Florida St.-Ga. Tech could be decided by 3rd down

At Georgia Tech this week, Paul Johnson is hoping his offense will stay out of third-and-long situations.

At Florida State, defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews is wondering how he can get the Jackets into third-and-long.

Therein may lie the fate of Saturday’s game between Tech and Florida State.

The Seminole defense’s third-down conversion percentage is an astonishing 17.4 percent, best in Division I-A. By comparison, Tech’s defense allows 39.5 percent.

“I don’t remember anybody being that good,” Johnson said Tuesday. “That statistic jumps off the page at you.”

It will be important for Tech to be productive on first and second down. The Seminoles’ game against Virginia Tech on Saturday spelled it out. The Hokies were 1-for-11 on third down, in no small part because they faced third-and-9 or longer on seven of those plays, including four that were third-and-14 or longer.

That is what troubles Andrews about Georgia Tech, whose 40 percent third-down conversion rate is sixth among ACC offenses.

“Offenses like they run, you won’t have a lot of negative yardage plays,” Andrews said. “They’re not dropping back and throwing a lot; you’re not going to have the sack opportunities that you have with standard offenses. You may not see as many third-and-longs if that’s the case.”

Tech has had its share of negative-yardage plays — 52 on its 487 plays from scrimmage. By comparison, Florida State’s offense has had 46 in 478 plays.

Jackets sharp in Tuesday practice

In their first full practice after losing to Virginia, the Jackets rebounded with a good session, players said.

“It kind of reminded me of Clemson week, when we prepared for them,” junior guard Cord Howard said. “Everybody’s juiced up.”

Tech played Clemson the week after sleepwalking through a victory over Gardner-Webb.

Said freshman A-back Roddy Jones, “We wanted to get back to the basics after last week, and I think we did a pretty good job of that.”

Coaches show changes stations

Johnson’s Wednesday night radio show will switch from 790 the Zone to a WYAY-FM (106.7), for the rest of the season. The move will accommodate 790’s broadcast of Hawks games and also give Johnson’s show broader reach, as 790 has a weak signal at night. The show will still air from 7 to 8 p.m.

Injury report

Freshman wide receiver Tyler Melton (knee), sophomore Dominique Reese (head) and senior cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels (hamstring) did not practice Tuesday. Melton and Word-Daniels have been ruled out for Saturday’s game.

Johnson said he hopes Reese can practice today.

“I think Dominique’s going to make it,” Johnson said.