2009 Georgia Tech Campus Correspondent

evan woolard: 2009 Georgia Tech Campus Correspondent “Hello!” from the Flats August 2, 2009 Welcome to the Official Georgia Tech Blog of the ACC! My name is Evan Woolard, and I’m a third year student at Tech. I’m very excited to be covering the Yellow Jackets this fall and to bring you guys all the inside information here from campus. Kickoff is less than a month away, and I know we’re all expecting great things from the Ramblin’ Wreck this season! Be sure to check in with me and all the other bloggers from the Road to Tampa Bay site. Also, you’re welcome to follow me on Twitter at GT_CampusBlog. Oh, and I almost forgot…

TO HELL WITH georgia!!!

2009 Boston College Eagles Season Prediction August 3, 2009 VS Northeastern- Win. I don’t see much of a challenge. Good warm up for QBs Tuggle and Boek.

VS Kent State- Win. Another easy game as Eagles prepare for ACC play. @ Clemson- Loss. This could set the tone for the rest of BC’s season, but it doesn’t look to be in their favor.

VS Wake Forest- Win. A talented RB corp matches up very well against the new LB’s of WFU. VS FSU- Loss. I think the Eagles may struggle on both sides against a talented ‘Nole team. @ VT- Loss. Remember that thrashing the Hokies displayed in the ACC title game? Expect more or less of the same. @ NC State- Loss. State’s strong D-line and linebackers force BC to throw… which the Eagles won’t do well. @ Notre Dame- Loss. The Irish will look to beat up on somebody after their loss the previous week to Southern Cal. VS Central Michigan- Loss. UPSET! CMU’s Dan LeFevour, one of college football’s most underrated quarterbacks, has the potential to have a big day before BC’s week off. @ Virginia- Win. The Eagles get back in the win column against the Cavs.

VS UNC- Loss. BC comes close, but the Heels are too deep. @ Maryland- Win. An optimistic finish to a disappointing year, I’ll say BC pulls this one off.

Final: 5-7 (3-5)

Practice Update from the Rose Bowl August 3, 2009 Today was the first day back to work for the Yellow Jackets. Practice was limited to helmets and shorts, but that didn’t stop players from flying around or fans from coming out to watch the team.

Coach Johnson said he was mostly just looking for effort. “I just want to see guys running around and see some effort. I want to see guys paying attention and focusing. Those kinds of things.”

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Starting out with special teams, the punt team looked about as bad as it usually does. I didn’t watch the kickers practice field goals much today, but I’m hoping that at least they’ve improved on that.

The defensive linemen were on the field earlier than the rest of the team, but it’s hard to tell who stood out since there was no contact. “On a day like today, you’re just trying to get stuff in,” commented Johnson. “I don’t know that anybody stood out.”

Pass skeleton was less than impressive. Josh Nesbitt and Jaybo Shaw seemed decent at times, but mostly the secondary covered the receivers pretty well. Freshmen quarterbacks Jordan Luallen and David Sims have a ways to go but I will say this: Luallen has a cannon! Regarding the adjustment that these young QB’s are making, Coach Johnson said, “They look like they’re drinking water from a fire hose. There’s going to be a lot thrown at them really fast for a while, but they’re both good athletes and I expect a lot from out of them.”

Other Notes: -Freshman A-Back Jemea Thomas has been moved to safety, where Johnson believes he might be able to play a little earlier.

-Troy is the only FBS team that starts practice earlier than the Ramblin’ Wreck.

I’ll try to get some photos from the Rose Bowl, but we weren’t able to take pictures during practice. Also, I won’t be able to get back to practice probably until Thursday (sadly, I do try to have a life).

2009 Clemson Tigers Season Prediction August 4, 2009 VS Middle Tennessee State- Win. Parker has a solid first outing as a starter. @ Georgia Tech- Loss. Dwyer and Spiller take the spotlight on Thursday night. Dabo goes 0-for-2 against Johnson.

VS Boston College- Win. A couple extra days of preparation go a long way versus the Eagles.

VS TCU- Win. Toss up; I like Gary Patterson and the Horned Frogs, but I think CU gets ahead late. @ Maryland- Win. The Terps don’t have much of a D-Line or linebackers. CJ Spiller is already salivating.

VS Wake Forest- Win. Well deserved off week gives the Tigers the advantage. @ Miami- Loss. After climbing the rankings for a month, its almost certain that things will derail for Clemson.

VS Coastal Carolina- Win. Tigers right the wrong after previous week’s debacle. Look for big points by the home team.

VS FSU- Loss. Only loss of the season in Death Valley comes at the hands of the Seminoles. Not too shabby… @ NC State- Win. Tigers bounce back strong and put a hurting on Russell Wilson.

VS Virginia- Win. The better team will win- but the game stays close. @ South Carolina- Loss. Though Spurrier’s USC teams always seem to trail off as the season wears on, I’ll take a gamble and say that they stay focused this year.

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Final: 8-4 (5-3)

Watch List Accolades…

August 4, 2009 Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt has been named to the Davey O’Brien watch list. The O’Brien Award is given to the nation’s top quarterback at the end of the season. Last year Nesbitt had only 2 passing touchdowns and 808 passing yards, but also had 693 rushing yards and 7 TDs on the ground.

Likewise, Jonathan Dwyer, the 2008 ACC Offensive Player of the Year and this year’s Preseason ACC Player of the Year, has been named to the Doak Walker Award watch list. The Walker Award goes to the country’s top running back. In 2008, Dwyer led the ACC in rushing yards with 1395 and rushing yards per game, averaging 7 yards per carry.

The respect for Dwyer doesn’t surprise me at all, seeing as how he might easily be the best running back in the country and a possible dark-horse for the Heisman Trophy. On the other hand, Nesbitt’s preseason accolades surprise me a little bit. While I think Nesbitt is very good and will flourish this season, Paul Johnson didn’t really throw the ball that much last year. Josh Nesbitt is expected to make more throws this year, but we have yet to see just how effective the talented quarterback can really be.

2009 Florida State Seminoles Season Prediction August 5, 2009 VS Miami- Win. FSU won last year 41-39. This one will be just as fun to watch.

VS Jacksonville St- Win. Everyone loves to pick on JSU’s QB Ryan Perriloux nowadays. @ BYU- Win. In the last 5 years, FSU is 14-7 vs non-conference opponents (5 of those losses were at the hands of the Florida Gators).

VS South Florida- Win. Potential upset, but I’ll go with the Noles. @ Boston College- Win. Seminoles will put a hurting on BC. VS Georgia Tech- Loss. FSU gave up 288 rushing yards to GT’s spread option attack last year. @ UNC- Win. Bowden faces an old nemesis in Butch Davis (against whom Bowden is 5-1) VS NC State- Loss. NCSU’s Russell Wilson vs Christian Ponder. I’ll take NC State and the “upset.” @ Clemson- Win. LB Dakoda Watson loves the matchup against Clemson’s Spiller. @ Wake Forest- Win. FSU puts an end to Wake’s 3 game win streak against the Noles.

VS Maryland- Win. State’s O-Line will take care of Maryland’s defensive front. @ Florida- Loss. Tim Tebow doesn’t lose against FSU. Final: 9-3 (6-2)

2009 Maryland Terrapins Season Prediction August 6, 2009 @ California- Loss. Maryland will be a good team, but with RB Jahvid Best, Cal is simply better.

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VS James Madison- Win. Fear the Offense!

VS. Middle Tennessee State- Win. QB Chris Turner and RB Da’Rel Scott put up big numbers.

VS. Rutgers- Win. Rutgers has lost too much talent to contend with the Terps.

VS Clemson- Loss. Poor matchup against Clemson’s Spiller. @ Wake Forest- Loss. There won’t be much defense in this one. I’ll give the advantage to Wake QB Riley Skinner.

VS Virginia- Win. Maryland will win to get back over .500. @ Duke- Loss. Both have inexperience on the O-Line, but Duke will capitalize with Vince Oghobaase on the defensive front. @ NC State- Win. The loss to the Blue Devils should light a fire under the Maryland squad.

VS Virginia Tech- Loss. VT’s defense will handle this one. @ FSU- Loss. This game will be closer than last year’s 37-3 debacle, but the Noles have the upper hand.

VS BC- Loss. BC’s secondary steps up big time and gives the Eagles a chance to win.

Final: 5-7 (2-6)

2009 NC State Wolfpack Season Predictions August 7, 2009 VS South Carolina- Win. Toss up. USC always starts off strong, but I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to QB Russell Wilson.

VS Murray State- Win. No brainer.

VS Gardner Webb- Win. The Wolfpack will have no problems with the Bulldogs of GW. VS Pittsburgh- Win. This will be a great non-conference matchup. Winnable for NCSU. @ Wake Forest- Loss. The Deacs always bring their A-game against in-state rivals.

VS Duke- Loss. I imagine Coach Cutcliffe and QB Thaddeus Lewis are pretty tired of all this talk about Russell Wilson. @ BC- Win. Watch this game come down to special teams, in which NCSU has a distinct advantage. @ FSU- Win. Their loss last season to FSU sparked a turnaround for NC State, which averaged 10 points more than they did previously.

VS Maryland- Loss. If there’s one way I can describe how I think NC State will be this year, it’s “consistently inconsistent.”

VS Clemson- Loss. This is a tough 5 game stretch for NCSU; I don’t think they can pull off another hot streak like last year. @ VT- Loss. Loaded on the defensive line, the Hokies will put QB Wilson on his butt.

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VS UNC- Win. The Wolfpack shock UNC and will jump on the Tar Heels early on.

Final: 7-5 (3-5)

First Week Back On the Flats August 7, 2009

The fixtures outside of the Rose Bowl say it all.

Well the first 5 days of practice are behind us, and Johnson’s Boys are finally in full pads.

Demaryius “Baybay” Thomas looked to have a good day today. He was running very crisp routes and caught a nice pass from freshman David Sims when the receivers went 1-on-1 with the defensive backs. Jonathan Dwyer looked sharp, too. From his long touchdown run where he exploded through the line, Dwyer seems to be picking up right where he left his All-ACC season in 2008. Robert Hall, Ben Anderson, and Jason Peters joined Derrick Morgan in getting reps as the first-team defensive line today. When the offense and defense got reps against one another, safety Morgan Burnett put a pretty big lick on freshman a-back Robert Godhigh. Welcome to the ACC… Also, Coach Johnson made players hold hands after a couple fights broke out. Save it for JSU, guys!

Here’s some thoughts about practice from the rest of the week: - The kicking game still needs work. PK Scott Blair, who handled all of the kicking duties last year, it seems won’t be punter. That job most likely will fall to either Chandler Anderson or newbie Sean Poole.

- OL Antonio Foster and LB Kyle Jackson are sitting out with injuries. Jackson has been out since the spring, while Foster got hurt this week.

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- The quarterbacks look much sharper than they did last season. With a year under their belt in this system, Josh Nesbitt and Jaybo Shaw should be scarily good.

-Freshman WR Stephen Hill looks to be the real deal. He’s been on the field making plays and might be return some kicks.

Other good stuff: -The preseason Coaches Poll was released today. Tech comes in at #15. UGA is 13, VT is 7, and FSU is 19. Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, USC, and Bama round out the top 5.

- In addition to being named on the Doak Walker list, it was announced today that Jon Dwyer is also on the Walter Camp list. The Walter Camp Award, which went to Colt McCoy last season, goes to the nation’s best player.

- It was also announced today that safety Morgan Burnett is on the Jim Thorpe Award list, which is given to the nation’s top defensive back. Burnett was a First Team All-American and tied for the lead nationally with 7 interceptions.

- Earlier this week QB Josh Nesbitt’s name was announced on the Davey O’Brien Award, given to the best quarterback. Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford won the award last season.

The Great Jacket Encounter is from 3-6 tomorrow at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Come out to get pictures and autographs from the players (or myself, whichever turns you on).

2009 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Season Prediction August 8, 2009 VS Baylor- Win. QB Robert Griffin is one of the most exciting players in the game, but the Bears need to surround him with more talent.

VS Stanford- Loss. The Cardinal’s stock is rising, while the Deacons have lost a lot of talent on both sides of the ball.

VS Elon- Win. This one isn’t rocket surgery… @ BC- Loss. If the Eagles’ O-line can get a push against defensive linemen John Russell and Boo Robinson, then BC will run all day long.

VS NC State- Win. Coach Jim Grobe is 23-6 against teams from North Carolina.

VS Maryland- Win. The Deacs win this home game before heading on the road. @ Clemson- Loss. One of the country’s best defensive lines goes up against an offensive front that was a liability last season. @ Navy- Win. The Midshipmen need to fill several holes on offense, especially after the departure of QB Kaheaku-Enhada.

VS Miami- Win. Miami may have more talent, but I could see Wake Forest pulling out the upset.

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@ Georgia Tech- Loss. This isn’t Navy we’re talking about. Now the Deacs get to see the spread option run by actual athletes.

VS FSU- Loss. Their winning streak against the Noles comes to an end (but I wouldn’t exactly count the Deacs out of it). @ Duke- Win. Again, I like Wake against in-state rivals.

Final: 7-5 (5-4)

2009 Duke Blue Devils Season Prediction August 9, 2009 VS Richmond- Win. This will be a tough game for Duke against the 2008 FCS National Champs.

Toss up. @ Army- Win. A couple years ago, this game would have been called “The Toilet Bowl”. @ Kansas- Win. Duke will keep their win streak going against Kansas QB Todd Reesing & Co. VS NC Central- Win. Aside from Army, this game is Duke’s only sure win on the schedule.

VS Virginia Tech- Loss. Don’t expect the Hokies to slip up in this one. @ NC State- Win. The Blue Devils will hand NCSU their second straight loss.

VS Maryland- Win. DT Vince Oghobaase will cause problems for Maryland’s running game. @ Virginia- Loss. Virginia rallies around last years 31-3 loss against the Devils. @ North Carolina- Loss. This rivalry is in the Heel’s favor.

VS Georgia Tech- Loss. The Devil’s don’t have the offensive fire power to keep up with GT. @ Miami- Loss. Duke needs 7 wins to get to a bowl game. Sorry, guys, give it one more season.

VS Wake Forest- Loss. Duke will surprise some people at first this season, but they don’t yet have the depth to compete in the second half of the year.

Final: 6-6 (2-6)

2009 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Season Preview August 10, 2009 2008 Record: 9-4 (5-3) When Head Coach Paul Johnson arrived on the Flats of Georgia Tech in late 2007, there was

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speculation about whether his style of play would work against a high level of competition.

Nine wins later, the only question remaining is, “If that was only his first season, how much better would the team be with a year of experience in Johnson’s system?” Scary thought… In a season where the Yellow Jackets were predicted to win as many as 3 games, first year coach Paul Johnson lit a fire under a team with 76 freshmen and sophomores, and guided them to a share of ACC Coastal Division title. As college football’s biggest surprise of 2008, Georgia Tech had a record of 9-4 (it should be noted that during Chan Gailey’s previous 6-year tenure as head coach, the Jackets won 9 games only once). This season, however, no one is taking Georgia Tech lightly. Returning 16 starters, including last season’s ACC Player of the Year in Jonathan Dwyer, the Ramblin’ Wreck are expected to be a top-25 team in just about every poll. Though it will be difficult to get through their schedule unscathed, Tech has enough talent on both sides of the ball to have everyone thinking about a BCS bowl.

Quarterback Junior Josh Nesbitt proved to be more than a leader last year in Coach Johnson’s Spread Option offense. Though it took several months for him to adjust to the style of play, the 214-pound Nesbitt’s speed and size made him the prototypical spread option quarterback. If the offensive line can give him the protection he needs, watch for the Davey O’Brien Award candidate to toss the ball around the field more often than last year. Should Nesbitt get hurt, Sophomore Jaybo Shaw and Redshirt Freshman Tevin Washington provide depth at a position that was pencil-thin a year ago. Jaybo was a more than capable backup last year when he led the Golden Tornado to 38-7 and 27-0 wins over Mississippi State and Duke, respectively. Tevin Washington showed flashes of brilliance in Tech’s spring game, where he ran for 2 touchdowns and threw for another.

Running Back It’s way too exciting not to mention the fact that Georgia Tech ranked 4th in the nation in rushing yards in 2008. Or that Jonathan Dwyer led the conference in rushing yards with 107.3 per game and earned All-ACC honors behind a below-average offensive line. And though he may be the most talented, Dwyer is definitely not the only horse in the stable that opposing defenses need to worry about. The Ramblin’ Wreck returns Roddy Jones, the outstanding A-Back who dazzled Sanford Stadium with 214 yards, including a 52 yard scamper to beat the Bullpups last season. Marcus Wright, who was intended to be redshirted until midseason, showed fans and coaches alike that he could be brilliant. The same can be said of Embry Peeples who provides excellent depth at a position stacked with talent. Lucas Cox, whose size and skill provide for him to play at both A- and B-back, is a hoss and terrific blocker. The powerful Richard Watson should also be an excellent backup for Dwyer at B-Back. Oh, and does anyone remember that stud tailback Anthony Allen out of Louisville that ran for 13 TD’s as a freshman in 2006? He’s reappeared at Tech, and is ready to go. Add Daniel Drummond, a bruising B-Back recruit out of Flowery Branch, GA into the mix, and you’ve got quite possibly the best running back corp in the country.

Receiver Though somewhat unsung last season, the receiver position for Tech is not without its share of talent. Junior Demaryius Thomas may be one of the best receivers in the conference. In an offense where the receivers are primarily called on to block, the 6-3 Thomas averaged 16.1 yards per catch and accounted for almost half of GT’s receiving yardage. He’s definitely not afraid to get physical with defenders, a skill that allows for the backs to make big plays in the open field.

Sophomore Tyler Melton has the soft hands to line up opposite of Thomas, but sat out most

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of last season with a knee injury. Incoming freshman Stephen Hill has already shown he has the talent to become a big-play receiver for the Jackets should the coaches decide not to redshirt him this season.

Offensive Line Somewhat of a liability for the Yellow Jackets last season, the offensive line has nowhere to go but up. As good as the offense was in running the ball, it seemed all season that the line had a hard time grasping the spread option system. That should all change with a year of experience under their belts. The starters for the last four games all return on the line, led by secondteam All ACC pick Cord Howard. Howard, who plays right guard, is one of two seniors on the line, along with center Dan Voss. After missing the off-season with shoulder surgery, Voss will have to fend off junior Sean Bedford for the starting position. Nick Claytor, Austin Barrick, and Joseph Barrick, on the other hand, should all be safe at their positions and provide Nesbitt the protection that he didn’t really have a year ago.

Defensive Line Any team that loses 3 players of the same position to the NFL is definitely going to suffer. How well GT can replenish their defensive line will probably decide their season. The only holdover from last year is junior Derrick Morgan at defensive end, who with 7 sacks was named an All-ACC Honorable mention. Expect Morgan to get double-teamed almost every play this season. That means that the new guys need to step up in a big way. Junior Robert Hall is expected to line up at end opposite Morgan. Junior Ben Anderson and redshirt freshman TJ Barnes should clog up the middle at tackle. At 6-7 and 325 pounds, Barnes may have more potential than anyone else on the entire defense, and coaches are expecting big plays out of him in the future.

Linebacker An inexperienced and injury-plagued linebacking corp last year has now become a group with talent and depth. Sedric Griffin, a senior, will be the leader of the group. Junior Brad Jefferson is expected to start and may be the teams strongest player. Kyle Jackson, the 2008 ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, suffered a foot injury in the spring but hopes to play in the season opener against Jacksonville State. Should he not be healed by the time September comes around, there should not be much drop off talent-wise when Steven Sylvester and Anthony Barnes step in. As I said: talent and depth.

Secondary As good as the linebacking unit is expected to be, the secondary is by far the strength of the defense. Junior safety Morgan Burnett was a First Team All-American and tied for first nationally in interceptions with 7. A physical defender who punishes both quarterback and receiver alike, Burnett will definitely be looked upon to be a leader in the secondary. Yet if teams try to avoid throwing to Burnett’s side of the field, then the ball will most likely end up in the hands of another ball-hawking safety in Dominique Reese. And when one of these guys needs a breather, in steps sophomore Cooper Taylor, who displayed last minute heroics against FSU when he forced a fumble on the Seminole goal line to ensure a Tech win. Mario Butler, Rashaad Reid, and Jerrard Terrant take up the cornerback position with the talent to shut down most receivers in the ACC. Special Teams Tech fans are still waiting for this group to be special. Last season, then-sophomore Scott Blair handled all the kicking duties for the Jackets. Expect him to only work on kicks this fall, with

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either Chandler Anderson or freshman Sean Poole to punt. With their big-play capabilities, Jerrard Terrant and Roddy Jones will most likely be on the field to return kicks.

2009 Prediction Everyone on the Flats is interested to see what kind of an encore performance Coach Johnson can pull off after raising expectations last season. An ACC Championship and BCS berth is not by any means impossible, but it will be difficult achieve. Five days after their season opener, the Jackets open ACC play against what should be an improved Clemson team. Then they play another Thursday night game at Miami, only to come home and face off against a North Carolina team that will have a breakthrough season sooner or later. This September portion of the schedule will show just how serious Tech is about winning a championship this year. That means that the defensive line better grow up fast and the kicking game better get with it soon.

The Florida State game will be an exciting one as well, as the Noles try to get back at Tech for stealing one from FSU last season. The showdown against Virginia Tech looms very large, as it will likely decide the winner of the Coastal Division. GT hasn’t beaten UVA in Charlottesville since 1990, so that game will be huge, too. Then there’s that game on November 28 that I know every Georgia Tech fan and player will be looking forward to: the game so fittingly dubbed “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate.”

I can easily see the Yellow Jackets finishing up at 10-2 (6-2), and beating Virginia Tech out for the Division title. There, I think the Jackets may have to get through the Florida State Seminoles if they want the ACC crown. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. If you ask any player or coach, they’ll tell you they’re focused on one thing only: beating Jacksonville State (ok, maybe UGAg, too).

2009 Miami Hurricanes Season Predictions August 11, 2009 @ Florida State- Loss. This should be a good game, and set the tone for both teams seasons. I see FSU squeaking it out.

VS Georgia Tech- Win. If the UM linebackers can be more disciplined than they were in last year’s game, they might be able to force GT into making some mistakes. @ Virginia Tech- Win. I expect this game to be close. Miami kicker Matt Bosher will decide the outcome.

VS Oklahoma- Loss. Miami can’t be thrilled that their first 4 games are against legitimate BCS contenders… The Sooners will knock Miami in the mouth early and often.

VS Florida A&M- Win. Finally, an easy win for the Hurricanes. @ Central Florida- Win. After the Golden Knights lost all 4 starters in their secondary, I would think that QB Jacory Harris and his talented receivers are going to run the show.

VS Clemson- Win. With one of the best offenses on paper in the ACC, the Hurricanes should be able to put some points up on Clemson. @ Wake Forest- Loss. After winning 3 consecutive games, I can easily see Miami losing focus in this one.

VS Virginia- Win. The Hurricanes have way too much speed to lose this one. @ UNC- Loss. These two programs are on the rise. If UNC can replace safety Trimane Goddard,

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the Tar Heels should hold their own in this one.

VS Duke- Win. A deep group of linebackers will keep Duke’s run game in check. @ South Florida- Win. USF would like for Florida to become home to the “Big 4”, but it doesn’t happen in this game Final: 8-4 (5-3)

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Season Prediction August 12, 2009 VS Citadel- Win. Enough said. @ Connecticut- Win. Though Coach Randy Edsall is putting together a good team, this one is too early for them to have replaced RB Donald Brown.

VS East Carolina- Win. The Pirates will be good enough to win Conference USA, but they won’t sneak up on anybody this year. @ Georgia Tech- Win. This one is always a physical game. The Heels might have the defensive front to contain the option.

VS Virginia- Win. Last year’s 16-13 loss in OT was a heartbreaker for the Tar Heel’s. They’ve circled this date.

VS Georgia Southern- Win. Coach Hatcher’s Eagles consist of over 70 freshmen and sophomores. That won’t get it done against UNC. VS Florida State- Loss. UNC’s first Thursday night game in school history won’t go very well for them. @ Virginia Tech- Loss. A game that could decide the division. VT’s always stout defense wins this one.

VS Duke- Win. With perhaps the ACC’s best group of LB’s, Carolina will force Duke to be 1-sided in this game.

VS Miami- Win. This one looks to be pretty even. I’ll give the win to the home team while UM adjusts to the cold. @ Boston College- Win. The difference in depth between these two teams is the deciding factor. @ NC State- Loss. The Wolfpack will take this one for the third year in a row.

