Tech hopes its defense holds up against LSU

What Tech fans may have forgotten is that the Jackets’ last game against Georgia might have been the worst that their defense played all season.

Tech’s defense had season-worst performances for points allowed (42), yards allowed (488), passing yards allowed (407), yards per play allowed (7.9) and most big plays (20 yards or more) allowed.

Tech allowed nine such plays against Georgia, just one fewer than it surrendered in its first six games. Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack said his defense had problems with tackling, missed assignments and poor alignment.

“They had some good players, but we helped them out a little bit too much, too,” Wommack said.

The scheme will be simplified for Wednesday’s Chick-fil-A Bowl game against LSU, he said. Extra practice should help, also. Not having to face Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno and A.J. Green might play a factor, also.

Georgia is 20th in total offense in Division I-A. LSU is 55th.

“My experience with bowl games is you’re going to see some things that are different, that you haven’t seen before,” Wommack said. “We’ll be able to adjust to them. You just hope that first time or two, that it won’t hurt you.”

Born near the bayou

It might be an unpleasant thought for Tech fans — defensive tackle Darryl Richard as an LSU Tiger. When he was a senior at Destrehan (La.) High School, he was recruited by then-LSU coach Nick Saban.

“He knows how to recruit,” Richard said. “It was hard to get away.”

While he could have won a national title with the Tigers last year, Richard said he has no regrets about coming to Tech, where he earned an undergrad degree in management and a master’s business degree in 4-1/2 years, was named the top scholar-athlete in ACC football and earned second-team all-ACC honors.

“I think the things I’ve learned here will help me the rest of my life,” he said. “I can’t say I want to take that back.”

Several players that Richard knows from home will be on the other side of the field, including one of his best friends, cornerback Jai Eugene. Another is quarterback Jordan Jefferson, whose youth league games Richard used to referee.

Dome sweet dome

For LSU and SEC teams in general, the Georgia Dome represents the holy grail of the SEC championship game. For many of Tech’s players, it has similar meaning. High school football players in Georgia have long sought to play in the dome. For years, it has hosted the state semifinals until this year taking on the championship game.

As a player, “you wanted to win the state championship, but you really wanted to go to the dome,” A-back Roddy Jones said, who never made it with Chamblee High School. “I think it’s really going to set in when I walk out there for pre-game and when the stadium starts to fill up.”

Jones said that when he watched his brother Darius play in the dome for Chamblee last year, he felt like he was out there playing with him.

“It’ll be fun, especially a player like myself who didn’t have a chance to play in the dome in high school,” said safety Morgan Burnett, a graduate of North Clayton High School.

Linebacker Kyle Jackson also never made it to the dome when he was at Union Grove.

“For us, it’s a chance to live that dream that we wanted in high school,” he said.

Another big day?

A-back Roddy Jones could have another game like he did against Georgia, when he ran for 214 yards and touchdowns. Or he could have another game like he did against Florida State, when he ran the ball four times for 39 yards.

Jones said backs and receivers need to have patience in coach Paul Johnson’s offense, because it’s never certain which of them will get the ball a lot.

“Once we get into the game and you see that certain things start working, whether it’s the pitch or the dive, you can say so-and-so has a chance to have a big game if we get this guy blocked,” Jones said. “Coach (Johnson) will kind of point that out on the sideline and say, ‘We’re one block away on the backside or on the frontside. It’s all about being patient and just waiting for your turn.”

Of course, he wouldn’t mind a repeat of his performance against Georgia, when he ran for touchdowns of 8 and 54 yards.

“We kind of knew there was that kind of capability (for A-backs to run for that many yards) and it was just a matter of time before it was going to happen,” he said. “I was the one fortunate enough to reap the benefits of it.”

Mo money?

Financially speaking, Georgia Tech will not come out ahead because it is staying close to home.

Like all bowl teams, Tech received $1 million from the ACC to cover its expenses. (Teams traveling west receive an additional $100,000.)

Senior associate athletics director Paul Griffin said that if the expenses went according to plan the school would have about $150,000 left over. That is roughly equivalent to the leftover money Tech had when it went to the Humanitarian Bowl last year in Boise, Idaho.

Griffin said that differences in spending for a bowl game in Atlanta as opposed to one in another city are “somewhat negligible.” For instance, while Tech might have some savings in travel, those are negated by holding more hospitality events because more alumni and fans are close by.

About $300,000 goes to bowl bonuses for coaches. Other expenses include putting up and feeding the team in a downtown hotel for the week, busing players around the city to events and buying tickets.

Tech had to pay for tickets for the marching band and also bought six complementary tickets for each player for family members.

Said Griffin, “$1 million doesn’t go as far as it did 10 years ago.”

If Georgia Tech wins …

• The Jackets will have their first 10-win season since 1998 and just their third since 1956.

• It will end its bowl losing streak at three.

• The Jackets will have a chance to finish in the top 10 of the AP poll since 1998.

If LSU wins …

• The Tigers will avoid their first six-loss season since 1999, the final year of Gerry DiNardo’s tenure.

• It will win its fourth consecutive bowl game.

• The Tigers will improve their record in the Georgia Dome to 7-1.

LSU’s big guns

Two players to watch for LSU are wide receiver Brandon LaFell and defensive end Tyson Jackson.

Jackson, a senior, had 34 tackles and 4.5 sacks and was named the team MVP.

He’ll be lined up over Jackets right tackle Austin Barrick, who will give up two inches, 20 pounds and years of experience to the 6-5, 290-pound Jackson. Barrick is in his first season playing offensive line.

LaFell was a first-team all-SEC pick after catching 61 passes, tied for most in the conference, and eight touchdowns.

Said Tech defensive coordinator of LaFell, “He’s as good as anybody we’ve faced this year, and we’ve faced some good ones. … He’s a big-time player that’ll play on Sunday.”

According to Richt

Georgia Tech and LSU have two common opponents this season, Mississippi State and Georgia. Tech went 2-0 against the two teams while LSU beat Mississippi State but lost to Georgia.

Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said the bowl “should be a heck of a ballgame.”

Said Richt, “Right now, Georgia Tech has a lot of momentum and is playing very well. LSU certainly has a very talented football team and a coaching staff that has put together a national championship season. That’ll be an interesting game to watch.”

Etc.

LSU offensive tackle Herman Johnson, a first-team all-SEC pick for the second year in a row, weighed 15 pounds and 14 ounces at birth. He is one of the biggest babies ever born in the state of Louisiana. After dropping about 50 pounds since arriving at LSU, Johnson now weighs 351 pounds.

While freshman Jordan Jefferson will start at quarterback for LSU, offensive coordinator Gary Crowton did not discount the possibility that Jarrett Lee could also play. Also, Andrew Hatch, who broke his leg in the Georgia game Oct. 25, will also be available.

Georgia Tech’s last game indoors was also its last appearance in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, a 28-14 loss to LSU in 2000. Tech is 0-3 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, which previously was called the Peach Bowl.

Bowl history

With a win, Georgia Tech will have won 16 different bowl games.

Bowls that Tech has won:

• Rose Bowl: 1929

• Orange Bowl: 1940, 1948, 1952

• Cotton Bowl :1955

• Sugar Bowl: 1944, 1953, 1954, 1956

• Oil Bowl: 1947

• Gator Bowl: 1956, 1965, 1999

• Sun Bowl: 1970

• Liberty Bowl: 1972

• All-American Bowl: 1985

• Florida Citrus Bowl: 1991

• Aloha Bowl 1991:

• Carquest Bowl: 1997

• Seattle Bowl 2001:

• Humanitarian Bowl: 2004

• Champs Sports Bowl: 2004