Oct. 22, 2007
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Tech Takes Break; Hosts Hokies Thursday Night, Nov. 1
Georgia Tech, coming off back-to-back wins, is off the rest of October before hosting No. 8/9 Virginia Tech in a nationally-televised Thursday Night game Nov. 1 (7:30 p.m./ESPN).
Virginia Tech, 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the ACC, plays this Thursday against undefeated and 2nd-ranked Boston College in Blacksburg, Va.
Georgia Tech, 5-3 and 2-3, has an open date this Saturday. The break comes at a perfect time for the Yellow Jackets, who have several injuries — most notably, senior tailback Tashard Choice, who was carted off the field with a knee injury in the first half of Saturday’s 34-10 win over Army.
Choice, the ACC’s leading rusher (108.0 ypg), will not play against Virginia Tech.
The injury to Choice dampened a solid second-half performance by the Yellow Jackets. Tech outscored Army 21-0 and held the Black Knights to just 106 yards of total offense in the second half.
Virginia Tech takes a five-game winning streak into Thursday’s match-up with Boston College. A win for the Hokies on Thursday would keep them unbeaten in ACC play and tied with Virginia for the lead in the Coastal Division.
The Nov. 1 meeting will be just the fifth between the two schools. The series is tied, 2-2. Georgia Tech won last year’s meeting, 38-27, in Blacksburg.
Thursday Night Notebook
– Georgia Tech will play in an ESPN Thursday Night game for the ACC-leading 20th time. The Yellow Jackets are 9-10 all-time in ESPN Thursday Night games.
– The Yellow Jackets played in the first ACC, ESPN-televised Thursday night game when the they hosted Virginia in 1991 (24-21 Tech win). That game, the first of more than 90 Thursday night ACC games on ESPN, came down to the last play — a 33-yard field goal by Tech’s Scott Sisson that won the game.
– Tech’s highest-rated Thursday night game was a 19-14 loss to Arizona in Atlanta on Sept. 1, 1994, drawing a 5.0 rating. The Jackets’ first Thursday night ESPN game, vs. Virginia in 1991, drew a 3.90 rating.
– The Yellow Jackets are 8-6 at home and 1-4 on the road in ESPN Thursday night games.
What A Yellow Jacket Victory Would Do
– Georgia Tech will be looking to knock off a top-10 ranked team (if Virginia Tech can beat Boston College Thursday and remain in the top 10) for the third straight season. The Yellow Jackets beat Virginia Tech (ranked 10th in the Coaches Poll) last season, 38-27. In 2005, Georgia Tech beat 3rd-ranked Miami, 14-10.
– While the Yellow Jackets have enjoyed success vs. top-10 teams (four wins since 2000), they have not defeated a top-10 team at Bobby Dodd Stadium since a 41-38 victory over 7th-ranked Virginia in 1998.
– A Yellow Jacket victory would pull them up to .500 in the ACC for the first time this season. Tech has finished .500 or better in ACC play 12 consecutive seasons — the longest current streak.
– A Tech win wouldn’t guarantee a winning season overall, but it would pull the Yellow Jackets within one victory of their 11th consecutive winning season.
– A Jacket victory would keep Tech at least mathematically alive for a Coastal Division title and a second straight appearance in the ACC championship game.
Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech Series History
– The all-time series is tied, 2-2.
– At least one of the two teams has been nationally-ranked in each of the four previous meetings between the Yellow Jackets and Hokies. Last year, both teams were ranked in the top 25.
– Georgia Tech won the most recent meeting, played in Blacksburg on Sept. 30, 2006, 38-27.
– Last year’s win came one season after the Hokies posted a 51-7 blowout of the Jackets in Blacksburg on Sept. 24, 2005.
– The two Techs will meet in Atlanta for the first time since Oct. 28, 2004 when Virginia Tech beat Georgia Tech, 34-20, on a Thursday night.
– Georgia Tech won the first meeting between the two teams on Nov. 10, 1990, 6-3, in Atlanta. That win gave the Yellow Jackets an 8-0-1 record en route to a co-national championship.
– Only that first meeting between the two teams was close. The last three meetings have been decided by an average of 23 points.
– Georgia Tech head coach Chan Gailey is 1-2 all-time vs. Virginia Tech.
– Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer has been a part of all four previous meetings between the Hokies and Yellow Jackets, posting a 2-2 record.
– The two teams were scheduled to meet in 2000 in Blacksburg, but the game was cancelled because of poor weather.
Jacket-Hokie Connections
– Georgia Tech has just one player on its roster — running back Trevor Bray (Chesapeake) — from the commonwealth of Virginia.
– Virginia Tech has three players on its roster from Georgia: Tim Pisano (Milton), Dorian Porch (Calhoun), Sergio Render (Newnan).
– The Hokies’ Pisano and Georgia Tech fullback Matt Kamp both attended Milton High School in Alpharetta.
– Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta and Virginia Tech assistant coach Jim Cavanaugh were on the same coaching staff at Maryland in 1983.
– Two years earlier, in 1981, Tenuta and Cavanaugh were on the same coaching staff at Virginia.
– Former Hokies DeAngelo Hall and Jimmy Williams play here in Atlanta for the Falcons.