Final: 9-3 (5-3)

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2009 Virginia Cavaliers Season Predictions August 13, 2009 VS William & Mary- Win. Expect Director William E. Pease and the Cavalier Marching Band to open up the season with an awesome half-time show!

VS TCU- Loss. The Horned Frogs had the nation’s #1 defense a year ago with only 217.8 yards per game. I think they’ll make the Cavs look silly. @ Southern Miss- Win. I really struggled with this game. SMU will be very good, but if UVA can string together an O-Line, maybe they can pull this one out. @ UNC- Loss. Whichever QB starts for the Hoos, Carolina’s defense is going to make him comfortable… on the ground.

VS Indiana- Win. The Big 10’s worst against the ACC’s worst. I’ll give it to UVA, as the Hoosiers will still be licking their wounds after playing Ohio State the previous week. @ Maryland- Loss. UM’s offense will be firing on all cylinders against a spotty Cav defense.

VS Georgia Tech- Loss. GT hasn’t won in Charlottesville since 1990… then Paul Johnson came to town.

VS Duke- Win. This might be the last winnable game for Virginia. Hopefully they’ll capitalize. @ Miami- Loss. QB Jacory Harris and RB Graig Cooper will move the ball all day long against UVA’s 3-4 defense.

VS Boston College- Loss. The Eagles talented secondary shuts down Virginia’s receivers. @ Clemson- Loss. Virginia leaves Death Valley with a loss. This could be a close game, though.

VS Virginia Tech- Loss. The Cavs haven’t won this rivalry since 2003. Sorry, but they don’t win this one either.

Final: 4-8 (1-7)

2009 Virginia Tech Hokies Season Predictions August 14, 2009 VS Alabama- Loss. I originally had this down as a win, but the Hokies lost perhaps their best offensive player in Darren Evans. Sadly, this game won’t do much for the ACC’s image to start off the season.

VS Marshall- Win. VT’s defensive front will make it a long afternoon for Marshall QB Brian Anderson.

VS Nebraska- Win. In a defensive game, the Huskers have yet to find a quarterback. Virginia Tech is the safe bet.

VS Miami- Loss. The Hurricanes’ speed will contain QB Tyrod Taylor from running wild. Special teams will decide this one.

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@ Duke- Win. The Hokies will bounce back to win this game, their first one on the road since opening day.

VS BC- Win. This rematch of the ACC Championship plays out the same way it did last December. @ Georgia Tech- Loss. Virginia Tech was fortunate to play the Jackets last year before GT got comfortable with its offense.

VS North Carolina- Win. Since the loss of RB Darren Evans, I’m not as comfortable with this pick… I might as well just flip a coin. @ East Carolina- Win. No repeat of last year’s upset. @ Maryland- Win. DE Jason Worilds will cause problems in the Terps’ backfield.

VS NC State- Win. To be honest, I’m only going with the Hokies because the game is at Lane Stadium. @ Virginia- Win. VT takes this game in Charlottesville to make it 6 wins in a row over the Cavaliers.

Final: 9-3 (6-2)

Week 2: What You Need to Know August 15, 2009 To get everyone caught up on this past week’s action, here’s a few things I’d like to share from camp.

- QB’s Jordan Luallen and Jaybo Shaw are both out for now. Luallen sprained his ankle earlier in the week. Shaw suffered a concussion several days ago and sat out until Thursday. During today’s scrimmage, however, Shaw broke his collarbone. He’ll most likely be redshirted, as he’s slated to miss almost 8 weeks. Let’s hope Josh Nesbitt stays in one piece…

- RB Jon Dwyer also sat out practice for a day this week after a hip flexor.

- Kicker Scott Blair is becoming more consistent with his field goals. He hit a 27 yarder during today’s scrimmage.

- The offensive line still needs work. It could be because Nick Claytor and Cord Howard are both out, but they seem to have trouble protecting Nesbitt. The return of Brad Sellers, who had a head injury, should strengthen the line.

- Freshman WR Stephen Hill keeps impressing with his consistent ability to make great catches. I think he’ll get playing time right away this fall.

- LB Kyle Jackson, last year’s ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, will have surgery on his right foot on Monday. Let’s hope everything goes well and he can get back on the field as soon as possible.

- Rod Sweeting and Jerrard Terrant are both making big plays and vying for time at defensive back. Terrant also continues to look like GT’s main kick-return man.

That’s all for now. I’ve posted a few photos from last weeks Great Jacket Encounter. I have more, but I’m currently over my monthly limit. I’ll get those out asap.

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10 Tech Players You Know & 10 You’re About to Meet (Pt 1) August 19, 2009 Earlier this month, bleacherreport.com featured an article on the 10 Players We Know and 10 We’re About To Meet for the Georgia Bulldogs. Aside from the fact that the article was about the Bullpups, I thought it was a great idea, and have put together a similar feature for the Ramblin’ Wreck. Tomorrow, I’ll post the 10 you don’t yet know, so be sure to check back in. Here we go: The 10 You Already Know Jon Dwyer- Arguably the best running back in nation, Dwyer will try to build off of last season where he was named ACC Player of the Year. An encore performance might be tough to achieve, because “D-Train” should get fewer carries in a loaded backfield. In 2007, everyone knew Dwyer was going to be special when the coaches gave him the #21- the number that had just previously belonged to GT-great Calvin Johnson. He scored a touchdown in his first game in 2007 against Notre Dame, and he hasn’t let up since.

Derrick Morgan- The only veteran on the defensive line, Derrick Morgan is now a leader up front. Last season, offenses focused on his counterpart, Micheal Johnson, which allowed Morgan to amass 7 sacks. An All-ACC honorable mention, he led the Tech line with 51 tackles. This year, offenses will key on this guy, so we’ll see what he can do while being double-teamed.

Josh Nesbitt- Almost an ideal quarterback for Coach Johnson’s spread option system, Nesbitt is looking to thrive this season. The QB is the most important piece in this offense, and it took Nesbitt a while to get the hang of it. Once he did, though, the offense worked wonders. Nesbitt, who was a drop-back passer in high school, will throw the ball around more this season if his line can give him protection. He’s a candidate for the Davey O’Brien Award, and he’s going to make people know that this offensive backfield has other weapons besides Dwyer.

Roddy Jones- Speaking of the offensive backfield, Roddy Jones provided GT with the one-two punch that the running game needed last season. If the ball didn’t go to Dwyer up the middle or Nesbitt outside of the offensive tackle, odds were that it was in the capable hands of Jones.

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but no Tech fan will forget his amazing display of athleticism last year when he ran for 214 yards, including a 52 yard scamper to end the drought against the Dawgs. He injured his wrist earlier this summer, but he should be ready to roll when Jacksonville State comes into town.

Scott Blair- In 2007, Blair handled kickoff duties as a freshman- quite a feat considering Tech already had a kicker in All-ACC performer Travis Bell. Last year, however, Blair was somewhat inconsistent. This is probably due to the fact that he handled all punting, placekicking, and kickoff duties, which prevented him from focusing on any one position. This year, Blair will leave the punting chores up to someone else, and already coaches have seen a vast improvement in the kicking game.

Morgan Burnett- The other All-American on this team, Morgan Burnett will be anchoring the defensive secondary. He had 7 INT’s last season, the most in the country. That’s also 2 more that the entire defense had the previous season, and a big reason why GT had as good a season as it did. Burnett is on the watchlist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which goes to the nation’s best defensive player.

Demaryius Thomas- The wide receiver was referred to as “Baby Calvin” during his redshirt year when Calvin Johnson was still here, however he simply prefers to be called “Bay-Bay”. Thomas

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hauled in 230 yards during the game against Duke last season, the second most in school history. His great blend of speed, size, and hands makes him one of the best receivers in the ACC, but just as important is his excellent downfield blocking.

Lucas Cox- At 6’0 and 245 pounds, Lucas Cox is simply a beast. Better yet, he’s athletic enough play both B- and A-back, which is a great boost to the backfield. Tech fans should be very familiar with the “Cox” name by now, as his brother Mike started at fullback during the Gailey Era. Lucas will be called upon to give Dwyer a breather every now and then, but he’s going to make plenty of plays at A-back where he will punish any defensive backs that try to bring him down.

Cord Howard- This 2nd Team All-ACC pick was a foundation that Paul Johnson wanted to build his offensive line on. After moving from tackle to guard last season, Howard was truly one of the few bright spots on an otherwise unspectacular offensive front. This season, the line should be better and Howard, the most experienced player up front, should be a huge part of that.

Sedric Griffin- With 37 games under his belt, Griffin is the most experienced of all the linebackers. He’s also one of only 6 scholarship seniors on the team, making him a leader on defense. What Griffin doesn’t have in size (only 5’11 and 230 lbs), he makes up for with athleticism and consistency. Depending on how much time Kyle Jackson misses with a foot injury, Sedric Griffin could easily end up being one of the most important pieces on this team.

10 Tech Players You Know & 10 You’re About to Meet (Pt 2) August 20, 2009 Yesterday, I posted an article about 10 Georgia Tech players that we’ve already met. This followup gives some details about 10 players that we’re about to meet on the Flats, either this season or down the road.

10 Players You’re About to Meet Anthony Allen- Allen may have the most hype out of any of the players you’re about to meet, and deservedly so. He transferred to Tech last year from Louisville, where he had a short but exciting career. As a freshman running back in 2007, Allen had 14 total touchdowns. In 2007 he averaged 4.8 yards per carry and 7.3 yards per catch. This year, look for Allen to play mostly A-back but also get some time at B-back. In the spring game, Ant rushed for 69 yards in 7 attempts, an average of 9.8 yards per carry.

Tevin Washington- With Jaybo Shaw’s recent injury, Tevin Washington has moved into the backup spot at quarterback. While he may not yet have the grasp of the offense or the game experience that Shaw does, Washington should be a capable backup if Nesbitt gets banged up.

A redshirt freshman, Tevin ran for 2 touchdowns and threw for another in the spring game. He was an All-State quarterback for Alabama in 2007.

Jerrard Terrant- This talented defensive back sat out last season due to a legal issue that has since been cleared up. He’s still in top football shape, however, and looks to start this season in the secondary. Terrant has excellent speed and coverage abilities, which make his a lock-down cornerback. Look to him to return kicks, too, as he has been fielding the majority of them in practice so far.

Marcus Wright- Ok, so maybe you already met Marcus Wright last season. But considering his redshirt was pulled midway through the season and he had a mere 4 rushing attempts, I think we’ve only seen a glimpse of the kind of talent that this speedy A-back possesses. When

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Wright gets into the open field, you will see exactly how he compensates for his lack of size (a diminutive 5’8). He was one of the fastest high school players in the state of Texas and an Army All-American.

Stephen Hill- I know I’ve talked a lot about freshman Stephen Hill in my practice reports from the summer, but there’s a big reason why. At 6’4, he is Tech’s tallest receiver and should be able to create mismatches with the defense, especially if he lines up opposite of Demaryius Thomas.

He has made great catches time and time again throughout his first few weeks on campus, and coaches are very impressed with his confidence against older, more experienced defensive backs. Rated a 4-star recruit out of high school by Scout.com, Hill was one of Tech’s gems in last year’s recruiting class.

Robert Hall- With Michael Johnson having left for the NFL, the defensive end position opposite of Derrick Morgan is wide open for competition. I expect Robert Hall, a redshirt Junior, to fill that vacancy. He was Johnson’s backup last season and has 30 games worth of experience to work with. Hall ended last season with 13 tackles and had a fumble recovery in the win over Clemson.

Richard Watson- At 6’1 and 234 lbs, there is a lot of Watson to bring down, which makes him an ideal B-back. He could possibly be Dwyer’s top backup, and he runs with a lot of power. In the spring game Watson pounded through the line for 51 yards. When he came out of high school in 2008, Watson was rated the third-best fullback in the country by Rivals.com.

T.J. Barnes- You may have heard some buzz surrounding this redshirt freshman defensive tackle.

Barnes is listed at a colossal 6’7 and 353 pounds. Don’t let his size fool you, though, as he has excellent footwork and mobility. I would not be surprised to see Barnes start when the season starts up, and at the very least he will make an impact as a top backup on the defensive line.

While Barnes still has a ways to go to get his skill level where it needs to be, he’s definitely on track to be a force up front.

Chandler Anderson- With Scott Blair no longer handling all of the kicking duties, I pretty much have to mention the new face receiving the punt snaps- Chandler Anderson. The punting responsibilities will either fall to Anderson or freshman walk-on Sean Poole, and I’d put my money on the former. Last season he had 3 punts for a 38.3 yard average, including a 46-yard kick against Mississippi State. In short, there’s plenty of potential Anderson to excel. He needs to be a bit more consistent, something that he’s been working on all summer.

Sean Bedford- When center Dan Voss missed considerable practice time due to off-season shoulder surgery, Bedford stepped in and took his spot. I’m not saying that Bedford will be able to ward off Voss for the starting job for the next few weeks, but Tech will have a reliable center either way. Bedford joined the squad in 2006 as a walk-on defensive lineman; since then he has been awarded a scholarship and made the move to offense. Expect the redshirt junior to try to bring some consistency to the O-line, starter or not.

A 1,000-Yard Rushing Duo: What It Means August 21, 2009 I’ve got a couple things to say, then I’m off to class (woohoo).

Earlier today the AJC’s Doug Roberson released an interesting article about Georgia Tech’s chances of having a thousand-yard rushing duo. In Paul Johnson’s coaching career, the feat has been accomplished 3 times: by Georgia Southern in 1997 and 1998, and by Navy in 2003 (Navy

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was 20 yards away from having another duo break 1,000 in ’04). Needless to say, we could easily see something similar happen this season.

My question is, “What does that mean for the team?” Having 2 guys break the millennium mark is cool and all, but it doesn’t mean anything unless if we have some hardware to show for it.

So, let’s look at what history tells us: -In 1997, GSU went 10-3. They lost to a pretty good Delaware team in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. I’d say that would almost be the equivalent of going to a BCS bowl for an FBS team.

- In 1998, Coach Johnson saw his team go 14-1. Their only loss came to UMass in the Championship Game. That’s not too shabby, either. By the way, they averaged almost 45 points a game in what was Johnson’s second season there.

- 1999 and 2000 were both championship seasons for the Eagles, but they didn’t have two guys break a thousand. I think this would show that, while it would be nice, it’s not necessary to have a duo like that in order for this offense to win big.

- The last ACC team to have 2 1,000-yard rushers was UNC in 1993. They went 10-3 that year.

One of those losses was to eventual National Champion Florida State.

If Tech can put together a 1,000-yard tandem like Dwyer and Nesbitt or Dwyer and Jones, there’s no telling what this team will be able to do. And if all three break the millennium mark, then we could be looking at one of the best teams to strap on pads down on the Flats.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Week 3: What You Need to Know August 24, 2009 Ok, everyone. We’ve got 12 days until kickoff, and the last week of the preseason is upon us.

Just to keep you guys caught up, here’s a rundown of some of last week’s highlights: - GT comes in at 15th in the AP Poll. Florida almost had a unanimous vote for first, and UGA will start out at 13. Other ACC teams include: Virginia Tech at 7, Florida State at 18, and North Carolina at 21.

- Backup QB Tevin Washington shined in Friday’s otherwise lack-luster scrimmage.

- Trouble seems to follow Jacksonville State QB Ryan Perriloux wherever he goes. Perriloux will be suspended for their season opener against the Yellow Jackets for violating team rules.

- WR Demaryius Thomas sat out of practice with a couple injured fingers. LB Kyle Jackson is now conditioning on the field after successful surgery on his foot last Monday.

- We’re still not certain whether it will be Dan Voss or Sean Bedford that will start at center when the Jacksonville State Gamecocks roll into town.

- I found a short GT preview on ESPN.com. Short but sweet. One thing, though, Mr. Herbstreit: double check where the VT-GT game is this year.

- We’ve officially got a White Out on our hands. I’ll bet those Clemson Tigers are really worried now!

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Ticketing Changes For Better, Worse August 28, 2009 I was going to reserve judgment until I could see it in action next week, however I’ve decided to go ahead and throw my two cents in regarding the new student ticket system here at Georgia Tech. Let me fill you in first. For the past several years, every student has been allowed to get season football tickets for “free” (i.e. I let my folks pay for it with my tuition). Students would be given vouchers at the beginning of the school year, and we were free to use them to create our own block seating. The only catch was, students would have to camp out in front of the ticketing office for days in order to get tickets. Last year, they deemed this practice unsafe due to the fact that the ticket office was so close to the edge of campus, so they moved the line to a more central location in the baseball field.

But the times, they are a changing. This year, ticketing has gone digital and students will be allowed into Bobby Dodd Stadium with our Buzzcard student ID’s. Tickets were purchased by students online at the Athletic Association website. There, we were able to pick whichever ticket block we wanted.

Simply put, Tech has gotten rid of the “inefficient and unsafe.” Students can easily stroll into the games instead of waiting in line, forget about having to camp out for nights on end, and not have to worry about getting into the right block.

And many students are looking forward to this new system. As busy GT students, we’re simply too busy to spend time camping out waiting for a game that only lasts a few hours. Also, we’re guaranteed tickets this way instead of possibly waiting in line only to find out that we can’t get in a block with our friends.

On the other hand, this new system has met with much negativity as well. Tech has done away with one of the traditions that many students loved to partake in. Several of us loved camping out in front of the stadium—that was part of the fun! Heck, Coach Johnson brought us donuts last year to thank us for our loyalty!

Most importantly, though, is how this new process has been handled thus far by the administration. For example, in addition to the athletic fee that’s included in our tuition (which, by the way, was increased last year), student tickets now cost $35. I know that’s not a whole lot, but most of us feel like we should be entitled to the tickets anyway. It is, after all, our school.

In addition to the price hike, we were not aware of the new system until the weekend of movein, right before classes started. And when did registration begin? The weekend of move-in, right before classes started. The administration simply did not give the students enough notice to purchase tickets. If they had done it a few days after their notice (and when everyone had internet access to buy them online), then everything would be fine and dandy. But they didn’t, and most students didn’t have time to clear up any confusion that they had over the new system.

I guess we’ll see how this works in the next couple of weeks. Personally, I’m not a huge fan so far.

I liked having a ticket stub that I could keep and hang on to, like one from Notre Dame in ’07 or last year’s UGA game. It’s part of the memory for me. It seems as though we’re getting prepared for a new type of ticketing system, and not just for Georgia Tech football, but for all types of sports all over the country.

Fot more information on the new ticketing system, here’s a link to the Technique.

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Week 4: What You Need To Know August 30, 2009 After waiting anxiously and enduring all the preseason speculation, the college football season is finally upon us. That’s right- only 5 days until kickoff (or 3 if you actually care about the NC State/ South Carolina game)! To wrap up the final week of the offseason, here’s a few things to keep you in the loop: - GT is ranked 15th in the AP poll, its highest ranking since 2001.

- UGA is in denial about last year’s game. Their media guide has the score of the match-up listed at a 42-42 tie.

- Apparently the kicking game is getting on track to where it needs to be… Don’t tell me, show me.

- Tech may have one of the most dangerous offenses in the league, but they need to hold on to the ball better this season.

- Roddy Jones had his cast removed and will participate in full contact today, but don’t expect him to be back in time for the opener.

- WR Tyler Melton has a sprain of the medial collateral ligament. That’s in the knee fyi… Melton looks to be out 4-5 weeks, a huge loss for the passing game.

- Quentin Sims has been moved from WR to QB for now due to the recent string of injuries.

Injuries to Jaybo Shaw and Jordan Luallen have forced both of them to sit out, leaving the QB position much thinner than it was at the start of camp.

- DE Izaan Cross will be the only freshman to play regularly on the defensive line. That’s kind of a surprise considering all the hype surrounding T.J. Barnes.

- 26,200 season tickets have been sold compared to last year’s 23,900.

- The AJC’s Doug Roberson believes the Yellow Jackets could rewrite the record book this season.

With the season starting in a few days, I’ll try to keep everyone updated more frequently than I have been these past weeks.

Week 1 ACC Power Rankings September 1, 2009

1. Virginia Tech- The loss of RB Darren Evans definitely hurts the Hokies, but their offense should be able to rebound. Though it would be a huge statement for the ACC if they can, I don’t think they have the grit to beat the Crimson Tide this weekend in the Georgia Dome.

2. Georgia Tech- The Yellow Jackets come in after the Hokies only because of the unproven offensive and defensive lines. Improvement in the kicking game should help the Ramblin’ Wreck as well.

3. Florida State- The offense should hold its own with QB Christian Ponder protected by a

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veteran line. Their game against Miami on Monday will let us know how serious they are about contending for the ACC. 4. North Carolina- Defensively the Tar Heels will be stout, so look for them to be able to keep opposing offenses in the low digits. Their young receivers need to prove they’re ready to fill a big void.

5. Clemson- If the young QB Kyle Parker can perform, then they should be pretty well balanced.

The game against Middle Tennessee State this weekend should be a good warm-up for him.

6. NC State- Thursday’s matchup against South Carolina will help let us know exactly how good QB Russell Wilson is against a physical defense.

7. Miami- The Hurricanes have fallen a bit in my rankings due to the walkout by their two backup quarterbacks. If Jacory Harris gets hurt, they could be in trouble.

8. Maryland- All I’ve heard is how good their offense will be with veterans in the backfield. But how will the new defensive scheme hold up?

9. Wake Forest- The Demon Deacons probably could be a lot higher in the rankings, but aside for QB Riley Skinner, I need to see some more talent.

10. Duke- That’s right, Duke is no longer the bottom of the barrel in the ACC. Coach Cutcliffe and Thaddeus Lewis are the main reason why.

11. Virginia- The Cavs have a very tough schedule and several questions to be answered, like “When will they have had enough of Al Groh?”

12. Boston College- I feel bad for the situation Coach Spaziani has inherited. Their best player Mike Herzlich will miss the season due to cancer. Their 25-yr old quarterback whose never thrown a collegiate pass has a broken rib. And the Red Sox are going to go to the playoffs again (so I imagine Beantown really won’t care to much about the Eagles this fall).

College Color Day and More September 1, 2009 I know I posted earlier today, but I’ve got some more to say.

College Color Day is Friday. Help celebrate the new season by wearing your school colors.

Please, guys, we CANNOT be outnumbered by the Dawgs on Friday! I won’t stand for it! Here’s a commercial that I saw for CC Day. Now for a couple of side notes: - Former GT Coach Chan Gailey was let go from the Kansas City Chiefs yesterday as offensive coordinator. After only scoring 2 touchdowns in the entire preseason, it’s no wonder why.

- I saw B-back Richard Watson today on crutches. The backup to Jon Dwyer said he had a sprained ankle and is not sure if he’ll play against Jacksonville State on Saturday.

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Jackets Ready for New Season, Old Faces September 3, 2009

September 5, 2009, 1:00 PM on ESPN 360 (all-time series: GT 1-0)

The Yellow Jackets kick the season off against a tough FCS opponent in the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Coach Jack Crow, in his 10th season at the helm of the football program, believes this team might be one of his most talented, as they are ranked 19th in the FCS coaches poll.

The Gamecocks, who faced the Yellow Jackets for the first time last season, are 3-11 all-time versus FBS opponents. After a 41-14 drubbing by Georgia Tech last season, Crow’s team rallied to go 8-3 on the season. In fact, their two other losses were by a combined 4 points.

A big reason for the hype around the Gamecocks is quarterback Ryan Perriloux, the most athletic player to ever don a JSU jersey. Perriloux transferred to Jacksonville State last season after being dismissed from the LSU football program. However, the 2nd Team All-Ohio Valley Conference quarterback won’t be available for the Georgia Tech game after being suspended for failing to adhere to team rules. Instead, the Gamecocks will look to mount their upset with sophomore Marques Ivory, a product of Northside High School, who went 30-0 during his time as a starter there. Expect the Jacket defensive front to get in the young quarterback’s face early and often.

Former Yellow Jacket Greg Smith will get the nod to start at wide receiver against his former team. Smith has said that he is excited to be back at Bobby Dodd Stadium, and expect him to want to put big numbers up against his old teammates. Sophomore runningback Brandon George, a former Parkview High School standout, was second in the OVC last season with an average of 6.4 yards per carry. The offensive line protecting Ivory has plenty of depth, but is depleted along the right side after losses to graduation. Center Reggie Wade, a preseason All-OVC lineman, played in the junior college all-star game at Northeast Mississippi Community College.

