Paul Johnson: Georgia Tech tends to rebound after losses

They can not give the ball away and they must score any extra chances they get. Duke was stymied by Northwestern.

“You put it behind you and move forward and get ready for the next game”, said Johnson.

In a game that features the last two teams to claim the ACC Coastal Division title, No. 20 Georgia Tech heads to Durham to play in the newly-renovated Wallace Wade Stadium where the Yellow Jackets will battle Duke in the conference opener for both teams on Saturday. The game was marked by a 77-minute weather delay at the end of halftime.

The way Georgia Tech’s option offense is talked about in some college football circles, it would be easy to think the Yellow Jackets never lose.

“We had a pretty good run going against them until past year”, Johnson said.

The Yellow Jackets enter Saturday’s game with the second-ranked rushing offense in the country, averaging 377 yards per game on the ground.

Singleton is one of 16 Georgians on the Duke roster. “Certainly if we played better in the kicking game”, Cutcliffe said during Wednesday’s ACC teleconference.

Johnson cited more than 70 missed assignments by his offense. What I want to see is: Are we going to play well against the best people we play?

Quarterback Thomas Sirk, who was used as a running back off the bench at Georgia Tech last season and ran for a pair of scores in the win, had his worst game since taking over the starting job in camp against Northwestern and struggled to complete passes down the field. Individually, Thomas Sirk leads the ACC in total offense by a wide margin – his average of 323 yards a game is 50 yards more than second-place Brad Kaaya of Miami.

“He’s a threat when he’s got the ball in his hands”, Johnson said.

Sirk threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns against Tulane and 315 against N.C. Central.

The Northwestern defense was able to get good pressure on Sirk, a tactic that Georgia Tech may try this week. However, Tech’s Brenden Molley seems to be settling in as the replacement for Michael Brewer, and threw for two TDs and ran for one in a 51-24 rout of Purdue last week. “They’ve got a good scheme, they p lay hard and they don’t beat themselves”. The showdown with the Yellow Jackets-who fell to then-No.

Finally, you’ll notice that a third starter, Rod Rook-Chungong, is also listed as questionable for this game.

And Cutcliffe pointed out that some of those dump-offs could – and maybe should – have been bigger plays. What better way to find out than against Georgia Tech, who is going to test every part of your team. The staff was trying to avoid removing the redshirt from Mikell Lands-Davis, but he could be pressed into service.

A-backs Qua Searcy and Broderick Snoddy, wide receiver Micheal Summers and center Freddie Burden all left the game with injuries. Justin Jackson toted the rock 35 times for 120 yards, and teammate Warren Long ripped off a 55-yard touchdown run to ice the game in the fourth quarter. In receiving, Skov led with 39 yards and two touchdowns. He needs 31 yards to catch Reggie Ball on the school’s career rushing list for quarterbacks. Thomas understands the importance of this ACC opener. “One of them is that you tend to sometimes push a panic button and say we have to stay on the field, we’ve got to make some first downs”. “I think that having a chance to open up conference play is a good way to try to put the last week behind us”.