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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > November > 07
Friday, November 7, 2008
Winning opportunity knocking for Tech
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chapel Hill, N.C. — Opportunity wasn’t expected to come this early. Opportunity wasn’t expected to be this pronounced. A voice in the conference, hope in the BCS, anything more than a minor diversion on the local college football landscape — not supposed to happen.
“Honestly, if you asked me before the season, I would’ve said I hope this could happen but I never put a number on it,” Dan Radakovich said. “People talk about good seven-win seasons and bad seven-win seasons. This would be a very good 7-2.”
Georgia Tech has opportunity like it hasn’t had in several years. The program in Athens, the one that generally dwarfs the Jackets in stature and visibility, has been crushed by its two signature opponents this season, Alabama and Florida. For many Georgia fans, the remainder of the season isn’t about opportunity. It’s about limiting the bitterness.
But for Georgia Tech players and coaches and certainly its ticket-selling, sponsor-hawking athletic director, opportunity for something great is staring them in the face.
With at least four games remaining, the Jackets have a chance to hit double digits in victories for the first time in 10 years. After last week’s 31-28 win over Florida State, they have a strong pulse in the ACC. Win their final two conference games against North Carolina (today) and Miami (Nov. 20), and there’s a good chance of advancing to the conference title game — the winner of which goes to the Orange Bowl.
It’s November. The one local team that figured to be in the BCS mix was the one ranked No. 1 in the preseason. Tech? It was projected by many to finish just north of Duke.
The fact that Tech’s resurgence coincides with Georgia’s disappointment gives the Jackets an unexpected opportunity to alter the local landscape.
“Raising the awareness of Georgia Tech is always important,” said Radakovich, the athletic director who started all this with the hiring of coach Paul Johnson. “We don’t have the circumstances the University of Georgia has, where the stadium is sold out each week. Paul has his goals moving the team forward, and we have our goals from an administrative standpoint. This gives us an opportunity.”
Resilience leads to opportunity.
The Jackets have won at Boston College and Clemson. They held on to defeat an FSU team that had won four straight and climbed to 15th in the rankings. They came within three points of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
Can they do something today that the Bulldogs couldn’t — win the conference game that matters?
The Jackets are good. They weren’t supposed to be within a zip code of good.
Johnson inherited a strong recruiting class from Chan Gailey. But expecting success in year one with a spread-option offense seemed as plausible as taking a 30-day course in Latin, jumping back in time and mixing at a dinner party in Ancient Rome.
There have been the expected hiccups, but the surprise is that the Jackets have been able to overcome them. They have lost 15 fumbles in nine games. No other ACC team is even in double figures. Only one Division I team in the nation (Army) has lost more fumbles (18). And yet, Tech is a plus-six in turnover differential, thanks to a defense that has forced 25 turnovers (first in the ACC and tied for third in the nation).
There is a toughness about this team, a sense of accountability and discipline and confidence that had been missing in the program.
“Paul has done a lot to change the attitude about things,” Radakovich said. “Even early on, when he talked to players about going to class, he didn’t just tell them. He would follow up and if they didn’t do as he told them, there would be a little jog. Well, more than a little jog. They understood early that when he asked them to do something, he’d follow through.”
Now, they’re here. Win this game, the next one becomes even bigger. Opportunity awaits.
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