Jackets work to keep ball secure

ATLANTA — The Georgia Tech football team had time to stew during its off week, but the Yellow Jackets were neither lamenting their tough schedule, ruing a few dreadful losses nor contemplating the complexities required to save their season.

Instead, the Jackets (3-4, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) have been working on a seemingly simple skill — hanging on to the football. They will see how much the time off has helped them tonight at Virginia Tech (4-2, 3-0).

The Jackets have fumbled 22 times this season, leading — or lagging — among the nation’s 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams with their average of 3.1 bobbles per game. They have lost eight of those, which is tied for 117th worst.

“I want to beat Virginia Tech; that’s my goal. If we pull ourselves back even, then we’ll worry about going to North Carolina,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said. “What I want to accomplish is to go up there and not lay the ball on the ground on three consecutive plays and not beat ourselves.”

Georgia Tech won on its past two trips to Virginia Tech and beat the then-No. 17 Hokies 28-22 last season in Atlanta, the highlight of a 5-6 campaign that left the Jackets out of bowl season for the second time in three years.

Johnson said the Jackets are not thinking about what they need to do to avoid missing a bowl again. He just knows they need to hang on to the ball to have any success.

A fumble by wingback Qua Searcy was critical when Georgia Tech blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead at South Florida on Sept. 8. Then there were eight fumbles, one lost, in a 49-21 loss to second-ranked Clemson on Sept. 22.

The Jackets didn’t turn the ball over in lopsided wins over Bowling Green and Louisville, but fumble-itis struck again in a 28-14 home loss to Duke on Oct. 13 that all but knocked Georgia Tech out of contention in the ACC’s Coastal division.