In a three-hour, six-minute window Thursday evening, two of Georgia Tech’s primary objectives this season — to go undefeated at home and to win the ACC title — vanished into the clear night sky with its 37-26 loss to Virginia Tech.
For the second year in a row, the Yellow Jackets will need to complete a season in which achievable goals aren’t as tangible as they were just a few days earlier.
A year ago, Tech didn’t handle that so well. The Jackets lost five of their last six games, with injuries, chemistry issues and a lack of resolve greasing the slide. The 2010 team finished 6-7, the Jackets’ first losing season since 1996.
The disappointment of 2010 became a source of motivation for the 2011 team to work harder, grow closer and play better, which it largely has. A young team with only six senior starters that was picked to finish fourth in the ACC Coastal Division upset then-No. 5 Clemson on Oct. 29 and stayed in the title hunt until Thursday.
“It is a hard pill to swallow, but we’ve just got to bounce back,” linebacker Julian Burnett said.
After allowing that the loss to Virginia Tech was a letdown in light of all of the work that players had put in since the end of last season, quarterback Tevin Washington said “there’s nothing you can do about it now but go out and try to win these next two and put ourselves in a position just to have a decent record.”
At 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the ACC, Tech can earn its second 10-win season since 1998 by defeating Duke, Georgia and a bowl opponent. A win over the Bulldogs may loom as the most appealing goal remaining. Tech fans know well that Georgia has won nine of the past 10 meetings, including the past two.
There is a thought that the Georgia game, Nov. 26 at Bobby Dodd Stadium, may shine so brightly that it could compromise the Jackets’ emotional and mental readiness for Duke on Nov. 19 in Durham. A hangover effect from the loss to the Hokies also could harm Tech. Wide receiver Tyler Melton said the Virginia Tech game had been “marked on our calendars from Day One.”
While Duke has lost seven in a row to Tech, one may presume coaches will remind team members that the Blue Devils held to 14 points the same Hokies team that trounced the Jackets with 37 points and 476 yards of offense, both season highs for the Tech defense.
“You take your lumps in stride,” Melton said. “I feel like even though we lost this game, we’ll keep it moving.”
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