Sept. 30, 2005
ATLANTA–Georgia Tech makes its annual appearance on Thursday Night Football as the 24th-ranked Yellow Jackets host NC State Oct. 6 at Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field. The game kicks off at 7:45 p.m. and will be nationally televised on ESPN.
Tech, nationally ranked for the fourth straight week at No. 24 in the USA Today coaches poll and 25th by the Associated Press, enters the game with a record of 3-1 overall, 1-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Wolfpack, seeking their first conference win, are 1-2 overall, 0-2 in the ACC.
Offensively, the Jackets are led by the skilled trio of quarterback Reggie Ball, wide receiver Calvin Johnson and tailback P.J. Daniels.
Ball, the junior from Stone Mountain, Ga., is averaging 212.6 yards passing and 221.3 yards of total offense per game, including four touchdown passes in three contests.
His favorite target is Johnson, the 6-4 sophomore who leads the Jackets with 18 catches for 378 yards and three touchdowns, an eye-catching 21.0 yards per carry.
A senior from Houston, Texas, Daniels carries the load on the ground, averaging 94.0 yards per game. Sophomore Tashard Choice adds 35.0 yards an outing and has scored two touchdowns.
The Tech defense is anchored by all-ACC middle linebacker Gerris Wilkinson, who leads the Jackets with 34 tackles, including five tackles for loss and one interception. Senior safety Dawan Landry and sophomore linebacker Philip Wheeler have two interceptions each for a Rambling Wreck unit that leads the nation with 10 picks.
Seeking its first win in Atlanta since 1988, NC State has displayed a potent attack that leads the ACC in passing yards (284.7 per game) while ranking second in total offense (394.3). The Pack is also second in the league in total defense, allowing 260.3 yards per game.
NC State tailback Darrell Blackmon leads the ACC in all-purpose yards (156.3 per game) and kickoff returns (35.5-yard average), while wideout Tramain Hall’s 5.33 receptions per game is atop the league.
THE SERIES WITH NC STATE
Georgia Tech has won four in a row and nine of the last 10 meetings with NC State to take a 16-8 lead in the series. The last five games have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
Tech won last year’s game, 24-14, and captured the last meeting in Atlanta by a 29-21 margin in 2003. The Wolfpack’s last win in the series was a 30-23 overtime decision in 2000 in Raleigh. That game also marks the only other time that Tech and NC State have played on a Thursday night.
The two schools first played in 1918, when the John Heisman-coached Yellow Jackets won, 128-0. After a 17-0 Tech victory in 1922, the teams did not meet again until 1983, when they first played as ACC members.
Tech holds a 10-2 advantage on its home field, including seven straight victories over the Wolfpack in Atlanta. NC State’s only wins at Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field were a 14-6 decision in 1988 and a 27-22 victory in 1984.
LAST MEETING WITH NC STATE
On Nov. 6, 2004 in Raleigh, N.C., freshman Rashaun Grant rushed for 122 yards and Reggie Ball’s one-yard scoring pass to Levon Thomas provided the winning margin as Georgia Tech scored 17 fourth-quarter points in a 24-14 victory over NC State. Ball completed just 9-of-27 passes for 91 yards on the day but found Thomas on fourth-and-goal to put Tech ahead 17-14 with seven minutes left. Calvin Johnson set up the score by making two spectacular third-down catches and then drawing a pass interference penalty. Tech’s defense held the Wolfpack to just 57 yards rushing and allowed only one offensive score. The Jackets had six sacks and three interceptions, including one that Kenny Scott returned 49 yards for a touchdown.
THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE
For the 13th year in a row, Georgia Tech is featured in ESPN’s Thursday night, national television package as the Yellow Jackets host NC State. The Jackets have made 17 appearances since 1991, more than any other school in the nation.
Tech has an 8-9 record when playing in ESPN’s Thursday night games, and all but five of the games have been in Atlanta. The Jackets are 7-5 in home Thursday night ESPN games.
Tech is facing NC State in a Thursday night game for just the second time. The last time was in 2000, when the Wolfpack won 30-23, in overtime.
Maryland has been the Jackets most frequent Thursday opponent with six matchups, followed by Virginia with three.
