In his opening remarks at his weekly news conference Monday, Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson used a phrase that perhaps had not been heard prior to a Yellow Jackets game since 1996.
One objective against Miami this Saturday, Johnson said, is to “see if we can’t finish this thing off the right way and lay a foundation for next season.”
Most likely, the final two games of the season – Miami Saturday and Georgia Nov. 28 – will be the first since coach George O’Leary’s second season in which the Yellow Jackets have nothing material on the line. Tech’s 23-21 loss to Virginia Tech last Thursday gave the Jackets their seventh loss of the season, removing them from the conventional chase for one of the 80 bowl slots available to teams finishing 6-6 or better. (There is a remote chance that Tech could make it in as a 5-7 team if there aren’t enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all 80 bowl slots.)
Johnson’s vision for laying a foundation for 2016 and the season opener against Boston College in Dublin will be to keep plugging away at 2015.
“I’m going to try to win the game on Saturday,” Johnson said. “I’m going to do everything I can to try to win the game. I think guys earn playing time and if guys earn the time, then they get to play by how they perform.”
The Tech offense doesn’t have many seniors to displace. Against Virginia Tech, guards Trey Braun and Errin Joe were the only two seniors in the lineup. The Jackets started four freshmen – A-back Clinton Lynch, offensive tackles Trey Klock and Will Bryan and wide receiver Brad Stewart. B-back Marcus Marshall, A-backs Mikell Lands-Davis and TaQuon Marshall, all freshmen, also played.
Johnson said he had hoped to find playing time for redshirt freshman quarterback Matthew Jordan against the Hokies, but the situation to sub for starter Justin Thomas didn’t present itself.
“Hopefully, he can play (against Miami),” Johnson said. “Justin’s been taking a lot of physical shots. It would help (Thomas), I think. I think you try to play guys who give you the best chance to win. I think that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Defensively, with defensive tackle Adam Gotsis out for the season, the Jackets started five seniors against Virginia Tech – linebacker Tyler Marcordes and defensive backs Jamal Golden, Chris Milton, Demond Smith and D.J. White. Safety A.J. Gray, a freshman safety and perhaps the most likely candidate to be given more playing time for 2016 purposes, missed the game with an undisclosed injury. Freshman linebackers Brant Mitchell and Victor Alexander have seen increasing playing time.
Senior defensive tackle Jabari Hunt will return from a two-game suspension for violating team rules and could push freshman Kyle Cerge-Henderson out of the starting lineup. Johnson gave a middling “O.K.” evaluation to the play of Cerge-Henderson and Francis Kallon from Thursday’s game. He said the starting assignment for Miami would be determined by practice.
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