Oct. 19, 2012
Jon Cooper, Sting Daily –
Having had a week to recharge its batteries, soothe a bruised psyche and retool defensively following the change in the defensive coaching staff, Georgia Tech will try to snap a three-game losing streak, when it takes on Boston College this afternoon at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
“I don’t know how you ever rank the bye weeks,” said Head Coach Paul Johnson, who has never had a four-game losing streak at Georgia Tech. “It depends on how we come back and play the rest of the year. It wasn’t like we were on a real hot streak. Hopefully, we’ll come back and play better after the bye week.”
Saturday’s game marks the start of a two-game home stand for the Jackets, who welcome B.C. to the Flats for the first time since Sept. 15, 2007. While the 1-5 Eagles are a much different team than the one that won that last meeting at Bobby Dodd, 24-10, led by current Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, they have Johnson’s respect. He expects his squad to be prepared to battle for 60 minutes.
“They’ve got some good players and we’ll get their best shot,” said Johnson. “I don’t doubt they’ve lost some close games. They lost a game two weeks ago on the last play of the game. In pretty much all their games they’ve been right down to the end. I expect we’ll get their best shot. I don’t have reason to believe otherwise.”
Boston College is coming off a 51-7 drubbing at the hands of No. 12/11 Florida State in Tallahassee. The Eagles are led by a trio of talented juniors, quarterback Chase Rettig, who is in the top 10 among active ACC QBs in total offense, passing yards, and TD passes, and explosive talents in running back Andre Williams and wide receiver Alex Amidon. Defensively, linebacker Nick Clancy has taken the mantle from Luke Kuechly and is one of the nation’s top tacklers.
While the Jackets are certainly glad to be playing at home today, the series actually has been dominated by the road team, which has won the last five games in the series.
Here are some interesting numbers to get you ready for kickoff
The Series: Georgia Tech leads, 5-2 Current Streak: Georgia Tech has won one straight In Atlanta: Series tied, 2-2 Last Meeting: Georgia Tech 19, Boston College 16, @ Boston College, Sept. 6, 2008
40 – The number being worn this week by junior safety Isaiah Johnson. Johnson is the first non-senior to wear No. 40 this season. The number had been worn by linebacker Julian Burnett, who was forced to stop playing due to a neck injury suffered in last year’s Hyundai Sun Bowl. The number will be worn by a different Yellow Jacket every week in tribute. It has been worn by defensive end T.J. Barnes, cornerback Rod Sweeting, quarterback Tevin Washington, long snapper Tyler Morgan and, defensive end Izaan Cross and last week, by linebacker Chris Crenshaw.
1 – The career ACC win number by Paul Johnson against Boston College. Tech beat B.C., 19-16, on Sept. 6, 2008, Johnson’s first game against an ACC opponent.
1 – The number of interceptions by Georgia Tech in each of the last five games. The team has seven on the year and has spread the wealth, as seven different players have one.
2 – The number of games in this series won by the home team. Georgia Tech took both, winning 42-10 on Nov. 11, 1972, then 13-12 on Nov. 25, 1989. They were the first two meetings of the series.
2.5 – The amount of yards per carry that A-Back Orwin Smith leads the nearest FBS runner in career yards per carry. Smith has averaged 10.1 yards per attempt (1,519 yards in 151 carries), while Tulsa’s Ja’Terian Douglas is next at 7.6 (1,623 on 214). In 2012, Smith is averaging 11.3 yards per rush.
3 – The number of rushing touchdowns quarterback Tevin Washington has averaged over Tech’s last four games. That includes a school-record four touchdowns against Middle Tennessee State on Sept. 29. Washington has 13 TDs on the year.
4 – The number of rushing touchdowns Washington needs to tie the school record for career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. His predecessor, Joshua Nesbitt holds the record, having punched it in 35 times between 2007 and 2010.
4 – The number of touchdowns by Smith that rank in the top 20 in school history. He has the longest from scrimmage, a 95-yard scamper last season vs. Kansas, a pair of 77-yarders, (one this year vs. Virginia, one last year vs. Western Carolina) which tie for 13th and a 73-yard run in 2010 against North Carolina, which is tied for 17th.
8 – The yardage per play averaged by Georgia Tech in three different games this season. Tech averaged 9.9 yards per play against Presbyterian, 9.6 vs. Virginia and 8.1 against Clemson.
10 – The number of times the Jackets averaged 8.0 yards per play from 1976 through 2011.
9 – The career-high number of tackles made by redshirt freshman Jabari Hunt-Days against Clemson. Hunt-Days has 37 tackles on the season (second on the team) and 3.0 tackles for loss (third).
14.9 – The average margin of victory in the seven games against Boston College. Tech’s five wins have come by an average of 16 points, and actually include two wins decided by a field goal or less, the only two such games in the series (13-12 at Bobby Dodd on Nov. 25, 1989 and 19-16 in the last meeting Sept. 6, 2008 at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill). B.C.’s two wins have come by 24 points, 41-31 on Sept. 5, 1998 and 24-10 Sept. 15, 2007.
17 – The number of native Australians currently playing at FBS schools. That includes Tech’s freshman defensive lineman Adam Gotsis. At 6-5, 300, Gotsis is the biggest of the group.
13 – The number of native Australians currently playing at FBS schools that are punters.
37.8 – Georgia Tech’s points per game scored this season. That’s more than a field goal better than any Georgia Tech team in the Paul Johnson era.
30.17 – Georgia Tech’s points per game allowed this season. That’s a shade over four points more than last season, which was the highest in the Johnson era.
