ATLANTA – Georgia Tech puts its three-game winning streak on the line this weekend when the Yellow Jackets travel to Clemson’s Death Valley on Saturday, October 28 at 3:30 p.m.
| Quarterback George Godsey |
The game will be regionally televised by ABC (WSB-TV, channel 2 in the Atlanta area), while live radio coverage will be available on the Georgia Tech/ISP Sports Network (WGST 640 AM in Atlanta).
Riding its three-game win streak, Tech enters the game with a 5-2 overall record and a 3-2 mark in ACC play after picking up consecutive wins over North Carolina, Wake Forest and Duke. Clemson, ranked fifth in the country, is 8-0, 6-0 in ACC play after rallying to defeat North Carolina, 38-24, last Saturday night in Chapel Hill.
“If you need to talk about games like this, then you are in trouble,” said Tech head coach George O’Leary. “We are looking forward to getting up there, and you can sense it among the team. The kids understand that it has been a great game the last three years that we have played. They are a very good football team and it’s a great challenge for us to go up there and see what we can do.”
Clemson, who currently stands in first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, leads the ACC in rushing offense (273 yards/game), scoring offense (43.1 ppg) and total defense (258 yards/game). The Tigers rank third nationally with 492 yards of total offense per game.
“We will have to play very well in all facets of the game,” said O’Leary, who is now 41-27 in his sixth year at Tech. “As I tell our players in every game, ‘Just get us into the fourth quarter and I think we will find a way to do things.’
“When I watch Clemson, I see a very explosive offense, but I think the team that has kept them in games has been their defense. Their defense has been forcing a lot of three-and-outs and given the ball back to their offense.”
The Tiger hurry-up offense is led by multi-talented quarterback Woodrow Dantzler. The junior signal caller leads the ACC in rushing (105.1 yards/game) while ranking third in both total offense (272.5 yards/game) and passing efficiency (148.8 yards/game). Tailback Travis Zachery is averaging 93.9 yards per game on the ground while wideout Rod Gardner ranks among the ACC leaders in both receptions (41) and receiving yards (747).
“We are going to play a lot of people,” said O’Leary. “I think that is the only chance you have, because you need fresh legs in the fourth quarter. The biggest chore this week defensively is getting 11 people on the same page and getting the subs in that we want in. We have seen what they do, it’s just the tempo that they do it in is quicker.”
O’Leary has been pleased with the development of the Tech offense. Over the last four games, the Yellow Jackets are averaging 441 yards of total offense as compared to 313 yards per game in the first three contests. O’Leary traces Tech’s recent success to the improvement that he sees in the offensive line.
| Tight End Brian Lee |
“The offensive line started off slow,” said O’Leary. “They have gotten better and better each week in sustaining blocks and getting movement at the line of scrimmage. With that came the improvement of the run game. With the run game came the play-action game, and that’s where you get your tight ends involved. We’re running the ball better, and now our tight ends are a factor in the play-action pass game.”
Tech’s ground attack, led by the trio of sophomore Joe Burns (Thomasville, Ga.), junior Sean Gregory (Homewood, Ill.) and sophomore Sidney Ford (Lindale, Ga.), has produced better than 200 yards in each of the last two games. That will be challenged by Clemson’s stingy run defense, which is allowing just 76.5 yards per game on the ground, this weekend in Death Valley.
“We have to understand what we need to do to stop or slow down their offense,” said O’Leary. “That means we have to do what we did last year with controlling the ball when we held it for seven minutes more than they did. I don’t think you change a lot of things heading into a game like this, you just try to get better with the things that you do.
“Our people need to understand that mistakes in games like this are very costly. In a game like this, it comes down to mistakes and penalties, and the team with more of them is going to lose.”
On the injury front, O’Leary reported that Tech should be back to a near-full lineup on Saturday. Sophomore free safety Jeremy Muyres (Stone Mountain, Ga.), who missed the second half of the Duke game with a sprained knee, has returned to practice and will be available against Clemson. Freshman linebacker Keyaron Fox (Atlanta, Ga.), who is out for the Clemson game after suffering a broken arm three weeks ago, has returned to practice.
