AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2007 > August > 30
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Clark news means big boost
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday’s news that Pat Clark is academically eligible goes a long way toward solidifying Georgia Tech’s secondary. Clark has spent only one season as a defensive back — he began his career as a receiver — but he started five games last season at cornerback or nickel back and, based on what I saw in preseason workouts, is no worse than the Jackets’ third-best cover corner and might be second only to Jahi Word-Daniels.
Mario Butler might catch him by the end of the season, but Butler is just starting his college career. But for now, I’d rate Clark as a contender for the title of Most Valuable Backup on the Tech team, behind Michael Johnson.
Who would you consider for that title? Rashaun Grant? Jacob Lonowski? D.J. Donley, perhaps? (I see Tech starting a three-receiver set of James Johnson, Greg Smith and Demaryius Thomas.)
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Tougher trip: Notre Dame or Duke?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Location, location, location. It matters most in real estate, and while it may not be at the top of the list of considerations when trying to calculate the odds of winning a college football game, it sure rates up there somewhere.
So, road game coming up two days from now for Tech, and I wonder …
Does the efficiency level at which the Jackets will play hinge any more on the fact they will play at Notre Dame than it will when they play at, say, Duke?
Now, before going over a cliff, make sure you understand the question. I know the caliber of competition will be vastly different in Notre Dame, Ind. (home of the Irish, not South Bend, although NOBODY except the Notre Dame sports information department ever makes note of that mailing address) than in Durham, N.C.
That is not my point/question.
My question relates to the “vibe” generated by one’s surroundings.
Are Tech players any more likely to be nervous or mistake-prone at Notre Dame because it’s Notre Dame than at Duke, or at Maryland strictly because of the location and related crowd noise, emotion, etc.?
Or might such a thing work to Tech’s advantage? Might these factors serve to lend greater clarity to the mission at hand?
Might the plusses and minuses mitigate one another?
If there is to be a detectable emotional affect on the Jackets because this game is at Notre Dame, methinks a far more relevant mitigator will be Tech’s collective experience, the number of returning players on both sides of the ball. There are enough veterans and such a paucity of young players who will be counted on significantly that combined with a common-sense suggestion that younger players are more likely to be out of whack, I don’t think it factors against Tech any more than it would another road game.
Just one man’s opinion.
And again, I’m not saying it won’t be louder or more hostile at Notre Dame than at Duke. But I’m not buying the idea that the Jackets will be any more spooked or distracted Saturday than in Durham, one place that for my two cents I could see it being more difficult to focus for lack of clarity. The prize won’t be as rewarding, even though that’s an ACC game.
That’s it for today’s psycho-babble. You may return to life among the sane.
Matt
P.S. If the staff had to pick between Clark and Howard and have one eligible and not the other, Clark would’ve been the pick I imagine. Not to slight the two years younger Howard, who should be able to earn more chances, but having a senior CB go out before the opener at Notre Dame — when there is specious depth at the position — would have been a bad omen, period.