ESPN THURSDAY NIGHT GAMESYear Opponent Result
1991 #20 Virginia hW 24-21 1993 #25 Virginia hL 35-14 1994 #7 Arizona hL 19-14 1995 #16 Maryland hW 31-3 1996 Duke hW 48-22 1996 at Maryland aL 13-10 1997 #5 North Carolina hL 16-13 1998 at Clemson aW 24-21 1999 Maryland hW 49-31 2000 at NC State (ot) aL 30-23 2000 Virginia hW 35-0 2001 Maryland (ot) hL 20-17 2001 North Carolina hW 28-21 2002 at Maryland aL 34-10 2003 at Brigham Young aL 13-24 2003 Maryland hW 7-3 2004 #22 Virginia Tech hL 20-34
JACKETS LEAD NATION IN INTERCEPTIONS
After collecting 10 interceptions in its first three games, Georgia Tech is tied for the national lead in interceptions (2.5 per game). Tech’s 10 interceptions are as many as the Yellow Jackets had all of last season.
The Jackets grabbed three interceptions and recovered a fumble in the win over Connecticut. Tech forced five turnovers in its season-opening win over Auburn with four interceptions and a fumble recovery, all in the second half. The Jackets added three interceptions against North Carolina, again all in the second half.
The 10 interceptions have been by eight different players. Free safety Dawan Landry and linebacker Philip Wheeler are the only players with more than one.
Tech is 12th in the nation in turnover margin at +1.50.
JOHNSON LEADS ACC
All-America candidate Calvin Johnson, one of the nation’s most exciting players, leads the ACC in receiving yards per game.
The 6-4 sophomore has 18 catches for 378 yards and three touchdowns, an average of 94.5 yards per game.
For his career, Johnson now has 66 catches for 1,215 yards and 10 touchdowns in 16 games. That’s career averages of 18.4 yards per catch, and 75.9 yards per game, a figure that ranks third among all active receivers in the nation.
BEN BOOMS
Punter Ben Arndt has developed into a reliable weapon for the Yellow Jackets. The senior from Young Harris, Ga., is averaging 43.6 yards per kick with nine punts downed inside the 20 and no touchbacks. Arndt is third in the ACC and 19th nationally in punting average, while Tech’s net of 39.37 per punt is second in the ACC and 10th in the nation.
PRINCE OF A RUNNER
Senior tailback P.J. Daniels looks like the Daniels of 2003, when he led the ACC with 1,447 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns and earned first-team all-conference honors. Last season, injuries forced him to miss four games and two other halves, and he managed 714 yards and eight touchdowns.
Daniels currently ranks fourth in the ACC, averaging 94.6 yards per game. He has topped 100-yards three times in 2005, most recently going for 114 yards against Connecticut, following 103 yards against North Carolina and 111 versus Auburn. He actually had four straight 100-yard games, including his 119-yard performance in the Champs Sports Bowl, giving him 13 for his career.
The Houston, Texas, native has moved into fourth place on Tech’s career rushing list with 2,792 yards. A former walk-on who earned a scholarship after the 2002 season, Daniels has averaged 101.5 yards per game since the start of the 2003 season.
Daniels, a two-time Academic All-ACC selection, had two of the top three rushing games in Tech history in the 2003 season with 307 yards against Tulsa in the Humanitarian Bowl and 240 yards versus North Carolina.
Tech’s Career Rushing Leaders Years Att. TD Yards 1. Robert Lavette 1981-84 914 45 4,066 2. Jerry Mays 1985-89 695 18 3,699 3. Eddie Lee Ivery 1975-78 609 22 3,517 4. P.J. Daniels 2002- 588 21 2,792
NCAA Active Rushing Leaders G Att. TD Yards 1. DeAngelo Williams, Memphis 36 733 43 4,575 2. DonTrell Moore, New Mexico 41 841 40 4,089 3. Brad Smith, Missouri (qb) 39 624 33 3,327 4. Marion Barber, Minnesota 42 575 35 3,276 5. Chris Barclay, Wake Forest 39 678 35 3,261 6. Laurence Maroney, Minnesota 29 492 28 3,167 7. Patrick Cobbs, North Texas 40 644 31 3,133 8. P.J. Daniels, Georgia Tech 38 588 21 2,792