Defensively, the Gamecocks play in a 3-3-5 scheme. Coach Crow has three preseason All-OVC defensive players in NT Brandt Thomas, LB Alexander Henderson, and FS Carnell Clark. Along the line, Thomas will be joined by senior Santez Mays and Jamison Wadley, who returned after having shoulder surgery. Defensive tackle Torrey Davis is a transfer from the University of Florida, and could be one of the better players on the field Saturday. Henderson collected 103 tackles last year despite missing the Tech game, and is looking to be the leader of the defense. Carnell Clark was second on the team with 66 tackles along with 2 interceptions, 5 pass break-ups, and 3 fumbles recovered.

I expect the Ramblin’ Wreck to want to get after the Gamecocks early in this game. After last year’s squeaker against Gardner-Webb, Coach Paul Johnson has made sure that his guys don’t take anyone lightly. Hopefully they can put up points early and let the backups get some experience.

Prediction: 45-3 Georgia Tech

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40 HoUrs til kiCkoff september 3, 2009 college football is finally here! Let autumn begin! Yeah, I base my seasons on what sport is played at the time. so I’m watching the nc st/ usc game right now. I must say I’m very disappointed in Russell Wilson thus far (we’re in the 3rd quarter and he’s got 36 yards passing). anyway, on to more important stuff.

- Bud peterson was inaugurated as Georgia tech’s new president earlier today. everyone on campus was wearing their commemorative “I Heart Bud” sticker.

- the forecast for saturday’s game includes a high of 88 degrees with partly cloudy skies. perfect.

If for some chance you’re not pumped for the game, or maybe you think you’re not ready for the season to start yet, here’s some videos I’ve come upon that are sure to get you psyched for some football: -a quick music video for the acc.

-this one is by far my favorite. and to think, last year was just the beginning. (I could watch highlights from last year’s Georgia game for hours.)

-Football Intro Video with echoes of yesteryear mixed in.

- ac/dc is a nice touch. We salute you, paul Johnson.

- another nice compilation to last year.

If you’re still not pumped, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. might be swine flu…

killer Bees win desPite laCk of killer instinCt september 6, 2009

Final score on Gt’s new megaJacketron

Georgia tech wasted no time in getting on the board, and Jonathan dwyer got an early start to what many fans hope to be a Heisman-worthy campaign. on the first play from scrimmage (and dwyer’s first touch of the season), the junior B-back took an option pitch from quarterback Josh nesbitt. several seconds and 74-yards later, dwyer had cashed in his first touchdown on the cool, overcast afternoon. the Yellow Jackets (1-0) would go on to beat Jacksonville state (0-1) by a score of 37-17. after Georgia tech recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, it was clear that the Gamecocks

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were overmatched. After another touchdown by Dwyer and a run into the endzone by Nesbitt, however, the Yellow Jackets quickly lost their intensity.

Many of the second team players saw significant playing time in the second half in order to rest the starters for Thursday’s matchup with Clemson. When Coach Paul Johnson saw a lack of effort by the backups, though, he didn’t waste time in putting Nesbitt & Co. back in the game.

“We have had a little problem with a killer instinct and our intensity levels and playing hard,” Coach Johnson said. “That is something that we have to work on.”

D-Line Debut Three new Yellow Jacket faces started on the defensive line in Robert Hall, Jason Peters, and Ben Anderson. The only veteran on the line, Derrick Morgan, was tripled teamed almost all game, and the defensive end was still able to come up with two sacks and five tackles. How did the new guys look? They all had five tackles combined. Despite Morgan’s solid effort, the other guys up front will need to improve if they plan on winning in the trenches against Clemson.

Special Teams See Highs & Lows I’ll start with the good. Georgia Tech has finally found a kick returner in Jerrard Terrant. His 68-yd punt return for a TD in the second quarter was Tech’s first since 2003. Now for the bad. Don’t let punter Chandler Anderson’s 51-yd average fool you. His punts were down-right terrible, and got extremely lucky bounces every time. Kicker Scott Blair missed an extra point and a 42-yard fieldgoal attempt. “I don’t think you should be high-fiving each other when you miss a extra point that a junior high school team could make,” Coach Johnson said. “I don’t think you should have a group discussion and sing, ‘Kumbaya.’ ” QBs, Passing Game Needs Work Quarterbacks Josh Nesbitt and Tevin Washington had 5 fumbles on the day, 3 of which were recovered by the Gamecocks. Of the three that were lost, two occurred when Tech was inside their opponent’s 20-yd line. In addition, the wide receivers committed several drops throughout the day in what is supposed to be an offense that wants to open up its passing game. It wasn’t all bad, however. Coaches say that Nesbitt’s 6-for-11 performance was about what they expected, and his 56-yard connection to WR Demaryius Thomas was the longest pass of his career.

Don’t Touch That Dial In case you saw the highlights on ESPN, then no, there’s nothing wrong with your tv. Georgia Tech has once again changed the gold color on their uniforms. Why? According to a source in the football office, they did it for particular reason. They just wanted to get back to the more traditional “Old Gold” color. More than likely the change was made in order to quiet down those who kept complaining about last year’s color, which was closer to a shade of mustard.

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On The Plus Side It was Jacksonville State. It’s understandable that the Jackets lost focus. It’s the first game of the season. Everyone makes mistakes on opening day. Tech mostly played its backups in the second half yesterday. That’s not a good way to measure the talent of this team. Coach Johnson has also said that his teams see the most improvement from weeks one to two. Despite this lackluster performance, I more than expect them to come out and play with intensity next week when they see that nasty orange color lined up against them.

Week 1’s Real Men of GTech September 7, 2009 Every week I’ll be looking to give props to the Georgia Tech players who deserve it the most.

Granted this week the Ramblin’ Wreck had a sloppy performance against the powerhouse Jacksonville State (which we learned is not, in fact, a state), but there were still a few players who stood out.

Congratulations to Jerrard Terrant! Your 58-yard punt return for a touchdown was Georgia Tech’s first return for six since 2003. Thank you for ending that embarrassing drought.

Here’s to you Jon Dwyer. You’ve shown us that there’s been no slowing down since last year’s All ACC campaign, as you sprinted toward the endzone on the first play from scrimmage. Bravo, sir.

Julian Burnett, I don’t know who you are, but I have a feeling Tech fans are going to get to know you well. Playing in your first game as a freshman, you racked up 9 total tackles. That’s right, in the half of the game that you played, you made everyone else look bad.

Week 2 ACC Power Rankings September 8, 2009

1. Miami- Yeah, so they moved up several spots since last week. They are the only team to play and beat a half-decent program in Florida State. Plus, they now have the leg up in the Coastal division race.

2. Georgia Tech- As much as I’d like to move the Jackets up, I just can’t bring my self to do it.

After a lackluster win against Jacksonville State, the Yellow Jackets still have a lot to show on Thursday against Clemson.

3. Virginia Tech- The only thing the Hokies showed me was how bored I can get while watching them. Granted, they went up against one of the best defense in the country in Alabama, and for that I only move them down two.

4. North Carolina- I like where their run game is at. If they want to contend with teams better than the Citadel, then they are going to have to pass the ball, too.

5. Florida State- The Noles played tough and only lost to Miami by two yards. If the game went on for not even 10 more seconds, the outcome may have been very different.

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6. Clemson- CJ Spiller showed us once again that he is a downright playmaker. Unfortunately, he’s also shown us that he’s injury-prone.

7. NC State- Russell Wilson played like he might be the most overrated quarterback in the conference. No spark from the offense, but the defense has shown that it can do their part.

8. Wake Forest- I know what you’re thinking: How did I move the Deacons up after losing to Baylor? Answer: No clue.

9. Boston College- The Eagles jump up 3 spots simply because they beat an FCS team by over 40 points. They didn’t need to put up that many numbers, they just needed to not lose (see #’s 11 & 12).

10. Maryland- I read on the Maryland Blog that California scored a touchdown for every pound the Coach Friedgen lost over the offseason. Luckily for the Terps, they’ve got a few weeks before they play in their first ACC matchup.

11. Duke- The Devil fans have their excuse picked out: “Richmond was last year’s FCS National Champions.”

12. Virginia- Really, guys? William & Mary? How is the ACC going to build a reputation when you lose to an FCS team? Even I picked you to win that one.

‘Battle for I-85’ Rivalry Takes Thursday Night Spotlight September 9, 2009

September 10, 2009, 7:30 PM on ESPN (GT leads series 47-24-2)

The two faces of the ACC in Jonathan Dwyer and CJ Spiller go head-to-head Thursday night in Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will host the Clemson Tigers and first year Head Coach Dabo Swinney in a game where Jacket fans will attempt to “whiteout” their longtime rivals. The Ramblin’ Wreck trumped the Tigers last season 21-17, several days after their former coach Tommy Bowden was fired. Since his promotion, Coach Swinney has posted a 5-4 record, including a 37-14 win last week over Middle Tennessee State.

Offense The more I look at this Clemson team, the more I think the Yellow Jackets are going to have their hands full, both offensively and defensively. The Tigers may have one of the best defensively lines in the country, let alone the conference. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better tandem of defensive ends in senior Ricky Sapp and sophomore Da’Quan Bowers. Last week, the Tiger front held Middle Tennessee State to 92 rushing yards. Georgia Tech, however, racked up 335 yards on the ground against Jacksonville State, so something has got to give. The key for the Yellow Jackets will be the play of QB Josh Nesbitt. In the option offense, it’s imperative for the quarterback to make quick reads off of the defensive ends, so Georgia Tech will live or die by their quarterback play.

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Despite the importance of Nesbitt in this game, all of the attention is focused on the Dwyer vs Spiller matchup. Dwyer touched the ball only a handful of times last week yet still managed 95 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 74-yd score on the first play from scrimmage. He and Roddy Jones, who makes his first start this week after injuring his wrist in the summer, will be called upon to take some pressure off of Nesbitt.

If the offensive line can manage to protect Nesbitt long enough, look for the quarterback to try to spread the ball downfield to WR Demaryius Thomas, who had 101 yards receiving last week.

Though they picked off 3 passes against MTSU, Clemson is still breaking in two new safeties after having the nation’s #2 pass defense last year. If the Tech wideouts can manage to break loose from their coverage, Nesbitt will have no problem in tossing the long ball.

Defense Freshman quarterback Kyle Parker knows he doesn’t need to be glamorous- he just needs to get the ball in the hands of Spiller and WR Jacoby Ford. Normally, the key for defenses to beat young passers would be to bring heavy pressure. I don’t see Tech doing much of that this week. Despite being a drop-back passer, Parker has shown that he has some wheels on him.

More importantly, though, Tech’s new defensive line has to face a Clemson front that returns all five starters from last season. Derrick Morgan performed well last week with two sacks despite being triple teamed, but the rest of the line may still need to do a little maturing before they can produce like last year’s front.

If Tech does fail to get a lack of pressure on Parker, they at least have an excellent secondary to rely on. Safety Morgan Burnett picked off a pass last week as the Gamecocks were about to score, bringing his career interceptions to 11, the most in the ACC. The only way Tech stops the Tigers’ passing attack is if Burnett and the rest of the crew can stick like glue to Clemson’s receivers. The challenge there lies in Jacoby Ford, the reigning National Champion in the 60m indoors for Clemson’s track team. He’s got speed, but his hands have proven to be a liability for the Tigers. If the Jackets can jam him at the line and get physical with Ford, perhaps they can force him to drop some passes, as he did several times last week.

As stated before, Clemson’s main threat is their school-anointed Heisman candidate CJ Spiller.

Clemson will look to take pressure off of Parker by getting the ball in their runningback’s hands as often as possible. He didn’t play in last year’s CU-GT game, but as a freshman in 2006 Spiller had a 52-yd run for a score and another 50-yd TD catch. To prevent him from having another breakout game, the Yellow Jackets need to focus on containing him at all times and prevent him from getting to the outside.

Special Teams Normally I won’t put in a special teams section in my previews, but I think this is where the game might be decided. Spiller is an excellent return man. He opened Clemson’s season with a 96yard kickoff return on the opening play. Later he had a 50-yd punt return only to have to come out of the game with a tweaked hamstring and injured toe. Tech’s kickoff team has proven to be dependable; the same cannot be said of the punt team. Chandler Anderson needs to put out a better effort than he did last week when both of his punts looked no better than those you might see in a junior high game. I vote the Jackets punt it out of bounds every time and see where that takes them.

My Take Tech has won 4 of its last 5 ACC openers (remember when Matt Ryan spanked the Jackets at

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home? Who would have guessed I’d have his poster on my wall 2 years later?). they’ve also won 4 of their last 5 against the tigers, and 3 of their last five meetings have been decided by four points or fewer. In their 74th meeting tomorrow, I expect another close one. again, I think three things need to happen: nesbitt has to have a solid game, the secondary needs to prevent big plays, and spiller needs to stay bottled up. I think last week was the kind of game the Jackets needed to light a fire under their butts, and hopefully they’ll come out and play as tough as Johnson needs them to. I’ll say Georgia tech wins this in the fourth quarter, 21-17 (another game decided by 4 points).

JaCkets, Blair Beat tigers in Ugly win september 13, 2009

Bds donned In White against the tigers

dabo swinney must give some great halftime speeches. His clemson team fought back from being down 24-7 at halftime, only to lose to the Yellow Jackets in the last minute 30-27. the Ramblin’ Wreck saw smooth sailing in the first quarter when they racked up a 21-0 lead. anthony allen scored on an 82-yd touchdown run to put the Jackets up early. minutes later, Jerrard terrant returned a punt for another 80 yard score. and if that wasn’t enough highlights for sports center, kicker scott Blair lobbed a 34-yard pass to a wide-open demaryius thomas, who took it the rest of the way for six points.

But that was pretty much the extent of Georgia tech’s big-play capabilities against the tigers, save for in the last few minutes of the game. Led by speedsters cJ spiller and Jacoby Ford, clemson mounted an epic comeback that had every tech fan nauseating. Freshman Kyle parker threw great strikes to spiller and Ford for 63- and 77-yd touchdowns, respectively. the tigers eventually led 27-24 with 11 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter.

Heisman hyped B-back Jonathan dwyer surprisingly wasn’t the one who salvaged the game for tech. Instead, Blair booted two field goals late in the game to put the Yellow Jackets ahead, including a 36-yarder with under a minute left in the game.

Passing Woes on Both Sides of the Ball Josh nesbitt was 3-for-14 with 2 interceptions. Granted he did have a huge pass to thomas on tech’s final drive to set up Blair’s field goal, but other than that, the passing did not click at all.

He was inaccurate most of the game and often stood way too long in the pocket, allowing cu’s safeties to set up shop down field. If this is what Gt’s new-found passing attack looks like, I’d rather not watch. However, I will give credit where credit is due. nesbitt came through late in

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the game, and if it wasn’t for his play in Tech’s last couple drives, there’s no way they would have pulled out the win.

Parker was definitely the better passer in this matchup. This was only his second collegiate game and he threw for 261 yards and 3 scores. Our secondary, the assumed strength of the defense, couldn’t cover the Tiger receivers that well. On one occasion when Jacoby Ford was doublecovered, Parker still managed to fit the ball in between the defenders. Our linebackers should have had at least two picks where the ball hit them right in the chest. The pass defense might be in going into Miami next week as the Hurricanes amassed 386 yards through the air against FSU. Dwyer vs Spiller Who won the Heisman matchup? Definitely Spiller. He ended the night with 87 yards on the ground plus another 63 receiving. Dwyer finished with only 66 yards on 18 carries. That’s the fewest amount of total yards from Dwyer since last year’s loss to Virginia Tech in the third game of the season. Clemson’s containment of Dwyer might have been the biggest factor in their second half comeback.

Morgan Shows How It’s Done Derrick Morgan is making up for Tech’s lack of experience on the defensive front. He ended the night with 10 total tackles, the most in the game. He had three sacks on Kyle Parker against a veteran offensive line. Welcome to the ACC, Mr. Parker. That gives Morgan 5 sacks on the season, two fewer than he had all of last year.

On The Bright Side Tech won. Clemson is not a team full of chumps—they’re the real deal. I won’t sugarcoat the fact the Yellow Jackets blew a 24-pt lead on national television. It’s rather embarrassing, and it goes to show the lack of killer instinct they suffered from last week against Jacksonville State.

But how did Tech respond when they found themselves down by 3 late in the game? They toughened up and produced when they had to. The defense shut down the Tigers to give their offense the ball back. Nesbitt marched the team down the field twice to get into field-goal range. And Scott Blair, who missed an extra point last week, proved that he can be clutch when called upon.

Week 3 ACC Power Rankings September 14, 2009

1. Miami- They didn’t play a game, but I’m leaving the Hurricanes at the top to make Georgia Tech’s win this Thursday seem all the more epic.

2. Georgia Tech- Tech pulled off a messy win over Clemson after giving up a 24-pt lead. They also showed they can still win despite having a horrible outing.

3. Virginia Tech- The Hokies racked up 600 yards against Marshall. It looks like they’ve put their loss to Bama behind them.

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4. North Carolina- The Tar Heels buckled down when they had to and scored all their points in the 4th to beat UConn 12-10. Ugly win, but I’ll take it.

5. Clemson- Despite losing to Tech, the Tigers showed tremendous resilience Thursday night.

They were down by three scores but fought back to keep viewers tuned in to ESPN. 6. NC State- The Wolfpack showed a little more offense in their 65-7 win over Murray St than against South Carolina the week before.

7. Florida State- Really, Noles? Georgia Tech took a nap in the second half and still dominated Jacksonville State. You guys barely won in the last minute. You’re not helping the ACC with play like that.

8. Wake Forest- The Deacons stay where they are. Yeah, they did beat Stanford. But then again, it was Stanford. See what I’m getting at?

9. Boston College- BC also stays put. They haven’t yet played a team with a pulse, but they haven’t lost yet, either.

10. Duke- Solid win over Army shows their program is moving up in the world…

11. Maryland- Wow. Maryland must really stink. They barely beat James Madison (the school, not the person) by a field-goal in OT. 12. ________- I’m leaving this spot empty for now. That’s right. Virginia doesn’t even make the top 12 teams in the ACC Saturday’s spanking at the hands of TCU.

The Real Men of GTech from Week 2 September 15, 2009 Time to give credit where credit is due. These top players have gotten national recognition for their performance last week against Clemson, but now they have the esteemed honor to receive a helmet sticker from yours truly.

Today, we salute you Captain Derrick Morgan. Your 10 tackles last week was enough to garner the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Week. You already have 5 total sacks on the season to lead the ACC, and you’re two away from tying your last season’s total.

Congrats again, Jerrard Terrant. You’ve earned your second helmet sticker in as many weeks.

JT, you lead the nation with 172 punt return yards with 2 touchdowns. I guess that’s not too shabby.

Scott Blair, you have saved the day, and for that you earn a sticker. You’re accompanying Captain Morgan as one of the ACC Players of the Week, this one for special teams. Not only did you have your first passing touchdown (a 37-yarder to Bebe Thomas), but you kicked 1,2,3 field goals last week on the way to victory. Your kick with 57 ticks left on the clock left the Yellow Jackets up for good. I recognize you as a Real Man of GTech.

Increase Your GT IQ September 15, 2009 Long work day? I feel ya. Luckily, I’ve come across a few Tech stories that may help you pass the time.

-Congrats to the VolleyBees, who won the Courtyard Classic this weekend. I guess Clemson loved losing to us so much in football, they decided to give an encore performance against the

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VBees Friday night.

- The legendary Al Ciraldo, who was the voice of the Yellow Jackets for half a century, is to be inducted into the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame.

-Wommack needs more time to work with the D-Line.

-Great article from SI about Tech and the triple-O. - The GTG’s latest video featured during the football game, Full Steam Ahead.

- Oh, and apparently we may have bent (or broken) the rules a bit in the game last Thursday. No hard feelings, though, right guys?

Yeah, that’s all I have right now. I’ll try to get a Hurricane vs. Golden Tornado preview out in a few hours.

Race For Coastal Ignites With Jackets Against ‘Canes September 16, 2009

September 17, 2009, 7:30 PM on ESPN (GT leads series 10-4)

Georgia Tech returns to Thursday night primetime tomorrow when the Yellow Jackets travel down Miami, Fl. The Ramblin’ Wreck, coming off of a thrilling 30-27 win over rival Clemson, will be playing its third game in thirteen days. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes, led by 3rd year coach Randy Shannon, have had ten days to prepare for the Tech following an exciting victory over their own rival, a 38-34 last minute win over FSU. Miami has been looking forward to this match up since their 41-23 loss to Tech last November. The Hurricanes are looking to reclaim their national glory of a few years ago, while the Golden Tornado is out to prove to critics that they have the intensity to win the conference. Either way, the race for the ACC Coastal Division is about to heat up.

Offense The Ramblin’ Wreck ranks second in the conference in yards per game despite facing a tough defense in Clemson last week. Most of that, however, should be accredited to a few big plays, such as an 80-yard touchdown run or a fake kick that ends up as a 40-yard pass down field.

What I’m trying to say is this: the offense has put up yardage, but it has yet to sustain a drive for very long. Tech couldn’t put together a nice, grind-it-out type of drive until late in the game last week. Should that worry Tech fans? Not in the slightest. Given Paul Johnson’s track record, I’m confident that the offense will do its job. Hopefully, they’ll be able to give their defense more time to rest, especially until the defensive line develops.

Nesbitt absolutely needs to be better than we’ve seen in the last two games. His passes have been inaccurate at best, he’s looking only at Bebe Thomas down field (can you blame him?), and he’s fumbled the rock earlier against Jacksonville State. UM’s pass secondary is even worse than ours, which is rather hard to believe; perhaps GT’s quarterback will have a better time tossing

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the ball around this week than last.

Miami is once again a team with a lot of speed. Last year, that killed them, when they were often found out of position. We shall see if they can be more disciplined with their quickness tomorrow against the option offense. Cornerback Brandon Harris had nine tackles and two passes broken up against FSU. His match-up on Thomas will be an interesting one to watch: the ‘Canes will most likely play their top defender on Tech’s top receiver, but Thomas has been know to pancake cornerbacks in the past. Safety Randy Phillips (6 tackles, INT) and linebacker Colin McCarthy (8 tackles) are two other veterans who had great games against the ‘Noles.

We’ve still yet to see things click up front on the offensive line. Though the Yellow Jackets have yet to give up a sack, the line was pretty much handled last week against Clemson, the main reason why Jon Dwyer failed to have a breakout game.

Defense For Miami, everything starts with quarterback Jacory Harris. Despite blitzing the sophomore several times last week, FSU had only one sack. Harris, on the other hand, churned 386 yards through the air. That ridiculous number might be bound to repeat itself. I don’t see the Yellow Jackets having the ability to put pressure on Harris all night long. Aside from Derrick Morgan, the defensive line is a liability right now. The tackles and DE Robert Hall have a great opportunity to show the country that there’s more than one talent on the line, but that’s much easier said than done with All-ACC tackle Jason Fox anchoring the Miami front.

Tech’s highly-touted secondary also needs to make plays, but they’ll have to do so against perhaps the best receiving corps in the ACC. Travis Benjamin hauled in 4 catches for 128 yards and a score against FSU. Seven other playmakers caught the ball against the ‘Noles, showing some of the depth that they have at the skill positions. Morgan Burnett and Co. need to put out a better effort than they did against Clemson last week if they expect to keep this game close.

While Tech’s linebackers haven’t exactly been up to snuff yet either, I expect them to pull their weight this week. Miami didn’t have a rusher to get over 40 yards against FSU, a team with a defensive front as young as Tech’s. The Hurricane’s might be somewhat deeper at tailback with Javarris James and Graig Cooper than Clemson was, but neither has the talent that Tech saw in C.J. Spiller last week.

Special Teams Remember last week when I said I wouldn’t include a special teams report in these previews? I lied. Jerrard Terrant has turned out to be the brightest spot on this team. He leads the nation in punt returns thus far, and he’ll be going up against the best K/P in the conference in Matt Bosher. It’s going to be difficult for him to continue his streak of returning punts to the endzone.

Kicker Scott Blair has finally earned some respect, and hopefully his awesome performance last week will give him a confidence boost. Punter Chandler Anderson did a decent job of keeping the ball away from Spiller last week, a great sign considering return-man Graig Cooper might be almost as dangerous.

My Take I’m expecting a lot of points in this game. Neither team has shown a dominant defense that will be necessary to win the conference, but both offenses rank at the top. The Jackets will be traveling for the first time, where they had a respectable 3-2 record last season. The two weeks of preparation time should certainly help the ‘Canes feel better about their chances against the option, but Georgia had a bye week before they hosted the Jackets and look what happened

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(they gave up 45 points). Tech needs to win the battle of field position. If the defense doesn’t get a lot of rest in this game, Nesbitt can at least try to give them some field to work with.

