Football Travels to Keystone State, Faces Pitt

Oct. 20, 2014

PITTSBURGH – Georgia Tech will make its first trip to Pennsylvania since 1931 – and its first to Pittsburgh in 94 years – when it faces the Pitt Panthers at Heinz Field. Saturday’s game is scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday will be only the ninth meeting between the ACC Coastal Division foes. Pittsburgh leads the series, 5-3. 

• It will be the first series meeting in Pittsburgh since 1920 (Jackets 0-3 vs. Panthers in the Steel City).
• Pitt was Georgia Tech’s lone road game in both 1918 (Tech’s only loss) and 1919 (Tech’s first loss of season). It’s 1920 trip to Pittsburgh (Tech’s only loss) was Tech’s second and final road game that season.
• Tech and Pitt met last season in Atlanta – a 21-10 Jackets victory, their first in the series in more than 50 years.
• Georgia Tech senior B-Back Zach Laskey was born in Pittsburgh.
• Georgia Tech beat Pitt in their two bowl meetings – 7-0 in the 1956 Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) and 21-14 in the 1956 Gator Bowl (Jacksonville).
• It will Georgia Tech’s first trip to the Keystone State since 1931 (a 13-12 loss to the Penn Quakers in Philadelphia).
• Paul Johnson is 2-0 vs. the Panthers (1-0 at Navy, 1-0 at Georgia Tech).

GOLDEN RETURNS
Redshirt junior DB Jamal Golden leads the ACC with 496 combined return yards (477 kick, 19 punt) – ranking 14th in the nation. Golden also leads the ACC with 477 kick return yards. Golden’s 1,268 career kick return yards ranks 6th on Georgia Tech’s all-time list.

TAKE YOUR TIME
Georgia Tech is going “3 & Out” on only 6.4 percent of its offensive possessions in 2014 – the best in the nation.

THRU THE AIR & ON THE GROUND
Georgia Tech QB Justin Thomas is 1 of 8 FBS signal-callers that leads his respective team in both passing and rushing. Thomas is 1 of 3 in ACC QBs, including North Carolina’s Marquise Williamsand Boston Collegte’s Tyler Murphy.

3RD DOWN CONVERSIONS
Georgia Tech is the only FBS team ranked in the Top 10 in both 3rd down and 4th down conversions. Tech leads the nation with 59.3 percent 3rd down conversion rate. The Yellow Jackets are tied for 5th nationally, converting 85.7 percent of 4th down tries (6-of-7).

EATING UP YARDAGE
QB Justin Thomas’s 859 career rushing yards ranks 7th all-time for Georgia Tech quarterbacks. Thomas needs 141 yards to become only the 6th 1,000-yard rushing QB in Georgia Tech history. Thomas needs 75 yards to become the 5th Georgia Tech QB to rush for 700 yards in a season.

TECH 300
Georgia Tech has rushed for 300+ yards in 44 of 76 games under head coach Paul Johnson. The Jackets are 35-9 in those games and have won nine of their last 11 games when rushing for 300 or more.

NET-WORKING
Senior B-Back Zach Laskey has recorded only FOUR negative carries (only fiveyards lost total) in 337 career rushing attempts – or 1.2 percent of his career rushing attempts. 

ONE FOR YOU, AND YOU, AND YOU…
Georgia Tech’s defense has forced 10 turnovers – recorded by nine different players (Quayshawn Nealy, Demond Smith, Lawrence Austin, KeShun Freeman, Corey Griffin, Paul Davis, D.J. White, Isaiah Johnson, and Jamal Golden). Golden is the only Yellow Jacket will multiple takeaways (two interceptions).

THE Paul Johnson RADIO SHOW
The Paul Johnson Radio Show returns for the 2014 season and will be held Monday nights from 7-8 p.m. at Hudson Grille Midtown (942 Peachtree St NE). Hosted by the “Voice of the Yellow Jackets” Brandon Gaudin, the one-hour live call-in show can be heard statewide on the GT IMG Sports Network. If you can’t attend, you can call and ask Coach a question at 866-477-7020. You can also submit questions on Twitter using #GTRadio or through the GT Athletics Facebook page.

The first 25 Georgia Tech students to show their BuzzCard at each of the Paul Johnson Radio Shows will receive either a free dessert or free wings. Additionally, there will also be a GT burger special for $5.95 and free valet parking.

DOWNLOAD GEORGIA TECH GAMEDAY APP (Download: App Store | Google Play)
Georgia Tech Athletics joined forces with IMG and SportsLabs to develop the Georgia Tech Gameday app to keep Yellow Jackets fans connected to the action while on campus or watching from home. The Georgia Tech Gameday App will replace the current official app for Georgia Tech Athletics.

The Georgia Tech Gameday App is packed with robust social, on-campus and stat-driven features that enhance the gameday experience by delivering: free live game audio; real-time Instagram and Twitter feeds from the team and fans; the official game-day guide with key times, events and need-to-know information including stadium maps and parking to plan the day; live conference and Top 25 scores, real-time stats; opt-in alerts for weather updates, pre-game events, play-by-play information and more.

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