Georgia Tech completed its fourth day of preseason practice Tuesday in 96-degree heat with 26 percent humidity. And now, the Yellow Jackets will ramp up their own heat.
Tech conducted its second practice in shoulder pads, helmets and shorts, but Wednesday will practice in full pads for the first time.
“The speed of the game’s going to get a lot faster for a lot of these cats,” coach Paul Johnson said Tuesday.
The full-pads practices, with full-speed play and tackling, will begin to reveal far more in particular about the incoming freshmen. Johnson said of the A-backs, which has a group of three first-year freshmen, “Until you get in the pads and starting blocking, who knows? They can all run routes and catch a pitch and do all that. We’ll find out a lot more starting (Wednesday).”
Defensive coordinator Ted Roof made a similarly hedged comment about the freshman linebackers.
“I’ve seen some kids that are very eager, very prideful, and we’ll see about the production once we put on pads,” he said.
Tuesday’s practice began with kickoff drills, including full sprints down the field for the coverage team.
“That kind of gets you into the mode,” defensive end Tyler Stargel said. “After that, it’s just going so quick and moving and you’re working, it’s like you forget about it.”
Still, Stargel said it was as hot a practice as he could remember in his four preseasons with the Jackets. Stargel said he loses as many as seven pounds off his 255-pound body in a practice like Tuesday’s.
“I think they did O.K. (with the heat),” Johnson said of his players.
Among highlights were a 51-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Justin Thomas to wide receiver Ricky Jeune in 11-on-11 drills. Thomas later found A-back Qua Searcy for a 41-yard pass down the seam. Jeune and Searcy are both in competition for starting jobs at their respective positions.
“I think both sides (offense and defense), the first group’s doing O.K.,” Johnson said. “After that, it gets a little dicey both ways. That’s kind of what you expect.”
The forecast for Wednesday is a high of 95 degrees with a strong chance of collisions in the afternoon.
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