces now that have not been there before that will make it different. I've lived through a lot of years watching it going all the way back to coach Alec but mostly Dodd and there is something that is different now, lots of forces effecting it that have not been there before. Some are not being talked about much and just have to wait and see how it develops and plays out.

I too love where the program is now and looking forward to the future.
 
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