Defensively, GT needs to prevent giving up the big play. Harris is going to find his receivers, so Tech should try to at least keep everything in front of them. Lastly and most importantly, the Jackets need to play for 4 quarters. They’ve let up against the last two teams and scraped away with wins, but they cannot afford to do that versus team with this much talent. Dwyer will finally get over the century mark in rushing yards, and GT wins this shootout 35-33.

-Sidenote: This game will be the first time in 15 years that the Ramblin’ Wreck Marching Band doesn’t make the trip with the team.

Mellow Jackets Blown Away By Hurricanes September 20, 2009 Day and night. That’s the difference between Tech’s 41-23 thrashing of Miami last year when they ran for 472 yards and this year’s 33-17 loss to the Hurricanes. Miami (2-0, 2-0) did a much better job containing the option attack of Georgia Tech (2-1, 1-1), allowing only 95 yards rushing, 60 of which came on Tech’s opening possession.

Aside from an outstanding performance by wideout Demaryius Thomas, who hauled in 6 catches for 133 yards and a score, Tech didn’t have much going for them. The offense has yet to click like last year’s team. Jonathan Dwyer hasn’t even come close to putting up the kind of numbers he did last season. The lack of pressure from the defensive front allowed big plays from Miami’s Jacory Harris, who was 20-25 for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Blocking Blunders A big reason for Tech’s stagnant offense last week was their inability to block downfield. On one particular occasion, a-back Anthony Allen missed a key block to leave Roddy Jones high and dry.

As talented a back as Allen is, he needs to work on his blocking if he wishes to continue seeing playing time. The receivers and offensive line haven’t exactly been great holding their blocks, either. The line’s inability to cut down their opponent’s tackles has been a big factor in why Dwyer has yet to be a playmaker for Tech.

Under Pressure (Or Lack Thereof) Not only did the Yellow Jackets record zero sacks on the Hurricanes, they were never even close to Jacory Harris for most of the game. Derrick Morgan, who has been the only productive part of the Jacket’s defense, was double-teamed all night. The other d-linemen couldn’t take advantage of their 1-on-1 match-ups at all. And if that wasn’t bad enough, GT is now without starting defensive end Robert Hall, who will miss the next several weeks with a knee injury.

No Respect After their loss Thursday night, Georgia Tech has fallen off of the AP Top 25 Poll. Miami moved up from 20th to 9th. North Carolina, who comes to Atlanta next week, ranks 22nd.

On The Bright Side Believe me, I’ve thought long and hard about this part. Tech has problems, there’s no denying that. If they want to contend for the ACC, they are going to have to address their defensive woes and offensive inconsistency.

Still, Tech fans should keep their heads up for a couple very good reasons. Firstly, Tech has been

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here before. The Jackets started off 2-1 last season after losing at VT and still managed to be a force in the ACC. They’re no longer in control of their own destiny and pretty much need to run the table for the rest of the year, but its definitely possible once GT addresses their problems.

Also, this game was Tech’s third in 13 days. For Miami, it was their second in 10. GT looked tired all game, and they had good reason to be. Call it unfortunate or call it poor planning, that’s a short turnover for any team. After a few days of some rest and preparation for the Tar Heels, expect the Yellow Jackets to be ready to play next Saturday.

Week 4 Power Rankings September 20, 2009

1. Miami- They didn’t just look good, they looked REALLY good. In case if you didn’t hear the ESPN crew say it about a thousand times last Thursday, the U has its “swagger” back.

2. Virginia Tech- Two things stood out in the last two minutes that I watched this game: blown coverage and a lot of luck. Big game this weekend in Blacksburg against Miami (did I mention they have their swagger back?).

3. Clemson- C.J. Spiller, who had 219 total yards, is as advertised. Their 25-7 beating of BC lasted 5 hours, which is 5 hours too long to look at that shade of orange.

4. Florida State- Christian Ponder looked great in this game, but I’m not going to hop onto the Nole bandwagon just yet. I expect they’ll handle South Florida pretty easily this week.

5. North Carolina- Their game against Eastern Carolina was much closer than I anticipated until the last couple of minutes. For that, I move the Heels down.

6. Georgia Tech- I still don’t want to talk about this one.

7. NC State- QB Russell Wilson set some records against Gardner-Webb. No surprises there.

8. Wake Forest- The Deacons just can’t seem to move anywhere on my rankings. If they beat BC next week, maybe that will change (but don’t count on it).

9. Boston College- Speaking of the Eagles, its about time they actually played someone. And what do they have to show for it? How does 54 total yards sound?

10. Duke- At least BC isn’t in my bottom 3. They’d have to be REALLY bad for that. Take Duke for example: they’re really bad, and they’re in my bottom 3.

11. Maryland- I have a feeling the Fridge might not last much longer in College Park. You can’t lose to Middle Tennessee State, a team with this guy as their mascot.

12. Al Groh’s Chair- Is on fire. UVA took a lead into the 4th quarter, only to lose to Southern Miss. Jeez, they’re bad. But at least Miami has its swagger back.

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Real Men of GTech from Week 3 September 22, 2009 Despite a dismal outing by the Yellow Jackets, there are a few players who performed well enough to earn themselves the most revered award on the ACC blog network: my helmet stickers.

Here’s to you, Bebe Thomas. Your 6 catches for 133 yards was enough make everyone realize [you’re] one of the best wideouts in the ACC, even if your team was otherwise dominated. Heck, your 56 yard score was the best thing Tech fans saw all night.

No one will ever forget you, little girl on the shoulders of that Miami fan. You were really, really upset when ESPN caught you on camera, and your dad had [no] clue. Seriously, this girl was crying big-time.

Yeah, I only have two to give away this week. Anyways, I’m off to brave the watery streets of Atlanta. I’m thinking about going to class in my swim trunks…

Today’s Pow-Wow With UNC’s Blogger September 22, 2009 I came back from class earlier to pick my fellow UNC blogger’s brain about the game Saturday.

Here’s some of the notables: UNC: Coming off of your loss to Miami, how do you expect the team to react this Saturday?

GT: I think rest is a big thing. They played 3 games in 13 days, and i think most of their attention preseason was on Clemson, not Miami. GT had a couple days of rest, and Coach Johnson has had some time to figure things out on offense. That being said, I don’t think the offense will all of a sudden come out and click, or that the defense will suddenly learn the basics in pass coverage.

UNC: Name one player that the Heels should be on the lookout for this week?

GT: On offense, Demaryius Thomas is leading the league with 109 receiving yards per game, despite being double covered last week. The question is whether Nesbitt can get him the ball, because he has been really inaccurate.

Same question for UNC: one player who could be the big factor Saturday?

UNC: You have to watch out for our whole D-line, but in particular watch Robert Quinn. He’s really come into his own as a sophomore and his speed will allow him to take the QB or chase down the A-back from the weak side.

GT: Best rushing O vs. best rushing D. UNC: True, but your rushing O isn’t exactly The Citadel, UConn, or ECU. UNC: How about the other side of the ball? What do you see that either team might potentially be able to exploit?

GT: Defensively, GT isn’t ready to compete. The D-line is so young (and DE Robert Hall hurt his knee thursday). DE Derrick Morgan might be the best DE in the conference, but can’t do it if he’s double teamed. LB’s will continue to be weak until Kyle Jackson is healthy again. The secondary has the talent to be good at any moment, but hard hitting safety Cooper Taylor probably wont play Saturday.

GT: How does your O-line look?

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UNC: Still a little shady. RG Jonathan Cooper is still struggling with a sprained ankle, and after losing 5 OL we expected to contribute for various reasons in the offseason, we’re one more injury away from starting either a true freshman or converted DL (we’ve converted 2 since Spring ball). Although they looked good for the most part against ECU, I’m not sold that the Pirates are a very strong defensive team.

GT: The young receivers are holding their own? Running back by committee working?

UNC: The receivers have looked great for the past 5 quarters. You’ll hear the hype begin to build around Erik Highsmith (#88). Also, we should get Dwight Jones back for his first game of the season. He hasn’t showed us anything on the field yet playing behind the NFL guys a season ago, but was highly regarded coming out of high school.

We’re only really using two backs. You’ll see Shaun Draughn get the bulk of the carries, with Ryan Houston getting a lot when the D is tired, or to punch it in from the red zone.

UNC: I think y’all have a HUGE advantage in special teams. Our punting has been abysmal and your returns have been pretty good. Also our kicker is unreliable from outside 40 yards.

GT: Our kicker also stinks from outside 40, but is great inside. Jerrard Terrant is a great return man.

UNC: I’m afraid of your blocking techniques, I feel like its a good way to get D-Linemen in the trenches hurt. Your thoughts?

GT: Yeah, thats the thing about the blocking. If GT’s little A-backs do it right, the corners and LB’s shouldnt want to go after the ball carrier. The refs often called chop blocking last year b/c opposing coaches thought it was cheap and would remind them to keep an eye out, but GT hasnt been called for chop blocks yet this season.

UNC: Most importantly, what’s your prediction for the game?

GT: PJ didnt suffer back to back losses last year, and bounced back pretty well after each one.

For instance, after losing to UNC last year we twerked Miami. I’ll go with GT 21 UNC 17.

UNC: Y’all are favored -2.5, but i’m going Heels 24, Jackets 21.

-Thanks to Chad for posting this discussion at http://www.theroadtotampabay.com/blogs/nc/.

Stop Hating On The Option September 23, 2009 Just like anything that’s different, the option gets no love when we lose a game. “People have figured it out.” “Defensive speed is way faster than it used to be.” “There’s a reason why no one runs that high school offense anymore.” Immediately after our loss last Thursday, my friends and I had a discussion about Coach Johnson’s spread option philosophy. Not long afterwards, the newspapers and blogospheres were filled with reasons why CPJ’s team will never score as many points as it did in year one. For instance, check out this guy (he was a big fan of this offense before the season started).

Well here’s my 5 reasons why it can and does work: 1. “There’s a reason why no one runs it” is pretty dumb. Florida. Utah. Michigan. All three are pretty good teams. All three run the spread option. I don’t really follow their fan base, but I haven’t heard anyone saying lately that Florida’s offense cannot work in SEC (unless if Monte Kiffin runs your defense). I know what you’re going to fire back: there offense is different than

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Tech’s. Not really. They run their’s out of the shutgun, ours is under center. So? 2. Remember, we’re in Year 2 of the PJ Era. As good as some of them are, we’re still using prostyle players in a spread option system. We got lucky with Nesbitt, Dwyer, and Roddy; they were all good fits. But the offensive line still can’t manage easy tasks, and our receivers can be pretty spotty at their blocking technique. Give it time and let CPJ get his players.

3. “It won’t work once teams have seen it several times.” Maybe. But let me give you the classic CPJ retort: Have teams not seen pro-style or west coast offenses several times? And do they not still work? His Navy and Georgia Southern teams never had that problem.

4. Scheme doesn’t matter as much as the players in it. Even the best offensive system is thrown out the window if you cannot block anyone (see: GT vs Miami recap). Is Nesbitt’s inaccuracy due to what offense he’s in? Doubt it (granted when CPJ passes, he goes long). I’m not trying to make excuses. The offense should be better than it has shown us. I mean, they have just out everyone returning this year. But just because the players underachieve doesn’t mean its time for an offensive overhaul.

5. Paul Johnson’s buyout is around $17 million. So the option’s got to work. Right?

Greg & Lane’s Random Picks of the Week September 23, 2009 For some people, winning in college football is about X’s and O’s, 40-yd times, and game preparation. But for others, it’s about superstition and finding random reasons you might win a game. For the latter, I’d like to introduce to you Greg & Lane, who like to ignore talent and coaching to get to the bottom of why this weeks winners are so good.

1. Florida State will beat Southern Florida. Not because the Noles are coming off of a huge win or because USF will be without senior QB Matt Grothe, but because of Chuck Amato’s glasses.

2. Clemson will beat TCU for two reasons. They’re players touch a rock before every game, and their coach’s name is Dabo. Dabo Swinney.

3. Upset Alert! We’re calling South Carolina over Ole Miss. Thursday nights so far have been crazy, and they’ll stay that way. If you’re an ACC fan and don’t really care about the game, count how many times Steve Spurrier loses his visor.

4. Another Non-ACC game to watch: LSU vs Miss St. I doubt the Bullpups will pull this one out, but that’s not the point. Tech fans need to look for places to tailgate next week. We also need to see what’s going on with this cowbell thing. Will it rattle our players, or is it just lame?

Jackets Host UNC With Backs Against The Wall September 25, 2009

September 26, 2009, Noon on Raycom (GT leads series 23-18-3)

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Tech is angry. Tech is rested. They didn’t need anymore motivation for Saturday’s game against the #22 North Carolina Tar Heels (3-0). But after the Yellow Jackets (2-1, 1-1) were taken to the woodshed last week in a 33-17 loss to Miami, it’s safe to say the Paul Johnson’s team is ready to get serious in the race for the Coastal division of the ACC. But UNC, coming off of a 31-17 win over Eastern Carolina, is no pushover. Butch Davis’s team leads the conference with 52.3 rushing yards allowed per game, the 7th best in the country.

Offense I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m not worried about the offense. No, they haven’t performed up to par with expectations so far this season. In fact, they’ve only scored a miserable 3 touchdowns when in the red-zone. But I know Paul Johnson, and I know it will come eventually.

But does “eventually” happen this week?

Jonathan Dwyer thus far has been a non-factor. Last week Miami found a way to take our A-backs out of the equation, too. That means this offense will live or die with the play of QB Josh Nesbitt. If he can start up a passing game to Demaryius Thomas or make some plays running the football, Tech might be alright.

But that’s easier said than done. Butch Davis figured out a way to hold the Ramblin’ Wreck to 7 points last year, so he’s likely going to try to build off of the success he had last season, starting with Robert Quinn. Quinn, a sophomore, is the leader of the defensive line, and has the speed to make Saturday a long afternoon for Tech’s spotty offensive line. The linebacking corp, particularly Quan Strudivant, has tremendous speed and is one of the best in the conference.

Coach Johnson might be able to exploit some holes in the secondary after the departure of AllAmerican safety Trimmane Goddard, but Nesbitt will have to be on the lookout for more than just Thomas downfield.

Defense All the talk this week has revolved around Tech’s change defensively from a 4-2-5 to a simpler 4-3 formation. As such, Coach Johnson will be throwing true freshman linebacker Julian Burnett into the mix, a kid who has played as well as anyone else on the defensive side of the ball.

Anthony Egbuniwe will get the start tomorrow at defensive end in place of Robert Hall. Whether or not he can help out fellow DE Derrick Morgan put pressure on UNC’s T.J. Yates might determine the outcome of the game. Yates, a Marietta native, is a very capable quarterback who sees the field very well.

The secondary that was supposed to be able to hold its own until the line came of age has not nearly as good as advertised. Miami’s talented receivers made a joke out of Morgan Burnett and Jerrard Terrant last week. Saturday Tech faces a much younger group that is still trying to figure out where the playmakers lie. Most likely that position will fall on the shoulders of freshman sensation Erik Highsmith, who had 113 yards last week against ECU. Running back Shaun Draughn might be the player I’m worried about on UNC’s offense. Georgia Tech’s run defense was exposed last week against Miami. If the Yellow Jackets fall behind late in this game, Draughn and fellow back Ryan Houston will be running the ball often enough to shorten the game considerably.

My Take I have a pretty good outlook on this game even though Tech is coming off one of its worse losses of the Paul Johnson era. The Yellow Jackets looked very tired down in Miami, and I think a

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couple extra days of rest might be just what the team needed to get their legs back. Historically, GT has always played well with their backs against the wall; another loss for Tech to a Coastal division rival will all but write them out of the ACC race. Finally, I don’t think Coach Johnson has much love for Butch Davis. Not only did UNC demolish the Yellow Jackets last year, but Davis’s play-calling late in the game might have put the Tar Heels in Johnson’s dog house.

Georgia Tech obviously needs to come out and block better that they did last week. The key to putting up points for Tech will be whether the A-backs, offensive line, and even receivers can put defenders to the ground. If that happens, then the big plays from Nesbitt, Dwyer, Anthony Allen, and Roddy Jones will come. Also, the Yellow Jackets have to need to get 3rd-andshort situations as often as possible. If it’s obvious that Nesbitt is going to pass, UNC has the advantage. Turnovers absolutely killed the Jackets last year, so it’s imperative they hold on to the ball and keep their heads in the game. I think the boys in White and Gold come out focused and ready to play tomorrow. Tech wins it 21-17.

Tech On Track With Win Over Carolina September 27, 2009 Finally, the team that Georgia Tech fans have been waiting to see arrived Saturday morning to Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Yellow Jackets (3-1, 2-1 ACC) looked to have regained their focus and energy in their 24-7 domination over the #22 North Carolina Tar Heels (3-1, 0-1). From start to finish, Paul Johnson’s team seemed to have played with a chip on their shoulders after losing last week in Miami and subsequently falling out of the AP Top 25 Poll.

“Seeing it all week, we took the challenge to step forward as a defense and as a team,” said junior safety Morgan Burnett. “Everyone came in determined and it showed throughout the day.” Burnett’s two interceptions helped the defense to hold UNC to 154 total yards and 44 plays, the fewest allowed in at least 19 years.

Jonathan Dwyer and Josh Nesbitt both had the terrific performances coaches had been waiting to see. Dwyer finally broke free from defenses for 158 yards, his first 100-yd rushing game of the season. But the quarterback Nesbitt looked to be by far the toughest player on the field. He had 32 rushes for 97 yards and two scores, and was 7-11 passing for 97 yards to boot.

Adjustments Do The Trick Since the second half of the Clemson game, teams seemed to have GT figured out both offensively and defensively. Against UNC, Tech showed some new wrinkles and formations in their game plan. Instead of sticking to the 4-2-5 formation that gave up 454 yards to Miami, defensive coordinator Dave Wommack decided to switch to a more traditional 4-3 scheme.

While this overhauls the majority of Tech’s playbook and decreases the number of coverages, it also makes things much simpler for the players. They responded by getting in Carolina QB T.J. Yates’s face all day long and racking up three turnovers.

Welcome Aboard The new defensive scheme meant that freshman Julian Burnett got his first start at linebacker.

Aside from Burnett, several other Jackets also made an impact Saturday. Anthony Egbuniwe started at DE in place of an injured Robert Hall. Tech may have finally found in Egbuniwe a complement to talented end Derrick Morgan, who previously has been the only one to apply pressure on opposing QBs. Freshman WR Stephen Hill also started and became the first receiver

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other than Bebe Thomas to catch a pass. Freshman longsnapper Tyler Morgan had a huge hit on a punt coverage, and Chris Tanner came in during the 4th quarter to kick after Scott Blair’s dismal day.

Official Review: You’re Wrong Am I unaware of some new rule that wasn’t covered at the ACC Media Days? If a player goes out of bounds when there’s under two minutes left in the half, doesn’t the clock stop? And it stops again for a few seconds every time a team gets a first down, right? Paul Johnson thought so, too, and voiced his displeasure with head ref Tom DeJoseph when it cost us points. GT was five yards away from a touchdown when the clock signaled for half-time. I could say some other things about it, but the site is monitored.

On the Bright Side Tech looked to be the team that was hyped about all summer long. They came out with some fire in their eyes that hadn’t been seen since they were in Athens last November.

There are several good things to take away from this game, and it’s difficult to put my finger down on the one aspect that fans should be excited about. The Jackets showed that they can bounce back from such a demoralizing defeat like the one they suffered in Miami. That could be huge down the road, as the schedule doesn’t get much easier and the Coastal race is still up for grabs this weekend. If the ACC gets as crazy as it did last year, then the ability to put their spotty past behind them will carry Tech a long way. Maybe even as far as Tampa.

Week 5 Power Rankings September 28, 2009

1. Virginia Tech- After their complete domination of Miami on Saturday, the Hokies are back where they were to start the season: on top.

2. Miami- They’re vulnerable, but I figure they’re still pretty good. The question is, what does that spanking do to their swagger with Oklahoma rolling into town?

3. Georgia Tech- Welcome back, Tech. Josh Nesbitt has put his team right in the thick of the Coastal race again. Now time to go face the State Dawgs and those annoying cow bells.

4. NC State- Russell Wilson once again carries the Pack on his shoulders. Great come back win, now watch them lose to Wake this week…

5. Clemson- The Tigers really should beaten TCU. Hey, at least they play Maryland this week, right?

6. Florida State- As much as this doesn’t help the ACC’s reputation, I really just have to laugh.

When the FSU and Miami fans win one game and then claim that they’re back, it’s so nice to see them lose to a team like South Florida. PS: Our whiteout was better.

7. North Carolina- I was expecting a fight from the Tar Heels this week. I guess they remembered they’re a basketball school.

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8. Boston College- I’m still trying to figure out why College Gameday is at Chestnut Hill this week to cover the FSU/BC game. Really, ESPN? 9. Wake Forest- Their loss to BC was actually pretty exciting to watch. Wake’s D has some issues.

10. Duke- For the longest time I couldn’t figure out what NCCU stood for, so it’s only fitting that Duke played them.

11. Maryland- These guys look so bad that it’s not even worth making fun of them anymore. I’ll probably still do it anyway.

12. Virginia- UVA played the harder on Saturday than they had all season long. (They had a bye week.)

Real Men of GTech from Week 4 September 29, 2009 It’s supply and demand: everyone wants one of my helmet stickers, but I only have so few I can give away. Several players stepped their game up last week, but I’m looking to recognize the best of the best.

Today, we salute you Morgan Burnett. You’ve earned ACC Player of the Week honors for your 2 interceptions against UNC. Despite having a club on your arm, you’re proving that your one good hand is better than anyone else’s two.

Great work, Sean Bedford. You’ve also earned POTW for holding down the O-Line last Saturday.

Heck, as long as you weren’t the center for the Tar Hells, it’s easy to look good.

Josh Nesbitt, you really came through Saturday. As CPJ said, you pretty much willed us to a victory. You were by far the toughest kid on the field as you ran the ball 32 times for buck with 2 TD’s. You were also spot-on with your tosses, going 7-11 for 89 yards (and got the ball to someone that doesn’t have “Thomas” written on the back of their jersey).

Lastly, I’d like to recognize the officiating crew. Yeah, I know they were horrendous. But they deserve some love. I hear that getting chewed out by CPJ is none too fun, so I feel kinda bad for these guys. They know they missed the call… Big time… It could have really cost us the game…

Lucky for them it didn’t…

Greg & Lane’s Random Picks of the Week September 30, 2009 We’re going to have to gloat for a second. We were 2 for 4 last week, but the football gods knew that playing at home with a coach named Dabo wasn’t enough for Clemson to top the Horn Frogs of TCU. I wonder if this kid was at the game or if his doctor told him football was detrimental to his health. FSU came out crazy flat against South Florida (we forgot to take into account that USF mascot is the bull, not native to Florida at all). But we did call the LSU-MISS STATE game being close (note the cowbells) and The Man, The Myth, The Visor (aka Steve Spurrier) taking out #4 Ole Miss.

The moral of the story is we called it, and we plan on calling it again.

Upset of the Week: The U over Boomer Sooner Both of these teams should be feared but Miami has something powerful on their side: they

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have their swagger back. After their embarrassment last week, the U is a very dangerous team. It also helps that their offensive coordinator’s name is Whipple. We also like Miami’s mascot to win this one: a wagon is never the safest thing to drive into a hurricane.

Game to Watch: LSU vs the Bullpups Last week LSU should have lost to a Miss State team that plays our Jackets this week. Basically, we’re saying the Tigers need to step up their game; Georgia fans are starting to think their team is good again, so it’s time for UGAg to lose. Mascot Challenge: advantage to the Mike the Tiger over an inbred bulldawgy.

The Game Tech Fans Need to Watch: Boston College over Florida State. Despite being in New England, Chestnut Hill is still pretty cool place to play football this time of year. BC needs to watch out for Chuck Amato’s glasses as they will be out in full force during this 3:30 game. However, we think BC will pull this one out for one reason: the entire student section sings “Build Me Up Buttercup” together with the band. That’s kinda cool in a Yankee sort of way. The Falcons’ Matty Ice is from BC, practically making Boston and Atlanta sister cities. Mascot challenge: you don’t get any more American than an Eagle.

Wreck Watch: Tech, be careful this weekend. MSU is going to throw some curveballs at you: cowbells, different time zones, and the SEC aura. The night game means a whole day of tailgating (choice photos to be posted next week). We’ll also be sure to come back to Atlanta with a full cowbell update.

Don’t Give Up On Us Yet October 1, 2009 We all know that the ACC gets a bad rap. For the most part, the conference deserves it.

