ACC tourney bye in hand, Jackets close regular season vs. Deacons
Georgia Tech has done so many good things the past few weeks to put itself in position for special accomplishments.
Now the Yellow Jackets can’t afford a hiccup in their regularseason finale.
“Look at our numbers,” coach Josh Pastner said in making a case for an NCAA Tournament bid. “With the wins that we have, a no-brainer.”
Georgia Tech visits struggling Wake Forest on Friday night in Winston-salem, North Carolina.
The Yellow Jackets (14-8, 10-6 ACC) hold a five-game winning streak. They’re four games above .500 in ACC play for the first time since March 1996. They’ve also reached the 10-win mark in the ACC in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.
All this has added up to guaranteeing Georgia Tech an ACC Tournament bye for the first time since 2005.
By topping Duke in overtime Tuesday night, the list of achievements now includes victories over the Blue Devils, North Carolina and Kentucky in the same season.
The Yellow Jackets insist this level of success has come about because of following the process.
“We focused on defense,” forward Moses Wright said. “We know our offense is going to come.”
Wake Forest (6-14, 3-14) is on a six-game losing streak, unable to stay close in recent losses. That included Tuesday night’s setback at Pittsburgh, which also has been on a slide.
“The morale has not been bad, not at all,” first-year coach Steve Forbes said. “The thing I’ve really been trying to push is to play for each other.”
Wake Forest has connected on 10 or more shots from 3-point range in eight games this season. The Demon Deacons haven’t shown some of the traits that Georgia Tech has.
“I can see why they’ve won the games that they’ve won,” Forbes said. “They trust each other. They can take you deep into a shot clock,
make you guard long possessions and then get good shots.”
Wake Forest opened its longdelayed portion of its ACC slate Jan. 3 by losing 70-54 to Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Guard Ian DuBose didn’t play in that game. He made an impact when returning to action but has since faded.
“Ian has hit the wall,” Forbes said.
Meanwhile, guard Jose Alvarado of Georgia Tech hasn’t practiced much lately because of a hamstring injury. He didn’t score in the Duke game until fewer than 13 minutes remained in regulation, although he finished with 10 points.
“I think he has lost a little bit of rhythm,” Pastner said.
Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is grateful the stress of December and January is behind him and he’s once more doing a job he loves.
The Tigers imaginative playcaller was out with COVID-19 for the team’s 49-28 Sugar Bowl loss to Ohio State in the national semifinals. Soon after, Elliott strongly considered leaving as he was courted for the head coaching job at one of the Southeastern Conference’s resource-rich programs in Tennessee.
“You know, I thought I had made it through the coaching carousel unscathed,” Elliott joked.
Elliott spoke with new Vols athletic director Danny White before choosing to remain with the Tigers.
“Definitely, it was something that I really had to sit down and think about and consider and pray about, and talk to people, and try to find the right confirmation,” Elliott said. “At the end of the day, when I put everything on the table, it just wasn’t the right time.”
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is happy to have Elliott back leading an offense that loses its two marquee players in quarterback Trevor Lawrence and tailback Travis Etienne. That was apparent when Elliott received a raise last month that made him a $2 million a year coordinator.
“He loves Clemson and he loves his job,” Swinney said. “One of these days it will be the right one. The only reason he’s not head coach yet is because it hasn’t been the right one yet.”
Elliott has carefully consid
ered each step in his career before jumping into it. The former Clemson receiver had his engineering degree and a bright future in the business at tire-manufacturer Michelin North America. Still, he couldn’t get the coaching bug out of his system and became receivers coach at FCS schools South Carolina State and Furman.
He returned to Clemson in 2011 and learned everything he could from high-powered, attack offense from then coordinator Chad Morris. When Morris left for SMU after the 2014 season, Elliott was ready to call plays for the Tigers.
Elliott shared coordinator duties with Jeff Scott from 2015 until Scott left to become USF head coach after the 2019 season.
With Elliott solely in charge last season, the Tigers continued to post big offensive numbers and finished 10th
nationally at 502 yards a game.
Elliott seems ready to take over a program, but hasn’t made that move. He knows whatever job he takes will come with through-the-roof expectations because of his Clemson accomplishments.
“I want to be in a position where we have a legitimate opportunity to win,” he said.
Elliott was confident the Tigers could keep last season going at the Sugar Bowl when he was told he’d tested positive for the coronavirus.
“When they told me, I broke down,” he said.
Elliott began tracing back for how he contracted the disease before making peace that while he could virtually take part in pre-game preparations, he’d have to sit out the Buckeyes’ game.
As the game went on and Ohio State dominated, Elliott felt helpless.
“To see the guys struggle
and to know I wasn’t there to help them out,” he said. “That’s when it started to hurt.”
A re-energized Elliott, whose raise came with added title of assistant head coach, has thrown himself into spring and some new coaching duties. The team’s running backs coach since 2011, Elliott moved to handle tight ends so Swinney could hire former Clemson ACC player of the year C.J. Spiller to coach runners.
Elliott is excited about the potential of rising sophomore quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, Lawrence’s heir apparent, and a stacked group of runners including senior tailback Lyn-j Dixon and fivestar freshman Will Shipley to keep the ground game going after Etienne.
He wants to head his own program one day, but only if the fit is right for his family and his peace of mind that he can do a good job.