Georgia Tech switching jerseys for LSU game

Blue or gold?

Georgia Tech, which has worn white jerseys all season, will wear either blue or gold for Wednesday’s Chick-fil-A Bowl because LSU is wearing white.

“We’re going to have one,” coach Paul Johnson said with a laugh. “We’ll let that be a big surprise.”

Tech is the home team, but not because of proximity. The home team rotates yearly between the ACC and SEC.

The Jackets haven’t worn their blue jerseys since the 2006 ACC title game. They wore gold jerseys at home last year but switched to white this season.

A-back Roddy Jones said coaches have kept players in the dark about the jersey.

“I’m going to walk into the locker room before game time and be just as surprised as everybody else,” Jones said. “We’ve always worn white, so something other than white would be cool and I think it’d be exciting.”

Long layoff

At Sunday’s press conference, Johnson said he believes the Jackets are mentally prepared following their long layoff.

Saturday was Tech’s final practice in pads.

“That’s the way we’ve always done it when we’ve got extra time,” Johnson said. “We take the last two days and we go in shells and we work heavy on special teams.

“We had a good 30-minute slab of the game plan stuff [Sunday]. … Mentally, I think we’re ready to play. You never know after you’ve had a layoff, but from knowing assignments, we do the same things over and over. If we can’t figure out who to block on the triple option in Week 14, we’re not very smart.”

Injury report

Cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels still hopes to play in the bowl game after aggravating his hamstring injury, but defensive coordinator Dave Wommack and Johnson did not hold out much hope.

Wommack said the senior has been disappointed over not being able to play since Oct. 18, when he pulled the hamstring at Clemson. Word-Daniels was set to play against LSU before re-injuring the hamstring in practice.

“It’s a bad deal, and I know he wants to (play), but those things at that position, you can’t control them,” Wommack said. “I wish we had him (on the field). There’s nothing you can do. You’ve got to move to the next guy and move on.”

Strength vs. strength

One of the best matchups pits Tech’s veteran defensive line against LSU’s veteran offensive line.

The Jackets start three seniors and a sophomore up front. LSU starts two seniors, two juniors and a sophomore.

Senior left guard Herman Johnson (6-7, 375) is an AP first-team All-American, while left tackle Ciron Black (6-5, 325) earned second-team All-SEC honors.

“They’re playing for a head coach who played that position so there’s definitely an emphasis on being tough and aggressive up front,” said Giff Smith, Tech’s defensive line coach.

“They’ve got good size, good feet, they’re very well coached and they work well together. That’s what you get with a veteran offensive line,” he added. “When you go against them, they don’t get as confused as some of the younger guys.”