A win for Tenuta goal for Jackets

Georgia Tech says this time will be different.

Another bowl trip to the West following a disappointing season won’t turn into another no-show performance, the Yellow Jackets insist.

Sure, they expected better things than a 7-5 finish and a Humanitarian Bowl match-up against the third-place team from the Western Athletic Conference. But that doesn’t mean today’s game against Fresno State will be a repeat of their 2005 Emerald Bowl loss to a Utah team that tied for fourth in the Mountain West.

Those Utes accused those Jackets of quitting. These Jackets say they have no intention of giving anything but their best. They say they owe it to themselves and to their coaches, most of whom won’t be working for Tech come Tuesday.

Many of the Jackets, especially the defensive players, say they are rallying around defensive coordinator and interim coach Jon Tenuta, whose sixth and final season at Tech ends Monday.

“We really want to get this win,” linebacker Philip Wheeler said. “This will be like his first win as a head coach.”

“He’s a guy everybody wants to satisfy,” linebacker Gary Guyton said.

Tenuta wouldn’t discuss his future beyond today’s game other than to say “I have a pretty good idea” when asked where he’d be coaching in 2008.

Tech fired coach Chan Gailey two days after the regular season ended with a loss to Georgia. The Jackets hired Paul Johnson Dec. 7. Players with eligibility remaining have been wondering how they’ll fit into Johnson’s system. Some said they might consider transferring to another school if they don’t like what they see in the spring.

So Tech’s 17 seniors won’t be the only people in white and gold who look on today as the final go-around for a team and a coaching staff that won a lot of football games and shared a lot of special times.

“There’s been some turmoil at our place, and so on and so forth,” Tenuta said, “but I think the big thing here is we’re playing together.”

Choice the choice for carrying ball

Georgia Tech heads into Monday’s game with a new head coach but the same players and the same offensive and defensive system from the rest of the 2007 season. For instance, quarterback Taylor Bennett said he still expects to be the starter. And interim coach Jon Tenuta said ACC rushing leader Tashard Choice will still carry the load.

“I’m not going to do anything dumb,” Tenuta said. “I’m going to let him carry the ball.”

That would seem to be a wise move today, for two reasons. First, Choice said he is as healthy as he has been since the second game of the season, before the hamstring and knee injuries hit. Second, Fresno State has a lot of trouble stopping the run.

The Bulldogs rank 86th in the nation in run defense. To understand how bad that is consider this: It’s two spots behind Duke. Choice ran for 170 yards against the Blue Devils.

There’s no reason to think he’ll be any less successful with Tenuta in charge.

“We might play a little meaner, a little more aggressive,” Choice said.

A few things to deal with

Monday’s game will be played under unfamiliar conditions for Tech in two respects: It’s on artificial turf, and the high temperature is forecast to be 30 degrees.

The playing surface shouldn’t be a big issue. The Jackets haven’t played on artificial turf all season, but they have practiced on it, and the Bronco Stadium turf is similar enough to grass that the Jackets will wear the same cleats they wear for home games.

There will be four big heaters on the Tech sideline; equipment manager Tom Conner said they get used once or twice a year.

Also, some players will wear wraparound hand muffs.

Bulldogs want win to build on

Georgia Tech isn’t ranked and just fired its coach, but to Fresno State the Yellow Jackets represent the big time, a traditionally strong team from a Bowl Championship Series conference.

“We’re trying to build a tradition around here, and it takes games like this against big-time opponents to get that going,” quarterback Tom Brandstater said.

Conference affiliation could affect the crowd, too. Local fans are expected to fill the majority of Bronco Stadium’s nearly 30,000 seats, and Fresno is a Western Athletic Conference member just like Boise State.

“I’d imagine most of the people from Boise would be cheering for the WAC team,” Fresno coach Pat Hill said.

Something special for both squads

Kicker Travis Bell and punter Durant Brooks will introduce Georgia Tech’s offense and defense on ESPN’s telecast, and that could be a fitting choice for this game. Tech and Fresno State have two of the nation’s best collections of special teams.

Brooks won the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter. Bell was first-team All-ACC and a Lou Groza Award semifinalist. Also, Tech leads the nation in kickoff return defense, ranks fourth in net punting and ranks 14th in kickoff returns.

Fresno ranks second nationally in kickoff returns, and Clifton Smith leads the nation in career punt return average.

The Bulldogs have blocked five kicks this season.

Fresno’s special teams took a blow with the loss of NCAA kickoff return leader A.J. Jefferson, one of eight players suspended on Saturday. (None of the suspended players was a starter, and only Jefferson, a cornerback, and Isaac Kinter, a tight end, were on the two-deep roster. And Jefferson missed the last two regular-season games with an ankle injury.)

Say “special teams” in the ACC and you usually think Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech special teams coordinator Charles Kelly said Fresno is at least as strong.

“Out of all the games we’ve watched this year, they’re probably as good as anybody we’ve seen in the kicking game,” Kelly said.

“They take a lot of pride in it, and they’re good. Their return game is unbelievable, both kickoff and punt returns. We’ve got to be as good as we’ve been all year.”

Fresno State scheme will get tested

At first glance, Fresno State looks like just the kind of offense Georgia Tech should love to play.

The Bulldogs run the football on 63 percent of their plays, and stopping the run is what the Yellow Jackets do best. Only 11 teams in the nation do it better.

“That’s the best front seven we’ve played, the best run defense we’ve played against this year,” Fresno coach Pat Hill said of Tech. “They give you a lot of problems with their movement, the linebackers coming. You’ve really got to be sharp.”

Only three teams managed to shut down Fresno’s running game this season: Oregon, Boise State and, to a lesser extent, Texas A&M. Teams that couldn’t stop the run got pounded into submission; Fresno ran the ball 53 times in its regular-season finale at New Mexico State.

A tough, physical game is Fresno’s style.

“This is a game that’s going to be played head-on,” Hill said, “and the first team that turns their head is going to lose. I don’t think this is going to be a basketball on grass game. Both of these teams are going to be tested for four quarters.”

Fresno isn’t at full strength, though. Ryan Mathews, who led the nation’s freshmen with 14 touchdowns, is out with a muscle tear. But Hill said this could be a big game for Anthony Harding, a 6-foot, 215-pound bruiser who ran for 121 yards against New Mexico State.

Fresno will change pace with 5-8 Clifton Smith, the team MVP, who averages 5.8 yards per carry and ranks third on the team with 29 receptions.

Source: By MIKE KNOBLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution