Yellow Jackets, Cavaliers Collide In Coastal Clash On The Flats

JACKETS, CAVALIERS RENEW ONE OF ACC’S MOST EVEN RIVALRIES
Georgia Tech, which rolled up 712 yards of offense and posted its largest margin of victory in Paul Johnson’s era last Saturday, will welcome undefeated Virginia to BobbyDodd Stadium Saturday in a meeting of Coastal Division foes.

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET, and the 650th all-time game at BobbyDodd Stadium, is live on ESPNU.

The teams are meeting for the 35th time, and the series narrowly favors Virginia, 17-16-1 to mark the third-closest active ACC series. The teams have split the last two matchups and the series is deadlocked over the last six tilts. The Yellow Jackets are 3-1 in ACC home openers under Coach Johnson. Tech, which opened its 2012 season with a 20-17 overtime loss at then-No. 16/20 Virginia Tech — a game in which the Jackets led 17-14 with 44 seconds remaining — is looking to avoid its first 0-2 ACC start since 2007.

At halftime of Saturday’s game, Tech will honor the 60th anniversary of the 1952 National Championship team, which finished 12-0 and beat Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl.

BOBBY DODD STADIUM’S 650th GAME
Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field is the nation’s oldest and winningest college football venue. Saturday’s game marks the 650th Tech game played at the venerable site, which has seen 444 Jacket victories. The Jackets are 444-184-21 all-time at Bobby Dodd Stadium, a winning percentage of 70 percent.

First hosting Tech games in 1913, Bobby Dodd Stadium is the oldest FBS stadium and third-oldest in all of college football. Only Penn’s Franklin Field (1895) and Harvard’s Harvard Stadium (1903) are older.

TECH-VIRGINIA SERIES NOTES
• Virginia leads the all-time series, 17-16-1.
• Georgia Tech has won two of the last three meetings, but Virginia beat Tech 24-21 last season in Charlottesville, knocking the Yellow Jackets from the ranks of the unbeaten.
• Virginia has won six of the last nine meetings.
• Tech holds a 13-7 series advantage in Atlanta.
• The last time the Yellow Jackets and Cavaliers met in Atlanta, in 2010, Georgia Tech won 33-21. The previous meeting in Bobby Dodd Stadium, in 2008, the Al Groh-coached Cavaliers spoiled Tech’s Homecoming, 24-17.
• The two teams have met every season since 1982.
• One of Tech’s all-time greatest victories was a 41-38 win over Virginia in Charlottesville in 1990 when the Cavaliers were ranked No. 1 nationally. The Jackets went on to win a share of the national championship.
• The two teams first met on the gridiron in 1965. Georgia Tech won the first six meetings.
• Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson is 2-2 all-time vs. Virginia.

TECH-VIRGINIA CONNECTIONS
• Tech defensive coordinator Al Groh was head coach of the Cavaliers from 2001-09. Groh, a 1967 UVa graduate, was a Wahoo assistant coach from 1970-72.
• Tech offensive line coach Mike Sewak is a 1981 Virginia grad and played three years for the Cavaliers.
• Georgia Tech has just one player on its roster from the Commonwealth of Virginia — Tim Seager (Blacksburg).
• Virginia has five players on its roster from Georgia — Miles Gooch (Decatur), D.J. Hill (Covington), Sam Jowers (Atlanta), Greyson Lambert (Jesup) and C.J. Moore (Buford).
• Yellow Jacket LB Nick Menocal and Cavalier DB Pablo Alvarez were teammates at Belen Jesuit Prep in Florida.
• Tech’s Louis Young and Roderick Chungong, and UVa’s Vincent Croce and E.J. Scott, all previously attended Good Counsel HS.
• Yellow Jacket DB Domonique Noble and Cavalier RB Kevin Parks both graduated from West Rowan (N.C.) High School.
• Cavaliers LB coach Vincent Brown is an Atlanta native. He played in the 1990s with the New England Patriots, whose defensive coordinator was Al Groh. Brown was a graduate assistant under Groh at UVA in 2007.
• UVa offensive coordinator Bill Lazor started his NFL coaching career with the Atlanta Falcons in 2003 as offensive quality control coach for Dan Reeves.
• Virginia tight ends coach Shawn Moore was the Cavaliers’ quarterback in 1990 when No. 1-ranked UVa lost to Georgia Tech in one of the Yellow Jackets’ all-time biggest wins.
• Georgia Tech director of player personnel Liam Klein coached with Virginia running backs coach Mike Faragalli at Lafayette College in 2001.
• Todd McCarthy (Tech director of video operations) was director of sports video at Richmond from 1995-96 at the same time Virginia coaches Mike London, Jeff Hanson and Jim Reid were with the Spiders.
• Georgia Tech assistant sports information director Mike DeGeorge was at Richmond from 2007-11 where he worked closely with London as the Spiders’ football SID.

HONORING BURNETT
Georgia Tech will pay tribute to former linebacker Julian Burnett this season by rotating Burnett’s jersey No. 40 among senior players each game this season. Burnett was a star linebacker for the Jackets, a leader on and off the field, before suffering a career-ending injury last season. Senior DT T.J. Barnes, normally No. 90, wore No. 40 during the season opener, while senior CB Rod Sweeting wore 40 versus Presbyterian.

