Tackling 101

Well, it had to happen sometime. I could use all sorts of cute sayings about blind squirrels and broken clocks, but it wouldn't do the 2008 installment of Clean, Old Fashioned Hate any justice.

Georgia Tech marched between the rain-soaked hedges and handed the Bulldogs' defense an embarrassing beating. Apparently, having two weeks to prepare and superior athletes isn't enough to put together a coherent defensive effort. Neither is facing the most unbalanced offense in recent BCS conference history.

I have been more reluctant than just about anyone I know to jump on the "fire Willie Martinez" bandwagon, but if this season's consistent defensive problems aren't his fault, who's are they?

I'm not going to spend too much time talking about our defensive woes because they have been the same woes all year. They don't tackle well. They don't stay on their assignments. They don't take good angles.

They gave up 38 points (the Tech defense scored 7) to a team that completed one pass for 19 yards. Yep, one pass. That's the kind of stuff I put in my box scores on Friday nights.

If Reshad Jones were honorable, he would give up his scholarship to someone that is actually interested in tackling someone. Watch Roddy Jones' game-sealing touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Reshad has a chance to bring Roddy down. Instead, he gives him a playful chest bump before he trots into the end zone.

Obviously, Jones wasn't the only one to miss a tackle.

If I'm Matthew Stafford or Knowshon Moreno, I start thinking about which NFL city I want to live in. Because I definitley don't want to come back and play another year with a defense like this.

As badly as the Tech option attack embarrassed the Georgia defense, the Georgia offense was even more effective against the Tech defense. Stafford topped 400 yards and threw for 5 touchdowns. Mohamed Massaquoui caught three of those TDs. Moreno rushed for 97 yards and a score.

Yet, it wasn't enough. All that offense couldn't overcome the worst defensive showing I've ever seen in person by a Georgia team. It couldn't overcome Blair Walsh failing to kick the ball inbounds on a kickoff. It couldn't overcome one errant Stafford pass. And finally, it couldn't overcome Richard Samuel continuing to prove he has no business returning kicks. His fumble was the death penalty for the Dawgs.

However well Paul Johnson motivated his team at halftime, Richt did the opposite. If there was ever a time for some kind of outward display of bravado, this was it. Tech is a scrappy team with a chip on its shoulder, and Georgia let them gain confidence.

There's a big difference between scoring on the opening drive of the second half and scoring on the opening play of the second half. When Jonathan Dwyer went 60 yards to the house on the second half's first play, Tech had the new life it needed.

Suddenly, Georgia found itself on the ropes. They would never recover.

First off, let me give credit to the Bulldogs that actually showed up. Mohamed Massaquoi is a damn good Dawg if there ever was one. He virtually carried the team on his back, emotionally and with his performance on the field. It's a shame he had to go out like this.

Stafford probably heard a "cha-ching" with each pass he completed, but he showed up and played his best game of the season. However, his interception that Morgan Burnett returned for a touchdown was a major blow.

Moreno continued to make something out of nothing. He almost broke 100 yards against one of the nation's best defensive fronts.

I'll address Willie Martinez in another post. It's too big of a subject to mention in passing.

Adam Krohn of the Daily Citizen has an interesting take on Coach Richt and Coach Johnson in this column.It's worth a read and I plan on addressing it some time this week.

Also, a congratulations to Tech. Not the fat moron team manager that spent the whole game taunting the crowd as if his team hadn't lost for the past seven years. But everyone else. Tech came to play and were 3 points better on this day.

I still think when you literally run one play over and over again, you're asking for trouble. They won't have the element of surprise much longer.

To all you Georgia fans that are salty over the Tech players taking a piece of the hedges with them, get over it. At least we have something at our stadium worth taking. Hopefully some Georgia defensive players took a mental picture.

I'm not buying any of this "it's a rivalry again" talk either. To me it's always been a rivalry. Whether it has balanced itself out again remains to be seen. Remember how Georgia fans thought we had turned the rivalry with Florida after last year? I still don't think they've found all the remains and scattered limbs from the beating that took place in Jacksonville this year.

If the Bugs beat us gain next year, things could get interesting.

As for me, it was my last game as a student in Sanford Stadium. I'm going to miss it immensely. Despite games like this, there's nowhere I would rather be on a Saturday. Certainly not the Joke by Coke.