› Georgia Tech opens with Alcorn State, hopes to stay locked in early,
ATLANTA — Georgia Tech’s football schedule has a challenging opening month, with next Saturday’s game at South Florida and a Sept. 15 Atlantic Coast Conference opener at Pittsburgh followed by No. 2 Clemson visiting Bobby Dodd Stadium in three weeks.
Oh yeah, the Yellow Jackets also kick off the season today against Alcorn State.
Don’t count Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson among those dismissing the Braves, a Football Championship Subdivision program. He hasn’t forgotten his Jackets were upset six years ago by Middle Tennessee State. Although the Blue Raiders — like the Jackets — compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision, coming from Conference USA they were another opponent that was supposed to roll over early in the game, at least in the pregame opinions of many observers.
The Jackets, like most FBC schools, usually win these kinds of games easily — matchups during the past five Septembers against Alcorn State, Elon, Mercer and Wofford were lopsided — but Johnson knows his players can’t afford to make mistakes in the first half and give Alcorn State hope.
The Braves are accustomed to success at their level, and they’re picked to win the East Division of the Southwestern Athletic
Conference for the fifth straight year.
“To me, it’s no turnovers, no penalties, special teams — all those things that will lose you a game early in the season,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to go out there and take care of that and play with some fire and some enthusiasm.”
After another tough preseason in often sweltering heat, Johnson wants the Jackets to soak in the
game atmosphere and make the most of their chance to hit someone from another team.
“You spend an awful lot of time getting ready to play football for 12 games or 13 games or whichever that you get,” he said. “Well, you better enjoy it while you’re out there. It don’t last long.”
Regardless of the score late in the first half, team captains TaQuon Marshall,
a senior quarterback, and Brant Mitchell, a senior inside linebacker, want to see urgency in the closing minutes of the second quarter.
The Jackets went 5-6 last season and missed a bowl for the second time in three years after falling apart at the end of the second and fourth quarters against Tennessee and Miami. Today is the first chance for Tech to show how hard it has
practiced this past month to correct the problem.
“No doubt we could’ve won another two or three games last year if we had just finished out the first and second half right,” Marshall said. “It’s on us to stay locked in when we get the lead. The offense needs to keep scoring, but we have to get off the field as quickly as possible. No dumb penalties and no extended drives.”
The game will debut Georgia Tech’s new 3-4 defense under coordinator Nate Woody, who keeps the number of calls limited and simple to maximize speed, quickness and ball pursuit. He spent the past five years as coordinator at Appalachian State, where his teams led the Sun Belt Conference in defense three times and ranked in the top 30 nationally each of the past four seasons.