Time to heal and rest has evidently returned two important members of the Georgia Tech offense back to the lineup.
Center Jay Finch and guard Will Jackson practiced on Monday after missing practice last week with lower-leg and neck injuries, respectively. After giving the team the weekend off on its open date, Tech coach Paul Johnson said the two linemen are ready to play in an ACC Coastal Division showdown with Virginia Tech Thursday night at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Finch sustained his injury in the Miami game and missed the Clemson game, while Jackson was injured during the Clemson game.
"I feel like they'll be ready to go," Johnson said.
The return of Finch, an athletic player quick for his size, could give the Yellow Jackets more play-calling flexibility against the Virginia Tech defense, ranked No. 5 in the country in rushing (86.3 yards per game) and No. 6 in scoring at 15.4 points allowed per game.
Scouting report
Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster is reportedly altering his lineup to add speed and experience to match up with Georgia Tech. It is a tactic that Foster has tried before with the Jackets, Johnson said. He said it wouldn't change how Tech tries to game plan or attack the Hokies.
Regarding Hokies quarterback Logan Thomas, Johnson said two keys are to "get him off his spot" as he sets up to throw and to also limit his ability to run out of the pocket.
"You hope that he doesn't get hot," Johnson said. "He got hot in the Miami game and he was unbelievable."
Lineup talk
Inside linebacker Quayshawn Nealy has taken hold of the opportunity afforded him by an injury to Daniel Drummond, supplanting Drummond as the starter beside Julian Burnett. Johnson said that the playing time Nealy has received in sub packages and playing in place of Drummond has given him experience and confidence.
"I think he's kind of earned his playing time," Johnson said.
Johnson said he's using a three-player rotation at A-back with Embry Peeples, Roddy Jones and Orwin Smith, leaving out Tony Zenon, who received more time earlier in the year but did not play against Clemson. Johnson said that Zenon has been practicing hard.
"We've just gotten into a pattern where we play with three guys and two of them happen to be seniors," Johnson said.
White-out
The Georgia Tech Student Government Association is sponsoring a white-out for Thursday's game and is calling for fans attending the game to dress appropriately. Tech is 2-1 in white-out games.
With more than 50,000 tickets sold and distributed, about 4,000 tickets remain for the game and are available at ramblinwreck.com and 1-888-832-4849.
Game day
Johnson said the pre-game routine for a night game includes breakfast and special-teams meetings in the morning and a devotional, pre-game meal and then offense, defense and full-team meetings at the team hotel prior to the bus ride to the stadium.
Johnson said staffers will probably set up a movie for players to watch during the day.
Said Johnson, "You can only watch ‘Judge Joe Brown' so long."
On TV
ESPN took a six-day option in announcing the kickoff time for Tech's Nov. 19 game against Duke, as it did with all of the Saturday games that it controls. Possible times are noon, 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. … Rece Davis (play-by-play), Craig James, Jesse Palmer (color) and Jenn Brown (sideline) will call Thursday's game for ESPN. The game will also be carried on ESPN's national radio network.
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