Sunday, October 25, 2009

Rambling & Rolling

The 7-1 Jackets are officially on a roll after running roughshod over Virginia yesterday. Combined with Clemson's last minute victory over Miami, GT now controls its own destiny in the ACC Coastal Division. Simple-win the remaining conference games against struggling Wake and a tricky Duke team on the road and Tech will be playing in the ACC Championship on Dec 5th in Tampa.

First up will be an out of conference road game on Halloween night at Vanderbilt. Normally this type of game spells upset alert but Vandy is not what they've been (despite a close score against South Carolina) and GT is definitely not what they've been. There is an aura among this team that is willing them not only to win but to dominate opponents. A "Refuse to Lose" mentality led by Josh Nesbitt, Jonathan Dwyer and Derrick Morgan.

Coach Paul Johnson is taking this program to where it hasn't been in decades. The 18 play, 82 yard, 11 minute drive to open the 2nd half was an absolute thing of beauty if you're an old school football purist. It was like watching a vintage Tom Osborne team beat a helpless opponent into submission. The defense is playing much better now after getting several injured starters back.

The Jackets now rank 2nd in the country in rushing yards per game.

Meanwhile, Steve DeShazo sums it up pretty well: The rest of the ACC is shuddering.

And Paul Woody of the Richmond Times Dispatch is a believer.

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