Instant Analysis - ACC
Champ.
Georgia Tech 39 ... Clemson 34
Pete
Fiutak
It’s time to hire Ken Niumatalolo.
The option works, and yes, a big-time, big-name program can be turned around by using the triple option offense. Paul Johnson proved that a place like Georgia Tech can 1) run its way into the BCS, 2) use the option to come back, and 3) come up with one tremendous receiver (Demaryius Thomas) who can become a top NFL prospect while playing in a ground-oriented attack. Football is a copycat business, and someone out there has to see the success Johnson is having and should take a harder look at Niumatalolo, the current Navy head coach, and try the option attack. The thing works, it has always worked, but it’s just not sexy to players looking to play in the NFL. Johnson is changing that.
The NFL isn’t totally enamored with spread passers, and no, Josh Nesbitt is never going to replace Peyton Manning at the next level, but Jonathan Dwyer is going to get paid, and so is Thomas, and so are future Yellow Jacket backs who get to show off with gaudy stats and impressive runs. Clemson came into the ACC Championship ranked 14th in the nation in total defense with a front seven that ranked 11th in the country in tackles for loss, and Georgia Tech gashed the D with 333 rushing yards and three scores, held on to the ball for 37:17, and when it had to, came up with a 13-play, 86-yard scoring drive to win the game.
Is this a breakthrough moment for the Johnson offense? Maybe not, (about ten
people watched this game with Nebraska giving Texas
all it could handle) but it should be. Combine this offense with some semblance of a defense (NEBRASKA … HELLO!!!) and look out.
Richard
Cirminiello
Hey, C.J., you deserved to be celebrating in Tampa tonight.
Congratulations to Georgia Tech, which has won its first ACC title in almost two decades in Paul Johnson’s second year in Atlanta, but on this night, no one’s star burned brighter than Clemson RB C.J. Spiller’s. He delivered one of the most epic performances in championship game history, rushing for 233 yards on only 20 carries and scoring four times. Every time the Yellow Jackets built some breathing room, Spiller was there to close the gap. Using his trademark speed and open-field acceleration, he showed the nation why he was the league’s player of the year in 2009.
I never really knew what to make of Spiller’s Heisman candidacy this fall. Is he in? Is he out? In Clemson’s biggest game of the year, and biggest game in many years, the senior looked every bit as worthy of any individual awards that come his way in the next week. Clemson may not have left Raymond James Stadium with the hardware, but Spiller performed like a champion, delivering one of the most memorable big-game efforts of the entire 2009 season. Knowing Spiller, an all-around class act and team player, he’d trade every one of those highlight-reel scampers to be ending his amateur career wearing an ACC crown.
Matt Zemek
1) It’s really rather simple: Anyone want to dog Paul Johnson for his unconventional coaching and decision making this week? Exactly.
Johnson has Georgia Tech – yes, Georgia Tech – in the Orange Bowl after just two seasons. How many years did Chan Gailey fail to get the Yellow Jackets that far? How many times did George O’Leary – despite a generally solid tenure in Atlanta – not reach a BCS (formerly Bowl Alliance) bowl? You can dog the ACC all you want, but don’t knock the unconventional coach who, by staying true to himself and his values, has done at Georgia Tech what he relentlessly did at Navy: win games. The Yellow Jackets had a ton of banged-up bodies on their defensive front, and they didn’t show up for most of the Georgia game the previous week, but in the end, they won their conference, and will be playing in a big-boy bowl come early January. Their coach is reason numero uno for this transformation in the Athens of the South.
2) Down 33-20 and fading fast, Clemson could have folded the tent, but didn’t. Even in defeat, the Tigers covered themselves in dust and glory, fighting for Dabo Swinney with a tenacity Tommy Bowden’s clubs simply didn’t possess. C.J. Spiller will not play another ACC game, but if Clemson maintains the kind of attitude it displayed in Tampa, Fla., on Saturday night, this program will continue to reach ACC title games from the Atlantic Division. And oh, one other thing, AP voters and other college football decision-makers: Don’t penalize TCU because of this Clemson loss. This was not a bad loss. Anything but.
Michael Bradley
C.J. Spiller was great. Maybe he was Heisman great. But Georgia Tech had more weapons, more late-game magic, and in the end, more points. It’s hard not to be dazzled by Spiller’s 233 yards and four touchdowns in the ACC title game, but the Clemson star couldn’t do it by himself. GT got what it needed, when it needed it, and it will head to a BCS bowl, while Clemson mourns another near-miss and wonders why it couldn’t slow down the Yellow Jacket option attack, as it had back in September. Part of the reason is that when you squeeze QB Josh Nesbitt, Jonathan Dwyer gets you. And vice versa. Or Roddy Jones pops up and makes a big play. That’s how Paul Johnson’s offense works. You can never get a handle on everybody.
Even though Georgia made Tech look bad last week, the Jackets rebounded in style. Okay, so their defense wasn’t so good – until Clemson’s final possession. But it didn’t matter, because no matter how many points the Tigers put up, GT was going to score more. And more. Whoever faces Georgia Tech in the bowl (most likely Cincinnati) will have nearly a month to prepare for the option attack, and they may slow it down, as LSU did last year. But on a December night in Tampa, Clemson didn’t have enough defense and enough time to get ready. The Tigers certainly had enough Spiller, but even the star back couldn’t overcome all of Tech’s firepower.