Tech Opens ACC Play At Duke Saturday On ESPNU

Sep 4, 2013

Tech, Duke Meet In ACC Opener For Both
• A pair of unbeaten teams battle in Durham Saturday as Georgia Tech (1-0) and Duke (2-0) meet for the 81st time in series history.
• The game is the ACC opener for both teams and marks the third time in the last four years that Tech has opened its conference schedule away from home.
• The game can be seen live on ESPNU with Anish Shroff and Kelly Stouffer.
• On the radio, “Voice of the Yellow Jackets” Brandon Gaudin has the call on the Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network along with analyst Rick Strom and sideline reporter Randy Waters. The game can be heard on WYAY 106.7 FM in Atlanta, on the web at RamblinWreck.com.

Quick Hitters
• The Yellow Jackets return 15 starters and 54 letterwinners from last year’s team that won the ACC Coastal Division, played in the ACC Championship Game and defeated USC, 21-7, in the Hyundai Sun Bowl.
• Tech is 15-15 all-time in ACC openers and had won four straight before last season’s 20-17 overtime setback at Virginia Tech in a nationally-televised Labor Day night game in Blacksburg.
• The Yellow Jackets are undefeated versus Duke under Paul Johnson (5-0) and have won nine straight in the series dating back to 2004.
• All time, Tech leads the series 49-30-1 and the 80 games make Duke the Yellow Jackets’ third most-commonly played opponent behind Georgia (107 meetings) and Auburn (92).
• Since ACC divisional play began in 2005, Georgia Tech is 25-15 vs. Coastal Division opponents, 11-10 on the road. Under Paul Johnson, Tech is 14-11 vs. Coastal opponents, 5-7 on the road.
• The Jackets are coming off an early bye week, after opening their season in record-setting fashion with a 70-0 shutout of Elon at Bobby Dodd Stadium on August 31. Tech set a number of offensive marks and recorded its first shutout since 2008 — 27-0 vs. Duke.
• Tech and Duke were two of just seven FBS teams with opening-game shutouts. Arizona, Wisconsin, San Jose State, Tennessee and Oklahoma were the others.
• Sophomore Vad Lee took the reigns as the starting quarterback this season with the graduation of QB Tevin Washington, and was strong in his first career start. Lee was 7-for-11 passing for 189 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed six times for 49 yards and another score.
• Tech leads the nation in passing efficiency (267.96) entering the season’s third week.
• Georgia Tech is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Historic Grant Field in 2013. It is the most tenured stadium in the FBS and listed by ESPN.com as a bucket-list item for college fans.
• The Yellow Jackets have rushed for more yards than any FBS team since 2008, and in 2012, Tech surpassed the 20,000-yard rushing mark for the five-year period under head coach Paul Johnson.
• Tech ranks fourth nationally in rushing offense (368.0) entering the third week — the sixth consecutive year the Yellow Jackets have ranked in the top five.
• The victory over USC in last year’s Hyundai Sun Bowl was Tech’s 41st all-time bowl appearance, the team’s 23rd all-time bowl win (23-18), and snapped a streak of seven straight losses in bowl games. Tech’s streak of 16-consecutive bowl appearances is tied for the fourth-longest in the nation.

The Duke Series
• The game marks the 81st all-time and Georgia Tech leads the series, 49-30-1.
• The Yellow Jackets have won the last nine and 17 of the last 18 meetings.
• Tech holds a 21-18 series advantage in games played in Durham. The Yellow Jackets have won the last four and 10 of the last 11 meetings at Wallace Wade Stadium.
• The Jackets have won the last nine meetings in Bobby Dodd Stadium. The last time Duke won on the Flats came in 1994.
• The winner of the Tech-Duke game has scored at least 30 points in each of the last four meetings and in seven of the last eight meetings.
• Georgia Tech has played Duke more often (80 previous meetings) than any other ACC opponent.
• The two teams first met on the gridiron in 1933 and have met every season since.
• Tech is 135-68-4 all-time against teams from North Carolina.
• The Yellow Jackets have won six consecutive games played inside the state of North Carolina and the Yellow Jackets are 6-1 under Paul Johnson when playing in the Old North State.
• Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson is 9-1 all-time against Duke, including a 4-1 record while at Navy and a 5-0 mark at Tech.
• Since ACC divisional play began in 2005, Georgia Tech is 25-15 vs. Coastal Division opponents, 11-10 on the road. Under Paul Johnson, Tech is 14-11 vs. Coastal opponents, 5-7 on the road.