Know Your College Football Badasses: Will Muschamp

Ever since playing soccer for Coach Ruzic my freshman year of high school, I have not been able to get enough of coaches that at times seem batshit crazy. You know, one of those people who, if they carried their demeanor into any other setting, would be immediately labeled as an asshole boss/abusive father/average schoolbus driver/psychopath. Coach Ruzic had tendency to critique deadlift or squat techniques with the normal direction of your rectum, using a very tight "OK" sign as illustration ("Your butthole should be able to sit flat against the wall, Kalejta!"). Those who dwell on the wrong side of the socially acceptable line are probably the single greatest source of jollity in my life.

Will Muschamp was a DB for the University of Georgia - however, I consider him one of the "righteous ones," like Alton Brown of Good Eats. His pedigree also includes coaching linebackers and later acting as defensive coordinator for Nick Saban's LSU squad, who ranked first in the nation in scoring defense and total defense. Yadda yadda Dolphins later, Muschamp found himself at Auburn, where I decided that he is one of my favorite characters in the college football world, mainly because of this:



During the Great Georiga Tech Coaching Search of 2008, Muschamp's name was thrown around (he was actually renamed to simply BMFY!) by many Tech fans, reactionary against the previous, mostly sedated coaching staff.

While he did not get the head coaching job at Tech, he left Auburn to take the job at Texas, whose defense was, well, kinda shitty in the 2007 season. Muschamps Longhorns defense has not allowed more than 14 points in any game - with the average margin of victory for the Horns being 35.8 points, Muschamp has kept everything nice and comfortable. These results are mainly due to the fact that he not afraid to make an example out of himself in order to make a statement.



Delving into the mind of the player he is talking to, one can only guess the reaction is along the lines of, "Man, this is some ol' bullshit... that mother****er is bleeding! We need to fumble, now. I have to get the **** out of here.

That's right, that's blood. And while that cut could probably happen to anybody, the probable displays of crazy just seem expected out of ol' WM. Word on the street is that Clemson is looking to pick up BMFY!, and insider information is that he plans to take a bite out of Howard's Rock, just to show everyone how serious he is.

Today, drink to Will Muschamp, a true college football badass.

Gardner-Webb Preview

That's where Boiling Springs, NC is. The middle of nowhere. My brother went there for a swimming recruiting visit. He said they have one stoplight. Here's a "preview".

Date: October 11, 2008

Time: 3:30 PM

TV/Radio: AM 790

Will The Legacy crew be there? Unlike WREK Radio, Hellz Yeah!

This weekends game involves fine tuning. And a hopeful time to get some backups and reserves playing time. We all know the history of how Army wimped out and embarrassed themselves so we won't dwell on it. On to the what-ifs!

Gardner-Webb wins if: Everyone at Georgia Tech gets sick or the apocalypse happens and everyone dies. The bulldogs have not seen the triple option, and they are not one of the premier teams in FCS let alone the Big South. Watch for Stan Doolittle who has thrown for over 1,000 yards and their rushing attack of Phillip Peoples and Patrick Hall. Peoples and Hall have combined for 7 of G-W's 13 touchdowns. Their rush defense is good. Currently they allow 45.6 yards per game and that puts them 3rd nationally in 1-AA.

Georgia Tech wins if: Are we going there? Yes we are. We win if we just show up. I have no doubt that Paul Johnson is building up Gardner-Webb and having out players prepared. Don't expect too many starters to stay in for more than a half, Calvin Booker may even start. Be ready to see the future of our program get a good amount of reps and tuning in the 2nd half. Yes, we have even younger players waiting in the wings.

Sidenotes: Brian Bohanon was an assistant at Gardner-Webb in 1996.

Scoring Prediction: Georgia Tech: 52 Gardner-Webb: 3

So by now, many of you know about the GTG's and their M-Train and Perfect Option videos. Well, check out their just released new video, "The Ratio"!

Only at Tech would you find something like this. It's true and funny. It's us makin' fun of ourselves.

Gardner-Webb Guest Blogger

I was lucky enough to find a blogger for the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs last week. His name is Adrian and he runs Letsgobulldogs.com. If you want more information on Gardner-Webb please be sure to go over and check out his site.


Will you be at the game?
As of right now, I will not be attending.

Very little is known about Gardner-Webb. Can you give us some brief details regarding what the Bulldogs can bring to the table? What type of success has your team had in FCS football?

