Sept. 16, 2011
By Jon Cooper
Sting Daily
Revenge can be a great motivator.
Georgia Tech is planning on showing Kansas how much so when they meet the Jayhawks today at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Kickoff is at 12:30 p.m.
It was a little over a year ago — 359 days, exactly — that Kansas upended Georgia Tech, 28-25, in Lawrence, in Week Two of the 2010 season.
“The whole team definitely remembers the games that we lost and how we lost to them, and they’re excited to get back at those teams,” said A-Back Roddy Jones, back during Media Day. “I think Kansas is the first one on our schedule that we lost to. So guys know that and they’re excited about it.”
“I’m not going to say anything about that,” added defensive end Izaan Cross, with a laugh. “I don’t want to make headlines. But I’m excited to play them again.”
The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 49-21 thrashing of Middle Tennessee State at Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium. As with their opening day win, the Jackets scored on their first offensive play from scrimmage — this one about 70 yards further away — and blew out to a 42-7 lead before cruising home.
Kansas had a tougher time in getting to 2-0, scoring on a six-yard pass play on fourth-and-goal, with nine seconds remaining to escape upset-minded Northern Illinois. The Jayhawks produced 534 yards of offense, the most since Nov. 28, 2009, a 41-39 win over Missouri.
If you can’t get to the game, you can watch it on the ACC Network (FS South and other cable outlets in the Southeast), with Rich Waltz and Keith Jones calling the action and Jenn Hildreth reporting from the sidelines, or listen on the Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network, with Wes Durham and Rick Strom calling the action. The game can also be heard on Sirius channel 212 or XM channel 191. Fans can log onto RamblinWreck.com to get live stats.
Here are some numerical nuggets to get you ready for today’s game.
1 – The number of wins each team has in the series. Tech won the first meeting between the schools. The 10th-ranked Yellow Jackets topped No. 12 Kansas 20-14 in the Orange Bowl, on Jan. 1, 1948.
2/2/3 – Georgia Tech’s national ranking in scoring offense, total offense, and rushing offense.
5 – The number of Yellow Jackets players who already have their degrees. They are Roddy Jones, Tyler Melton, Jason Peters, Michael Peterson and Logan Walls.
6 – The number of years since Georgia Tech started a year 3-0. the Jackets opened the 2005 season winning at No. 16/15 Auburn, 23-14, beat North Carolina, 27-21, then topped Connecticut, 28-13.
6 – The number of games it took the 2010 Georgia Tech team to pass 579 passing yards. The ’11 Jackets have 579 yards entering play today.
9 – The number of wins for Tech in 14 games against teams currently residing in the Big 12.
10 – The number of wins by Georgia Tech in 12 games under Paul Johnson when throwing 10 or fewer passes.
14 – The number of touchdowns out of the 16 not scored by seniors.
15 – The number of career starts by redshirt junior offensive lineman Omoregie Uzzi. That’s tops on the team and is more than Jay Finch, Ray Beno, Tyler Kidney and Nick McRae combined. Phil Smith, who will be back in action today is next with 12. Will Jackson has 11.
19:06 – The combined time of possession Georgia Tech used in scoring two touchdowns against MTSU. The second drive of the game lasted 9:25, and was a 17-play, 98-yard drive, capped off by a Tevin Washington two-yard run. The other drive was the final drive of the game. It lasted 9:41 and went 73 yards in 16 plays. Synjyn Days capped it off with a 1-yard run. The final drive was only 54 seconds behind the longest drive in school history, a 10:47 march on Oct. 24, 2009. The drives are the third- and fourth-longest in the Paul Johnson era.
23 – The number of wins under Paul Johnson in 24 games when leading after three quarters.
49 – The number of points Georgia Tech has scored in the first quarter. Tech has outscored its opponents 49-0 in the first 15 minutes in its first two games.
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9 – Kansas’ current road losing streak. The Jayhawks were 0-5 on the road last season, scoring a total of 49 points and never more than 16 points.
9.5 – The number of tackles for loss from junior Buck linebacker/DE Toben Opurum and sophomore linebacker Darius Willis. The team has 14 for minus-37 yards.
10.0/10.8/18.3/27.2 – The yards per catch for Kansas’ top four receivers, junior D.J. Beshears, senior Tim Biere, junior Kale PIck and freshman JaCorey Shepherd,
23.6 – Beshear’s kickoff return average in 12 tries. He has a long of 51 yards.
71 – The number of underclassmen on the Jayhawks roster. That includes 20 players who made their inaugural college action thus far this season.
130 – The number of home runs Fred McGriff hit in his five years as first baseman with the Atlanta Braves. Fred’s son, Erick McGriff, is a sophomore wide receiver for the Jayhawks, wearing jersey No. 88.
