Aug. 28, 2005
Georgia Tech opens the 2005 football season with a nationally-televised (ESPN) contest at 16th-ranked Auburn, Saturday at 8:45 p.m. ET at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Under fourth-year head coach Chan Gailey, Tech enters the 2005 campaign with a string of eight consecutive winning seasons and eight straight bowl games, including a 7-5 mark in 2004, capped by a 51-14 victory over Syracuse in the Champs Sports Bowl.
The Tigers carry a 15-game winning streak into the contest, including a perfect 13-0 mark and No. 2 national ranking in 2004. Tech was the last non-Southeastern Conference team to beat Auburn with the Jackets 17-3 victory in Atlanta in the second game of the 2003 season.
The Tech defense, which ranked 12th nationally last season, should again be one of the nation’s best, led by a trio of all-Atlantic Coast Conference returnees in defensive end Eric Henderson, middle linebacker Gerris Wilkinson and safety Chris Reis, all seniors. Other top returnees for the Rambling Wreck defense, which allowed just 297.7 yards per game in 2004, include senior safety Dawan Landry and junior defensive tackle Joe Anoai.
On offense, Tech features the last two ACC Rookie of the Year winners in sophomore wide receiver Calvin Johnson and junior quarterback Reggie Ball, as well as former ACC rushing leader P.J. Daniels at tailback. Tech’s rebuilt offensive line is led by senior tackle Brad Honeycutt, one of only two returning starters on the front line.
LAST MEETING WITH AUBURN
The Georgia Tech defense turned in a superb performance, allowing just 230 yards of total offense as the Yellow Jackets knocked off 17th-ranked Auburn, 17-3, on Sept. 6, 2003, in the first game at the expanded Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field. The win prompted Tech’s students to storm the field and tear down the goal posts.
Freshman quarterback Reggie Ball set the tone with a 54-yard completion to Nate Curry on Tech’s first offensive play to set up Dan Burnett’s 22-yard field goal. Tech extended its lead to 10-0 on P.J. Daniels’ one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and then Ball added a 26-yard touchdown pass to Mark Logan. Ball completed nine of 21 passes for 149 yards and rushed for 26 yards, but the story was the Tech defense, which sacked Auburn quarterback Jason Campbell seven times and held the Tigers to just 40 yards rushing. Eric Henderson had three sacks, four tackles for loss and a forced fumble, while Daryl Smith added 10 tackles and Keyaron Fox had 15 hits, a sack and two tackles for loss. Cornerback Dennis Davis helped seal the win with a late interception that he returned 52 yards.
THE SERIES WITH AUBURN
Auburn holds a 47-40-4 lead over Georgia Tech in one of the South’s most storied rivalries. The two teams are completing a home-and-home contract, which began in 2003 with a 17-3 Tech victory in Atlanta. Before these two games, the schools last met in 1987, when the Tigers, then ranked fifth, defeated Tech, 20-10, in Atlanta to cap a nine-game winning streak in the series.
Even though the series has been renewed just once in the last 17 years, Tech has played Auburn 91 times, more than any other opponent except Georgia. The two schools first played in 1892, Tech’s first year of football, and met every year from 1906-87.
Tech is making its first trip to the Plains since 1986, when Auburn defeated the Jackets, 31-10. Tech’s last win at Auburn was a 24-10 decision in 1978, which was also the Jackets last victory over Auburn until 2003. Drew Hill scored two touchdowns on a 97-yard kickoff return and a 32-yard reception, and Eddie Lee Ivery rushed for 127 yards while throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Bucky Shamburger. True freshman quarterback Mike Kelley completed seven of 15 passes for 126 yards and one TD.
Tech head coach Chan Gailey is 1-1 against Auburn. Gailey’s Samford squad fell to the Tigers, 35-7, in 1993.
NATION’S TOUGHEST SCHEDULE
Georgia Tech’s 2005 schedule could easily be the toughest slate in the nation. In addition to its ACC schedule, the Jackets’ non-conference slate features two of the top teams in the SEC in Auburn and Georgia as well as Connecticut of the Big East.
Tech faces five teams ranked in the preseason Top 25, including Top 10 foes Virginia Tech (No. 8 AP/No. 7 coaches’ poll) and Miami (No. 9/8), as well Georgia (No. 13/13), Auburn (No. 16/15) and Virginia (No. 25/23). Four of those five games are on the road as the Jackets play at Auburn, at Virginia Tech, at Miami and at Virginia. More on the schedule:
• Georgia Tech is the only ACC school to play four of its five divisional games on the road.