Whenever coaches and players start talking about how they’re just as good as any other conference, sure enough there’s a team that will just completely embarrass us. FSU to South Florida, Middle Tennessee State over Maryland, William & Mary beating Virginia. Trust me, the list goes on and on. So far, this conference is 11-12 against others (I’m not counting wins over FCS schools, but I am counting the losses), 2-4 against ranked opponents, and 4-7 against other BCS schools. Yeah, thats pretty bad.

But to all the naysayers, I beg you this: keep watching.

Here’s a highlight list of non-conference games for the rest of the year: Week 5: GT @ Miss St, Oklahoma @ Miami Week 6: Indiana @ Virginia Week 8: BC @ Notre Dame, Wake Forest @ Navy Week 9: GT @ Vanderbilt Week 10: VT @ East Carolina Week 13: FSU @ Florida, Miami @ USF, Georgia @ GT, Clemson @ South Carolina Of all the remaining non-conference teams, Oklahoma and Florida (maybe Notre Dame) look to be the only ones that should definitely win. All the others are winnable for the ACC. That means, at best, we could possibly go 9-2 in these games.

Let’s face it, Maryland, Virginia, and Duke have been bringing this conference down.

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Commissioner Swofford said the ACC might be the deepest conference in the country, but it’s just not. Virginia Tech has been carrying the ACC on its back even though it lost to Alabama.

FSU’s win at Brigham Young was huge, but their loss to South Florida was equally as big.

Now it’s Georgia Tech’s time. Paul Johnson was 2-0 against the SEC before the debacle to LSU in the Peach Bowl. We can beat MSU again this year; it will be harder to do, but there’s still a good chance it will happen. There’s also a good chance GT will leave Nashville with a win over Vandy.

Beating UGA 2 years in a row will be tough, but I have to have faith that will happen. That’s 3 wins over the mighty SEC right there.

There’s still a chance for the ACC to turn things around. Virginia, Maryland, and Duke don’t really have the chance to screw things up for us anymore, while GT, Miami, and Clemson could easily help right the ship. I’m not saying the ACC will win out, that they could be the best conference, or that we should look ahead to that BC/Notre Dame game. If anyone is a “let’s-take-it-onegame-at-a-time” fan, it’s me. After all, if the Jackets lose this weekend in Starkville, then this article is a bit ridiculous.

What I am saying is this: we’ve been hated on and we’ll keep being hated on. But don’t count us out. Not yet.

Wreck Looks To Keep Running Against Mississippi State October 2, 2009

September 3, 2009, 7:30 PM on CSS (GT leads series 3-0)

For the first time ever, The Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech will travel to Mississippi to take on the MSU Bulldogs. Tech (3-1, 2-1) is coming off of a huge 24-7 win over North Carolina last week as the offense has finally started click and the defense is finally growing up. Mississippi State (2-2, 1-2) couldn’t quite pull off the upset against SEC rival LSU, as the Tigers held the Bulldogs on a goal line stand late in the game to preserve a 30-26 lead. The Bulldogs, coached now by former Florida Gator offensive coordinator Dan Mullen, are a completely different team than the one that was demolished by Tech 38-7 last year in Atlanta.

Offense Mississippi State offers a unique challenge for Georgia Tech’s offense. MSU’s defense consists multiple looks for opponents, often times making it challenging for quarterbacks to know what to expect. For instance, sometimes the Bulldogs will line up with 3 down linemen, other times 4. The unique defense shouldn’t pose much of a problem for Tech’s read-based option offense.

Paul Johnson’s playcalling should allow quarterback Josh Nesbitt to make the appropriate decisions on the field to get the ball into open space no matter where defenders line up, something quarterbacks in more “traditional” offenses might struggle with.

Last week, Nesbitt practically carried the Yellow Jackets on his shoulders, rushing the ball a total of 32 times. In my eyes, he became the leader of this team. If Nesbitt is to be a factor again this week, he’ll need to watch out for linebackers Jamar Chaney and K.J. Wright, MSU’s leaders on defense.

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Jon Dwyer, who found new ways to get the ball against UNC, will need to have another solid performance again this week. The Bulldogs have allowed only 33 and 30 rushing yards in their last two games, but UNC had an impressive resume going into last weeks game, too. If the stable of backs in Dwyer, Anthony Allen, and Roddy Jones can take the load off of Nesbitt, then Tech should have no problems creating long drives to keep their defense on the bench.

Defense Dan Mullen is still trying to work out the kinks in MSU’s spread option attack, but that’s not to say it isn’t dangerous. The Bulldogs rushing attack ranks 26th nationally thanks mostly to talented running back Anthony Dixon. Dixon is second in the SEC in rushing yards per game, and may be the best back Tech faces all season with the exception of Clemson’s C.J. Spiller. The Jackets were able to contain Spiller for most of the game, and I expect to see them do much of the same this week.

State’s offensive line is quickly growing up and allowing QB Tyson Lee time to throw. Though Lee isn’t much to sling the ball down field, he’s very efficient in the short passing game that Mullen loves to run. Because of the nature of the offense and the offensive line becoming a team strength, I’m not certain the Yellow Jackets will be able to get to Lee very often. The addition of Anthony Egbuniwe at defensive end to help Derrick Morgan paid off last week, so perhaps I’ll be presently surprised again tomorrow. If not, however, I think the secondary should be able to perform well as long as they wrap up and keep those short catches from turning in to big plays.

At linebacker, Tech has lost Kyle Jackson for the season to a foot injury that was sustained last spring. Freshman Julian Burnett has been a solid replacement so far this season, and we’ll see if that trend continues against this SEC foe on the road.

My Take The last time Tech traveled, they didn’t fair too well. But, as a fan, I’m hoping that last week’s beating of UNC is a sign that this team is showing some pride in what they do. If not, this game could easily be a trap for Tech team that is coming off of a big win and headed to Florida State next week. MSU will have a chip on their shoulder, so the Jackets shouldn’t take this game lightly.

If Paul Johnson’s crew is going to avoid a letdown in Starkville, he’s going to need a few things to go his way. The defense needs to shut down Anthony Dixon. He is the alpha and the omega to this team, and if he can’t get things going, I think it will be a long night for MSU. GT also needs to continue their trend of having few turnovers. They were very good holding on to the ball last week, and their match up against MSU last year turned out to be their only mistakefree game of the season. Finally, Paul Johnson needs to find a kicker. Though I’m hoping that it doesn’t happen tomorrow night, sooner or later Scott Blair’s inconsistency is going to cost Tech a ballgame. Mark it down.

I think Tech is on track now. They know that this game is as much about themselves as it is about representing their conference. Look for Tech to come out fired up in the this one and quiet down the cowbells early. I think GT wins this one 28-13.

Nesbitt, Yellow Jackets Take to the Air October 4, 2009 For the second week in a row, quarterback Josh Nesbitt carried his team on his shoulders. But whereas he did it with his legs last week against UNC, Nesbitt showed off his arm in Georgia

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Tech’s 42-31 win over Mississippi State.

Nesbitt was 11-of-15 and had a career best 266 yards. For the most part Demaryius Thomas was on the receiving end of those passes, who had 8 catches for 174 yards and a score.

While the Tech defense looked less than impressive against Dan Mullen’s version of the spread option, they forced enough big plays when it counted most. The run defense in particular looked spotty as MSU’s Anthony Dixon slashed for 106 yards on the night. However, the Jackets forced Dixon to fumble twice on Saturday, something the talented running back hadn’t done since 2007. GT was able to capitalize on 3 of MSU’s 5 turnovers for 21 points.

Egbuniwe Stepping Up It took only a minute into the game before defensive end Anthony Egbuniwe made his presence felt. On the third play from scrimmage, Egbuniwe maneuvered through the middle of the line and picked the ball out of MSU’s Tyson Lee’s hands. He would again force Anthony Dixon to fumble later on when State had first-and-goal on the GT 3-yard line. Linebacker Brad Jefferson also had two fumbles, one of which was returned for a score by Jerrard Terrant.

Special Teams Still Needs Work It seems that every week there’s something different. Once we think we’ve figured out a way to solve their place kicking problems, Tech’s kickoff unit starts to struggle. Tech gave up an average of 36 yards per return on Scott Blair’s kicks, and MSU’s Leon Berry returned one 89 yards for a TD. We’ll Take What We Can Get It was a relatively good weekend for the ACC. Virginia Tech’s struggles with Duke, Clemson’s loss to Maryland, and UNC getting upset by Virginia surely didn’t help. But a Tech win over an SEC foe coupled with Miami’s upset of Oklahoma gives the ACC a boost. Paul Johnson is now 6-1 against non-ACC opponents and 3-1 against the SEC. On The Bright Side As Coach Johnson said, “42 is more than 31.” The defense still needs some work, but in the last two weeks the offense has been about where Tech fans have expected.

I think it’s safe to say that Nesbitt has stepped into the role of leader of this offense, and Dwyer seems to have put his early slump behind him. Defensively, GT seemed suspect but also came away with some big plays. Though Tech had only one sack on the day, Tyson Lee was under pressure a good amount considering MSU prefers quick passes. For the most part, Tech fans had to like what they saw. Hopefully, CPJ and his staff will address some of their issues and be ready to head down to Tally Town next week.

Week 6 Power Rankings October 5, 2009

1. Virginia Tech- The Hokies came close to disappointing this weekend against Duke, but without a loss in the ACC, VT is still the top turkey.

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2. Miami- Good win for the Canes over Oklahoma. Even better win Jacory Harris’s barber. He had “U Swag” shaved into his hair. It’s interesting that he got that right after getting demolished

by VT. 3. Georgia Tech- The Wreck did a good job avoiding an upset to Mississippi State. The offense is starting to click under Josh Nesbitt.

4. Boston College- I know what you’re thinking– putting BC this high is a tad bit ridiculous. Then again, at least these guys won Saturday.

5. NC State- Can’t say that I’m shocked that the Wolfpack lost to Wake. Russell Wilson was due for a bad day, right?

6. Clemson- With a decent kicker, Clemson avoids getting upset by the Terps. C.J. Spiller is still making plays for the Tigers.

7. Florida State- The frustrating thing is that the Noles have the talent to be good. I’ll keep the trash talking at a minimum this week with Tech rolling into Tallahassee.

8. Wake Forest- Sorry, Deacs. Just because you beat NC State doesn’t mean you can crack the top half of the rankings. Handle Maryland this week like you’re supposed to and then we’ll talk.

9. North Carolina- The Heels have some questions to answer after losing to– get this– Virginia.

10. Duke- You came close to beating the Hokies this week. But didn’t. You get nothing. Good day, sir.

11. Maryland- Hey, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while, right?

12. Virginia- Yo Cavs, you played a great game and all. And I’m gonna let you finish in a sec. But Maryland had one of the best upsets all weekend. Just sayin….

Real Men of GTech from Week 5 October 8, 2009 Sorry, guys. I’ve been slacking. I know you want your helmet stickers, but I’ve got to put my midterm exams first. Anyways, these awards may be no-brainers, but we need to give credit where credit is due.

Here’s looking at you, Bay-Bay Thomas. You’re arguably the best receiver in the conference (leads the ACC in yards per game) and you have more yards than UGAg’s beloved AJ Green.

You’re 174 yards last week against Mississippi State was pretty much awesome. Enjoy this sticker.

You’ve earned it.

Josh Nesbitt, you keep racking these stickers up my friend. You did it by land against UNC. Against MSU, you did it by air. You threw for a career best 266 yards in an offense critics once said “would get 3 yards and a cloud of dust.” Don’t let all these ACC Blog accolades get to your head– you need to come through this week against FSU (if he’s performed by land and by air, then is by sea all that’s left??

I’m torn about what to do with you, Brad Jefferson. On the one hand, you were named ACC co-Defensive Lineman last week with a career high 8 tackles and 2 forced fumbles. On the other hand, you were a part of a defensive unit that gave up 487 yards to Mississippi State! I’m not sure what to make of all this, so I award you half a sticker. Shut down Christian Ponder this week and maybe we’ll talk about that other half.

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Also, I’d like to give a shout out to the ref’s who worked the UGA-LSU game. Thank’s guys. I love seeing the Dawgs heartbroken, especially when they did nothing wrong. Keep up the good work.

Tech Looking for First Ever Road Win Over Tribe October 8, 2009

September 10, 2009, 8:00 PM on ESPN2 (FSU leads series 12-8-1)

The Seminoles of Florida State seem to have fallen on dark times. After last week’s 28-21 loss to the Boston College Eagles, legend Bobby Bowden is under significant scrutiny to step down after 34 seasons at the helm of the Seminoles (2-3, 0-2 ACC). Perhaps Paul Johnson and the Ramblin’ Wreck (4-1, 2-1 ACC) are arriving in Tallahassee at the perfect time to try to get the first ever win in Doak Campbell Stadium. Georgia Tech’s offense had a field day last Saturday in their 42-31 victory over the Bulldogs of Mississippi State. Last year’s FSU-GT game was a thriller in which Tech recovered a fumble in the end zone during the closing seconds to ensure a 31-28 win.

Offense Florida State is a team that looks to be very mistake prone. Fortunately for Tech, that bodes well for the spread option offense, which requires tremendous discipline to stop. Should any ‘Nole players choose attack the ball instead of staying on their assignments, Paul Johnson will certainly be sure to exploit it.

Linebacker Dekoda Watson is the talented leader of FSU’s defense, but it will take more than one man to slow down Tech’s running game. Josh Nesbitt has been on fire since a rough outing in Miami three weeks ago. Since that game, the QB has had a .72 completion rate, and the entire team is averaging 265 yards on the ground and 177.5 yards through the air.

With FSU’s passing defense ranking 112th in the country and plagued by injuries, I’m looking for Tech’s receivers to have a big game. Johnson’s offense finally seems to be opening up a passing game, and Demaryius Thomas has been a huge part of that. Should the ‘Noles find a way to stop the option, Nesbitt will need to find Thomas down field to keep them honest.

Defense Last year, Tech was able to keep QB Christian Ponder quiet for most of the day with only 149 yards passing and rushing yards in the negatives. Ponder, however, is in control of this offense now, and with GT’s defense struggling like it has most of the season, the quarterback should be looking forward to a big day. He leads the ACC in several categories such as passing yards and total yards per game. In his last 3 outings, he has a .714 completion rate.

If Tech looks to force Ponder into making mistakes, they will have their work cut out for them.

FSU, who returns an experienced and talented line, only gave up 1 sack last week against BC. Expect the Jackets to focus on containing Ponder, who has an adept ability to run, and to try to have the secondary stick like glue to the ‘Nole receivers.

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Florida state has yet to find a consistent running game. their leading rusher, ty Jones, only has 228 yards through 5 games, followed by ponder with 106. though the Jackets gave up over 200 yards on the ground to the Bulldogs last week, I don’t to see Fsu running the ball too often on saturday.

My Take I don’t like being favored. I don’t like all the talk about how the all the controversy in tallahassee right now means tech should have no problems. I don’t like how the home teams in acc games is 9-3 (granted one of those losses was Fsu at home to miami). It has disappointment written all over it. However… tech looks like a different team than the one that was in Florida a few weeks ago. the blocking has improved exponentially. dwyer is picking up his pace. the defense still looks like they zone out at times, but has come through in big moments. Florida state, on the other hand, seems to be waiting for it to all come together. their defense, much like ours, looks rather lousy right now. defensive coordinator mickey andrews says it might be the most mistake-prone he’s seen in all his time at Fsu. once again, I have submitted a recipe for success to coach Johnson. 1) don’t let them have the ball. ponder can’t kill you if he can’t get on the field, so play the way you did against unc.

2) Force some turnovers. the defense didn’t play well last week, but they did force 5 turnovers. odds are ponder is going to make the plays to convert on 3rd down, but if you can force a fumble or two, that should help your case. 3) Remember: you’re playing Fsu. they’re in turmoil right now, but your still playing against a legend. until last year, Fsu had beaten you 12 straight years. Remember where you’re at, and I think you win this one 38-27.

sParks fly as teCH toPs triBe october 13, 2009

the lightning in the sky that caused over an hour delay wasn’t anything compared to the display on the field. Georgia tech’s Josh nesbitt and Florida state’s christian ponder both put on a show that would give most defensive coordinators a migraine. With the help of some fourth quarter heroics, the Yellow Jackets edged out the seminoles, 49-44. nesbitt led the Ramblin’ Wreck (5-1, 3-1 acc) to their first ever win in tallahassee. the quarterback had 131 yards passing with a td and 143 on the ground with another 3 scores. In my opinion, he saved the game. after a fumbled pitch by Roddy Jones in the fourth quarter,

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Nesbitt wrestled the ball back from FSU’s Nigel Carr to keep a Tech drive alive. It was just that kind of night. In the first half alone, Tech had four scoring drives of 2 plays or less Bobby Bowden’s team (2-4, 0-3 ACC) deserves some credit. Had it not been for a few dropped passes late in the game, Ponder would have led his team to a heroic victory. FSU’s QB had a career night also with 359 yards passing and 5 TDs. What Defense?

My stomach was churning all night. Yeah, I like to see some offense. It’s fun to watch. But Tech absolutely could not stop Florida State. The ‘Noles simply had their way with the Jackets. If football is a game of adjustments, then Tech hasn’t shown the ability to make them.

That having been said, our defense was rather thin Saturday night. We’re without Cooper Taylor, the fastest player on the team. Our defensive line, which already was inexperienced, was without Robert Hall and Anthony Egbuniwe. Both would have been a big help in preventing 439 yards of total offense.

A Note For FSU Fans I promised myself I wouldn’t make this blog personal. But it is.

You might be the worst hosts and representatives of a university I’ve come upon in all the away games I’ve gone to. Don’t get me wrong; the few students that were my hosts were great.

Everyone else, on the other hand, was just terrible. Let’s get this straight: you’re team hasn’t won an ACC game, and you’re still going to talk smack? Wow. A 40-yr-old man is going to try to start a fight with a 20-yr-old college student? Awesome. I could say more, but it wouldn’t be appropriate.

Don’t get rid of Bobby. He’s the only respectable part of your program.

ACC To Be Decided This Week Tech’s win Saturday has set up the biggest game of the year in the ACC. The Hokies are ranked #4 in the country, and they come into town for Homecoming. This is the marquee match up of the Coastal division. A GT win creates a 3-way tie; if the Hokies come away victorious, then I think we might as well give them an Orange Bowl bid.

On The Bright Side It’s never as good or as bad as it seems. Florida State was able to exploit Tech with the same plays the Miami ran (like the short cross route that turned into big yards). Indeed, I’m running out of excuses for this defense. By midseason, you would think that the front would have gotten their act together.

But the offense… Wow. I’m trying to think back to a Tech quarterback that has shown the moxie and skills that Nesbitt has. Goose? Hamilton? I know that’s saying a lot, but Nesbitt has been the reason Tech has won these last three ball games.

It’s like we were scoring at will in the first half, and Johnson told the offense to slow it down to give the defense some rest. At least, that’s how I see it. The team isn’t about one player anymore (Dwyer). We’ve got weapons that other teams envy, and we’ve shown that. If we can stop Tyrod Taylor and the Hokies just a few times this week, we might be able to bring VT down to earth (more on that later).

Footnote Sorry it took me so long to get this out. We’ve just gotten through with mid-terms. That means I

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now have less time to worry about school, and more time to get back to what’s important.

Week 7 Power Rankings October 14, 2009

1. Virginia Tech (LW: No. 1)- Good news for the ACC: we finally have a team that might compete for a National Championship. Bad news: they’re coming back to Atlanta.

2. Miami (LW: No. 2)- Why are all the good teams in the same division? Miami looks to be deserving of their top 10 ranking.

3. Georgia Tech (LW: No. 3)- What is mean is that Tech’s offense is number 3 in the power rankings. The defense might be down at number 13.

4. Wake Forest (LW: No. 8)- The best team in the Atlantic division so far. The Deacs gave Maryland a thumping, but who’d have expected otherwise?

5. Boston College (LW: No. 4)- They were embarrassed by VT, but I can’t punish them too much for that. BC was due to lose to the Hokies eventually.

6. Clemson (LW: No. 6)- Bye week means no movement for the Tigers. We’ll see how they fair against the Demon Deacons this week.

7. NC State (LW: No. 5)- They lost to Duke… That’s right. Duke.

8. North Carolina (LW: No. 9)- The Heels bounced back against Georgia Southern. I’m pretty sure the basketball team could have played this game and still won.

9. Duke (LW: No. 10)- Thad Lewis threw for 459 yards and 5 touchdowns… AND it wasn’t even against GT’s defense, either!

10. Florida State (LW: No. 7)- Remember, Nole fans: it’s never as bad as it seems… Dang, I almost wrote that while keeping a straight face.

11. Virginia (LW: No. 12)- Not only did the Cavs not embarrass the ACC against the Big 10, they even beat Indiana! Perhaps it’s time for me to stop picking on Al Groh’s team (don’t count on it).

12.Maryland (LW: No. 11)- Welcome to the bottom, Terps. UM plays Virginia in the 2009 edition of the Toilet Bowl.

Real Men of GTech from Week 6 October 14, 2009 Some of the players are upset I haven’t given away helmet stickers this week. Well, look no further, guys. The time has once again arrived to give props where they’re due.

Time for some love on the O-Line. Big Man Nick Claytor, you’re well deserving of this weekly accolade. Being named ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week obviously helps you get a sticker

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from me, but your 13 knockdowns is worthy of recognition on its own. Note: this is the first time an O-Lineman has received this award. Hopefully, it won’t be the last.

Josh Nesbitt… The name has now become synonymous with words like “awesome”, “tough”, and “beastly.” His offensive performance was impressive (271 total yards, 4 total TDs). More importantly, though, was what he did on “defense.” After FSU’s Nigel Carr recovered a fumble on the 22-yd line, Nesbitt literally just ripped it back. Another note: this is Nesbitt’s third consecutive helmet sticker, making him pretty much a baller.

I’d love to give a sticker to a defensive player every once in a while. Sadly, I’m not sure they’ve gotten to travel on the road games this season. So, I’ll give one to Chandler Anderson.

Forgotten who that is? He’s the punter, and he didn’t do a darn thing last week (well, he’s also the holder for the field goal team). He get’s a sticker because I’m sure he’s not feeling much love right now.

Greg & Lane Are Back October 15, 2009 Our game is once again the only important one in the ACC, so once again we’ll have to visit a few games in other conferences.

USC and Notre Dame will both lose Saturday. Somehow, though, USC will still remain in the NC talk and use this game to push for a playoff. Funny, we didn’t hear them calling for a playoff when Leinart and Bush were there…

The Red River Shootout is always exciting. Texas beat the Sooners last year when Oklahoma was ranked at the top. As such, revenge is in the air (see: Miami/Georgia Tech). But we’re going to use a bit of science to determine this one. We all know that the river gets its color from the Sooners (they don’t call it the Burnt-Orange River, that would just be silly). We’re going to have to pick Boomer with the upset, and another trophy on Bob Stoops’ mantle.

Finally, to the Tech Wars (also known as the Corso Bowl, Lightning Bowl, etc.). Tyrod Taylor is to be respected, but not feared. He carries the ball like a Michael Vick minus the fumbles. That having been said, they might have 2 or 3 good ball carriers. We have 6… and Bebe Thomas.

We’ll let the fans decide this one. If the upper deck of the North endzone is full, GT will win. If not, then we’ll just say that Tech wins this one.

This Maybe Very Premature, But… October 15, 2009 … Indulge me.

ACC Division 3 Team Tiebreaker Rule: 1. Head-to-head record among the teams (possibly Miami, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech) 2. Records of the tied teams in the division 3. Head-to-head competition vs the team within the division with the best overall record 4. Overall record for non-divisional teams 5. Combined record versus all common non-divisional teams (for instance, if everyone played Clemson. Sadly, there is no such team)

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6. Record vs common non-divisional team with the best overall conference record (again, none of these teams played have one opponent in common, so…)

7. The tied team with the highest BCS ranking, unless the next highest team is within 5 spots of the top team. In that case, they take the winner of the head-to-head game 8. Chosen by draw. Awsome.

Jackets Ready for Reigning ACC Champs October 16, 2009

October 17, 2009, 6:00 PM on ESPN2 (VT leads series 4-2)

In arguably the biggest game Bobby Dodd Stadium has hosted in recent memory, the #4 Virginia Tech Hokies (5-1, 3-0 ACC) roll into town Saturday night for Homecoming in a Coastal Division showdown with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-1, 3-1). Should the Hokies, who are coming off of a 48-14 whipping of Boston College, win tomorrow night, they should be a shoein for the ACC title game, and might even have an outside shot at a National Championship appearance. Georgia Tech, coming off of a 49-44 thriller over Florida State, sees this game as an opportunity to tie the division race and prove on national television that they are a team to be reckoned with. Ever since the ACC’s inception of a conference championship, the winner of this game has gone on to represent the Coastal Division. Virginia Tech escaped with a win in Blacksburg last year, 20-17.

