Tech’s Griffin, Reese likely to miss UGA game

Georgia Tech’s injury situation is worse than originally thought.

The Jackets likely will be without two defensive starters for the Georgia game and could be without as many as four.

Linebacker Sedric Griffin and safety Dominique Reese suffered knee injuries in Thursday’s victory over Miami that are “serious enough that they’re probably going to be out,” coach Paul Johnson said after Saturday’s practice.

Johnson hopes defensive tackle Vance Walker (ankle) and cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels (hamstring), who were available for emergency duty against Miami, will be back on the field against the Bulldogs.

“I know they’ll be emergency guys at worst again, but whether they’ll be back starting, we’ll know once practice starts again next week,” Johnson said.

B-back Jonathan Dwyer, the ACC’s leading rusher, did not practice Saturday because of his bruised knee but hopes to practice Monday.

Johnson said there’s a chance right tackle David Brown, who has missed three games with a spinal injury, will return next week.

D-line backup accepts his role

Playing behind Georgia Tech’s front four lends itself to anonymity.

“How can you not talk about them and not be overshadowed?” top backup Elris Anyaibe said. “They’re so amazing, I don’t get mad. The backups just gotta do what we’ve gotta do when we get in there.”

The fifth-year defensive tackle delivered in his first career start Thursday. With Walker out with a sprained ankle, Anyaibe led the linemen with five tackles and had a 10-yard sack.

“He’s played pretty solid all year,” Johnson said. “With Vance down, he went out, really played hard and he played very consistently.”

Anyaibe (6 feet 3, 280 pounds) has played in 46 games, so his performance didn’t surprise fellow tackle Darryl Richard.

“Elris has played valuable minutes for us for years,” Richard said. “They didn’t know too much about him. Those guys up front knew everything about our starting front four and tried to key off that stuff; they couldn’t get a good key off Elris, and it caused some confusion for them.”

Preparation pays off for Johnson

The biggest play in Thursday’s 41-23 win over Miami — defensive end Michael Johnson’s interception return for a touchdown — was a product of preparation.

The defensive end smelled a quick throw by Robert Marve because the left tackle tried to cut-block him.

“[Defensive line] coach [Giff] Smith says get your hands down and stay off the cut block, then get your hands up,” Johnson said. “When they’re trying to cut you, they’re trying to get the ball out hot. It happened, and the Nike gloves worked good.”

Johnson stopped his pass rush, caught the bullet and took it back 26 yards. His first career pick gave Tech a 10-0 second-quarter lead.