Jackets, Seminoles Set For Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship

Nov. 26, 2012

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GEORGIA TECH PLAYING FOR THIRD ACC TITLE AND A BCS BOWL BERTH
With a berth in the Discover Orange Bowl on the line, Georgia Tech and No. 13/12 Florida State meet in the 2012 Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Saturday night.

The game kicks off at 8 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN. The Yellow Jackets, champions of the ACC Coastal Division, are making their third appearance in the title game and second under head coach Paul Johnson.

Tech has won two previous ACC titles since entering the league, and has 15 conference titles all-time. Since the inception of the ACC Championship Game in 2005, the Coastal Division has won four of the seven games.

QUICK OUTS
• The Yellow Jackets have rushed for more yards than any FBS team since 2008 and own the nation’s third-leading rushing attack this season at 323.3 yards/game.
• Tech is 232 yards shy of rushing for 20,000 total yards in the five seasons under head coach Paul Johnson.
• The winner of the Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game heads to the Discover Orange Bowl — what would be the Yellow Jackets’ second BCS bowl appearance since 2009.
• At six wins this season, Tech is bowl eligible for the 16th-consecutive season and looking to extend the nation’s fourth-longest bowl-appearance streak — trailing only active streaks by Florida State (31), Florida (22) and Virginia Tech (20).
• The Seminoles lead the series 12-9-1, but the Jackets have won the last two meetings (2008 and 2009).
• Senior OG Omoregie Uzzi was named first-team All-ACC, his third consecutive All-ACC mention. Four other Jackets garnered All-ACC honorable mention honors.
• Senior QB Tevin Washington’s 18 rushing TDs this season are the third-most nationally among quarterbacks, and he’s third in the ACC in scoring at 9.0 points/game.
• With 36 rushing TDs in his career, Washington owns the all-time Tech and ACC records for rushing TDs by a QB.
• Sophomore return specialist Jamal Golden is second in the ACC and 10th nationally in kick return average (29.0 avg). He totalled 230 KO return yards at UNC, including a 100-yard return for TD — his second KO return TD this season.
• Senior AB Orwin Smith’s career average of 9.4 yards per carry is the highest by any active FBS player with 1,000 yards.

TECH IN THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
• Tech is 1-1 all-time in the ACC Championship Game, having previously appeared in 2006 and 2009.
• The Jackets dropped a 9-6 field-goal fest to Wake Forest in Jacksonville in 2006, and pulled out a 39-34 shoot out victory over Clemson in Tampa in 2009 (the title was later vacated due to NCAA sanctions).
• Tech is one of six ACC teams to have played in the ACCCG since its inception in 2005, and one of five teams with multiple appearances.
• The 2009 title (later vacated) was Tech’s third ACC crown — it shared the crown in 1998 with Florida State and won it outright during the team’s 1990 National Championship year.

TECH-FSU SERIES
• Florida State leads the all-time series, 12-9-1.
• The Yellow Jackets and Seminoles last met in 2009, a 49-44 Georgia Tech win in Tallahassee.
• Tech has won the last two meetings – 31-28 in Atlanta in 2008 and 49-44 in Tallahassee in 2009.
• Florida State’s last win over Georgia Tech came in 2003.
• Prior to Tech’s win over FSU in 2008, the Seminoles dominated the series, winning 12 straight from the Yellow Jackets from 1992 to 2003.
• The last four meetings have been decided by 16 combined points.
• Paul Johnson is 2-0 all-time against Florida State (2008, 2009).
• Georgia Tech is 46-29-7 all-time against teams from the state of Florida, including an overtime loss to Miami during the regular season.
• Tech and FSU shared the overall ACC title in 1998, each going 7-1 in league play. It was Tech’s second ACC crown, after winning it outright in 1990.
• Tech and FSU first met on the gridiron in 1952. The Jackets won the first two meetings – in 1952 and 1955 – by a combined score of 64-0.