Aug. 25, 2008
by Jack Wilkinson
RamblinWreck.com
Curtain up, keep the stats. You’ve got nowhere to be but the Flats. As if you’d want to be anywhere else Thursday evening, when Paul Johnson unveils his option-based spread offense at Georgia Tech.
The only thing better than Opening Day? Opening Night, when toe meets leather at 7:30 p.m. and the Jackets meet Jacksonville State. So, without further ado…
The Top Ten Reasons To Be in Bobby Dodd Stadium Thursday Night:
10. The game’s not on television.
9. See what Jack’s Crowe-ing about. No, not Jack in the Box. Jack Crowe, the respected Jacksonville State coach who’s already predicted Johnson will win an ACC championship with his option attack.
8. It’s as simple as A, B and see: A-backs, B-backs, see `em all run all over Grant Field.
7. It’s the perfect option.
6. You make the call: An “Ugly Betty” re-un on ABC. Another Braves’ debacle on SportSouth. Or, live and in person, the Atlanta premiere of “A Night at the Option.”
6. See Ryan. See Ryan run. Run, Ryan Perrilloux, run. And good luck, kid, to the transfer QB from LSU who’ll try to elude Tech’s No. 93. Since 1996, no one in Atlanta’s outrun anyone named Michael Johnson.
5. It’s the coming-out party for offensive tackle Andrew Gardner’s Outland Trophy candidacy. And Josh Nesbitt, Tech’s new quarterback, is embarking on his own fall campaign.
4. Thursday Night Lights is a long-running Tech tradition at Bobby Dodd, with the bright-lights, big-city skyline of Atlanta as a backdrop. It’s my favorite after-dark setting in all of college football…and we get to do it again Nov. 20 when Miami comes calling.
3. Up with the White and Gold. The new Old Gold and White uniforms the Jackets will wear.
2. You’re a freshman, right? A wannabe EE major from Macon? So where do you wanna watch your first Georgia Tech football game? In your dorm room, on your laptop on ESPN360.com? Or in The Hive, upstairs in the North Stands, with thousands of your new best friends? And that 8 o’clock lecture Friday morning? It’s just like Tech’s offense: Optional.
1. And the number 1 reason to be in Bobby Dodd Stadium Thursday night: No one will be barking.
