Sept. 18, 2005
ATLANTA–Off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2001, 15th-ranked Georgia Tech (3-0, 1-0 ACC) travels to No. 4 Virginia Tech (3-0, 2-0 ACC) for a key Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division contest, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va.
The game will be regionally televised on ABC-TV.
Georgia Tech’s 3-0 start is its first since 2001 and just the second since 1990. The last time the Yellow Jackets started 4-0 was that 1990 national championship season.
To achieve its perfect start, Georgia Tech had to overcome the loss of starting quarterback Reggie Ball, who was hospitalized due to illness, to defeat Connecticut, 28-13. Ball’s status for this week is questionable.
Backup quarterback Taylor Bennett threw a touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson on his first collegiate snap and the Rambling Wreck defense did the rest, grabbing three interceptions and holding the Huskies to 197 yards of offense, including just 38 yards and no first downs in the second half. Kenny Scott returned an interception 21 yards for a touchdown, and Chris Reis and Philip Wheeler also had interceptions.
Bennett posted modest statistics (11-for-30, 142 yards, 1 TD, 0 int) in his debut, but he was effective.
“He did okay,” said Tech head coach Chan Gailey. “He didn’t do great, but he did okay. After watching the tape, he made better decisions and did some better things than I initially thought.
“I think he rushed some things, but overall he put our team in position to win.”
Also putting Tech in position to win was the running of P.J. Daniels, who had his fourth straight 100-yard game with 114 yards, and Tashard Choice, who scored two touchdowns.
Virginia Tech, coming off a 45-0 shutout of Ohio, has been impressive through its first three games, allowing just 16 points to lead the nation in scoring defense. After knocking off NC State, 20-16, in the season opener, the Hokies have defeated Duke and Ohio by a cumulative score of 90-0.
“They’re the fourth-ranked team in the nation, and they’re certainly worthy of that ranking,” said Gailey. “They’re a great football team. They have a lot of team speed.
“It would be a challenge for anybody to face this team. Not only for Taylor Bennett, who would be playing in his second game ever, it would be a challenge for anybody.”
JACKETS IN THE RANKINGS
Georgia Tech moved into the national rankings for the first time the week of Sept. 4 at No. 17 in the Associated Press poll and No. 21 in the USA Today coaches’ poll. This week, the Yellow Jackets moved up to No. 15 in both polls.
Before this season, the last time Tech was ranked was the final poll of the 2001 season, when the Jackets were No. 24 by AP. No. 15 is the highest the Yellow Jackets have been in either poll since Tech achieved a No. 15 ranking in both polls the week of Oct. 7, 2001.
THE SERIES WITH VIRGINIA TECH
The series between Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech is tied at 1-1, with both games in Atlanta. The schools first met in 1990, when the Yellow Jackets won 6-3 on a pair of field goals by Scott Sisson, including the game-winner from 38 yards with just eight seconds left. That kept Georgia Tech undefeated on its way to the 1990 national championship.
The two Techs played as ACC foes for the first time last year in an ESPN Thursday night game at Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant as the Hokies scored 25 fourth-quarter points to win 34-20. Travis Bell’s field goal put Tech ahead 20-12 with 5:44 to play before Bryan Randall threw two long touchdown passes, first an 80-yarder to Eddie Royal and then a 51-yarder to Josh Morgan with 3:10 to play.
Georgia Tech looks to play its first game in Blacksburg after travelling there in 2000, only to have the game cancelled. Scheduled to play in the BCA Bowl on Aug. 27, 2000, the teams were actually on the field for the opening kickoff when lightning caused the game to be cancelled.
UPDATE ON Reggie Ball
Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball, who missed the first game of his career against Connecticut, was diagnosed with viral meningitis and is expected to remain at Emory Hospital until Monday.
Ball, a junior from Stone Mountain, Ga., first became ill Friday morning and was treated at the Georgia Tech Student Health Center. While at the team hotel Friday night, his condition did not improve and he was taken to Emory Hospital Saturday morning.
He is expected to be discharged Monday. From there he will be treated symptomatically on a day-to-day basis.
Ball’s return to practice is uncertain at this time, and his status for Saturday’s game at fourth-ranked Virginia Tech game is questionable.
