Archive for November, 2010

Quotes from the ACC’s weekly teleconference, courtesy of the conference office:

COACH JIM GROBE

WAKE FOREST

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to today’s

ACC football coaches teleconference.

Welcome, Coach. We’ll start with a brief

opening statement and then we’ll go to questions.

COACH GROBE: We lost this past

Saturday to a really good Clemson football team. I

was disappointed that we didn’t get a win, but I

think we’ve made some strides with our younger

players. I think we’re seeing some maturity from

our guys now, and we’re starting to improve.

Unfortunately, we’re out of time. We’ve got

one left at Vanderbilt this Saturday, and I’m hopeful

that our young guys will continue to improve and

will play better and get a win.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Obviously the season was not good

for you guys. I was wondering, did you kind of

privately, before the season, think, okay, I’m

not going to say this but I think I’m in for a long

year here because I could see some certain

problems with this …

Continue reading ACC coaches’ quotes, week 14 »

Here is a transcript of media day in Athens, courtesy of the University of Georgia:

Continue reading Quotes from Georgia’s coaches and players »

Georgia Tech’s defensive linemen combined for 0 tackles in last week’s 30-20 win against Duke. Only Logan Walls was credited with an assist (2).

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Tech coach Paul Johnson said that because of the 3-4 scheme the three linemen are rarely going to have a lot of tackles. He didn’t seem dissatisfied with the play of Izaan Cross, Jason Peters, Walls, T.J. Barnes, Robert Hall and Ben Anderson, saying, “I don’t know that they played particularly bad or particularly well.”

But he did say, “they could have more than one assist.”

He said the lack of stats is a reflection of the scheme, which asks the linemen to take on as many blockers as possible so that the linebackers are free to make plays, and the players not sometimes not beating the man in front of them.

Georgia also runs the 3-4 defense. Two of its consistent starters on the defensive line, end Demarcus Dobbs and nose tackle DeAngelo Tyson, have combined for 13 tackles and 26 assists this season. …

Continue reading Tech’s d-line had how many tackles last week? »

Boston College running back Montel Harris could miss the Eagles’ last two games after tearing the lateral meniscus in his left knee.

According to Heather Dinich of ESPN, Harris is expected to miss 3-6 weeks, which definitely puts him out of BC’s last game against Syracuse, and possibly a bowl.

Harris is the ACC’s leading rusher with 1,243 yards.

Georgia Tech’s Anthony Allen is No. 2 with 1,059 yards with the regular-season finale against Georgia and a bowl game ahead. Allen, a senior, is averaging 96.3 yards per game this season. He rushed 34 times for 165 yards in last week’s 30-20 win against Duke.

The ACC uses per-game average, and not total yards, when it lists its annual rushing leaders. Harris averages 113.0 yards per game. To improve his season average by 16.8 yards per game, which would lift his average to 113.1, Allen would need to average 205.5 yards rushing in the last two games.

If he could somehow pull it off, it would be a nice reward for Allen’s production in …

Continue reading Allen has loooooong shot at winning ACC’s rushing title »

Two years ago, Roddy Jones was having a decent season as a redshirt freshman. He had scored two touchdowns, caught five passes and showed a glimpse of his big-play ability a few times.

And then Tech played Georgia at Sanford Stadium in what has been the highwater mark of Jones’ career.

He carried the ball 13 times for 214 yards and scored two touchdowns. His 54-yard touchdown run in that game has been watched on the internet thousands of times. He also returned four kicks for 98 yards in the game.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime performance. Georgia Tech (6-5) will play Georgia (5-6) in Athens on Saturday.

Since then, because of injuries, Tech’s scheme — which relies more on reading and reacting than set plays –  and the good play of opposing defenses, Jones has been more steady than spectacular. Not that he’s complaining. A positive person, he says his growth as a football player, particularly this season, can’t be measured in stats.

“I’ve improved in a lot of areas that I …

Continue reading Jones returns to the scene of his greatest game »

Georgia Tech quarterback Joshua Nesbitt said he still hopes to return for the Yellow Jackets’ bowl game. He sustained a broken arm three weeks ago in the 28-21 loss at Virginia Tech. He received a new cast on his right arm on Monday. He said the cast is scheduled to be taken off next week.

