NEW ORLEANS -- Hello from a Georgia State dream of a stadium and what sort of seems like a potential Georgia Tech nightmare of a game.
Tech plays its second game today against Tulane, which is opening a 30,000-seat, on-campus facility, Yulman Stadium. It's a nice stadium that could turn into quite a home field advantage for the Green Wave, at least once the team gets a little bit better. Georgia State would love to have a facility like this instead of playing in the cavernous and mostly empty Georgia Dome. Even the Falcons' new stadium will be too large for the Panthers. State's best-case scenario is for Turner Field to be turned into a football stadium after the Braves move out.
Smaller stadiums create a better atmosphere for smaller programs, which brings us to the potential Tech nightmare. Yellow Jackets coach Paul Johnson almost certainly would rather not be the visiting opponent for the stadium's opening. But previous athletic director Dan Radakovich cut a four-game, home-and-home deal with Tulane, in which the home team pays the road team $300,000 for each game.
This game has the potential to be a nightmare for the Jackets, particularly if they struggle offensively in the first half like they did last week against Wofford and the home team -- and its fans -- suddenly believes it has a chance to win. The Jackets need to not only win this but be impressive doing so. That wasn't the case last week.
Tech is favored by only 10 points, a relatively close line. That says something about public perception about the Jackets now.
I'll check with comments during the game with updates.
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