On the first day, Georgia Tech passed. A lot.

The opening spring practice of the Paul Johnson Era didn't look like the work of a coach whose Navy team averaged just 10 passes a game last season. It didn't look like what you'd see from an offensive system that, in 2007, called almost six times as many running plays as passing plays.

Yes, Tech worked on handoffs and pitches and the other things that go with installing an option running game. The Jackets didn't spend 2 hours, 15 minutes throwing the ball down the field. But if you thought receivers James Johnson, Demaryius Thomas and Correy Earls were going to become de facto offensive linemen who just happened to line up wide, Monday's action at Rose Bowl Field disabused you of that notion.

"The adage that we don't ever throw the ball, that's just something that you guys came up with," Johnson said. "You do what your guys can do. Our guys [at Navy] could run. They were pretty good at it."

Navy led the nation in rushing and scored 30 or more points in 11 of 13 games. The Midshipmen went 8-5; the Jackets 7-6.

On Monday, Calvin Booker and Josh Nesbitt looked like what they were, quarterbacks thrust into an unfamiliar offense.

"They had told us two weeks ago everything was going to be different, but I didn't think it was going to be this different," Nesbitt said. "It's not really hard. You just have to think at a fast pace."

There was plenty to work on, beginning with the basics.

"No. 1, getting the snap. No. 2, everything else," Booker said. "Today, everything was going 100 miles an hour. When you learn it, it all slows down."

Johnson worked closely with the quarterbacks and receivers the whole practice. He wasn't just observing; he was actively teaching. There was a lot to teach.

"We got really basic," Johnson said. "We have to. I was talking to Josh, he hasn't taken a snap from center since his 10th grade year in high school."

Said quarterbacks coach Brian Bohannon: "I think there will be a big improvement every day from here on out. I hope there will be."

For now, Bohannon said, there is no No. 1 or No. 2. Johnson said it could be three or four weeks into spring before he can evaluate them.

At least Booker and Nesbitt got to work at the same position they played last fall. That wasn't true for former cornerback Dominique Reese, who practiced as a first-string safety, or former starting tackle A.J. Smith, who worked at No. 1 right guard, or Greg Smith, last season's leading receiver, who practiced at A-back, a slot back.

The move of Reese could be the most significant on a team that lost its two starting safeties.

"I think he's one of our better players," Johnson said. "We're just trying to get the best players out there, take a look and see how it goes."