“It’s getting better,” the senior said.

He said he hasn’t been able to do much physically because the stitches were removed from the surgery just last week. He said he hopes to begin working out next week and perhaps return for the postseason. A decision hasn’t been made on whether he will be able to play.

The ACC’s earliest bowl tie-in is the Independence Bowl, played in Shreveport, La. on Dec. 27. The last is the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco on Jan. 9.

Tevin Washington will lead the Yellow Jackets (6-5) against Georgia (5-6) on Saturday in Athens. Washington is averaging 108 rushing yards and 95.5 passing yards in the past two games. Nesbitt was averaging 81.9 yards rushing and …

Continue reading Nesbitt still hopes to return for a bowl game »

Ray Parks, Jr. has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Georgia Tech, the school announced today.

Parks, a 6-3 guard from Manila in the Philippines, played high school basketball in the Memphis area until this year. He is the son of former Memphis State player Bobby Ray Parks, who was drafted by the Hawks in 1984.

Parks Jr. was Tennessee’s private school player of the year in 2009. He transferred to Melrose for his junior year and lead it to the class AAA state championship in 2010. He also played on the All-Asian team in the 2010 Nike Global Challenge in Hillsboro, Ore., and for the Philippine National Team in 3-on-3 basketball in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Tech coach Paul Hewitt said Parks is an excellent 3-point shooter. Parks joins Julian Royal as Tech’s second early signee.

Continue reading Parks signs with Tech’s basketball team »

Georgia Tech’s Mario Butler was named the ACC’s co-defensive back of the week on Monday.

Butler returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown in the Yellow Jackets’ 30-20 win against Duke last weekend. The return gave Tech a 16-13 lead and tied for the longest by a Tech player in a conference game.

It also came on senior day, when Butler was making his 38th consecutive start in his final home game. It was Butler’s first interception this season.

B-back Anthony Allen (34 carries, 165 yards) and Scott Blair (three field goals longer than 40 yards and two punts with a 46-yard average) were also considered, but didn’t win.

The rest of the players of the week:

Offensive back: Virginia Tech’s Ryan Williams.

Offensive lineman: Miami’s Brandon Washington.

Defensive lineman: Boston College’s Luke Kuechly.

Co-Defensive back: Florida State’s Nick Moody.

Specialist: N.C. State’s T.J. Graham.

Rookie: Miami’s Lamar Miller.

Continue reading Mario Butler honored by ACC »

Georgia will be the sixth opponent this season that has had extra time to prepare for Georgia Tech’s option offense. The Bulldogs last played on Nov. 13, when they were beaten by Auburn and its version of the option, 49-31.

The extra time is something that opposing coaches have played up when asked about facing Paul Johnson’s unique system. However, having extra time helps to prepare for any type of offense…or defense, as Johnson points out.

“I’m glad we had an extra week to begin to prepare for it,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “Hopefully it will make us better than it would on a week’s notice.”

Johnson also says that having an extra week is fine, but you still have to go out and play. Once the ball is kicked off, the game boils down to diagnosing and figuring out ways to beat strategies and tendencies.

Some of the teams this season have had extra time because of a bye the previous week. Others have had two days because they played on Thursdays, giving them Friday and …

Continue reading Does extra time matter when facing Tech’s offense? »

Reviewing Georgia Tech’s 30-20 win against Duke, with rival Georgia coming up this weekend. The game will be at 7:45 p.m. It will be televised by ESPN.

The game that was

Georgia Tech earned the 30-20 win against Duke, but its performance was very similar to most this season: an inability to finish drives on offense, big plays allowed in bad moments by the defense, and more mistakes by the special teams. But “30 is more than 20,” as coach Paul Johnson said after the game.

What we learned

1. The defense isn’t crisp. Duke was able to run the ball in the first half (96 yards). Tech adjusted and limited the Blue Devils to 13 yards in the second half. But in turn Duke was able to throw the ball (203 yards) in the last two quarters. The Blue Devils had more than 400 yards in offense. Most teams have to decide which part of an offense they want to limit, but when Tech decides it seems that it gives up a lot in the other area.

2. Tech’s roulette of wide receivers stepped up. While …

Continue reading The good and bad in Tech’s win »