Offense After the offense racked up 532 in Tallahassee, there’s no doubt that Josh Nesbitt and Co. are clicking on all cylinders. But let’s not confuse FSU’s defense with that of Virginia Tech. These Hokies are always well coached and put up a good fight, even if they aren’t the usual strong unit that fans are used to seeing from Bud Foster.

The offensive line is starting to produce like they should, and I’m not sure VT has the defensive tackles to stop the dive. Ever since Miami, Paul Johnson has found more ways to get the ball in Jonathan Dwyer’s hands. This week, I think that Dwyer should be able to have a solid game, something the Yellow Jackets will definitely need this week.

I think the main matchup to look for is Nesbitt and Thomas versus Worilds and Chancellor.

Josh Nesbitt has come on very strong in the last several games, and Bebe Thomas has the best big-play ability out of any receiver in the ACC. Defensive end Jason Worilds, who has 4.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks, will play a big factor in trying to keep Nesbitt from getting to the edge and making clean pitches. Should he have a big game, I feel GT might lose some of its consistency from Nesbitt’s running game. Kam Chancellor told reporters back in the summer that he has figured out how to defend the spread option. The Yellow Jackets haven’t forgotten that..

Chancellor’s play in every game so far has gone a long way in how the Hokies have performed defensively, and this week will be no different. He’ll be charged with helping out against the run,

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but he’s also going to have to aid any cornerback that has to cover Bebe.

Defense As well as the offense performed last week, the defense performed just as bad. After giving up 539 total offensive yards to the ‘Noles, Paul Johnson has gone back to the drawing board. The pencil-thin depth at about every position certainly hasn’t helped, and both Cooper Taylor and Anthony Egbuniwe will both miss another game this week.

That means that Derrick Morgan must step up tomorrow. A lot has been asked of him this season and he has performed very well. If he can disrupt a VT offensive line that has had some injuries of their own, then they’ll have no choice but to focus on him all game long.

I don’t expect much out of our secondary nowadays. They have underperformed for the last several weeks. GT isn’t facing any high-caliber receivers this week, but they’ve done enough with Tyrod Taylor to help produce one of the best offenses in the ACC. As long as they can stay focused and prevent short plays from turning into big ones, GT might stand a chance.

So far, the star of this Hokie offense has been freshman sensation Ryan Williams at tailback.

Despite coming down with an illness in the last few days, Williams is still expected to play for VT. The Yellow Jackets did a fairly decent job of containing CJ Spiller when Clemson came into town in November, but they let Mississippi State’s Anthony Dixon run all over them. We’ll see which run defense shows up tomorrow night.

Special Teams I know the phrase is overused, but “Beamer Ball” gives VT a decided upper hand in this category.

I’ll start with their punter Brent Bowden, whose average punt goes for 45.4 yards, the best in the ACC. Should GT ever force a punt in this game, return-man Jerrard Terrant will have his work cut out for him. GT’s kickoff coverage is still a work in progress, which doesn’t bode well this week.

Hokie Dyrell Roberts ranks second nationally in kickoff returns with 39.88 yards per return.

My Take I’m not sure how else to put this, but on paper Georgia Tech is out-matched. VT has the advantage in special teams and defense, and both teams are at the top of the conference in offense.

But I feel good about GaTech’s chances in this. I know the players have been looking forward to this game ever since barely losing last September. The offense will still have to carry this team, and I think, contrary to Mr. Chancellor, they will. And as bad as the defense has been recently, they’ve been a lot better when playing at home.

The Ramblin’ Wreck will need to play its best game of the season if they hope to win. The offense needs to put up points early and often in this game. They’ve proven that they can do it, and if I know Paul Johnson, he won’t let them settle with last week’s performance. The defense needs to contain. That’s not too much to ask. Don’t let Taylor escape, don’t let Williams break loose, and don’t let the receivers turn small plays to big ones. Lastly, the Jackets need to control the clock. If that’s the one thing Nesbitt can do to take pressure off the defense, then they have to do it. If Paul Johnson’s team can do all these, then I think GT could be able to brew an upset.

I like being a 3-pt underdog. I’ll take the Jackets, 35-31.

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smoked tUrkey, anyone? october 18, 2009

Bud peterson has been Georgia tech’s president for only a few months, and already his lawn has been trampled by students. Following an exciting 28-23 Georgia tech win over Virginia tech, students tore down the north endzone goal post and marched to peterson’s house on campus. there, the president dispersed hacksaws for the engineers to divide the goalpost amongst themselves in celebration.

But let’s rewind. the Hokies (5-2, 3-1 acc) strutted on to Grant Field with a #4 ranking and aspirations for a Bcs title. But the defense of Georgia tech (6-1, 4-1) showed up after several weeks off, and slowed down Vt’s dynamic duo in tyrod taylor and Ryan Williams. after giving 539 yards against Fsu, derrick morgan and company buckled down to allow only 334 yards against one of the conference’s best offenses. and despite completing only one pass (a 51-yd completion that set up a Gt score before halftime), Georgia tech’s option attack was able to get moving in the second half, producing 272 yards on the ground. tech’s run game lived and died with Josh nesbitt throughout most of the night. after halftime, it seemed that the only ones capable of stopping the Ramblin’ Wreck were themselves. tech would have put up several more points had it not been for some wild pitches on the option. But when push came to shove, nesbitt wanted the ball in his hands, and he produced. on 3rd and 7 with three minutes left in the game, nesbitt broke free for a 39-yd touchdown to put the Jackets up by 12, effectively putting the game away.

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History In the Making Before last night, GT was 0-17-1 against teams ranked in the top 5 at home. Not since Boddy Dodd downed Bear Bryant and the No. 1 Crimson Tide 7-6 had Georgia Tech fans witnessed such a huge win. As great as last night was, next Saturday’s match up with the Virginia Cavaliers might be almost as big. Tech hasn’t won in Charlottesville since 1990 off of a game-winning Scott Sission field goal. That’s the same year Tech wound up winning the National Championship.

No Place Like Home Tech’s highly energized crowd gave the defense some life Saturday night. In fact, the defense has played well in friendly confines all season long. At home, Tech gives up on average 304 yards per game. On the road, they allow 493. Fortunately, Tech’s next three road games are against Virginia, Vanderbilt, and Duke. The Cavs and the Dores only average 304.3 and 312.7 yards per game, respectively.

A(nother) C(razy) C(oastal) Race Remember how last year’s ACC title contenders weren’t decided until that last couple of weeks?

This season is turning out to be much of the same. Virginia holds the lead in the Coastal right now, with VT, GT, and Miami all coming in at second. Virginia has yet to face the hardest part of its schedule. Because Tech and Miami are within 5 spots of one another in the BCS, Miami would probably represent the division (by nature of the head-to-head tie breaker). So this week, we’re all Clemson Tiger fans (as they play the Canes).

My Take Georgia Tech had to play their best all-around game of the season, and they did. I think the defense may heard all the calls for Dave Wommack’s head over the week. As such, they came to play.

GT had control of the game since the first quarter, even if it didn’t show. It was tough for the offense to click early due to all of the penalties committed and poor field position. Later, the offense only seemed to stall when there was a fumbled pitch or a pass picked off. It’s good to know that Nesbitt can shine even when he doesn’t play at his best.

From here on out the games might get easier, but it will be tougher to focus. Tech won’t be playing a ranked team maybe for the rest of the season. It’s possible they won’t take teams as seriously as they did the Hokies or Noles. Then again, this is Paul Johnson’s team, not Chan Gailey’s. PJ will demand that his guys come to play, and I think it Tech will be tough to beat for the rest of the year.

Week 8 Power Rankings October 19, 2009

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1. Miami (LW: 2)- As of right now the Canes have the best chance of representing the Coastal.

But heavy lies the crown… They host Clemson this week.

2. Georgia Tech (LW: 3)- Tech made a statement that said that they could play with the best of them. I never thought I’d say this on here, but they have a challenge this week in Charlottesville.

3. Virginia Tech (LW: 1)- BCS dreams are all but dashed. Luckily, the Hokies get a week off before they play UNC. 4. Boston College (LW: 5)- This team is so consistently inconsistent that it’s rather annoying. We’ll see if they have the grits to hang tough against Notre Dame this week in the Catholic Bowl.

5. Clemson (LW: 6)- They absolutely demolished the Deacs last week. I’ll be the first to sing the Tiger Rag if they can win again in Miami.

6. Virginia (LW: 11)- Wow. Just… wow. I’m not sure that beating Maryland merits this team jumping 5 spots in my poll, but get this: they’re undefeated in the ACC. 7. Wake Forest (LW: 4)- I wouldn’t take Wake’s game this week against Navy for granted. The Academy is on a 4-game tear, and that’s where we stole PJ from. The Midshipmen will come to play.

8. North Carolina (LW: 8)- Bye week. I hope they beat the snot out of the ‘Noles.

9. Duke (LW: 9)- Good news for Duke fans: you guys play Maryland this week. That doesn’t excite you? How about this: basketball season is here!

10. Florida State (LW: 10)- The Creminoles play in their first Thursday night game. Who knows?

They might even win.

11. NC State (LW: 7)- The Wolfpack are falling faster than my grades after midterms. Duke fans can start to brag about not being the worst team in the state anymore.

12. Maryland (LW: 12)- They just passed up their last good chance of getting a win this season.

They’ll lose to the Blue Devils this week, and every team after that.

Helmet Stickers from GT-VT October 20, 2009 Three touchdowns and a game-leading 122 yards rushing will certainly earn you a sticker, Josh Nesbitt. You’re truly a warrior QB who is quickly becoming legend on the Flats. Who cares if you only completed one pass last week? Ok, maybe the receivers…

Congrats on being the first coach to receive a sticker, Dave Wommack. Shutting down VT’s potent offense for even a half is a feat that even Bama couldn’t do. I coudn’t pick one defensive player who propped this defense up, so I’ll go with the defensive coordinator. After getting toasted in Tallahassee and having fans scream for his head, Wommack got his defensive unit ready to play.

The last sticker is split between Anthony Allen and Dominique Reese for their video that popped up on the MegaJacketron on 3rd downs. This may have been one of the funniest things I’ve seen on that screen. Thanks for pumping up the D.

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Georgia Tech Midseason Report Card October 21, 2009 Quarterbacks: ANesbitt has come on very strong in the last few weeks, and you might even be able to credit Tech’s current 4-game winning streak to him. He’s been Tech’s strongest asset and is making a case for ACC Player of the Year. I’d grade him higher, but there’s still much room for improvement. His pitch game needs some work, and I’d prefer it if he didn’t underthrow his receivers as much as he does.

Runningbacks: B Dwyer was virtually shut out in the first 3 games, which took him out of any Heisman or ACC POTY talk. He’s done pretty well since then, but I don’t think he’s been performing quite up to the level that he was at last year. Then again, defenses are keying in on him, and maybe my expectations for the D-Train were a bit too high (highly doubt that last part). Anthony Allen has proven to have big play capabilities, but could still use some work on his blocking. Roddy Jones still has yet to produce like we know he can, but that might be due to his wrist giving him trouble early in the season. Keep in mind that Roddy didn’t make his breakthrough until the last 4 games in ‘08. I’m hoping for much of the same this year.

Receivers: B+ I couldn’t ask anything more out of Baybay Thomas. He’s made some spectacular catches and is a consistent blocker. Freshman Stephen Hill is starting to make an impact at this position. We’ve seen glimpses of the type of speed that this kid has. Kevin Cone has been out with an ankle injury for the past few weeks, but Hill has filled in swimmingly. There’s not much I can say about the rest of this unit, as Nesbitt really only has two targets he looks for downfield. But I can’t complain with the results PJ is getting.

Offensive Line: B These guys showed exactly what they could do in the Florida State game, as ‘Noles were falling to the ground play after play. Sean Bedford, who eard POTW honors last week, has performed very well since overtaking Dan Voss for the center position in the summer. My only concern for him is staying healthy. Cord Howard has been inconsistent, but seems to be getting better. I gave up trying to count his missed blocks in the Miami game, but since then he seemed to have gotten his act together to earn POTW after the FSU game. Overall, I think we’ve still yet to see this crew achieve what they’re capable of doing consistently, but that should change.

Defensive Line: C+ Derrick Morgan: A Injuries have plagued this unit. They lost Robert Hall to a knee injury early in the season, and Anthony Egbuniwe has been sick since his terrific outing at Mississippi State. Derrick Morgan has been the lone overachiever, and is putting up great numbers despite having offenses key in on him. Everyone else hasn’t looked quite as nice. They did a nice job of slowing Ryan Williams and Tyrod Taylor last week, and perhaps the VT game will be a turning point.

Linebackers: BIt’s hard to tell what we’re getting from this unit due to a constant change in defensive schemes.

Julian Burnett has made a huge impression on coaches and fans, but is doubtful to play this week after hurting his knee last week. Sedric Griffin leads the team in solo tackles with 28. Brad Jefferson leads the team in total tackles, and was named POTW after recovering two fumbles in Starkville.

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Secondary: Big Fat F Ok, maybe that’s a little harsh, especially since they held Tyrod Taylor to 159 passing yards. But the QB only threw 14 times, and he completed 10 of those. This unit was supposed to be the strength of the D, and instead it’s been a liability. Morgan Burnett has 4 interceptions this year, but they’ve all been at relatively meaningless times (last week’s pick right before half time could have easily been batted down and no one would have cared). I feel like Cooper Taylor has been sorely missed, as he’s been out several games following heart surgery. I’ve seen this group miss tackles, get burnt by receivers, and have passes hit them square in the chest. Get with it.

Special Teams: C+ Jerrard Terrant has been a bright spot, assuming the defense forces a punt. He had two returns in as many games, but since then hasn’t seen much working room. Despite kicking the gamewinning field goal over Clemson, Scott Blair has been demoted from place kicker in favor of freshman Chris Tanner, who has yet to attempt a field goal. Blair might even be on his way to losing his kickoff spot, too. I’m not blaming him for all the woes that the kickoff team has suffered, but better kicks would help. Remember when Blair handled kickoffs as a freshman when All-ACC Travis Bell was still here? What happened to that kid? Oh, and I almost forgot about Chandler Anderson. With our offense doing as well as it has lately, can you blame me?

Outlook: 6-1 is nice, but this is exactly where we were last year before we fell flat on our faces against UVA. Tech isn’t in control of their own destiny, and they really need Miami to lose somewhere down the line. They’ve gotten through the brutal part of their schedule, and should be favored in every game from now on. If they pull it out in Charlottesville this week, this team could quite possibly go 11-1. These are pretty exciting times on the Flats.

Jackets Look To End Another Infamous Streak October 23, 2009

October 24, 2009, 12:00 Noon on Raycom (UVA leads series 16-14-1)

Students rocked out to MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. Bobby Cox had just become the manager of the Atlanta Braves. Home Alone was the highest grossing film of the year. See what I’m getting at here?

Saturday the Yellow Jackets will attempt to defeat the Cavaliers of Virginia in Charlottesville for the first time since 1990. A win by the Cavs, who last week beat Maryland 20-9, means they might finally be seen as a legitimate contender for the ACC Coastal crown. Georgia Tech, coming off of a 28-23 upset over the #4 VT Hokies, sees this as another step toward a possible BCS berth. Last year, UVA extended their win streak over the Jackets to 3 by upsetting GT 24-17.

Offense Georgia Tech finally started to move the ball against the Hokies in the second half last week.

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Paul Johnson’s group will again be going up against a very tough unit in Al Groh’s 3-4 defensive set. Johnson has not expressed any worries in going up against this unique defensive scheme, saying that because the option is read-based, it works generally the same way.

UVA’s defense has been the sole reason for the Cavs turnaround this season. They currently rank 3rd in the ACC in total defense, and have given up less than 83 rushing yards per game in their last 3 games. Georgia Tech’s rushing offense ranks 2nd in the country, so something has got to give.

Josh Nesbitt has been going strong during Tech’s win streak, and this week needs to be no different. He was the game changer against Virginia Tech, and has to perform well again. It’s crucial that the quarterback holds on to the ball and makes accurate pitches on Saturday. UVA’s pass defense ranks 11th best in the nation thanks to lock-down corner Ras-I Dowling, so I don’t expect Nesbitt to go to the air any more than he has to.

Defense As good as UVA’s defense has been, there offense has been just the opposite. That being said, QB Jameel Sewell has been starting to get in to a rhythm and hasn’t thrown an interception in 4 games.

Tailback Mikell Simpson tore Tech apart last year. This season, however, he doesn’t look even close to form. Simpson averages only 49.4 yards per game as the Cavaliers’ leading rusher. If Tech can shut him down like they did for the most part with Ryan Williams last week, then the Jackets should be able to force UVA to be one dimensional.

The Cavs offensive line return 4 starters from last season. That experience makes for an interesting match up in the trenches against a Tech defensive line that seemed to have grown up a little bit last week. After being gashed by FSU, Derrick Morgan’s group were able to contain RB Ryan Williams and QB Tyrod Taylor for most of the evening last week. The UVA offensive line gives up an average of 4 sacks per game, so Derrick Morgan could have a huge impact on the outcome of the evening.

My Take This is not the same team that lost to William & Mary to start the season. Then again, Tech isn’t the same group that slept through the Jacksonville State game, either. Both of these schools have had a turnaround since week 3, though both have done it differently. UVA has found ways to win with its defense, while Tech’s offense is clicking on all cylinders.

If Paul Johnson has done anything in his 20 games at Tech, he’s broken streaks. He beat the Dawgs. He beat the ‘Noles twice, one of which was in Tallahassee. Last week, Tech beat it’s first top 5 team at home since Bobby Dodd and Bear Bryant went at it. If Tech ever had a coach to could end a streak in Charlottesville, its that man.

That being said, this is not a gimme game for the Jackets. Georgia Tech has to hold on to the football on offense. UVA has won their last 3 due to forced turnovers. If Tech plays mistake-free for the most part, they should be able to control the game. The defense needs to get after Sewell. They played with an intensity I hadn’t seen all season last week against a very good VT offense, so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be aggressive in this one. Finally, Tech needs to dominate the line of scrimmage. UVA’s run defense is very good, but they haven’t played anyone of GT’s caliber. With Tech’s offensive line producing well lately, a steady dose of Dwyer up the middle should be a bit too much for the Wahoos to handle. I think Tech gets ahead early (like last year), but doesn’t blow it this time. I’ll take GT to cover the 5 ½, and to win this one 28-10.

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Studying Can Wait October 23, 2009 Here’s an article regarding the current football frenzy among GT students. It’s a good read from the AJC’s Katie Leslie I thought everyone would enjoy.

It’s Gameday October 24, 2009 It’s the first time in a while I’m able to kick back and watch the game on the tele. I never thought I’d say this as a Georgia Tech fan, but I’m not used to these noon games.

I’ve got a couple thoughts to share while I’m waiting for College Gameday to start: -UVA’s Jameel Sewell and Mikell Simpson are both listed as questionable for today’s match up.

-Tech moved up from a 5 1/2 to a 6 point favorite this morning.

-Good article by Coley Harvey of the Macon Telegraph discussing Paul Johnson’s ability to bring streaks to an end.

-If you guys didn’t see my late post yesterday, here’s how Tech kids are feeling all over campus.

If you’re in the area then come out to watch the Volleybees take on Duke tonight at O’Keef at 7:00. This is a big showdown between the ACC’s top two teams. And be sure to wear pink, too.

THWG

Ramblin’ Wreck Handle Cavs, Lead Coastal Division October 25, 2009 It wasn’t a pretty game by any means, but Georgia Tech did what they had to do.

The Yellow Jackets (7-1, 5-1 ACC) went into the unfriendly confines of Scott Stadium and beat the Virginia Cavaliers 34-9, a feat they hadn’t accomplished in their previous eight attempts.

Anthony Allen and Jonathan Dwyer bruised the Cavalier defense all game long, rushing for 103 and 125 yards, respectively. UVA, on the other hand, had only 30 yards on the ground.

The Georgia Tech defense, coming off of a terrific game against Virginia Tech, once again shut down their opponent. Linebacker Brad Jefferson and Co. held the Cavs to just under 200 total yards. Jefferson had 6 tackles, 2 of which were for a loss. Derrick Morgan left an impression in UVA QB Jameel Sewell with a big 7-yard sack late in the 3rd quarter. Sewell made a few long passes, but was mostly ineffective throughout the day.

My, How Time Flies With a 7-pt lead at halftime, Tech received the kickoff in the 3rd quarter and was able to grind out an 18-play drive that took 10:47 off the clock. GT’s 82-yard drive ended with an Allen touchdown run. The offense owned the ball for over 42 minutes, and was able to keep UVA’s defense on the field after several 3rd- and 4th- down conversions.

Mistake Prone As good as the offense was grinding out the play clock, Tech made some considerable mistakes on the wet and wild afternoon. While trying to secure the ball on a scramble, Josh Nesbitt lost

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the handle and fumbled it right to a UVA defensive player. Though that was Tech’s only turnover on the day, penalties seemed to be a recurring theme. GT had a total of 8 penalties for 70 yards.

Tech On Top Coupled by the Yellow Jackets win Saturday and Clemson’s upset of Miami, Georgia Tech is now in the driver’s seat in the Coastal Division. The Tigers scored a touchdown in overtime to topple the #10 Hurricanes, effectively ending the 3-way tie in the division. GT has Wake Forest and Duke left on their conference schedule, two teams that are a combined 8-7. Clemson is currently winning the Atlantic Division by owning the tie-breaker with Boston College. Rematch, anyone?

My Take Possibly more important than ending that dreadful streak in Charlottesville was the fact that Tech was able to play a lackluster game and still win big. UVA deserves a lot of credit. They were able to keep things close early on, but Tech’s 3rd quarter clock dominance pretty much took the Cavaliers out of the game.

I also saw considerable improvement out of the special teams unit. Kickoff coverage could still be better, but Scott Blair was able to stay focused during his then-crucial field goal attempts.

Freshman Malcolm Munroe’s big hit on punt coverage gave Tech the ball on UVA’s 11-yard line.

All in all, it’s good for Tech to be in control of their own destiny in such a crazy conference. A slip up is still possible and there’s no room for error, but I think PJ does a good job of keeping his kids focused every week. They’ve come so far from that awful night in Miami. And with some substantial luck, Tech might even need to book a flight to Pasadena in January.

Exercise Your Right To Vote October 25, 2009 Paul Johnson is now #11 on the list for Coach of the Year. Help out by voting online. You can do it once per day. www.coachoftheyear.com

Week 9 Power Rankings October 26, 2009

1. Georgia Tech (LW: 2)- It’s good to be the king. But in all seriousness, Tech’s remaining schedule isn’t as easy as I’ve made it out to be, and there’s no room for error.

2. Virginia Tech (LW: 3)- Hokies had a bye week. I expect them to run all over UNC on Saturday.

3. Clemson (LW: 5)- The Tigers did GT a huge favor, and are now in the driver’s seat of the Atlantic Conference.

4. Miami (LW: 1)- I bet ‘Canes fans are wondering how they ever let CJ Spiller leave the state.

I’m pretty sure he’s still running around in Landshark Stadium.

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5. Boston College (LW: 4)- Jimmy Clausen out-quarterbacked Dave Shinskie, who had 3 picks.

Notre Dame ended a 6-game skid to the Eagles.

6. Duke (LW: 9)- They’re two games away from being bowl-bound. Heck, there’s even a paperthin chance they could win their division if they run the table and VT loses.

7. Florida State (LW: 10)- Christian Ponder dominated in their comeback victory at UNC. Defense finally shut someone down, granted the Tar Heels have the worst offense in the conference.

8. Wake Forest (LW: 7)- Let me get this right: Navy didn’t attempt a single pass? And they still racked up 338 yards? Ouch, Wake.

9. Virginia (LW: 6)- The Wahoos finally played a decent team and look at what happened. I’ve got to hand it to them, though. Their defense should be able to shut some teams down.

10. North Carolina (LW: 8)- Remember when UNC was the trendy dark-horse pick to win the ACC? Well, they’re in panic mode in Chapel Hill.

11. NC State (LW: 11)- The Pack had a bye week to prepare for a shootout in Tallahassee. I feel sorry for any defense that has to go up against Christian Ponder.

12. Maryland (LW: 12)- After losing to the Dookies, UM definitely needs this bye week. The good news is that once you hit rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up.

