ATLANTA – After opening the season with a dramatic victory over Central Florida, Georgia Tech hosts second-ranked Florida State Saturday, September 9 at 8 p.m. at Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field.
The game will be a split-national telecast on ABC-TV (WSB in Atlanta), featuring announcers Brent Musburger, Gary Danielson and Jack Arute. The radio broadcast on the Georgia Tech-ISP Sports Network, including flagship station WGST 640 AM, features Wes Durham as the play-by-play voice and former Tech quarterback Kim King as the color analyst.
“Obviously we have a big chore ahead with Florida State coming to town after a week off,” said Georgia Tech head coach George O’Leary. “They’re well worthy of their high ranking.
“They haven’t changed. They have a lot of speed, a lot of talent and a lot of depth.”
Both teams won their respective opening games. The Yellow Jackets earned a 21-17 come-from-behind victory over UCF last Saturday, while Florida State downed Brigham Young, 29-3, in the Pigskin Classic on Aug. 26.
In his first start for the Jackets, junior quarterback George Godsey (Tampa, Fla.) completed 19 of 31 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner to tight end Brian Lee (Florence, Ala.) with just 38 seconds left.
“It was a great character win, and that’s why you play a full 60 minutes,” said O’Leary.
“I was happy for George Godsey. He had good and bad moments, but for a first-time starter, he made plays when we needed them. He came in and put 21 points on the board.
“The protection broke down at times. We need to get better at some of the things we didn’t do well, and sustaining blocks is one of them.”
Tech displayed its balanced receiving corps as senior Jon Muyres (Stone Mountain, Ga.) had five catches for 71 yards, including a key third-down conversion late in the game; Kelly Campbell (Atlanta, Ga.) caught four passes for 47 yards, highlighted by a 23-yard touchdown catch, and sophomore Kerry Watkins (LaPlace, La.) added three catches for 42 yards, scoring Tech’s first touchdown on a 23-yard reception.
Joe Burns (Thomasville, Ga.), in his first game since breaking his ankle in last season’s Florida State game, was Tech’s top rusher against the Golden Knights with 73 yards on 22 carries.
The Tech defense showed promise in holding the Golden Knights to just eight yards rushing and 255 yards of total offense and making key stops late in the game to fuel the Jackets’ comeback.
“Defensively we played well with the exception of two plays, but you can’t give up big plays like that, a 79-yard pass and a 50-yarder,” said O’Leary. “But we were more active and faster getting to the ball. We played the run much better, and we never gave them sustained drives.”
Sophomore defensive end Greg Gathers (LaPlace, La.) led the defensive charge with seven tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and three pressures. Junior end Nick Rogers (East Point, Ga.) and sophomore linebacker Recardo Wimbush (Blakely, Ga.) each had seven tackles and a sack, while sophomore free safety Jeremy Muyres (Stone Mountain, Ga.) had two pass breakups and an interception on UCF’s final drive.
The Seminoles are led by senior quarterback Chris Weinke, who completed 32 of 50 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns against the Cougars. Senior Marvin Minnis was the Seminoles’ leading receiver with nine receptions for 137 yards, while tailback Travis Minor rushed for 37 yards on 16 carries. The FSU defense features defensive end Jamal Reynolds, who had two sacks and two caused fumbles, and linebacker Tommy Polley, four tackles and one tackle for loss.