Gardner-Webb University is a private liberal arts college located about 90 minutes southwest of Charlotte, NC. The school was founded in extremely rural Boiling Springs, NC because North Carolina Baptists had a theory that rural locations kept students from getting into trouble. In the late 1990's an announcement was made that the Runnin' Bulldogs (not to be confused with the cesspool of the south) were making the move to Division I athletics. For many it seemed like such a move was merely a pipe dream, but the "powers that were" wanted to see Gardner-Webb's name flashed on the bottom of the ESPN ticker, and so here we are today, a real life Division 1 program.
Gardner-Webb head coach Steve Patton, has had a descent career here at Gardner-Webb. He took over the program when it was D2 and performed admirably during the transition. His record at Gardner-Webb is currently at 74 wins and 50 losses. He led Gardner-Webb to back to back Big South titles in 2002 and 2003. Since that time the Bulldogs have alternated between 6-5 and 5-6 seasons. Steve Patton's head coaching stops have been at Mars Hill, North Greenville, and believe it or not the Charlotte Rage of the Arena Football league.
Gardner-Webb runs a spread attack very similar to Clemson. So far this year the coaching staff has made a conscious decision to run the ball more with modest success. The Bulldogs likes to rotate backs fairly often with Patrick Hall and Phillip Peoples getting most of the carries. Dobson Collins is a fast wide receiver who passed 1000 careers yards against Charleston Southern last week. At Quarterback look for Stan Doolittle to start, but I would not be surprised if Devin Campbell get some snaps as well.
On defense Gardner-Webb has done pretty well defending the run, but they have not had to face a Paul Johnson type offense this year. All American candidate Mario Brown has been sidelined for the past couple of games with a leg injury. Linebacker Jeffrey Williams has been the best player on Defense so far.
Many Georgia Tech fans are frustrated with Army backing out at the last minute forcing us to scramble to find another game. What was your experience and thought process when it was announced that Gardner-Webb would be playing us in Atlanta?
In general, I like the idea of money games. Gardner-Webb plays in a stadium that can spaciously accommodate around 9000 spectators. So you can imagine what a game against Georgia Tech can do for an athletic budget. (After last years games against Ohio and Mississippi State the school was able to afford a new inflatable helmet for the team to run through!) I am also happy for the players who get to play in front of a major college crowd. Coach Patton has done a pretty good job recruiting the state of Georgia so I am sure those guys are excited about playing in Atlanta. Also scheduling a game against a Georgia Tech sends a message to recruits that if you come to Gardner-Webb you will have an opportunity compete against some very good schools. So in moderation, money games are a good thing for schools like Gardner-Webb. However, I do not believe that scheduling two money games in a year is good for any FCS program. One money game a year is awesome, scheduling two is akin to prostitution, and if you schedule three you might as well call yourselves the Washington Generals.


If there is one player on either side of the ball that we need to be on the look out for, who is that person?


Tyson Petty was a highly sought after wide receiver from Gaffney SC before he injured his leg during his senior year in high school. Most folks around the South Carolina football scene were very surprised that a player like Tyson would choose Gardner-Webb. So far Petty has been a solid player, but I keep waiting for Tyson to step up and be the player everyone believes he is. Georgia Tech could be that motivation, but who knows.

Duke fans actually care?

Well I sure as hell ain't ever seen that before. That's right, Duke fans are actually pissed off about the score of this past weekend's game. Some go so far as to call Coach Paul Johnson an asshole for "running up the score".

I never in my life would have associated at 27-0 finish with running up the score, but it sure is nice to hear some Dookers actually expect to play some real football.

A History Lesson in Tradition: The Ramblin' Wreck

In our move, we are also migrating over some of our more popular and more important posts. Here is the history of the one and only Ramblin' Wreck.

Many of you may have realized that one of my favorite constants here at Georgia Tech is the Ramblin' Wreck.

So here is a little history lesson on the ONE AND ONLY Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech.

The Phrase

The term Ramblin' Wreck has been around a lot longer than the car has been here at Georgia Tech. The term was first coined towards us during the late 19th century in South America. There, many Georgia Tech engineers made automobiles of whatever spare parts they could find. These vehicles and engineers were dubbed "Ramblin' Wrecks from Georgia Tech".

The Early Years

The first mechanical mascot for Georgia Tech was not the 1930 Model A we know today. It was actually the 1914 Model T owned by Dean of Men, Floyd Field. Field drove the Model T around campus, to and fro during his tenure from 1916-1929. Eventually the students of Georgia Tech grew to associate Dean Field with his model T and first called the car "Floyd's Flubber". Later down the line, in 1926 was the first association of the Model T and the Ramblin' Wreck. In 1929, Field had to get rid of the car as it could not travel as the Dean wanted to. The Technique gave the car an obituary that year saying:

'The car itself was a stimulus to flaggering spirits. What persistence lay in its performance, as year in and year out it hauled the Dean to and from school. Of course its body was not in keeping with the latest styles, or its color one to excite an artist, but what can be more beautiful that faithfulness, who can ask more of machinery other than to have it run.'