How ‘Bout Them Dawgs?

October 27, 2009 Let me begin by saying this goes against everything I stand for, everything I was raised to believe.

But ladies and gentlemen of the Wreck Nation, we now find ourselves rooting for the team that we despise the most- those Mutts from Athens Community College.

Georgia Tech’s chances of getting to the BCS National Championship are about the same as the Buccaneers going to the Super Bowl (apologies to my RTTB affiliates). At best, I see Tech winding up at #4 in the BCS when December comes around. Simply put, Tech’s weak remaining schedule and the ACC’s reputation pretty much will do them in. But as long as there’s a chance, there’s reason to have hope.

That means that the Georgia Bulldogs must win their next 4 games, starting with Florida this weekend. An upset of the Gators coupled with 3 other mediocre wins would surely mean that the Pups would be ranked when they come in to Bobby Dodd Stadium on November 28. An Auburn win over Ole Miss (and maybe even ‘Bama) would be nice, too, as that would give UGA more credibility.

It’s a long shot, but it could happen. It has to happen. Go *cough* Dawgs… Wow, that feels weird.

Helmet Stickers from the Virginia Game October 29, 2009 Remember, everyone: to whom much is given, much is expected. To those of you who have a sticker, you better not let me down, because the word on the street is you guys are on upset alert. Bring your A-game against Vandy on Saturday and Wake next week. That being said, let’s get down to business: Today, we salute you Anthony Allen. You’re 11 carries for 103 and 2 TDs helped to power the

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offense against those ‘Hoos. Between 2 of those carries, it took 11 defensive players to bring you down. Keep this up, and you might just be headed back home to Tampa.

Baybay Thomas, thanks for making everyone realize that this offense is more than just running backs. As one of the ten semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, you’re making your presence known throughout the country. You own 30 of GT’s 44 receptions, and have posted a nationleading 24.9 yards per catch average.

Finally, I’d like to extend a sticker to main man, CPJ. He’s getting some national recognition, too, as he was named earlier this week to the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year watch list. He has the 10th best career winning percentage among active coaches. Oh, and he beat that school in Athens. I speak for all Tech fans when I say we love our Johnson.

Yellow Jacket Hope to Shut the ‘Dore on Vandy October 30, 2009

October 31, 2009, 7:30 PM on CSS (GT leads series 18-15-3)

After gaining the lead in the ACC Coastal Division, the Ramblin’ Wreck head to Nashville for their second contest against an SEC foe this season. Vanderbilt (2-6) comes off of a heartbreaking 14-10 loss to South Carolina, where the Commodores held the lead until the Gamecocks strung together a 99-yard drive late in the game. After beating Virginia last week 34-9, Georgia Tech is looking to avoid an upset on Halloween night. The Yellow Jackets came away with a 24-17 win in overtime the last time these two schools met in 2003.

Offense Tech will be going up against one of the SEC’s finer defenses. Vanderbilt ranks 34th in the country in total defense despite having an offense that has often left them out to dry. I wouldn’t expect this game to be another shootout like the last time GT faced the SEC in Mississippi State where the two teams combined for over 900 yards of total offense.

Vanderbilt’s defensive front weighs an average of 15 pounds lighter and the Virginia line that Tech faced last week. If Cord Howard and big guys up front for GT keep playing well, the Yellow Jackets should be able to gash the Commodores between the tackles. Jonathan Dwyer, who finally seems to be recovered from a shoulder injury that he sustained in Miami, had a big day up in Charlottesville. I expect him to have another strong outing tomorrow.

Vanderbilt middle linebacker Chris Marve is averaging an amazing 9 tackles per game. That strong week-in-and-week-out performance ranks 3rd best in the SEC. Marve will be the Commodore’s best shot at stopping the Josh Nesbitt and keeping his team in the game.

Otherwise, Vandy could be in for a long night.

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Defense the commodore’s offense revolves around freshman sensation Warren norman. the tailback/ specialist leads the sec with an average of 157.5 all-purpose yards per game. Last week, noman returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score. He is the bright spot on an offense that is otherwise on life support. If tech can shut norman down like they did Virginia’s running game last week, the ‘dores will be in trouble. norman, however, should be able to make plays against Gt’s underperforming special teams. sophomore quarterback Larry smith has been inconsistent this season, as is shown by his 46.2 completion percentage. that’s worse than Josh nesbitt’s 47.7 percentage, even though smith has attempted 137 more passes. most of the passing woes can be attributed to the commodore receiving corp. Jamie Graham, Vandy’s most experienced receiver, is a sophomore that earned his first start two weeks ago against Georgia. derrick morgan and morgan Burnett should be able to force smith into making mistakes tomorrow, and continue to cause growing pains for this offense.

My Take Vanderbilt has upset potential written all over them. they played south carolina and Lsu very hard this season, and every year they’re due for at least one signature win. Last year they upset #13 auburn, in 2007 they beat #6 south carolina, and in 2006 they downed a #16 uGa team.

Georgia tech’s ranking will mean nothing to this team.

But I don’t think tech will disappoint this week. the commodore’s defense is really the only thing they have going for them. Yet except for miami’s, Georgia tech has made almost every defense look silly with its option game. Vanderbilt will need more than their defense if they want to protect their turf tomorrow night. shutting down Warren norman will be one of tech’s keys to the game. that means bottling him up on kick coverage, and slowing him down when he’s on offense. If norman has a rough night, Vanderbilt will have to prove that they have other playmakers. Like they’ve done so well for the last few weeks, the Yellow Jackets also need to work the clock. Vanderbilt ranks 117th in the country in time of possession, while Gt leads the nation with an average of 34:50 per game.

Finally, tech needs to remember that while this may not be a conference game, there’s still a lot riding on this one. this is an sec-acc match up, and if you listen to the media, this conference doesn’t hold a candle to the sec. Georgia tech has another opportunity to start bringing those talks to an end on saturday. I think the Ramblin’ Wreck earn some respect for the conference and for themselves, and leave the music city with a 31-13 win.

vandy gives teCH a sCare november 1, 2009

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For the first half at least, Halloween was a little spooky for Tech fans. The game was tied 28-28 at halftime, and Vanderbilt even held a 3 point lead early in the 3rd quarter. But then, as they say, Vandy remembered they were Vandy, and the Yellow Jackets escaped with a 56-31 win.

Despite losing their starting quarterback Larry Smith, Vanderbilt was able to rack up over 250 yards of offense in the first half. After their 3rd quarter field goal, however, the Commodores could only manage 42 more.

Georgia Tech, on the other hand, ran wild all night long for 597 total yards. Though Vanderbilt found ways to take away the option play, GT was creative enough to find other ways to score.

Jonathan Dwyer had a career night with 186 yards on the ground and 3 TD’s. Josh Nesbitt, who passed Joe Hamilton for a Tech quarterback with the most rushing yards, had 4 total scores and 193 yards through the air, several of which came on a long strike to Embry Peeples to seal the game for the Ramblin’ Wreck.

Same Old Story Special teams continues to be that thorn in Paul Johnson’s side. As GT took a 28-14 lead and seemed to be on the verge of effectively ending the game, freshman sensation Warren Norman returned a kickoff 80 yards to put Vandy back in the game. Though the coaches have said week in and week out that they need to work on their kickoff coverage, it seems as though there’s been little to no progress made. What happened to the Scott Blair that put the ball in the endzone on every kickoff as a freshman? I want that kid back.

A Model of (In)Consistency This Georgia Tech defense is one that seems pretty hard to figure out. Last week they kept Virginia out of the endzone. Saturday they had problems defending a team that: a) was without it’s starting QB, b) scored only 13 points against Army, and c) is ranked 110th in the country offensively. The real upsetting thing is that they would have had a solid game had that taken care of something as fundamental as tackling.

My Take The offensive yards were very nice. But last night, Georgia Tech did not seem like a team worthy of going to an ACC Championship. This was Vanderbilt. I’ll say it once more: Vanderbilt, the doormat of the SEC. But it’s good to look at this game as sobering. Hopefully Tech now realizes that, even though they have amassed their longest win streak since 2000, they are still vulnerable. We could lose to Wake. We could lose to Duke. We could screw this up.

And if this was a Chan Gailey team, they’d find a way to mess up a good thing. But they wont.

This is Paul Johnson’s team, who I expect will light a fire under his players that will make them play for 4 quarters next time. This is Jon Dwyer’s team, who I expect will look at every down as an opportunity to make a play. And this is Josh Nesbitt’s team, who I know won’t let this group go down without a fight.

Almost There…

November 2, 2009 We’ve got about a month left, everyone. I find it very hard to believe…

Yellow Jacket fans, if all keeps going well, our team should be playing in Tampa on December 5

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at 8 PM. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.theroadtotampabay.com/.

I’d love to see a good turn out at this game from the Ramblin’ Wreck, so purchase tickets soon!

THWG

Week 10 Power Rankings November 2, 2009

1. Georgia Tech (LW: 1)- The Yellow Jackets are halfway through their “Nerder’s Row” portion of the schedule. But don’t think that Duke and Wake Forest will be easy.

2. Clemson (LW: 3)- I don’t understand how CJ Spiller isn’t making any noise in the Heistman race. Yeah, I spell checked that.

3. Miami (LW: 4)- The Canes showed some toughness in their comeback over the Deacs. With VT out of the way, they’re just waiting for GT to slip up.

4. Virginia Tech (LW: 2)- There’s no crying in football.

5. Boston College (LW: 5)- The Eagles did a nice job of avoiding an upset my Central Michigan. If they can handle the Cavs this week, I’m sure Spaziani’s crew will be watching the Clemson/FSU game.

6. Duke (LW: 6)- Two more wins and the Dookies will be bowl eligible. That’s crazy, but from looking at their remaining schedule, I’m not sure that it will happen.

7. Florida State (LW: 7)- Just to mess things up even more in the Atlantic, I’ll be pulling for the Noles this week when they invade Death Valley.

8. North Carolina (LW: 10)- UNC really needed a win like the won they got over the Hokies. If they don’t beat the Dookies, then Tobacco Road will have seen a major power swap.

9. Wake Forest (LW: 8)- The Deacs hung tough with Miami, and are a lot better than their record shows. The question is if Riley Skinner will be healthy when they come to the Dodd House.

10. Virginia (LW: 9)- Oct-Groh-ber is over Cavs fans, and you guys will let your coach stick around for yet another year. Shucks.

11. NC State (LW: 11)- How is the NCSU/Maryland game on Saturday not the game of the week???

12. Maryland (LW: 12)- For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Terps, this is their quarterback Chris Turner.

Real Men of GTech from the Vandy Game November 5, 2009 Today, we salute you, Jonathan Dwyer. Your career high 186 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns helped the Yellow Jackets put away the Commode Dores. After dealing with a sore shoulder

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from Miami, the D-Train is once again showing his form that made him garner everyone’s respect in ‘08.

Here’s to the A-list O-lineman Sean Bedford, who helped GT rack up 597 yards of total offense.

This brainiac aerospace engineer at center perplexed the ESPN crew last week when they went over some of the classes he takes. The play-by-play announcer seemed utterly mind-bended as he went over Bedford’s schedule, from high-speed aerodynamics to jet and rocket propulsion.

The best part: this kid boast a 3.8 GPA. Also, I’d like to give a helmet sticker to former Ramblin’ Wreck Mark Teixeira. The Silver Slugger helped the New York Yankees win their 27th World Series last after downing the Phillies in 6 games. Money well spent, Yankees.

Jackets Head Home To Face Deacs November 6, 2009

November 7, 2009, 3:30 PM on ABC (GT leads series 20-8)

The Ramblin’ Wreck heads back to the safe confines of Bobby Dodd Stadium tomorrow in an ACC matchup versus Wake Forest. Georgia Tech (8-1, 5-1) stepped out of conference play to beat Vanderbilt last week 56-31. The Demon Deacons (2-3, 4-5) are coming off of a heart-breaking loss to Miami where the Hurricanes took the lead with 1:08 to play. Wake is an overachieving bunch that hardly plays like they have a losing record. Georgia Tech is hoping to fend off the upset to get one step closer to the ACC title game, which was precisely where these two teams last met in 2006. The Deacs won that game, 9-6.

Offense The Yellow Jackets, who cranked out 597 yards at Vanderbilt last week, face the ACC’s tenthbest defense. For a team that has not had a second-half punt in over a month, Georgia Tech might be salivating. Jon Dwyer ran wild for a career-high 186 yards in Nashville, and looks to continue his recent dominance against one of the country’s top nose tackles in Boo Robinson.

Robinson, a 295-lb redshirt senior, and fellow DT John Russell, who is 12th in the ACC with 7 tackles for loss, will be key in trying to slow Dwyer down in the middle.

WF corner Kenny Okoro will be matched up against Demaryius Thomas this week. Okoro ranks 3rd in the ACC in passes defended, and will be counted on to try to shut down Tech’s efficient passing attack. Thomas had 4 catches last week for 76 yards, but more importantly he was able to divert defensive backs away from Embry Peeples, who had two long grabs for 117 yards.

Defense The big question surrounding this Wake offense is whether their star quarterback Riley Skinner will be healthy. Skinner, who is currently listed as “probable”, sat out the final minutes of last week’s game with a concussion, and didn’t start practicing again until Wednesday. The Deacon’s chances of an upset vastly increase with him on the field.

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If Skinner isn’t ok to go, fifth-year senior Ryan McManus will be under center. Despite facing insurmountable odds in the last minute against Miami, I thought McManus performed rather well. He was 5-for-9 with 42 yards and another 17 on the ground. Derrick Morgan and the Georgia Tech defensive line will need to do a better job of getting pressure and containing the second stringer if they want to be successful on defense.

Georgia Tech will also be facing a talented receiving corps this week led by freshman sensation Chris Givens. Givens ranks second in the nation in touchdown catches by a freshman with 6.

Marshall Williams leads Wake Forest in receptions with 41, and Devon Brown has 40 catches.

With WF’s depth at receiver, Tech will be challenged all game in their pass coverage. GT defensive backs Mario Edwards and Rashaad Reid will be starting in place of Dominique Reese and Jerrard Terrant, making for an interesting matchup in the Tech secondary.

My Take Tech is so close to playing in Tampa that they can almost sniff it. But these next couple of games are no where near close to gimme’s. Wake Forest is a much better team than their record shows, and if they were a little luckier their record could easily be 7-2 or even 8-1.

The Yellow Jacket defense will need to force some turnovers in this game if they want to get this game over with early. GT ranks 27th in turnover margin, while WF is a mere 97th. Also, the Deacs are 21-4 when Skinner avoids getting intercepted, but 9-12 when he’s picked off.

Intercepting the QB, whoever it is, will go a long way for Tech’s cause. These two teams also rank near the top of the league in time of possession. If Josh Nesbitt can lead some long, grind-itout drives, the Yellow Jackets should be fine. Finally, the defense needs to prove it can tackle.

Last week, Tech allowed Vandy to stay in the game by completely missing tackles, something it cannot allow against WF’s talented receivers.

The Ramblin’ Wreck is favored by 14. I’ll pick them to cover, and win 38-20.

Georgia Tech Dodges A Bullet November 8, 2009 The game wasn’t supposed to be close. Georgia Tech was a 14-point favorite playing at home against a team whose 4 wins include Elon, NC State, and Maryland. But leave it to the Yellow Jackets to make every game exciting, this time inching past Wake Forest 30-27 in overtime.

Jonathan Dwyer and Josh Nesbitt once again engineered an outstanding offensive effort.

Dwyer gained 189 rushing yards on the afternoon, topping his 186-yard outing last week for a new career-high. Nesbitt had 2 touchdowns on the ground, including the 3-yd sweep into the endzone to seal the game in OT. Most importantly, though, Nesbitt converted a 4th down sneak on the previous play, preventing Wake from ending the game then and there.

In the first half at least, Tech’s secondary didn’t seem to have an answer to the Deacon’s passing game, orchestrated by a seemingly very healthy Riley Skinner. The GT defense finally changed momentum before halftime by forcing a 3-and-out when the Deac’s had the ball on the Tech 44yard line with 2 minutes to score. After that, the Wreck only allowed 127 more yards.

Shooting Yourselves In the Foot The Yellow Jackets normally play very disciplined football. Last night, however, they committed 7 penalties for 78 yards. After forcing Wake to settle for a field goal on the 2-yard line, Morgan Burnett was called for roughing the kicker, allowing the Deacs to get in the endzone. Later, a

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long touchdown run by Stephen Hill was called back by a holding penalty on Baybay Thomas.

The Only One That Matters Four times Tech had gone for it on 4th down. Four times they were denied. But when push came to shove, Paul Johnson had faith in his QB and front 5. Down by a field goal with the game on the line in OT (keep in mind a field goal would send the game in to double OT, a failed conversion means a Wake win), Johnson elects to go for it again on 4th down. The Jackets got a nice push up front and came away with a 2-yard gain, setting up Nesbitt’s TD on the ensuing play.

My Take I wish every half were the second half. That’s when the defense shows up.

Wake deserves a lot of credit, they are a very good football team. Even though the Demon Deacons are still looking to be bowl eligible, they could easily be a 1- or 2-loss team at this point. And Georgia Tech’s game up in Durham next week won’t be any easier.

Injuries definitely didn’t help Tech’s cause this week. A banged up secondary can’t be expected to shut down one of the ACC’s best QBs. But GT can’t use that as an excuse—at this point in the season, every team has faced injuries.

I said before that Nesbitt won’t let this team lose, and he proved that once again. But Tech cannot keep having these types of games where they wait until the second half to make their move (see: Iowa). 9-1 is great no matter how you spell it. But Tech can be better. If they want to toss around oranges down in Tampa in a few weeks, they’ll have to be better.

Week 11 Power Rankings November 9, 2009

1. Georgia Tech (LW: 1)- If the Jackets can beat Duke, they’re a shoe-in for Tampa. Going outside of the conference, Tech might be one of the best in the country (even if they don’t always play like it).

2. Clemson (LW: 2)- Spiller played hurt, and still Clemson rode on his back for 312 all-purpose yards. The Tigers owned the 4th quarter to down their last challenging ACC opponent.

3. Miami (LW: 3)- Thearon Collier dodged 7 Cavaliers on his punt return, the Canes D held Virginia to 149 yards of offense.

4. Virginia Tech (LW: 4)- Their game against Eastern Carolina was a snoozer, but VT is now back in the win column.

5. Boston College (LW: 5)- The Eagles had a bye week. I’m not sure they really need it– after all, they’re playing Virginia.

6. North Carolina (LW: 8)- Their 19-6 win over Duke would have been more fun to watch if it were played on a basketball court, or if Dick Vitale was the color commentator.

7. Duke (LW: 6)- Basketball season is finally here…

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8. Florida State (LW: 7)- FSU may have lost their brightest spot in Christian Ponder for the remainder of the season. Ouch…

9. Wake Forest (LW: 9)- The Deacons are the worst half-decent team in the league, but they gave GT a run for their money. They need wins over both FSU and Duke to be eligible to play in December.

10. Virginia (LW: 10)- Al Groh fired his son as the offensive coordinator during the offseason, and this is what he has to show for it– 149 yards against Miami.

11. NC State (LW: 11)- Besides me, who would love to see the Wolfpack upset Clemson this week? That could happen, right? Right???

12. Maryland (LW: 12)- The Terps are now the only team that statistically cannot go to a bowl game. Methinks the Fridge’s days are numbered in College Park.

Goin’ Bowlin’ November 9, 2009 Here’s my first ACC bowl projections of the season. The Orange Bowl gets the first pick this year (but the Sugar and Fiesta Bowls get to first find replacement teams if an SEC team and Big 12 team go to the Title game, which will most likely happen).

FedEx Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. USC Chick-fil-A Bowl: Miami vs. Auburn Gator Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Notre Dame Champs Sports Bowl: Clemson vs. Wisconsin Music City Bowl: North Carolina vs. Ole Miss Meineke Car Care Bowl: Boston College vs. Pittsburgh Emerald Bowl: Florida State vs. Stanford EagleBank Bowl: N/A GMAC Bowl: N/A

Real Men of GTech from Week 10 November 11, 2009 Today, we salute you, Josh Nesbitt. There wasn’t just the game on the line– national respect and your BCS rankings were about to come crumbling down as well. And what did you do? You wanted the ball in your hands. Champions always do.

If this doesn’t say something about you, Jonathan Dwyer, I don’t know what will. In the postgame presser, a reporter asked Nesbitt how well you played while racking up a career-best 189 rushing yards. According to the AJC, his response: “He did alright.” A runningback going over a buck-fifty is rare to come by these days, but that kind of yardage is expected out of you.

Finally, we salute another one of the team captains, Derrick Morgan. His 3 sacks against Wake put his season total at 11.5, reclaiming the conference lead. Morgan helped Tech hold the Deacs on the final drive in regulation time. On third-and-long, the defensive end tripped up Riley Skinner in the backfield, leaving Wake well out of field goal range.

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GT/Clemson: Just What The Doctor Ordered November 11, 2009 Ok, it’s a little early for me to be completely fine with talking about the Tech matchup in Tampa. I like to keep things moving one game at a time.

That said, here’s a good read from the All About Sports Blog regarding the possible Tech/ Clemson game that the ACC could feature in December.

Enjoy.

Sidenote: we’ve got 17 days til the Dawgs. THWG.

GT Lays It All On The Line Against Duke November 13, 2009

Seven down, one to go. The Yellow Jackets travel to Durham on Saturday where the ACC Coast Champion will be decided. Georgia Tech, coming off of an overtime 30-17 thriller against Wake Forest, must win this game if they want to play in Tampa on December 5th. After losing to their Tobacco Road rival UNC 19-6, a Duke win would create a 3-way tie in the division. Last year, Demaryius Thomas led the Jackets with 230 yards receiving to a 28-0 win.

Offense Jonathan Dwyer has blasted his way to 375 yards in the last two weeks alone. The recentlyannounced Doak Walker Award finalist hopefully can have another big day this week. Duke defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase is currently listed as doubtful. This is a huge blow for the Blue Devil defense. Oghobaase was a pre-season All-ACC candidate, and Duke’s best shot of slowing Tech’s B-back down.

The most interesting matchup on offense is that between Baybay Thomas and Duke corner Leon Wright. Wright ranks 2nd in the ACC with 5 interceptions. Baybay ranks 1st in the league in receiving yards per game. Something here has got to give, but I’d put my money on Thomas and his quarterback to make plays.

Defense Typical of a David Cutcliffe offense, Duke will toss the ball around tomorrow, but probably not have much success on the ground. I’ve got a lot of respect for Cutcliffe, who was the mastermind behind the Manning brothers. And true to Cutcliffe form, Thaddeus Lewis is setting all sorts of records at Duke. Lewis is less that 300 yards away from passing Jamie Barnette of NC State for 5th on the ACC career passing yards list.

Lewis’s receivers are pretty good, too. True freshman Conner Vernon leads the conference with 5.12 receptions per game. Donovan Varner is 2nd in the conference in receiving yards per game with 74.9 (right behind Tech’s Thomas). Throw in Marietta native Austin Kelley, and that Georgia

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tech secondary will have it’s hands full.

My Take many experts are saying a duke upset is very possible tomorrow. Well, guys, it’s not an upset if everyone is calling it.

Georgia tech will not lose tomorrow, but they will be challenged. Remember when Gt/Fsu combined for over 1000 yards? this game could easily be much of the same. tech doesn’t have the secondary to slow Lewis and co down. But I’m not sure duke will have any answers on their defensive side of the ball either. an upset can be prevented if Gt wins the turnover game. If tech can avoid making mistakes, and in turn force Lewis to make some poor throws, then the Jackets should be ok. also, the d needs to lock-down on third down. as good as the Blue devils are at tossing the ball, they only convert 38% of the time. Finally, paul Johnson’s crew needs to play loose. the offense was very tight in the first half against Wake Forest, trying to do everything perfectly. the Ramblin’ Wreck just needs to go out there and play their game. Gt is a 12.5 pt favorite. I’m not sure they’ll cover, but I’m thinking this one could be a shootout. the Jackets win the game and the division tomorrow 42-35.

tamPa BoUnd november 15, 2009

Finally, we can all breath a little easier. the dookies were the last hurdle in the acc, the last of 11 straight games without a week to rest. the last game before uGag comes to town. and the Yellow Jackets took care of business. after squeaking it out against Wake Forest last week, Georgia tech did what good teams do: beat up the bad ones. though duke went up 10-0 from a long drive and a botched tech punt, the Yellow Jackets finally got serious and buckled down. tech’s defense played one of their best games of the season. they allowed only 25 yards on the ground, and slowed duke’s thaddeus Lewis for most of the game. offensively, paul Johnson’s crew played as good as they usually do. nesbitt was able to show his cannon on a 75-yard touchdown to Baybay thomas and a perfect 32-yard strike to stephen Hill

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in the back of the endzone. Jonathan Dwyer was his normal downhill-running self, amassing 110 yards on the afternoon. Even freshman Orwin Smith got into the mix, returning a kickoff all the way to the 2-yard line (GT hasn’t had a kick return for a TD since the ’80’s).

