Correy Earls will be backto a place that he said changed his life when No. 12 Georgia Tech (6-1) plays Virginia (3-3) at Scott Stadium on Saturday.
Two years ago, Earls briefly lost the feeling in his arms and legs when he was trying to block on a quarterback scramble and was hit by Virginia's Jeffrey Fitzgerald. Earls was carried off the field on a stretcher and taken to a nearby hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion and slight spinal injury.
Earls returned a few weeks later against Miami and then had his breakout game against Duke, making five catches for 86 yards and a touchdown. But the experience of that day at Scott Stadium has remained with him.
"Just showed me that me that you can't take the game for granted," Earls said. "Play every game like it's your last because you don't know when that will be. I was real close to mine."
Earls has been mostly a special teams player since coach Paul Johnson was hired at Tech and was moved to defensive back earlier this season. He forced a fumble against FSU two games ago and made another tackle on the return team.
"You never know when your time is coming so you have to take advantage of every precious moment life offers," Earls said.
It's been that long?
Outside linebacker Sedric Griffin said he was 2 years old the last time Georgia Tech beat Virginia in Charlottesville. Most of the players on Tech's team were born before Nov. 3, 1990, when the Jackets upset then No. 1 UVA, the last time the Jackets won at Scott Stadium. But Griffin said he wants to create some new memories for Jackets-to-be.
"We're ready to get the monkey off our back," Griffin, a senior, said.
Another streak to note, Virginia is 10-1 in October the past three seasons.
Hamilton happy
Joe Hamilton laughed and said, "It tells you what kind of a record it was," when asked for his reaction the possibility thatJosh Nesbitt could break his school record for career rushing yards by a quarterback Saturday. Nesbitt is 102 yards shy of the mark.
Hamilton rushed for 1,758 yards from 1996-99. Nesbitt has 1,657 yards, with 1,564 of them coming in the past 18 games.
"I'm proud of him and proud of what he's doing," Hamilton said.
No happy returns
Scott Blair said it's been a long time since he practiced tackling, other than working on form. But he had a key stop and slowed down Dyrell Roberts on another return in Saturday's win against Virginia Tech.
"I did not want another touchdown scored," Blair said, referring to the touchdown return by Mississippi State three weeks ago.
Blair said he feels like he's been hitting the ball well the past three games on kickoffs. He said he needs to improve on his location off the tee but overall, he said things are going well.
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