DEL.ICIO.USACC BREAKDOWN: Georgia Tech vs. Florida State
Everything you need to know about the Yellow Jackets and Seminoles showdown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Big wide receivers are on the menu today. Florida State is wary of Tech sophomore Demaryius Thomas, while Georgia Tech will have to try to defend Greg Carr.
Thomas, 6-foot-3 and 229 pounds, has caught 27 passes and averages 18.6 yards per catch.
Bob Andres / bandres@ajc.com
Receiver Demaryius Thomas has caught 27 passes and averages 18.6 yards per catch so far this season.
Phil Skinner / pskinner@ajc.com
Guard Cord Howard likes to read his Bible to relax before games.
Bob Andres / bandres@ajc.com
Georgia Tech A-back Lucas Cox may see playing time at B-back on Saturday.
AP
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden has never lost to Georgia Tech in conference play.
“He runs as fast as any defensive back we’ve got,” Seminoles defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said of Thomas. “We have to put two of our defensive backs together to be as big as he is.”
Like Thomas, Carr makes his catches count. Carr (6-6, 214) averages 16.4 yards on 19 receptions.
Said Tech coach Paul Johnson of Carr, “I can’t tell you how many times they’re in third-and-long and they drop back and he goes deep and they throw it up and it’s like a moonshot and he gets it.”
With cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels likely out, Johnson said he might move safety Morgan Burnett (6-1, 198) to cornerback to defend him.
What this game means
With a win over Florida State, Georgia Tech would stay in the hunt for an ACC championship. But the Jackets likely need to win their remaining four league games and then receive help from other teams in the division.
A victory would also make the Jackets bowl eligible, as well as move them back into the BCS’ top 25.
The Seminoles, No. 15 in the BCS poll, need a win to maintain control of the Atlantic Division as they try to win their first ACC title since 2005.
A win would likewise qualify the Seminoles for their 27th consecutive bowl trip. If Michigan loses today to Purdue to drop to 2-7, its 33-year bowl streak will end and give Florida State the longest active run.
How I get ready for a game
Junior guard Cord Howard
(as told to Ken Sugiura)
I like to relax on Fridays. I’m a big chiller. I go over my plays and read my Bible. That’s pretty much it. I read my Bible for 30 or 45 minutes. It’s relaxing to me.
We have room check at 10 p.m. I watch a movie and I’m usually asleep before 11 or 11:30.
Saturday morning, I go to the team devotional that our chaplain Derrick Moore leads, right before pre-game meal. It definitely soothes you and gives you a lot of confidence because he always ties what he says into the game and everything overall.
I also talk to my mom and grandma Saturday morning. My mom tells me play hard, be sound and if I mess up, go to the next play.
I listen to R&B music. I’m not a big pump-up music type of person. I like to be relaxed.
But 30 or 40 minutes before kickoff is when I psyche myself up. I think about who I’ve got in front of me and what I want to do to him.
I wouldn’t say I get wild-eyed. Sometimes you get too amped up and you throw out too much energy. But when I get on the field, it’s a different story.
Third down a challenge
To win on third down, Florida State’s defense starts by winning on first down. It must be working — opponents are converting 17.4 percent of their third downs, the lowest in Division I-A by eight percentage points.
Defensive end Everette Brown said the team’s goal is to limit opponents to two yards or less on first down.
“If you don’t win on first down, they can play-action you on third down, they can quarterback sneak,” he said. “There are more options.”
Johnson said at a press conference this week that “you can do anything you want with numbers,” but the Seminoles’ third-down rate grabbed his attention.
One way Florida State creates — and wins — third-and-long situations is with aggressive blitzing that creates negative-yardage plays.
“They have no problem rushing seven or eight guys,” Johnson said. “When they get you on third down, you might as well bank on it they’re coming (with a blitz).”
Double duty for Cox
A-back Lucas Cox may fill in for Jonathan Dwyer at B-back. Coach Paul Johnson has repeatedly said that he wants to keep Dwyer fresh, which is why he was taken off the kickoff return team.
Cox started in spring at B-back but switched to A-back before the season.
Cox, who takes practice snaps at both positions during the week, doesn’t mind doing both.
“Honestly, I think B-back’s easier,” Cox said.
At A-back, Cox said he has more assignments for blocking, running and receiving. At B-back, lined up behind the quarterback, “you’re just kind of just running straight one way almost every play.”
Having more A-backs available would free Cox up to play B-back. Johnson said he’d like to play A-backs Greg Smith and Marcus Wright, but wanted to see better performance from them in practice.
Can’t beat the Seminoles
When Florida State joined the ACC in 1992, coach Bobby Bowden said he thought Georgia Tech and Clemson would make natural rivals because of their proximity.
One problem: “I said it would never happen until they started beating us,” Bowden said.
The Jackets, who are playing Florida State for the first time since 2003, have yet to beat the Seminoles in ACC play, a run of 12 games. Tech and Duke are the only ACC teams who have yet to defeat Florida State.
Tech has lost close (29-24 in 1992 and 14-13 in 2003) and lost big (51-0 in 1993 and 38-0 in 1997). The last time Tech beat Florida State was in 1975, before the Seminoles joined the ACC. Johnson noted this week that he was a high school senior that fall.
“You can imagine what they’re thinking,” Bowden said. “They want to break that streak.”
Should Tech fall short today, it’ll get another shot in Tallahassee next fall, but then the Seminoles will rotate off the schedule until 2013.
Youth vs age on the line of scrimmage
Perhaps the most experienced defensive line in the ACC will go against one of the league’s least experienced offensive lines.
Florida State’s five linemen include a redshirt sophomore, a true sophomore and three true freshmen. Led by sophomore center Ryan McMahon from Savannah and sophomore guard Rodney Hudson, who were both freshman all-Americans, the Seminoles line has a combined 30 starts. The school said it’s the youngest line in Division I-A.
Tech’s front four — ends Derrick Morgan and Michael Johnson and tackles Darryl Richard and Vance Walker — have a combined 81 starts.
The Seminole linemen have held their own; they’ve allowed 12 sacks on 204 pass attempts. The team is 19th in the country in rushing offense.
While Virginia mashed the Jackets for 126 rushing yards last Saturday, Tech is third in the ACC in sacks with 21 and is second in the country in tackles for loss with 8.9 per game.
Said FSU coach Bobby Bowden, “Their defense looks so tough. You hear so much about the wishbone, people forget about their defense. They’re playing mighty good.”
Odds and ends
Seminoles kicker Graham Gano has made 13 consecutive field goals, four of them from 50 yards or longer. …
Georgia Tech has outscored opponents 59-6 in the first quarter, but Florida State has a 75-13 edge in the second quarter and 76-25 in the third.
Florida State defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews on preparing for Georgia Tech: “When you look at Georgia Tech, the first thing that comes to your mind is, you’ve got to stop north and south. You can’t be worried about east and west.”
Rewind
Virginia 24, Georgia Tech 17: The Cavaliers ended Tech’s four-game winning streak by piling up 23 first downs, holding the ball for more than 34 minutes and forcing three Jackets turnovers.
Florida State 30, Virginia Tech 20: Taking advantage of the Hokies’ top two quarterbacks going out with injuries, the Seminoles erased a 10-point deficit and won their fourth in a row. Wide receiver Greg Carr had 100 receiving yards on just three catches.
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