It was not without reason that Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson was chafed when the ACC released the 2013 schedule in February. Among his chief complaints was the gauntlet that the Yellow Jackets are three-quarters through — consecutive games against Coastal Division opponents Duke, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Miami, an increasingly difficult series of games that ends with Tech’s two most important ACC games back-to-back.
“I don’t know that they set about to do anything deliberate,” Johnson said of the ACC in February. “I just don’t think they tried to make it fair.”
Fair or otherwise, Tech is swimming in dangerous waters. In Johnson’s five-plus seasons, the Jackets are 26-6 against everyone in the ACC besides Virginia Tech and Miami, against whom they are a combined 2-9.
The results are somewhat puzzling. In the same stretch, the Jackets are 4-2 against Clemson and 5-1 against North Carolina. While the Tar Heels may not resonate as an opponent in the Miami/Virginia Tech echelon, they had a better record against the Hokies and Hurricanes than Tech did from 2008-12.
Johnson said following Thursday night’s 17-10 loss to Virginia Tech that “for whatever reason, it seems like we self-destruct” when playing the Hokies.
In the preseason, Jackets guard Will Jackson said that he and his roommates thought that “pound for pound, Miami probably does the best job with their scheme of defending us. They’ve got a good plan for trying to defend the option.”
The hopes for the season may depend on how well Johnson and his staff and the Jackets’ senior class can recharge the team after such a discouraging result in such an anticipated game. If Tech wins, the Jackets can keep plugging away toward the Coastal Division title with hopes that the Hokies will trip up at least twice.
It would re-establish the credentials that took a major hit in Thursday night’s national-TV defeat and give the Jackets a boost as they head cross country to play BYU the following week. Further, the schedule would then play to Tech’s advantage, as the remainder of the ACC schedule, with the exception of the Clemson game Nov. 14, would be considerably lighter.
But with a loss, which would be the fifth in a row to the Hurricanes, Tech’s chief season goal of winning the ACC would all but evaporate with seven games remaining and potentially put the Jackets in a precarious position.
Last year’s loss to Miami — a devastating 42-36 overtime decision in which the Jackets led by 17 points in the third quarter and by a touchdown with less than a minute to play in regulation —also was essentially an elimination game and sent the Jackets into a tailspin, Johnson recalled this summer.
Tech undoubtedly will be an underdog to the Hurricanes, which perhaps is not so bad. The Jackets seems to be at their best when they’re counted out, and many likely will do so for their game vs. the Hurricanes. Further, it’s possible that quarterback Vad Lee’s shaky performance was simply the sort of game that a first-year quarterback is bound to have. And the motivation of four consecutive losses to Miami would figure to add some juice to the Jackets’ preparations.
“As a leader, I can’t be too down about one loss,” defensive end Jeremiah Attaochu said. “We have to be able to look at Miami, get back to work and really encourage the guys to be upbeat. Football is a game of ups and downs. Week to week, situations can change. We’re just going to go into next week ready to beat Miami.”
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