His line Saturday: Reggie Ball 11-24-1-116

That would be 46% passing for a whopping 116 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT. That’s plenty for another glowing Furman Bisher column. Yet he finds it his place to promise, “we won’t lose again.”

Ball must be counting on his defense to back up his mouth, because his play so far doesn’t show the stuff needed to ensure victories for his team. His so-so play has gotten a pass because he’s only a freshman, but that excuse only holds so much water. Every complete forward pass is not in and of itself a sign for a golden future, though every pass that doesn’t hit the ground has so far seemed cause for gushing by the Atlanta media. For all of the adulation and talk of a near-win, the game came down to Ball’s ability to position the team for a winning field goal, and the job didn’t get done. He might someday be a quarterback capable of leading his team with the game on the line, but he’s nowhere near there yet. Until he is, he might want to let Tech’s proven playmakers like Fox and Smith do the talking.

There have been rumblings from over in Columbia that 1) DJ Shockley should not have thrown for the endzone late in the game and 2) Damien Gary should not have returned the onside kick for a touchdown. How pathetic. This from the same crowd that craves equality with the Bulldog program and loves to point out the narrow differences in the last two outcomes in the series.

So you want to pull an onside kick down 17 with under a minute left IN SANFORD STADIUM?!?!? I only wished Georgia had tried an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff. Damien’s return was a big UP YOURS to the games and futile tactics Lou Holtz tried all game but especially at the end.

Holtz outsmarted himself all day. The punt gimmick worked…once. The next time, the punter nearly had an uncomfortable meeting with Pollack. There was the FG to break up the shutout. CLANK – the sound of justice. Then, not having learned a thing from his failed last play in 2002, he decides once again to run to the left side needing only a yard on 4th down – guess who was waiting? Must’ve been another “fluke”, because once again David Pollack and a safety were waiting behind the line of scrimmage.

Then they try to call timeout with 1 second left?

Gimmicks. That’s all Holtz had, and his team deserved the results.