College Sports
Email
Print
Duke to play rugged Georgia Tech in its 1st road game of year
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: October 4, 2008
At least 16 players and Coach David Cutcliffe won't have trouble getting motivated for Duke's first road game of the season.
Duke, the ACC's most surprising team, will play Georgia Tech at noon today at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. The game will be a homecoming for 16 Blue Devils from Georgia, and a reminder for Cutcliffe of his dislike for yellow jackets.
"I've hated yellow jackets since I was 8 years old," Cutcliffe said. "I was out cutting grass, and I ran over a nest in the ground. They got after me. I was mad.
"I went and got me some diesel fuel, and I put it in a sprayer. I went back on the attack. If you put diesel fuel on them, they can't fly. So I nailed them with diesel fuel. I got me a match, and there went the yellow jackets."
Georgia Tech's Yellow Jackets, in their first season under Coach Paul Johnson, could prove just as irritating. Tech is 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. Duke (3-1, 1-0) will be trying to stop a 16-game losing streak in ACC road games.
One of Duke's players from Georgia is Eron Riley, a senior receiver from Savannah. Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis has noticed the past two seasons that Riley gets pretty excited before games against Georgia Tech.
"He wants the ball in his hands, and he wants to make some plays," Lewis said. "You could cut all his fingers off, and that guy is still going to play in this game. I know we've got a lot of kids from Georgia, and they're going to show up big, too."
Cutcliffe wants Duke to score 30-plus points in every game, but Duke's defense will most likely hold the key today. As he did at Navy, Johnson has built a productive rushing attack at Georgia Tech with his Spread Option Formation.
Behind sophomore back Jonathan Dwyer, Georgia Tech leads the ACC and ranks No. 5 in the nation in rushing average (306.8 yards a game). In its last game two weeks ago, Georgia Tech trampled Mississippi State with 438 yards rushing, and Dwyer ran for 141.
Dwyer is No. 2 among ACC running backs with 97.2 yards a game, and he averages an ACC best 8.1 yards. Dwyer has the strength to muscle out tough yards and the speed to break free, as he did on an 88-yard run earlier this season.
"He is a special back," Cutcliffe said. "He's got it all. He can fly. It's very difficult to contain him."
Duke had a dress rehearsal against the Spread Sept. 13 against Navy, which kept the offense Johnson put in. Duke gave up 357 yards, including 207 rushing, in a 41-31 win.
Cutcliffe said that today's game will require more effort and determination because Georgia Tech has better athletes than Navy.
"We've got to play great in all areas. And I mean great," Cutcliffe said.
Linebacker Vincent Rey is confident that Duke's defense will be ready for Tech's offense, and he says that keeping Tech from dominating time of possession will require precise tackling.
"They have a lot of playmakers," Rey said. "We definitely need to work on our tackling a lot better because when these guys get the ball on offense, they make guys miss tackles and they're off to the races."
Georgia Tech could be without quarterback Josh Nesbitt, its No. 2 rusher. He has been slowed by a sore hamstring, he missed most of this week's practices, and he's listed as "questionable." Freshman Jaybo Shaw replaced Nesbitt against Mississippi State and ran for one touchdown and passed for another.
"We'll see if (Nesbitt) can come back later this week," Johnson said Wednesday. "Honestly, that's more of a concern for the media or whatever. If Josh can play, that's great. He'll help us.
"If not, we'll play with Jaybo, and nothing's going to change. We're going to do the same thing regardless of who plays."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
N.C. Politics
Federal Politics
See community events or add your own! Click here!
Advertisement