In a memorial to the car, a race to Athens was held in its honor. The descendant of this race is the Ramblin' Reck Parade which is still put on by the Ramblin' Reck Club and held the morning of the homecoming football game.

The Real Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia

Tech

It wasn't until 1960 did the Ramblin' Wreck make it on campus. The then Dean of Students, Dean Dull saw that it was very popular for students to have wrecks that could barely run. It was more or less a rite of passage for a student to own a Wreck. Dean Dull set out to have an official Ramblin Wreck that the entire student body could enjoy. He was specifically looking for a pre-World War II Ford. One day as he was leaving his apartment at Towers dorm when he saw it parked outside, a 1930 Ford Model A. The owner was a gentleman by the name Ted Johnson, a Delta pilot, who had bought the car from a junkyard and had restored the car with his son Craig. Dean Dull convinced Johnson to sell the car for $1,000. Johnson later returned the money and made it official that he donated the Ramblin' Wreck to Georgia Tech. The ONE AND ONLY Ramblin' Wreck of Georgia Tech had been born and finalized.

The Ramblin' Wreck led the football team out onto the field for the very first time on September 30, 1961against Rice University in which the Yellow Jackets won 24-0. Last summer, infamous accident occurred and many people were worried that the Wreck would not be able to lead the team out for the first time since its inception. The final touches were put on the night before the game by members and alumni of the Reck Club. That afternoon, the Wreck led the Yellow Jackets onto the field to the roar of the crowd. It has led the team out ever since. August 28th will be the 293rd consecutive game the Wreck leads the team into battle.

Photo courtesy of Max Shirley

Facts about the Wreck

Many people have no idea who maintains the car or who drives the car. It is the Ramblin' Reck Club who takes care of the car on behalf of the student body. Every year after the Georgia game the club holds officer elections and the driver is voted in during these elections.

The Ramblin' Wreck is a 1930 Ford Model A Sports Coupe. There is ONLY ONE of these vehicles on campus. The Alumni Association has a 1931 Ford Model A Roadster that they use for Alumni Association functions that the real Reck can not attend. The Georgia Tech Hotel and Convention Center has a 1930 Ford Model A shell that sits in the lobby of the building.

There have been two female drivers of the Ramblin' Reck, the first was Lisa Volmar in 1984.

The first student driver was Don Gentry, the 1961 Ramblin' Reck Club President.

Bobby Dodd is ther person responsible for the current scheme. He liked 1971 Lincoln Gold so much that he had the football helmets painted that way to match the color on the Wreck.

The first wedding the Wreck appeared at was at the wedding of an alumni named famously, Calvin Johnson in 1978.

Since September 30, 1961 there have been 10 different head coaches, 6,885 points scored on Grant Field, 190 victories at Bobby Dodd Stadium, and 1 Ramblin’ Wreck.

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The Legacyx4 has officially moved to http://thelegacyx4.blogspot.com!

While WordPress was a great host to get us off the ground, we have decided to move over to Blogger, as we feel like it better suits our tastes as far as posting and editing goes. We hate to leave behind any readers/anyone who has ever linked to us, so please, please don't forget to bookmark us or change your links!

We may continue to update the WordPress site for a week or two just to help the transition, but for now you can find The Legacyx4 crew at http://thelegacyx4.blogspot.com.

We appreciate all of our readership, and the increase in readers has been the main motivation in the changes and upgrades to our blog. We hope you join us for the rest of the football season, and keep reading up on our take on Georgia Tech's place in the college athletics world.

P.S. Also, this blog may be under minor construction for a few days. Let us know what you think, even if you think we suck, which we know you won't because quite frankly we are fantastic. Thanks.

On this day....

On this day in 1916, the most lopsided victory in football history happened.

It was a lesson to be learned by Cumberland and by everyone during that time: DO NOT MESS WITH JOHN HEISMAN! The reason for the blowout was because Cumberland had demolished Georgia Tech in baseball 22-0 the year before and Heisman also believed that Cumberland had used professionals. He wanted his revenge.

Another interesting note is that Tech never attempted a single pass the entire game. After the game was over the team amassed 978 rushing yards, 220 yards on kick returns and 220 yards on punt returns. The story goes that Heisman divided his team into separate squads and offered a steak dinner to whatever squad scored the most points. By the end, every player on the team ate steak that night.

So today, let's all have a drink to domination at its finest.

At least we are ranked somewhere, damnit.