A SILVER LINING?
Prior to the season-opening 20-17 loss in overtime at Virginia Tech, the last time Georgia Tech lost a season opener came in 2006, a year the Yellow Jackets opened with a loss to Notre Dame, then went on to win the ACC Coastal Division title. The last time Tech opened a season with a five-day turnaround — 2009 — was also a year in which the Jackets won the ACC Coastal crown.

TECH IN THE POLLS
Georgia Tech remains in the “others receiving votes” in this week’s release of both the Associated Press and the USA Today Coaches polls. Tech is officially 35th in both the Coaches and the AP polls. In Sports Illustrated’s college football preview issue, the Yellow Jackets were picked 20th in its preseason poll, and Tech was receiving votes in both the USA Today Coaches and AP preseason polls.

STREAKS CONTINUE
• Georgia Tech has played 186 consecutive games without being shut out. The last shutout was Oct. 18, 1997 vs. Florida State, 38-0.
• It’s been 172 consecutive games that the Yellow Jackets have played without returning a kickoff for a touchdown. The last was a 100-yarder by Dez White on Oct. 31, 1998 versus Maryland in Baltimore.

RARE EARLY-SEASON SETBACK
The 20-17 overtime loss at Virginia Tech was the first season-opening loss for head coach Paul Johnson since 2005 when his Navy squad lost 23-20 against Maryland. Georgia Tech is now 13-5 in August/September games under Johnson.

FIRSTS VERSUS PRESBYTERIAN
• First career starts for: WR Darren Waller, LT Bryan Chamberlain and BB Zach Laskey.
• First career games for: QB Vad Lee, DB Domonique Noble, DE Adrian Gardner, OL Trey Braun, DE Adam Gotsis.
• Season debuts for: LB Daniel Drummond, DB Louis Young.
• Robert Godhigh, who rushed for his first career touchdown at Virginia Tech, caught his first career TD versus the Blue Hose.
• Jamal Golden’s first career interception, was also Tech’s first interception of the year.
• Jeff Greene recorded his first career pass reception, and later reeled in his first TD catch — an 82-yarder from Vad Lee, It was Lee’s first career TD pass.
• Jeremy Moore made his first career reception.
• Zach Laskey, Vad Lee, Broderick Snoddy and Matt Connors all rushed for their first career touchdowns.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRESBYTERIAN GAME
• The 56-point margin of victory was the largest in the Paul Johnson era at Tech.
• Eight different Yellow Jackets scored touchdowns – the most since Sept. 8, 2001 vs. Navy.
• Two different Tech quarterbacks threw touchdown passes (Tevin Washington and Vad Lee) for the first time since Dec. 31, 2007 vs. Fresno State in the Humanitarian Bowl.
• The three points scored by Presbyterian were the fewest allowed by a Tech team since blanking Duke on Oct. 4, 2008.
• Tech held an opponent to zero touchdowns – something it did not do at all in 2010 or 2011.
• Presbyterian’s 10 first downs were the fewest by a Tech opponent since North Carolina had nine first downs on Sept. 26, 2009.
• The Blue Hose averaged just 2.8 yards per pass attempt – the lowest average by a Tech opponent since 2005.
• Presbyterian’s nine punts were the most by a Tech opponent since Oct. 11, 2008 vs. Gardner-Webb.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT…
Tevin Washington’s eight-yard pass to Jeremy Moore early in the second quarter versus Presbyterian was the first career reception for ANY wide receiver on Tech’s roster. Moore finished the game with three grabs for 64 yards, while Jeff Greene reeled in three passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. The Jackets have thrown for three TDs this season, after recording just one TD pass in the final eight games of 2011.

60TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1952 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Georgia Tech will honor the 1951 and 1952 Yellow Jacket football teams at halftime of Tech’s game against Virginia. This marks the 60th anniversary of Tech’s 1952 national championship. The two teams combined for a 23-0-1 record under legendary head coach Bobby Dodd. Both teams won SEC titles and won their bowl games. The 1951 team defeated ninth-ranked Baylor 17-14 in the Orange Bowl. The 1952 team defeated seventh-ranked Ole Miss 24-7 in the Sugar Bowl to win a share of the national championship. The win over the Rebels gave Tech its third national title.

MIAMI GAME SET FOR 3 P.M.
The ACC has announced game times and networks for Saturday, Sept. 22, setting the Georgia Tech vs. Miami game at Bobby Dodd Stadium for 3 p.m. on the Regional Sports Network.

DODD STATUE UNVEILED FRIDAY
Georgia Tech, in conjunction with Dodd’s Boys, will unveil a statue of legendary head coach Bobby Dodd on Friday, Sept. 14. The statue of Dodd kneeling will be 54 inches tall and rest on a pedestal approximately five feet tall. The statue will be placed on Callaway Plaza at the north end of Bobby Dodd Stadium. The idea for the statue began formulating a few years ago when the Dodd’s Boys group was formed to coordinate reunions and functions before games. It was during that process the group decided that, while the stadium carried his name, a statue would be appropriate. The group worked with the athletic department and the Institute to get approval and then found a design team for the statue. The group of Dodd’s former players, collectively known as Dodd’s Boys, along with families and friends of former players and the Georgia Tech program, contributed to make the statue possible.