Sept. 17, 2007
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Georgia Tech, which fell out of the national rankings this week after a loss to ACC leader Boston College, now faces a difficult road test and its first ACC intra-divisional opponent at Virginia Saturday (Noon/ESPNU).
The Yellow Jackets, 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the ACC, are coming off a 24-10 loss to impressive Boston College last Saturday in Atlanta.
Virginia, 2-1 and 2-0, is on a roll after a season-opening upset loss at Wyoming. The Cavaliers are coming off back-to-back ACC wins over Duke (24-13) and on the road at North Carolina (22-20).
Georgia Tech, which beat Virginia 24-7 last season in Atlanta, has not won in Charlottesville since 1990.
The Yellow Jackets rallied from a 21-0 deficit with 10 fourth-quarter points against Boston College. However, Eagle quarterback and ACC preseason player of the year Matt Ryan was too much to overcome. Ryan passed for 435 yards and a touchdown against the Yellow Jackets.
Cavalier running back Cedric Peerman shredded the North Carolina defense for 186 yards and a touchdown, and Chris Gould tied a school record with five field goals in Virginia’s 22-20 win at North Carolina last Saturday.
The all-time Georgia Tech-Virginia series is tied 14-14-1.
Tech-Virginia Bullet Points
– Georgia Tech, which lost just one ACC game last season en route to winning the league’s Coastal Division, needs a win Saturday to avoid its first 0-2 ACC start since 2003.
– While the Yellow Jacket-Cavalier series is even, Georgia Tech has not won in Charlottesville since 1990 — a streak of seven consecutive losses.
– Tech, under the direction of former NFL head coach Chan Gailey, will face its third opposing coach with a strong NFL background. Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis, Boston College’s Jeff Jagodzinski and Virginia’s Al Groh all rose to their current positions from the NFL ranks.
– Saturday’s game features the ACC’s top two rushers. Virginia’s Cedric Peerman (113.7 ypg) and Georgia Tech’s Tashard Choice (112.3 ypg) are the only players in the ACC averaging more than 100 yards rushing per game.
– Saturday’s game includes three of the ACC’s top five scorers. Tech kicker Travis Bell (11.0 ppg), freshman running back Jonathan Dwyer (10.0 ppg) and Virginia kicker Chris Gould (8.3 ppg) all rank in the top five in the league in scoring.
– Both teams have had success in getting to the opponent’s quarterback. Georgia Tech (13 sacks) and Virginia (11) are the only ACC teams to record double-figure sacks.
– Georgia Tech and Virginia have been successful in the red zone. Both teams have failed to score just once when in the red zone this season.
Tech, Wahoos Can Kick It
The ACC’s top two punters — at least through three weeks of the season — will go head-to-head. Cavalier punter Ryan Weigand (49.4 ypp) leads the nation in punting and Yellow Jacket Durant Brooks (46.0 ypp) ranks seventh nationally.
Georgia Tech kicker Travis Bell and Virginia kicker Chris Gould are tied for the ACC lead in field goals made with seven. Both players are 7-of-8 in field goal attempts.
Georgia Tech-Virginia Series History
– The all-time series is tied, 14-14-1.
– Georgia Tech won the most recent meeting, 24-7 last season (Sept. 21, 2006) in Atlanta on a Thursday night.
– Virginia has won three of the last four meetings.
– Virginia holds an 8-2-1 series advantage in Charlottesville.
– The Yellow Jackets and Cavaliers have met every season since 1982.
– Georgia Tech and Virginia have been frequent Thursday-night opponents. They have met on Thursday night five times since 1983.
– The Yellow Jackets and Wahoos first met on the gridiron in 1965.
– Georgia Tech head coach Chan Gailey is 2-3 all-time vs. Virginia.
– Virginia coach Al Groh is 5-6 all-time vs. Georgia Tech, including a 4-2 record against the Yellow Jackets while coaching at Virginia.
– Georgia Tech is 31-17-1 all-time vs. schools from the commonwealth of Virginia, including a 14-14-1 mark vs. Virginia, 2-2 vs. Virginia Tech, 14-1 vs. VMI, and 1-0 vs. William & Mary.
Yellow Jacket-Cavalier Connections
– Georgia Tech has just one player from Virginia on its roster — redshirt freshman running back Trevor Bray from Chesapeake.
– Virginia has no players on its roster from the state of Georgia.
– Both head coaches — Georgia Tech’s Chan Gailey and Virginia’s Al Groh — served a number of years in a variety of roles in the NFL.
– Groh and Gailey served on the same staff at Air Force in 1979. Groh was the Falcon defensive coordinator at the time while Gailey was a defensive assistant. In 1980, Groh left Air Force for Texas Tech. In 1981, Gailey took over as Air Force’s defensive coordinator.
– Groh’s first NFL job was as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Falcons in 1987.
– Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta began his college coaching career at Virginia as a graduate assistant in 1981 and 1982.
– Georgia Tech offensive coordinator John Bond and Virginia assistant head coach Steve Bernstein were on the same Northern Illinois coaching staff in 2004 and 2005 (Bond was also with the Huskies in 2006). At Northern Illinois, Bond was offensive coordinator and Bernstein coached the Huskies’ secondary.
– In 2004, Virginia assistant coach Levern
Belin was also on the Northern Illinois staff as coach of the defensive interior line.
– Virginia graduate assistant coach Vincent Brown previously served as head coach at Meadowcreek High School near Atlanta. Brown is a native of Atlanta.
– The Yellow Jackets and Cavaliers combine to have four players on the Seattle Seahawks’ roster.
Since Gailey’s Arrival, Only FSU Has Won More In The ACC
Since Chan Gailey arrived in Atlanta prior to the 2002 season, his Yellow Jackets have won 24 ACC games in five seasons. Only Florida State, with 28 ACC wins, has more.
It should be noted that three schools — Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech — have been in the ACC for three years or less. Over the last three seasons, only Virginia Tech has fewer ACC losses than Georgia Tech.
Throwing To The Tight End? That’s New
Sophomore tight end Colin Peek caught five passes last Saturday against Boston College.
Solid performance, yes, but what’s so significant? Consider last year that Georgia Tech tight ends caught five passes — for the entire season. Michael Matthews caught four passes and George Cooper caught one pass. Incidentally, both Matthews and Cooper are on NFL rosters.
Peek has caught eight passes for 57 yards on the season. His top back-up, Brad Sellers, is out for the season with a knee injury.
Turnovers, Or Lack Thereof, A Key For The Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech has not committed a turnover since the fourth quarter of the Gator Bowl last season. That means the Yellow Jackets have played more than 182 minutes of football and have had 205 consecutive offensive snaps without throwing an interception or losing a fumble.
– Georgia Tech is the only team in the nation without a turnover in 2007. In fact, Ball State ranks alone in second place with one turnover. Every other team in the nation has at least two turnovers.
– Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets have recovered six fumbles to give them a +6 turnover margin for the season. Tech ranks tied for first in the ACC and tied for sixth nationally in turnover margin.
– The Yellow Jackets are one of just seven schools in the nation that have not lost a fumble. They are also in a group of seven schools who have not thrown an interception.
– Junior quarterback Taylor Bennett has attempted 73 consecutive passes dating back to last season without throwing a pick.
– Over the last two seasons (17 games), Georgia Tech has lost just six fumbles while recovering 18 opponent fumbles.
– Georgia Tech has fumbled five times this season but lost none of them.
– In six seasons under head coach Chan Gailey, Georgia Tech is 25-4 and has won 12 of its last 14 when committing fewer turnovers than the opponent.
