Georgia Tech linebacker Bruce Jordan-Swilling likely will start Saturday in the Yellow Jackets’ ACC opener against Pittsburgh, coach Paul Johnson said Tuesday.

Jordan-Swilling will line up at the Will linebacker position where David Curry has been the starter. Curry cannot play in the first half because of a targeting penalty that he received in the second half of the Jackets’ loss to South Florida on Saturday.

Players who are flagged for targeting are disqualified from the game. If the penalty occurs in the second half, then they are required to sit out the first two quarters of the next game.

It will be Jordan-Swilling’s first game of the season. He missed the first game against Alcorn State because he was in a scooter accident and missed the second because of a hamstring injury. Curry has been one of the defense’s top players through the first two games.

“Bruce is going to have to step up this week,” linebacker Brant Mitchell said Monday. “That’s just how it is. If David can’t play the first half, then next guy up. He’s going to have to really work on what we’re trying to install this week and get it right and play just as well as David played it last week”

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