How will Georgia Tech react on the road?

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson mused earlier this week that he won’t know how players will respond in road games until they actually go. Said Johnson of the team’s game at Boston College on Saturday, “They can’t be going up there to see what kind of lobster they’re going to have.”

Johnson will find out about a lot of his players. Of Tech’s 45 players on the two-deep depth chart — there are two second-string centers — at least 16 of them are slated to play their first college road game. Five are starters.

Offensive tackle Andrew Gardner, defensive tackle Darryl Richard and cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels, all seniors, spoke with staff writer Ken Sugiura about their first road trip with Tech.

Gardner

Gardner started for the Jackets at Auburn as a redshirt freshman in 2005. He remembers sitting in his hotel room all day, fretting that he hadn’t played a real game since high school.

Said Gardner, “The question for myself was, ‘Am I really any good?’ I don’t know, because I haven’t played a game. I was real nervous all day and I kind of had butterflies in my stomach.”

On his first play, going on a silent snap count in front of 87,000 screaming fans, Gardner’s assignment blew past him and knocked down quarterback Reggie Ball.

“All I could do was go to Reggie and tell him I was sorry,” Gardner said.

Gardner settled down, not giving up any more sacks that night, he said. Tech won 23-14.

“I decided that it’s best not to be nervous and try to channel that into excitement than let it get to you,” he said.

Richard

Richard played his first road game against Clemson in 2004, a 28-24 win. It was his first start. It was also a night game, and Richard sat in his room watching games, his nerves growing.

“I think the earlier you play on the road, the better,” he said.

Richard vividly recalls a defensive stand during the Jackets’ wild comeback, when they scored three touchdowns in the last five minutes to stun the Tigers.

On first down, Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst “ran, I think he slid, I would say at about 8 1/2 (yards). I think he could have run for first down on that play and the game probably would have been over,” Richard said. There was no gain on second down. On third down, “they tried to run the ball again and got knocked back.” On fourth down, Clemson botched the punt snap, giving Tech the ball at the 10-yard line.

On the next play, Richard said, “Reggie Ball threw the ball to Calvin (Johnson) in the corner of the end zone and we won the game 28-24. As far as excitement goes, that was a nice welcome to college football.”

Word-Daniels

Word-Daniels made his road debut in 2005, a 51-7 loss at Virginia Tech.

“Your first time, you’ve got all types of emotions jumbled together, your nerves are kind of rumbling even before you first get there,” he said. “Thinking about the game on the plane, thinking, ‘I don’t want to mess up my first time on the road.’”

Word-Daniels remembers so much being different — the stadium, opposing fans, the atmosphere. He said it felt to him like the whole stadium was watching him, hoping he would mess up. It didn’t help that 65,000 fans rocked Lane Stadium as the Hokies hammered the Jackets.

“It’s almost like you feel like you’re the only one on the field. You feel like you’re this big,” said Word-Daniels, pinching his thumb and index finger together.