It seems every week Tech has played the ‘most important game of the year’, as PJ would put it. A week to rest is more than welcome for the Ramblin’ Wreck. It will allow some time to heal a team that’s been beat up in the last few weeks, and give them a chance to start preparing for some Clean, Old Fashioned Hate. But for Tech fans, this is a week to celebrate: we’re going to Tampa.

Week 12 Power Rankings November 16, 2009

1. Georgia Tech (LW: 1)- Clinched. That is all.

2. Clemson (LW: 2)- CJ keeps the Tigers in the Atlantic driver’s seat after a beat down of NC State. They’ve got just UVA left, which should be a cakewalk.

3. Virginia Tech (LW: 4)- The Hokies had their game won as soon as they got off the bus in Maryland.

4. Miami (LW: 3)- I said it before the season: the Canes were still a year away from going back to their dominant ways. This team fell apart in the second half of the season.

5. Boston College (LW: 5)- The Eagles barely got out of Charlottesville with a win, but they still have some hope of going back to the ACC title game.

6. North Carolina (LW: 6)- I’m sorry for not moving the Heels up after they beat Miami. They’ve come on strong in the last few weeks, and we’ll see if they can keep it up against BC. 7. Florida State (LW: 8)- I think it’s safe to say that FSU should be ok with EJ Manuel filling in for Ponder. The Noles will be bowl eligible after they beat Maryland this week.

8. Dook (LW: 7)- Coach K’s team won 96-62 over UNC Greensboro. That’s right, I’m making another joke about how Duke will always be a basketball/lacrosse school.

9. Wake Forest (LW: 9)- The Deacs have been at #9 for a few weeks now. They get a bye week before they take on the Blue Devils (instead of football, they could play this one out on the chess-board gridiron).

10. Virginia (LW: 10)- The Wahoos put up a valiant effort against BC. But it looks like they’ll close the year out with only 3 wins.

11. NC State (LW: 11)- I expected some fight in the Wolfpack when they went in to Death Valley. Didn’t happen.

12. Maryland (LW: 12)- rock bottom.

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Real Men of GTech from Week 11 November 16, 2009 Today, we salute you, Ben Anderson. Your 2 sacks on Thaddeus Lewis was a career-high, and enough to earn you ACC POTW honors. You were also key in holding the Dookies to under 30 yards rushing. Very impressive, and very good work to earn your first helmet sticker.

We also recognize Cord Howard, who joined Anderson in garnering POTW accolades. Howard was beastly up front all game long, and helped Tech rack up over 300 yards rushing on the ground. If he can get his fellow linemen to cut it out with the penalties, he’ll earn another sticker.

But for now, he gets one.

Finally, a half sticker goes to freshman Orwin Smith. The kickoff return specialist took the ball all the way down to the 2-yd line before he was caught from behind. Smith only gets half a sticker because he failed to get those last 2 yards to get the ball in the paint. Maybe next time.

50 Reasons Why I Hate UGAg November 18, 2009 1. They don’t realize that most of them end up working for a Tech grad.

2. Their players spend more time in jail than in class.

3. Every year they sign a top 10 recruiting class and still underachieve.

4. Every year their fans brag about that top 10 recruiting class.

5. Blackouts.

6. Larry Munson.

7. Their girls are better than ours.

8. A fifty year old man trying to fight me after I took some souvenir Hedge last year. Very classy.

9. I can think of a dozen stadiums off the top of my head that have hedges.

10. All their fans still talk about how great Herschel Walker was, but most of them weren’t even alive to see him.

11. That last one applies to their 1980 National Championship Season.

12. David Pollack and David Green.

13. Their fans always brag about how awesome Athens is…

14. …but it’s just not that great of a town.

15. Dancing on the field.

16. Reggie Ball.

17. The originality of their logo.

18. The originality of their fight song.

19. Uga is ugaly.

20. Their fans have more pairs of jorts than teeth.

21. Eric Zeier said there’s “no way Georgia Tech’s high school offense will score on the Dawgs.”

45 points, anyone?

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22. It’s better to be a nerd than a hick.

23. All Uga does is lie on an ice bag.

24. Mark Richt in Ford F-150 commercials.

25. Sonny Perdue is a homer.

26. “How many points is a 3-pointer worth?”

27. The average student has a higher BAC than GPA. 28. Their fans bark. Yes, they actually bark.

29. Bandwagoners.

30. Backup school.

31. Their fans are delusional.

32. Ray Goof.

33. Mark Schlabach.

34. The Sesspool of the South.

35. The Red Neck Marching Band.

36. I-316 traffic.

37. They tried to quiet Jan Kemp back in the day. Glad that worked out for ya…

38. Crap like this happens all the time.

39. Their basketball team won an SEC championship… on our court.

40. Retailers sell 90% Dawg crap.

41. Buck Belue on the radio.

42. The love affair with Vince Dooley, who would be an average coach in this day and age.

43. Their Gator inferiority complex.

44. No one cares about the stupid victory bell.

45. Uga actually gets a tomb inside the stadium. Wow. 46. Just because it’s the oldest public school in the country doesn’t make it any more academically reputable.

47. Did I mention that they bark?

48. They spell “Dogs” wrong.

49. This guy.

50. Even though their fans act like their team is God’s gift to college athletics, UGAg will never be anything more than a pretty good, above-average team.

Week 13 Power Rankings November 23, 2009 First, a little hype for the ACCCG in Tampa. It can’t come soon enough.

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1. Georgia Tech (LW: 1)- Had a few days off to rest their legs. Hate week starts now.

2. Clemson (LW: 2)- They had sealed the deal even before their game against UVA started.

Tampa bound.

3. Virginia Tech (LW: 3)- Ryan Williams is pretty good, I guess. Four touchdowns is all in a day’s work for him.

4. Miami (LW: 4)- The Canes came to life in the 4th quarter with 21 unanswered points. They head over to play South Florida this week.

5. North Carolina (LW: 6)- Remember when UNC was winless in the conference back in September? Now it looks like the Heels could end up with a 10-win season.

6. Boston College (LW: 5)- QB Dave Shinskie had 5 INT’s (one negated by pass interference) and 3 fumbles. Generally, that will do your team in.

7. Florida State (LW: 7)- The Noles struggled mightily with Maryland. Maybe they’ll bounce back and beat the Gators in the Swamp… Maybe.

8. Duke (LW: 8)- They hung tough with Miami most of the game until the Blue Devils remembered that they were in fact Duke.

9. Wake Forest (LW: 9)- Bye week. No movement.

10. Virginia (LW: 10)- I saw some fight from the Cavs for a while in a game that they didn’t have much to play for. That changes this week against VT. 11. NC State (LW: 11)- Allowed over 30 points for the 8th consecutive game. Not good.

12. Maryland (LW: 12)- Don’t worry, Terps. It’s almost over.

Clean, Old Fashioned Hate November 25, 2009

November 28, 2009, 8:00 PM on ABC (georgie leads the series 59-39-5)

The Battle for the Governor’s Cup ensues again in the Peach State as Georgia Tech hosts the Bulldogs of UGA. The Yellow Jackets (10-1) have had a week to rest their legs after locking up a berth in the ACCCG by beating Duke 49-10. The Bullpups (6-5) are coming off of a 34-27 heartbreaking loss at home to the Kentucky Wildcats. Last year, Roddy Jones amassed 214 yards on the ground to lead the Jackets to a thrilling 45-42 win, ending a 7-game skid to their rivals from Athens.

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Offense While georgie ranks third in run defense, the Bullpups haven’t seen a rushing attack the likes of which Tech will be using on Saturday. The biggest challenge for the Jackets will be avoiding UGAg linebacker Rennie Curran. Curran is the bright spot on a defense that has been woeful at times this year. He is second in the SEC with 9.7 tackles per game, and had a whopping 13 tackles last week against UK. Cord Howard and Co. will be matched up against a defensive line that features 3 seniors and sophomore Justin Houston. Houston leads the team with 7 sacks and 13 tackles for loss. The defensive end may not get a sack this game, but he will be a big factor in trying to stop Tech’s read-based option.

For Tech, center Sean Bedford is expected to be back on the line after sustaining an ankle injury, but Dan Voss is ready and capable of filling in should Bedford not be ready to go. Either way, Tech should be able to dominate the ground like they have done all season long. GT is 21-5 against UGAg when scoring at least 21 points, and Tech has only scored at least 24 points in all but one game this year (17 against Miami).

Defense Here’s where the game will be decided. While georgie’s defense gives up an average of 30 points to FBS teams, GT has a defense that is seemingly unpredictable. Sometimes they show up, sometimes they don’t. They have improved mightily in the last few weeks, but that was against the likes of Virginia, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and Duke.

The main matchup up front will be Derrick Morgan vs left tackle Clint Boling. Morgan leads the ACC and is tied for 4th nationally in sacks with 12.5. Clint Boling is the anchor of an offensive front that has only given up 11 sacks on the season. GT’s Ben Anderson, who had two sacks at Duke, will also try to get pressure in QB Joe Cox’s face, as well as slow down a UGAg running game that is starting to take form.

Cox could be without his favorite target in AJ Green this week. Green sustained a shoulder injury against Auburn, but UGAg found ways to fill his void last week versus Kentucky. Freshmen Rantavious Wooten, Orson Charles, and Tavarres King all had career days against the Wildcats.

My Take In case if you haven’t been able to tell, I really hate georgie. This game doesn’t just mean a lot to me and the fans, though. It means a lot to the players.

Of all things, Tech needs to stay focused in this game. Lately, the Jackets have been racking up the penalties. Saturday, they need to let that be georgie’s job (Bullpups rank close to last in FBS in penalties). The Jackets also need to hold on to the ball. UGAg’s turnover margin is a terrible -18 (next to last in the country). That’s right, they’ve only forced 8 turnovers in 11 games. Don’t let this game be any different.

Finally, I leave you with the wise of Coach Bobby Dodd: Now let me tell you what is going to happen today. That Georgie team is going to come running out of the tunnel screaming and crying. They will be foaming at the mouth and smashing one another upside the head just to get warmed up. A couple of them will throw up on the sidelines for good measure. We will not do any of that. I do not want to see tears in your eyes. While they are wasting energy we will conserve ours. We will direct our energy into constructive action. I have told you they bigger, faster, and tougher than you. All that is true, but we do have one advantage. We are smarter than they are.

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35-27 Jackets. Give ‘Em Hell Tech!

Buzzkill November 29, 2009 The honeymoon on North Ave is over after the Jackets fell to UGA 30-24 last night, ending an 8-game win streak for GT. When the Bulldogs came out and scored on their first drive without attempting a single pass, it was clear that Tech wasn’t facing the likes of Duke or Wake Forest.

Or Vanderbilt… Or Virginia.

Bulldog runningbacks Washaun Ealey and Caleb King ran all night on Georgia Tech, tallying 349 yards. Tech had only 205 yards on the ground, one of its lowest totals of the season. From beginning to end, UGA stuck to its game plan and controlled much of the clock, keeping Josh Nesbitt and the offense on the sideline.

The Yellow Jacket defense, which seemed to have improved in the last few weeks, was handled all evening by a physical UGA. The D forced one turnover on the night, a fumble by Caleb King late in the first quarter. After that, the Bulldogs would march to touchdowns or field goals, leaving their All-SEC punter Drew Butler off the field.

After a missed field goal attempt by UGA’s Blair Walsh, Paul Johnson had a chance to orchestrate a last-minute game winning drive with 3 minutes left. But when Tech made it across midfield, the Jackets attempted 4 consecutive passes, something GT fans were left to ponder.

Those 4 passes ended as such: incompletion to Baybay Thomas, a Stephen Hill catch outof-bounds, an overthrown ball to Anthony Allen, and a perfect strike to Baybay that slipped through his hands. Nine times out of ten Baybay, who had shaken off his defender on a hitch, makes that catch.

It seemed that Tech’s habit of waiting until the second half to strike against their opponents came back to bite them. Down 17-3 at the half, Georgia mounted too great of a lead with too little time left at the rate these teams were eating up the clock.

It’s a hard pill to swallow for any Tech fan or player. But unlike most teams (Dogs included), the Jackets have a game this week, perhaps the biggest of the season. Everyone, especially Baybay, needs to learn from this loss and then put it behind them. It’s Tampa week.

Note to Dog Fan It’s more than ignorant to proclaim that the “world is back on its axis again” after beating us.

Everyone in that stadium, you included, thought that game would end up 31-30 in Tech’s favor.

Richt did a great job of punching PJ back after last year, but the Bulldog dominance in this rivalry is over for now. But if you add another minute in that game, and I have no doubt it could have gone the other way. You should forget about Florida (and maybe even Tennessee) for now. This is the game you may want to pay attention to. You know as much as I do how evenly matched these teams are at this point in time.

Allen ‘Turned Up’ For Tampa Bay November 30, 2009 Saturday’s matchup in Raymond James Stadium is sure to be a good one. Two rivals lay it all on the line in a game that was decided by a fieldgoal when they met three months ago. It’s a title

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game that features two up-and-coming coaches in the conference, as well as some of the most electrifying players in college football.

But for Georgia Tech’s playmaker Anthony Allen, this game takes on a little more meaning. For the first time in months, Allen returns to his hometown Tampa Bay. And for the first time in years, he will get the chance to play in front of family and friends. “I’m real excited,” said Allen. “I haven’t been back there in a while, so I’m really looking forward to it. I’m trying to get my tickets now. My family said I was going to need thirty-plus.”

Allen, who played alongside fellow Jackets Phil Smith and Michael Peterson as well as Tech alum AJ and Andrew Smith, started for 3 seasons for the Jesuit High School Tigers. There, he compiled an impressive resume that included an All-State senior season with 1,151 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Tech’s outstanding A-Back (Paul Johnson’s version of the slot back) has six total touchdowns on the season. But what’s most impressive is his 10.6 yards per carry average. In comparison, Toby Gerhart of Stanford, the nation’s leading rusher, has a 5.6 average. And in Georgia Tech’s last matchup against Clemson, Allen gashed the Tigers for 127 yards on the ground, including an 82 yard scamper for a touchdown.

Don’t expect Allen to change his game plan against the Tigers this time around. “I’m going to do what I do every week. I treat every game like it’s the biggest game of my life. Every time I touch the ball, I try to make something happen with it.”

Before every game, Georgia Tech carries on to the field it’s list of 10 goals that the players devised back in the summer. For both Allen and the rest of the Yellow Jackets, getting to this spot has been the number one priority. “It was definitely at the top,” Allen explained. “The team wants to win an ACC Championship, and it goes through Tampa. It was at the top.”

Did I read this right?

December 1, 2009 PJ said this morning for us to go ahead and punch Georgie fans.

If he says so, I guess I must oblige.

More details from the AJC here.

What’s On Tap For This Weekend December 3, 2009 I’ll get back with a game preview shortly, but first I wanted to let everyone know of all the ACC festivities in Tampa over the next few days.

Coaches & Awards Luncheon The Coaches and Awards Luncheon officially kicks off the weekend with both participating coaches discussing their seasons. The 2009 ACC Football Awards will also be presented at this time. Limited Tickets are available. Call 813.218.3814 for ticket information.

(Tampa Convention Center) Friday 12.04.09 at 12:00pm

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ACC Night of Legends This Legendary Event is an invitation-only party to honor outstanding legends from each ACC institution. Held at the ACC Headquarters Hotel, this party will embody the true spirit of ACC Football, as well as provide the opportunity to meet some of the biggest names in college football. Presented by the Florida Sports Foundation. Limited Tickets are available. Call 813.218.3814 for ticket information.

(Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay) Friday 12.04.09 at 7:00pm Channelside’s Toast to the Atlantic Coast Join in the excitement of ACC Football at the biggest downtown party during Championship Weekend. Show your spirit alongside the participating school’s marching bands and mascots.

Admission is Free.

(Channelside Bay Plaza) Friday 12.04.09 at 7:00pm ACC FanFest The biggest party on Championship Weekend! ACC FanFest is over 200,000 square feet of interactive games, team mascots, pep rallies, food and beverage, autograph signings, game merchandise, jumbotrons, and general family fun! Country Music Artist, James Otto will perform a pre-game concert beginning at 6:30p.m. Admission is free to all game ticket holders.

(Raymond James Stadium - Lot 6D) Saturday 12.05.09 beginning at 5:00pm Pre-Game Hospitality Located with-in ACC FanFest, this all-inclusive food and beverage area is where the perfect Championship Game experience begins. Limited Tickets will be available onsite. Call 813.342.4075 for ticket information.

(Raymond James Stadium - Lot 6D) Saturday 12.05.09 beginning from 5:30pm-7:30pm Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game (Raymond James Stadium) on Saturday 12.05.09 at 8:00pm For more info, click here.

Off to TB December 3, 2009 The next time I blog, it will be from the Big Guava.

If you’re in the area, tune in tomorrow to AM 1010 around 3:45- 4ish. The Clemson Correspondent and I will be on the Happy Hour with JP Petterson to talk about the game. If you’re not in the area, I believe you can listen to it ESPN radio.

Midnight Bloggin’ December 4, 2009 Coming to you from the Grand Hyatt in Tampa. I’ve just got a few thoughts I need to share

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before I hit the sack.

-Derrick Morgan is the best. Earlier today he was announced as an AFCA All American while leading the ACC with 12.5 sacks. 3 more and he’ll break Pat Swilling’s school record of 15. He’s a beast, and really the only bright spot on an otherwise sub-par defensive line.

-Paul Johnson is ACC Coach of the Year again. That’s two years in a row. And he’s only been here for two years. CPJ is making it look really easy right now, and if he keeps it, he’ll be King of the Conference for a long time.

-Besides Captain Morgan, other All-ACC Jackets include Josh Nesbitt, Jon Dwyer, Demaryius Thomas, Cord Howard, and Sean Bedford. That’s almost half of the entire first team offense!

Morgan Burnett made 2nd team defense, too.

-I want to shout out to the Volleybees, who are taking on Baylor tonight at 8:30 EST in Los Angeles for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. I hope everyone has their bracket filled out.

ACC Championship Game Preview December 4, 2009

December 5, 2009, 8:00 PM on ESPN (GT leads series 48-24).

The Road to Tampa Bay has been a long one, but championship weekend is finally here.

Tomorrow night’s game features the best that the ACC has to offer when #20 Clemson gets a rematch with rival #12 Georgia Tech. Both schools are coming off of disappointing losses to their SEC rivals South Carolina and Georgia, but these teams tee it up, none of that matters. The Tigers and Jackets met way back in week 3 as Tech escaped with a 30-27 win off of a Scott Blair field goal.

Offense Jonathan Dwyer was a non-factor last week, and Tech faces a defensive line that is every bit as talented as UGA’s. When they played before, Clemson’s tackles crashed in on Dwyer every play and held him to under 70 yards. Georgia Tech needs to find a way to get Dwyer involved, whether it’s neutralizing their line with cut blocks or getting Big Jon involved in the pitch game.

Baybay Thomas needs to bounce if GT wants to win. Last week, he carried this team until he dropped a pass on 4th down to end a potential game-winning drive. As talented as Clemson’s corners are, they couldn’t cover him last time and they won’t be able to cover him this time. If Thomas can stretch the field early, he’ll give Clemson safety Deandre McDaniel another element to worry about besides the run.

Josh Nesbitt will have his work cut out in reading defensive ends Ricky Sapp and Da’Quan Bowers, two of the best in the business. Last time, the rushed up field quickly, neutralizing the pitch and forcing Nesbitt to keep it often. Nesbitt is going to take plenty of shots tomorrow, and after getting hurt last week it will be interesting to see how the leader of Tech’s offense responds.

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Defense It’s safe to say that clemson was drooling after watching video of tech’s defense last week. uGa rushed for 339 yards on the day, and tech simply had no answer for it. much like the pair of Bulldog running backs, cJ spiller is very good at finding the cutback lane, precisely what killed the Jackets last week. the loss of tackle Ben anderson definitely hurt the run defense, so we will see how tJ Barnes fills in the week on the defensive line to try to contain spiller.

In Week 2, tech had the luxury of facing cu quarterback Kyle parker when he was green. now, however, he is battle tested and has matured throughout the season. even in the last game he managed to throw for over 260 yards, an omen for what tech’s secondary would look like throughout the season. the Jackets need to get all- american derrick morgan in the backfield to disrupt parker’s rhythm. He had 10 tackles and 3 sacks last time these teams met, and he’s the best shot tech has at stopping the tigers.

I will say this for the secondary: they gave up under 100 yards last week to the Bulldogs. then again, uGa only threw the ball 14 times. Jerrard terrant and mario Butler need to stick on clemson’s Jacoby Ford. If the speedster finds a way to brake free from coverage, parker will throw to him every time.

My Take Both teams have something to prove after last week, and both schools want their first outright championship in almost 20 years. clemson and tech have both dramatically improved since september, although you wouldn’t have guessed if you were watching last week. this game will be a fun one, and has all the makings to be as close as it was back in week 2.

I’m hoping for tech to come out early and catch clemson off guard like last time. after that, hopefully they can fend off the tigers for a while. Is 31-28 too close of a score to predict?

exCUrsions in tHe Big gUava december 5, 2009

ok, so maybe the weather here isn’t as perfect as expected (it’s been raining pretty much all day). But that hasn’t taken anything away from the events that the conference has put on thus far.

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my clemson counterpart and I set out this morning for the acc coaches Luncheon. needless to say, it was a blast. coach Johnson and derrick morgan were honored, among others. espn’s todd Blackledge and Brad nessler interviewed cpJ and coach swinney. It was great to run in to some faces that we haven’t seen since the acc media days all the way back in the summer.

We briefly stopped by the Bungalow, a local sports bar and grill in the city. Jp peterson had us on his show “the Happy Hour” on am 1010, where we discussed the game tomorrow, our blogging experiences this season, etc

We then proceeded over to channelside, where fans are gathering all throughout the night. there, we attended an event for the children’s cancer center of tampa. Kids were able to bowl with mascots and cheerleaders from all of the acc schools, and Boston college’s mark Herzlich showed up to talk about his battle with cancer over the last year. It was great to see the kids’ eyes light up when the likes of Buzz and Hokiebird showed up.

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after a short break, we attended the acc’s night of Legends. tech’s eddie Lee Ivory and clemson’s danny Ford were honored along with some of the conference’s greatest players of all time. all in all, it’s been a fun day. time for me to rest up and get pumped for another big day ahead. ps anyone know where I can buy some oranges around Raymond James stadium tomorrow???

smells like oranges december 6, 2009 I’ll post details later. I’m much too exhausted to write right now.

But for now it’s enough to know that Georgia tech is your 2009 acc cHamps!!!

georgia teCH: 2009 aCC CHamPions december 6, 2009

Who says that defense wins championships? In a game where Georgia tech’s defense was gashed by clemson’s poster boy cJ spiller for 234 yards and 4 (yes, 4) touchdowns, paul Johnson once again orchestrated a late, game-winning drive. With the clock ticking down to 1:20, tech’s brawny B-back Jon dwyer rumbled 15 yards into the endzone to put Gt ahead for good 39-34.

But it wasn’t until derrick morgan tackled tiger QB Kyle parker to force a turnover did Yellow Jacket fans start chucking oranges on to the field of Raymond James stadium. paul Johnson had promised us that he’d get us to where his team’s season is bigger than just one game. and, like almost always, he was right.

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We’ll be back in sunshine state in a month’s time. But this time we’re headed to miami. this time we’re headed to the orange Bowl.

Blair’s Witch Project It’s been an up and down year kicker scott Blair. But last night was a career night for the junior.

Blair kept the Jackets in the game by going 4/4 on his field goals, including career longs of 48 and 49. arguably Gt’s mVp for the game, Blair seems to always play his best against the tigers.

In the previous match against clemson, he kicked the game-winning FG and even threw a touchdown to demaryius thomas.

A Night of Firsts It was the first time ever that both teams ran for over 300 yards in one game. It was tech’s first time as acc champs since 1990, and this will be their first orange Bowl appearance in decades. oh, and regarding attendance… Raymond James had over 57K in the stands last night. that’s more than the Gt/cu matchup earlier this year in atlanta.

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