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Saturday, November 1, 2008
Emotions rise, fall in Tech’s narrow win
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It was a game that can’t immediately be defined in common language. For a time, it belonged to Florida State, then to Georgia Tech, but as twilight fell on Bobby Dodd Stadium, it wasn’t easy to remember there had ever been a first quarter. Or a second. Or even a third. And the end came on like a stroke of lightning.
Florida State had twice led by a touchdown, then Georgia Tech took the lead before halftime and rocked along in the second half on what seemed to be a comfortable cushion of a 31-20 lead. It was only then that this improbable game began to take on a totally different personality. It turned on a simple keeper in which Josh Nesbitt gained three yards, but was lost for the rest of the day. And let it not be taken lightly when it is said that Nesbitt is the transmission that propels this Paul Johnson offense. He left the field with a limp and never returned. On came Jaybo Shaw, the freshman quarterback from Flowery Branch.
Not to panic. Shaw had come aboard when Nesbitt went down against Mississippi State and had conducted the offense with aplomb. But this was a different kettle of fish, so to speak. Florida State’s scorching defense kept him on edge, and in short order, the Seminoles had the Yellow Jackets on the run, needing just a field goal to tie. Worse than that, they were within three yards of a touchdown, and thus the plot thickens.
On third down, fullback Marcus Sims launched his 230-pound body toward the end zone, found himself intercepted by Cooper Taylor, the ball came loose and was covered by Rashaad Reid in the end zone, and just as swiftly as that, Georgia Tech’s fate switched from defeat to victory. Forty-five seconds on the clock was written off with two drops of Shaw’s knee, and in stunning succession, utter defeat had been turned into an improbable victory.
It was with a depleted secondary that Tech had gone into this game. Injuries had Johnson left with a secondary composed mainly of freshmen. Taylor, aforementioned, is a freshman out of Marist who has shown sparkling possibility from preseason forward. Tall, lean and quick, he has performed with the form of a veteran. In fact, he was Tech’s leading tackler this day. And Reid, and Michael Peterson, two other freshman, should win gold stars for their performances in the secondary.
Oftimes good defense is overshadowed by Johnson’s spread or triple option, or however one chooses to address it, and on this occasion, so it did. Though in his own summation, Bobby Bowden, who has been around awhile, said, “We simply couldn’t top the wishbone. [That’s his name for it.] They just got too far ahead. That’s the last time we’ll see it this year,” he added, as if in relief.
The football populace will go many a year and never see a game such as this 31-28 nerve-wringer. And it came across in the aftermath, when the turf at Bobby Dodd was swarmed by the delirious cheering section of Tech fans, and somewhere in the crowd that lady television interviewer was overwhelmed. And a cordon of protective personnel stood guard at both goalposts. Such was the day that it was.
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