Brian and Jeff of BC Interruption apparently love us, as they rank the Yellow Jackets at the #12 spot in their latest blogpoll.

Hot damn! I'd put us at around 17th or 18th right now, not breaking the top 15 until after we play Clemson (assuming a big W there), but it sure as hell is nice to see someone giving us some credit. I'll put it like this - they ranked us higher than UF.

Edit: Zach at Old Gold and Blog give us no love, as we are nowhere to be found on his poll. That makes us sad.

Also, Spencer Hall (a.k.a. Orson Swindle) of EDSBS managed to see our game live and in person on Saturday. He gives Georgia Tech a fairly large thumbs up albeit only on the front end of a bunch of backhanded compliments; however, I take this the same as a recording artist takes having one of their hits being covered by Weird Al. The Jackets have made it - we're back.

Monday In-Class Update 10/06/08

The polls suck. Really, I don't get too mad about what happens outside of the top 15, however, seeing teams like Northwestern, Auburn, Ball State, and Pittsburg in front of us really makes me hate the pollsters. Good news though - Mr. Herbstreit up at ESPN has us pegged at #19th, and the highest we were voted was 17th. That's more like it.

When we are rolling, we are amazing. Paul Johnson has rebuilt and fine-tuned the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quicker than anyone could have imagined, and now I feel fantastic about saying we would be bowl eligible by Halloween. Yes, I'm going to look past Gardner-Webb - we can beat Clemson, as they will have the weakest lines we have faced from the ACC.

Auburn is trying as hard as they can to prove me right. While they spent an incredible amount of effort trying to lose to UT two weekends ago, this past weekend they finally made due. At this point, 7 wins is looking accurate than 8.

Maryland... really? You do realize you were playing UVA, who is quite possibly the worst team in BCS football? It doesn't bother me so bad that you lost to them, but why did you have to go and spoil the ACC by beating Clemson? We really, really could have used a ranked team on our schedule sometime in the near future, but no, you just have to act like a bunch of assholes and screw everything up?

JoePa is eternal! The Nittany Lions defeated a team that always likes to give them trouble by the smallest margin of their season yet - two touchdowns. Penn State's last 6 make up one of the hardest remaining schedules in the nation, and with a late season loss being a MNC hope destroyer, the Lions need to play perfectly over the next 2 months.

If anyone wants to give me airfare and tickets to the Big 12 Championship, Winfield will give you a hot oil massage. I'd really, really like to be there, just because I think I've gotten to see all of 45 minutes of Big 12 play this season, with a good portion of that coming from Nebraska/VT. The Southeast don't take too kindly to that cowpoke football on the tellervision, I tell ya'll.

More on things later.

Duke Post-Game Rememberings

Welcome back to reality Dukies.

Alright so correct scoring prediction should go more to Dane but I’ll take a tie. We learned some big things this week. 1. Duke is clearly better but not there yet. 2. Josh Nesbitt does not have to worry about Jaybo taking the starting spot anytime soon, and 3. We are not the well oiled machine quite yet. Duke had seen our offense before and was pretty prepared. We just wore them down.

I haven’t been able to watch a replay of the game so this is all by memory from Saturday so bear with me.

Things we don’t like

Now I will admit that I came in to this game with some expectations that were a high for the offense. Jaybo proved himself competent as a quarterback in Paul Johnson’s system. However, Nesbitt is clearly the better of the two. As we get into better competition, we want Nesbitt.

I will grant a pass to our O-Line as they seemed a little out of funk this game, kind of going through the motions and at times it really showed.

Things we do like

Scott Blair goes perfect in field goals!

Demaryius Thomas can catch a ball. The only one with a reception on the day for the Jackets, Thomas had 9 catches for 230 yards to lead the Jackets to victory.

Our defense is good our defensive line is one of the best. I don’t care who you play. But if a team has less than 50 yards of total offense at any time in the 4^th quarter, you have a good line. Duke was kept out of the red zone the entire game and the Blue Devils go to receiver, Eron Riley, was held to 20 yards receiving. Ballin’!

Key Stat: Duke was 2 for 12 on 3^rd down. The offense was slow to get going, the defense stood strong and dominated the game the entire way through.

Up Next:

Short write-up I know. The CSS replay is this Tuesday (I don’t have ESPNU so no dvr for the week). Gardner-Webb comes to town this week and the opening spread is 45.5 points! Who wants to take that bet? We’ve found a G-W blogger as well so be on the lookout for him to be our most welcome guest.

What are your post-game thoughts? Leave them in the comments!

-Winfield

We're Switching Over...

The Legacyx4 crew is moving over to Blogger. As a matter of fact, I'm just using this to screw around with the layout. Now here is a picture of a Koala bear.