AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2008 > October > 20
Monday, October 20, 2008
Six & One and Ranked!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I regretfully missed this past weekend’s Clemson road trip, the first Death Valley trip I’ve missed in several years. The GT vs Clemson games in the past decade have largely been tightly contested matches between two quality teams. This weekend was no different.
Interim coach Dabo Swinney looked a little like a clown who had arrived at the wrong party, but the Tigers defense definitely showed up at the right time and place. More often than not the Clemson defensive line seemed to be blowing past the Tech offensive line and disrupting plays in the backfield.
Luckily for the Yellow Jackets, Josh Nesbitt was back under center and the Tech defense was able to grab some early points and slow down the Clemson offense long enough for Nesbitt to knock off the rust and get into a groove.
So now we sit at 6-1 and lead the ACC Coastal…ranked #21 in the AP and #18 in the BCS. These are heady days to be a Georgia Tech fan. Who would have thought we’d be in this position in the first year of Paul Johnson’s tenure on the Flats? I thought Tech would win seven or eight games this season but never expected a 6-1 start that is realistically three points from an undefeated 7-0 record and probably Top 10 ranking.
In my last blog I suggested that we’d learn a good bit from Virginia’s game against North Carolina. I’m not so sure that’s true, in retrospect. The Hoos trailed North Carolina for the entire game until evening the score with 47 seconds left in the game. North Carolina coach Butch Davis then elected to run the clock out and go into overtime rather than attempt reaching field goal range. That decision may have ultimately cost the Tar Heels the game as UVA held them to a field goal and then answered with a touchdown to win 16-13.
North Carolina owned an edge in both time of possession and yardage in this game. From my perspective, only three Heel turnovers prevented them from sealing this game and winning handily. The Hoos ran up less than 300 yards of total offense and were never able to establish a running game…yet still managed to hang around and steal a win.
Tech fans should have a good feeling going into the UVA game. Not only is it going to be Tech’s Homecoming, a game the Jackets typically win, but Josh Nesbitt will be back up to full speed and his timing will be much improved over the first half against Clemson.
I’m in the process of looking more closely at UVA’s stats this season and am curious to see what people think about Paul Johnson’s triple option offense against Al Groh’s 3-4 defense.
I’ll check back in with some numbers and a prediction before the game this weekend. For now, lets hear from GT fans who made the trip to Clemson. I wish I could have been there myself. How was the scene and the game. Anyone suffering from altitude sickness after sitting up in those high nosebleeds? Been there, done that…
Go Jackets!
THWG!
