AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2006 > September > 29
Friday, September 29, 2006
First time in Blacksburg
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s still September, and I haven’t been covering Georgia Tech long, but I bet there hasn’t been a game like the Virginia Tech contest in a while. The winner, after all, will be the only undefeated team left in the Coastal Division.
With six more ACC games to follow, it’s not like a Georgia Tech win would punch a ticket to Jacksonville. But it’d be one whale of a leg up as the only other team in the division I think might, and I stress might, have a shot at winning that side of the ACC besides the two Techs is Miami. That figures to make the homecoming game against the Hurricanes extra large, too, even if Virginia Tech wins tomorrow.
Otherwise, a few cerebral disturbances …
— If Calvin Johnson doesn’t play, I owe somebody something. I haven’t figured out what, but I bet whatever it is he plays unless he has an accident in the next 23 hours. He was a game-time decision nine days ago, and we saw how that went. It’s almost like Chan Gailey’s superstitious here, figuring it worked so well last time why not do it again? It’s not like Calvin needs practice, yet he practiced, although I’m not sure if he was limited or not as regular season practices are closed. Still, if he’s so beat up, if that thigh is so bad, would he practice? Does he really need to practice given his knowledge of how important he is balanced again the possibility practice could aggravate injury? That doesn’t seem like a tough balancing act to me. If it was really iffy, wouldn’t you give him every kind of physical rest you could? Remove as many possibilities of him aggravating the injury as possible? He practiced. He’s playing.
— Don’t plan on Jacksonville DL Jacoby Monroe being part of the Georgia Tech signing class in February. He’s not de-committing, per se, but while nobody’s saying it, I will: the Jackets aren’t recruiting him anymore, even though he committed in July. They practically can’t (more on that later). It was a surprise when he committed to Tech almost out of the blue, anyway, catching even some Tech staffers off-guard I think. He first committed to Florida. His academic issues are multi-layered. Solving one problem, like say core curriculum, would be one thing. But he has core, GPA and SAT/ACT issues, and in some cases the gaps between where he is and where he needs to be are too big to cover in the time he has left. Besides all this, since Tech has fewer slots for incoming freshmen because of NCAA sanctions, they have less luxury to hold a spot for a kid they can’t count on qualifying. Do that, and another talented kid (keep Derrick Morgan of Pa. foremost in mind as Tech sure is) decides to go elsewhere, and then Monroe doesn’t make it and suddenly you end up short one very high-quality D-lineman in the next signing class. That’d be a problem. It’s unfortunate, but Tech has less leeway than other years in this situation in terms of holding a spot for the kid (academic requirements don’t change in any years, but the program sometimes will honor a commitment from an academically-challenged kid longer if they have a signing class of, say, 25 or 26; Tech’s going to sign 16-18 this time around).
— Somewhat quietly, Jahi Word-Daniels moved into the starting CB spot last week, replacing Pat Clark. And Word-Daniels has played well all season. He’s tied for the ACC lead with seven pass breakups, and has a pick. If his knee holds up, he looks pretty good opposite Kenny Scott. Opponents are steering away from Scott to a great degree. “[Defensive coordinator] Jon Tenuta realizes that,” Gailey said. “[Opponents] just can’t lineup and say there’s one-on-one on both sides. We try to scheme so we take some pressure off [Word-Daniels] from time to time.”
Looking forward to tomorrow. I’ve been to Blacksburg twice, but not for a football game.
