Joe Vellano will not be in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday. Georgia Tech hopes that his influence will be.
By wrecking play after play in Tech’s 21-16 win over Maryland last Saturday, the relentless play of Maryland’s defensive tackle exemplified everything the Yellow Jackets want to do this season.
“That guy definitely played at that level that we need to play at to have something special,” guard Omoregie Uzzi said. “We’re just trying to match him.”
When they lay their No. 12 ranking and 6-0 record on the table against Virginia, the Jackets almost certainly will return from Charlottesville 7-0 if they can summon a Vellano-like effort.
“We hit kind of a stumbling block the last two games, but I think [the problem] is just us executing,” quarterback Tevin Washington said. “If we do things right, I don’t think we should have any problem.”
The game, a 3:30 p.m. start, sits squarely in the doldrums. Tech’s players have played six games without a week off, took midterm exams this week and are one week away from their Miami-Clemson-Virginia Tech gauntlet. Virginia, which needed overtime to beat Idaho (Sagarin rating: No. 135) in its previous game, holds the look of an easy win. On Wednesday, coach Paul Johnson raised his concern about the lethargy he had seen at practice.
The neurotic Tech fan has plenty to agonize over even before looking at the game’s particulars, or considering the Jackets’ 3-9-1 record at Scott Stadium.
“We know they’re going to come at us with their best shot,” said Uzzi, the leader of a line whose performance has dropped in the past two games. “We’re trying to do the same, match their intensity, even one-up them.”
It was perhaps with that in mind that Johnson made Vellano part of the week’s instruction. After reviewing game video, coaches credited Vellano with an unthinkable 22 tackles against Tech, including one on wide receiver Stephen Hill 34 yards downfield.
It’s not an entirely fair comparison, as Tech’s scheme isn’t designed for linemen to make many tackles, but all of the Jackets’ linemen who played Saturday had 14 tackles combined. Johnson said Vellano “probably played as good as anybody that I’ve played against in a long, long time.”
“I told our guys, the other thing that I thought was really special is the kid played [all] 81 snaps,” Johnson said. “He played 81 snaps, and he played the 81st snap just as hard as he played the first one.”
While it’s hard to fault a team that has earned the school’s first 6-0 record since 1966, the Jackets undoubtedly want to improve offensive efficiency and their run defense.
Against Maryland, only a few missed blocks and incomplete passes prevented the game from turning into a comfortable win for the Jackets. While the numbers don’t quite call for panic, Tech’s points (21), total offense (386 yards) and yards-per-play average (4.8) were season lows.
On defense, Tech has allowed its first three ACC opponents to average 189.7 rushing yards per game and 5.4 yards per attempt, score rushing touchdowns of 46, 55 and 77 yards and produce 100-yard rushers in each game.
In a season in which the Jackets seem to be challenging themselves as much as the competition, another examination awaits.
“The task at hand gets a little bigger every week,” Uzzi said. “You just try to work hard.”
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