Aug. 15, 2001
ATLANTA– – Quarterback George Godsey showed little sign of rust in the passing game and junior running back Sidney Ford provided a spark on the ground in Georgia Tech’s preseason football scrimmage Wednesday at Rose Bowl Field.
“I was happy with George Godsey,” said Tech head coach George O’Leary after the scrimmage, which comes 11 days before the Aug. 26 season opener against Syracuse. “Sidney Ford did some good things, and obviously the receivers can get some things done.
“I thought we had an opportunity to play four teams on offense and defense, which is good, and we ran about 130 plays,” continued O’Leary. “There were some good things, but we’re still looking for continuity. We played the ones against the twos mostly, and there was some good competition.
“Not everything was always pretty, and we kept it fairly simple on offense and defense, but we got a chance to play over 100 players. And one good thing is that we came out of today without any injuries.”
Godsey, returning from off-season knee surgery, completed 20 of 32 passes for 274 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
The leading receivers were senior Kelly Campbell (Atlanta, Ga.), who had seven receptions for 88 yards and one touchdown, and true freshman Levon Thomas (College Park, Ga.), whose seven catches covered 73 yards. Sophomore Jonathan Smith (Argyle, Ga.) added two catches for 26 yards.
“I thought Jonathan Smith played extremely well, and Kelly had his moments,”said O’Leary. “Levon Thomas came up with some good catches.”
Godsey’s longest completion was a 34-yarder to tight end Russell Matvay (Coram, N.Y.), who caught two balls for 50 yards.
Backup Andy Hall (Cheraw, S.C.) turned in a positive performance with the second offense, completing 15 of 30 passes for 138 yards. True freshman Damarius Bilbo (Moss Point, Miss.), running the third team, was 3-for-7 for 32 yards and also rushed three time for 26 yards.
Ford, from Lindale, Ga., gained 102 yards on just eight carries, breaking loose for a 45-yard run. Junior Joe Burns (Thomasville, Ga.) also carried the ball just times and had 30 yards and one touchdown.
Placekicker Luke Manget (Conyers, Ga.) was 4-for-4 on field goals, including boots of 50 and 45 yards.
“We’ll look at the film tonight, and then see if we can make some decisions on the two-deep,” said O’Leary.
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