The illness snapped a string of 27 consecutive starts for Ball, the 5-11, 195-pounder who passed for a career-high 320 yards last week against North Carolina. Ball was replaced by redshirt freshman Taylor Bennett, who threw for 142 yards and one touchdown in his first collegiate action to help Tech (3-0, 1-0 ACC) to a 28-13 victory over Connecticut.
JACKETS LEAD NATION IN INTERCEPTIONS, TURNOVER MARGIN
After collecting 10 interceptions in three games, Georgia Tech leads the nation in interceptions (3.3 per game) and turnover margin at +3.00 per game. Tech’s 10 interceptions are as many as the Yellow Jackets had all of last season.
Most recently, the Jackets grabbed three interceptions and recovered a fumble in the win over Connecticut.
Tech forced five turnovers in its season-opening win over Auburn with four interceptions and a fumble recovery, all in the second half. The Jackets added three interceptions against North Carolina, again all in the second half. Tech’s lone turnover in the first two games was an interception against Auburn.
The 10 interceptions have been by eight different players. Free safety Dawan Landry and linebacker Philip Wheeler are the only players with more than one.
DEFENSE STIFLES HUSKIES
The Georgia Tech defense turned in an outstanding performance to help the Yellow Jackets to a 28-13 victory over Connecticut, despite the absence of starting quarterback Reggie Ball.
Tech held the Huskies to just 196 yards of total offense, the fourth time in three-plus seasons under defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta that the Yellow Jacket defense has allowed fewer than 200 yards.
The Jackets allowed only six first downs, none in the second half. Six first downs equals the seventh-lowest total in school history and is the fewest that Tech has allowed since 1966. The last time a Tech defense allowed fewer than six first downs was 1961 (5 versus Duke).
Connecticut’s 67 yards passing is the lowest total for a Tech opponent since Maryland managed just 59 in 1998.
TECH'S TOP DEFENSIVE PERFORMANCES UNDER Jon Tenuta (2002-05)Fewest Total Yards Allowed 82 Maryland, 2004 144 Tulsa, 2003 184 Duke, 2004 196 Connecticut, 2005 211 Samford, 2004 225 Connecticut, 2004 225 Vanderbilt, 2002 226 Georgia, 2004 230 Auburn, 2003 249 Connecticut, 2002 251 Florida State, 2003
BEN BOOMS
Punter Ben Arndt has developed into a reliable weapon for the Yellow Jackets. The senior from Young Harris, Ga., is averaging 44.5 yards per kick with seven of his 19 punts downed inside the 20 and no touchbacks. Arndt leads the ACC and ranks eighth nationally in punting average, while Tech’s net of 39.89 per punt leads the ACC and ranks 10th in the nation.
PRINCE OF A RUNNER
Senior tailback P.J. Daniels looks like the Daniels of 2003, when he led the ACC with 1,447 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns and earned first-team all-conference honors. Last season, injuries forced him to miss four games and two other halves, and he managed 714 yards and eight touchdowns.
But he has topped 100-yards in all three games of 2005, most recently going for 114 yards against Connecticut, following 103 yards against North Carolina and 111 versus Auburn. Daniels actually has four straight 100-yard games, including his 119-yard performance in the Champs Sports Bowl, giving him 13 for his career.
The Houston, Texas, native has moved into fourth place on Tech’s career rushing list with 2,744 yards. A former walk-on who earned a scholarship after the 2002 season, Daniels has averaged 103.7 yards per game over the 2003-05 seasons.
Daniels, a two-time Academic All-ACC selection, had two of the top three rushing games in Tech history in the 2003 season with 307 yards against Tulsa in the Humanitarian Bowl and 240 yards versus North Carolina.
Tech's Career Rushing Leaders Years Att. TD Yards1. Robert Lavette 1981-84 914 45 4,0662. Jerry Mays 1985-89 695 18 3,6993. Eddie Lee Ivery 1975-78 609 22 3,5174. P.J. Daniels 2002- 578 21 2,744
CHOICE CUTS
The Georgia Tech backfield is developing into an effective one-two punch with senior P.J. Daniels and sophomore Tashard Choice, who joined the Yellow Jackets this season after transferring from Oklahoma.
Choice had the most productive game of his career against Connecticut with 89 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Last fall at Oklahoma, he totalled 100 yards on 22 carries. For the season, the pair of Daniels and Choice have combined for 439 yards rushing (146.3 yards per game) and three touchdowns.
