With its loss to Virginia Saturday, Georgia Tech no longer has to concern itself with a perfect season and virtually any shot at a BCS championship. Tech was 22nd in the initial BCS standings released Sunday. The Jackets fell from No. 12 in both polls to No. 19 in the USA Today coaches poll and No. 20 in the Associated Press writers poll.
The Yellow Jackets' goal of winning the ACC championship remains in play, though the loss makes the route to Charlotte a little less direct.
"Hopefully [Virginia] will slip up and we can win the rest of our games, and we'll be back in the championship," guard Omoregie Uzzi said Saturday night.
With the loss, Tech joined the stew of teams that will need help from other Coastal Division members to earn the right to represent the division in the ACC title game Dec. 3. Right now, Duke and Virginia Tech, whose single conferences losses were to Atlantic Division teams, can win the division without help, as can Virginia, who lost to a division team (North Carolina) that is behind them in the standings.
In the six seasons in the two-division format, the Coastal Division champion has finished 7-1 or 8-0 five times.
Even if the Jackets run the table – beating Miami, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Duke – they'll need Virginia (1-1 in league play) to trip up once more to secure a spot in the ACC championship game.
In Tech's favor, at 3-1, is it has stacked up more conference wins than any other Coastal team.
The Jackets carry the disadvantage, however, of an onerous three-game run, beginning with a road trip to Miami this Saturday. They also must clear the obstacle of having to mend an offense that has faltered the past two weeks and a defense that is increasingly vulnerable to any team with a decent running game.
Asked if Tech's run-defense issues could be solved, Johnson replied, "I hope so, or it's going to be a long year."
On Saturday, the Jackets permitted 272 rushing yards, their season high. Tech surrenders 210.2 rushing yards per game in ACC games and 5.5 yards per carry, highest in the league. In their four league games, the Jackets have allowed a 100-yard rusher in each.
"This loss is a conference loss, so it's tougher," cornerback Rod Sweeting said. "This week, we just have to prepare harder and get ready for Miami."
Offensively, Tech's efficiency has been on the decline since the Kansas blowout. The Jackets' yards-per-play average in the last five games: 13.5 (Kansas), 6.9 (North Carolina), 6.5 (N.C. State), 4.8 (Maryland), 4.9 (Virginia).
Missed blocks, missed assignments and flaws in the passing game have contributed to Tech's dropping production.
"[Miami] will probably have more athletes than Virginia did, to be honest," A-back Roddy Jones said. "But we have to come out focused this week. If we cut out a lot of those mistakes, a lot of those penalties, then I think we're fine."
As is normally the case, any expectation for ACC teams adhering to predicted patterns is unwise. The Virginia team that gave Tech its first loss also needed overtime to beat Idaho. Miami beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill for the first time in five tries a week after nearly upsetting Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., but also might have the weakest defense in the league. On Saturday, Miami nearly squandered a 24-point lead in its 30-24 win over the Tar Heels.
"Offensively, we probably had a bunch of plays that we missed," Jones said, "so the opportunities that we missed will probably drive us crazy."
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