• Eight of Tech’s 11 opponents were bowl eligible in 2004, including three teams that played in New Year’s Day bowl games.
TECH IN SEASON OPENERS
Georgia Tech has a record of 77-31-4 in season openers. The Jackets defeated Samford, 28-7, in last year’s opener and have won five of their last six season openers. The last time Tech opened on the road was 2003 at Brigham Young, a 24-13 loss.
The last time Tech opened the season against a higher ranked foe than Auburn (No. 16 AP/No. 15 coaches’ poll) was 1997, when the Jackets fell at No. 11 Notre Dame, 17-13. Tech was scheduled to play at No. 11 Virginia Tech in 2000, but the game was cancelled due to lightning.
NIX FACES ALMA MATER
Georgia Tech assistant coach Patrick Nix is a 1995 graduate of Auburn and a former quarterback for the Tigers. Nix, who is Tech’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, was Auburn’s team captain and starting quarterback in 1995, when he led the Tigers to an 8-4 record and received the team’s Pat Sullivan Award for Offensive Player of the Year as well as the Cliff Hare Award as Student-Athlete of the Year. As a sophomore, he was a member of Auburn’s undefeated 1993 squad. A native of Attalla, Ala., Nix finished his playing days as Auburn’s career leader in passing efficiency.
MORE ALABAMA CONNECTIONS
• Georgia Tech has six players from Alabama, including four members of this year’s freshman class. Sophomore guard Nathan McManus (Birmingham/Mountain Brook) will be in the starting lineup. Also from Alabama are freshman cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels (Hoover/Hoover), sophomore defensive tackle David Brown (Madison/Bob Jones), freshman tackle Will Miller (Centre/Cherokee County), freshman guard Cord Howard (Phenix City/Central), and freshman defensive end Michael Johnson (Plantersville/Dallas County).
• Head coach Chan Gailey has spent a significant portion of his career in Alabama. His first head coaching position was at Troy State, where he compiled a record of 19-5 in two seasons (1983-84), capped by the 1984 NCAA Division II title. That followed a three-year stint (1976-78) as an assistant at Troy. Gailey also spent two years (1991-92) as the head coach of the Birmingham Fire of the WLAF and then one season (1993) as head coach at Samford.
• Offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris was on Gailey’s staff at Birmingham.
• Tight ends coach Tommie Robinson is a native of Phenix City, Ala., and attended Troy State University, where he played for Gailey.
• Special teams coach David Wilson also attended Troy, and then served on the coaching staff from 1983-85.
• Linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary spent the 2003 season as an assistant coach at North Alabama before joining the Tech staff in 2004.
EIGHT STRAIGHT BOWL GAMES
Georgia Tech is one of just eight schools in the nation to play in a bowl game each of the last eight years. Florida State and Virginia Tech are the only other Atlantic Coast Conference schools in this elite group, which also includes Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Purdue, and Tennessee.
On their current streak, the Yellow Jackets have played in the 1997 Carquest Bowl, the 1999 and 2000 Toyota Gator Bowls, the 2000 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the 2001 Seattle Bowl, the 2002 Silicon Valley Classic, the 2004 Humanitarian Bowl and the 2004 Champs Sports Bowl, going 5-3 in the eight games. Tech’s longest previous streak was six straight bowl games from 1951-56 under legendary head coach Bobby Dodd.
EIGHT STRAIGHT WINNING SEASONS
Georgia Tech recorded its eighth straight winning season, all with seven wins or more, in 2004, the second-longest string in school history, and the longest since Tech had 18 consecutive winning seasons from 1908-1925 under John Heisman and William Alexander.
NO ROOM TO RUN
Nineteen times in 38 games under defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta, the Jackets have held their opponent to under 100 yards rushing. Tech is 15-4 in those games.
Over the last two seasons, Tech has allowed an average of 102.5 yards per game. The Jackets ranked 12th nationally in 2003, allowing 100.5 yards per game, and then 13th in 2004 at 104.6 yards per game.
In 2004, the Jackets held seven of 12 opponents below 100 yards. Tech limited Maryland to a net of just eight yards, which ranks as the seventh best game in school history. Tech also held Connecticut to 20 yards, Georgia to 34 yards, Samford to 42 yards, Syracuse to 51, NC State to 72 and Duke to 84 yards on the ground.
In 2003, one of the seven teams Tech held below the century mark was Auburn, which managed just 40 yards on 38 attempts.
