How close are we?

Its always be said by numerous people that 2013 is the make or break year for CPJ and crew. As well as it should be.

Originally Posted by Megatron

Its always be said by numerous people that 2013 is the make or break year for CPJ and crew. As well as it should be.

yep ,I, among many said that 2 yrs ago.Going into '13 at 7-7 wasn't what we wanted.It does show we not as fundamentally strong as we expected(recruiting?).The last 6 qtrs does give hope for better DEF which will be a MAJOR improvement.
THe 3 top keys for better season at this point.(subject to revision)
1.How Vad/QBs play.
2.How Vad/QBs play.
3.How the new DL plays.

Next year schedule is pretty tough, but we do have most of the tough game at home. Go Jacket!!! Beat them all!!!

The D Line is key. The talent has to be developed and coached up.
Another wideout would help as well.

Seems like forever since Tech has some evenness amongst its classes. For years tech has had what seems like only 7-10 seniors on the team, and many were not playing much. Next year you will finally get 16 seniors, 20 juniors, 15 sophomores, 18 redshirted freshman, etc. The 2006 class was weak, 2007 was top heavy and they left early, and the 2008 class was the coaching crossover class and the worst under CPJ. Those guys were veterans, so to speak, for 2010-2012. Couple that with CPJs most talented QB duo yet, heading into 2013 and you get excitement. Although the defensive line is of great concern regardless of the coach to me. I still need to see more improvement out of the WRs and B-Back.

Who would you take if the 2013 squad played the 2009 squad in a game? You could argue that outside of Dwyer, Thomas, and Derrick Morgan that Tech would be better at almost every other position.

I liked our ST play in the bowl game. If that improving trend continues, I believe that will be a huge impact on 2013. Remember how many games this season came down to ST play? (or lack thereof)

The defense as a whole is the Rosetta Stone. Doesn't have to be great, though we all hope it will. But it has to be good, get some stops, get the offense off the field and our offense on. Special teams has to be better, and I think it got better, though maybe marginally. But as Golden demonstrated, one guy on a special team can be a world beater. The usual suspect is obviously QB, where we should -- should -- get an upgrade however the competition plays out. There's a lot to be said for a guy who can take a busted play and turn it into something 20 yards downfield. And yes, B back is a dilemma. But kind of sneaking in under the radar is this: The four guys who got time at B back in '12, led by Laskey and Sims, got more than 1,400 yards rushing. True, no bustout, take-it-to-the-house runs, what in the end we got 1,400 yards out of the position.

A lot of question marks but a lot of returning strength. I think Days has to step up -- and the boy do have an attitude, doesn't he? -- and I hope that 2-3 more with some size pop up. Don't know what Snoddy's problem is but Johnson clearly didn't have a lot of trust in him -- I suppose the old warning, block or go home, applies -- but I would like to see size and speed at the wing positions. Pony backs do a lot better -- see Dodd, Teas, Thompson, Hardeman, world without end -- starting off running square to the line than in trying to get to the edge and then squared up. Some of those arm tackles on them were rag doll affairs that made me cringe. I think we are close. Moreover, I think even the Johnson acolytes on the board acknowledge we had better be. We just saw what could happen to a moderately successful (NC State) coach who couldn't get over the hump with a new AD.

With VT being mediocre and Miami hardly being a juggernaut, we are close to winning 9+ games. With or without Tahj Boyd, Clemson hasnt beaten us in ATL since 2003. Not sure if we're close to beating UGA. They've scored 30+ every time we've played them since PJ arrived, 40+ in 3 out of the 5 games. Unless our defense has improved dramatically, we won't beat Georgia. I do think we have a really good shot at winning 9 regular season games and playing in the ACC title game.