70 – Georgia Tech’s winning percentage in October under Paul Johnson (14-6). That includes the loss to Clemson two weeks back.
75 – The percentage of games Georgia Tech has won at home against Atlantic Division foes since 2005. The Jackets are 9-3 in such games.
75 – The number of rushing yards Tevin Washington needs to take over the ACC single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback. Clemson’s Woody Dantzler holds two of the top three spots, with 1,061 in 2001 and 1,028 in 2000. Joshua Nesbitt is second with 1,037 in 2009.
71 – The number of combined points in the highest scoring game of this series, a 41-31 B.C. win on Sept. 5, 1998. That’s two more points than the teams have combined to score in the last two meetings (24-10, B.C. in 2007 and 19-16, Tech in ’08).
93 – The number of plays run against the Yellow Jackets defense in its last game against Clemson. It was the most since Nov. 27, 1999, when Georgia ran 97 plays.
168 – Orwin Smith’s average all-purpose yardage over the yellow Jackets’ last four games. Smith has gained 672 yards in that span. He had 70 in Tech’s first two games of the season.
331/249.33 – Georgia Tech’s average yards rushing per game, third in the nation and Boston College’s rushing yardage allowed per game, 117th.
930.67 – The combined total yardage allowed by Georgia Tech and Boston College heading into today’s game. The Jackets have allowed 431.00 yards per game, 89th in the country, while the Eagles have allowed 499.67 yards, 115th.
1,084 – The combined yardage by Tech and Clemson two weeks ago. It was the most in total offense in a Georgia Tech conference game since 1993.
10 Things To Know About Boston College
0 – The number of changes made by Boston College on the offensive line through six games.
6-5 1/2/306 – The average size of the Eagles’ starting offensive linemen. From left to right, 6-8, 313-pound senior left tackle Emmett Cleary, 6-5, 312-pound sophomore left guard Bobby Vardaro, 6-3, 300-pound sophomore center Andy Gallik, 6-5, 303-pound junior right guard Ian White and 6-8, 302-pound senior right tackle John Wetzel have a combined 84 career starts. Cleary is the high man with 23 career starts, while Gallik is the newbie, with nine.
3 – The number of 100-yard receiving days by junior wide receiver Alex Amidon. Among those days was a 193-yard, two-touchdown day in a losing effort against Clemson. Amidon had one 100-yard receiving day coming into 2012. The 193 yards were the third-most in a game by a B.C. receiver and the most since Gerard Phelan pulled in 226 yards against Miami on Nov. 23, 1984. The last 48 of those became known as “Hail, Flutie,” giving Boston College a 47-45 win over the Hurricanes.
114.67 – Amidon’s receiving yards per game. That’s eighth in the country. He has 41 catches for 688 yards and four touchdowns and is explosive once he gets the ball, averaging 16.78 yards per catch.
4 – The number of Boston College defenders among the top five in the ACC in tackles. Senior linebacker Nick Clancy leads the conference and is fourth in the nation with 12.2 stops per game (73, 40 solo). He was named ACC Linebacker of the Week on Sept. 17 after making 24 tackles (14 solo) in a 22-13 loss at Northwestern. Junior linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis is next with 10.0 per game (50, 29). Junior linebacker Steele Divitto is third, at 9.8 tackles per game (59, 39), and sophomore DB Sean Sylvia is fifth with 9.2 stops per game (55, 33).
21/122.0 – The average number of carries and rushing yards for junior running back Andre Williams over the team’s last two games. Williams rambled for a career-best 191 yards on 21 carries in the 34-31 loss at Army — 99 of them on a touchdown run that tied for the longest in NCAA history — then followed that with a 104-yard effort on 20 attempts at Florida State. In the three previous games Williams had totaled 171 yards on 54 carries.
26 – The number of consecutive kicks converted by kicker Nate Freese. The junior is 9-for-9 on field goal attempts, with a long of 39 yards, and is 17-for-17 on PATs, making him one of four kickers in the nation who is perfect this season. Freese, who has a career 81.6 percent conversion rate on field goal attempts (40 of 49), is 4-for-4 from 20 to 29 yards and 5-for-5 on kicks of 30 to 39 yards.
30-for-44/435/1 TD – Matt Ryan’s line in the first game he ever played in Atlanta, Sept. 15, 2007. On that day, the current Atlanta Falcons quarterback was the quarterback for Boston College against Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The 435 yards were a career-high and included a 39-yard, second-quarter touchdown pass to Brandon Robinson, which provided what proved to be the winning points. Behind Ryan, B.C., then ranked 21st, topped No. 15 Georgia Tech, 24-10. Ryan finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy balloting (Florida’s Tim Tebow won it that year), and the Eagles would start 8-0, climbing all the way up to No. 2.
83.1 – The average number of plays per game run by Boston College’s opponents thus far in 2012. Opposing offenses have run 81 more plays, nearly a full game’s worth of plays more than the Eagles, holding a 499 to 418 edge. Georgia Tech averages 68.3 plays per game (410 total), while opponents have run 443 or 73.8 per game.
275.5 – Quarterback Chris Rettig’s passing yards per game. The junior has thrown for 1,653 yards with 11 touchdowns against only four interceptions. He currently ranks fourth among ACC quarterbacks and is 21st in the nation in passing yards. He had been higher prior to running into Florida State last week, averaging 306.2 yards per game — the best in the ACC. His two 300-yard games this season have come against Clemson and Miami. The latter was a mammoth 441-yard, two-touchdown effort. The 441 yards were the sixth-best day in school history and is his career-best. His 31 completions and 51 attempts also are career highs.