GAILEY VERSUS RANKED TEAMS
Georgia Tech’s victories last season over 18th-ranked Clemson (28-24) and 23rd-ranked Maryland (20-7) give the Yellow Jackets four wins over ranked teams in three seasons under head coach Chan Gailey. Three of the four victories have been on the road, including both wins last season.
In 2002 in Gailey’s first season on the Flats, the Jackets won at eighth-ranked NC State, 24-17. In 2003, Tech knocked off No. 17 Auburn, 17-3, at Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field.
Tech has defeated at least one nationally-ranked team each of the last 10 seasons.
CONSISTENT SUCCESS
With a 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference record in 2004, Georgia Tech has finished with an ACC record of .500 or better for 10 straight years. The only other ACC school that can make that claim is Florida State, which has posted a winning ACC record each of its 13 years in the league.
JOHNSON EARNS PRESEASON RECOGNITION
Coming off a sensational freshman campaign, sophomore Calvin Johnson will not take anyone by surprise this season.
The 6-4, 230-pounder set Tech freshman records with 48 catches for 837 yards and seven touchdowns last fall. He was named first-team all-ACC, ACC Rookie of the Year and Freshman All-America. Even more eye-catching than his statistics are his spectacular catches, including a one-handed grab against NC State that was No. 2 on ESPN’s list of the top plays of the entire 2004 college football season.
Entering his sophomore season, Johnson was a preseason first-team all-America by several publications, including Athlon Sports. He was a first-team all-ACC selection by every source, including two, The Sporting News and Blue Ribbon College Football, that projected him as the ACC Offensive Player of the Year. Finally, he was tabbed to the preseason watch list for the Biletnikof Award as the nation’s top receiver.
EXPERIENCED DEFENSE
Georgia Tech’s defense, which ranked 12th in the nation last season in yards allowed (297.9), will start nine players with previous starting experience, including four defenders who have started two years or more. Tech starts five seniors, three juniors and three sophomores.
The most experienced player on the Tech defense is senior end Eric Henderson, with 27 career starts. Linebacker Gerris Wilkinson and safety Dawan Landry have started every game the last two seasons, and tackle Mansfield Wrotto has started 21 of the last 25 games.
Returning starters from last season are safety Chris Reis, cornerback Kenny Scott and tackle Joe Anoai. Cornerback Dennis Davis was a starter in the first three games of 2004 before a season-ending injury, while defensive end Adamm Oliver started the first three games of last season when Henderson was injured.
The only Tech defenders who will be making their first career start against Auburn are sophomore linebackers Gary Guyton and Philip Wheeler.
YOUTH MOVEMENT ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE
The offensive line is the youngest and least experienced position on the Georgia Tech team.
Tech, which graduated three starters from last year’s line, has just one senior among the starting five in senior right tackle Brad Honeycutt, a two-year starter at guard who moved to tackle in the spring. In fact, the Jackets have just two seniors and no juniors among its first two units.
Projected to start along with Honeycutt are sophomores Matt Rhodes and Nate McManus at the guards, sophomore Kevin Tuminello at center and redshirt freshman Andrew Gardner at left tackle.
The second line is comprised of senior Salih Besirevic and redshirt freshman A.J. Smith at the tackles, sophomore LeShawn Newberry and redshirt freshman Jacob Lonowski at the guards and sophomore Eddy Parker at center.
ON THE MOVE, OR NOT
Two returning starters on the Georgia Tech defense are playing new positions this fall.
Senior Chris Reis returns to safety after a one-year stint at outside linebacker, where he moved last season and led Tech with eight sacks while earning honorable mention all-ACC honors. Reis returns to the secondary at strong safety, where senior Dawan Landry has started the last two years. Landry moves into the free safety position vacated by two-time all-ACC James Butler.
For a change, senior middle linebacker Gerris Wilkinson is not playing a new position. He enters his final season at the same place he was the year before for the first time in his career. Wilkinson was a backup outside linebacker as a freshmen, started every game at defensive end as a sophomore, and then moved to middle linebacker as a junior.
Junior Mansfield Wrotto, a two-year starter at defensive tackle, also returns to a familiar position after spending the spring working at offensive guard.
POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE
Two Yellow Jacket starters are already Georgia Tech graduates. All-ACC middle linebacker Gerris Wilkinson and long-snapper Gavin Tarquinio graduated last May, both earning bachelor’s degrees in Management. Tarquinio is now pursuing a second degree in Economics, while Wilkinson is taking classes for a second degree in International Affairs.
