GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS O:9 D:5

Nine years and counting for the GTECH program, and it looks as if they have the talent on hand to go bowling for the 10th straight season. Head Coach Chan Gailey has put forth a winning record in each of the four year’s he’s been in Atlanta. They started off tremendously last season snapping Auburn’s home winning streak, but then got pasted in their second road trip to Blacksburg when VTECH hung 51 on Defensive Coordinator Jon Tenuta’s stop unit. They also scored a resounding victory in the Orange Bowl when they beat the Hurricanes straight up as 18-point road underdogs. However, they’re effort in the Emerald Bowl was shameful as Utah smacked them around to the tune of a 38-10 woodshed beating. This year’s squad returns 14 overall starters, with nine coming on the offensive side of the ball. QB Reggie Ball is back for his senior campaign after throwing for 2165 yards and 11 TDs, and he limited his INTs to 12 which was six less than in ’04. His main deep threat is also back in super WR Calvin Johnson who hauled in 54 passes for 888 yards, but another WR must step up to limit the amount of double teams he sees per snap. The O-Line is seeping with experience, which bodes well for RB Tashard Choice who looks to fill the shoes of the departed PJ Daniels. The Yellow Jackets offensive production was the worst its been in over a decade last season. With all this experience back, look for drastic improvement. Defensively, the killer bees are nasty in their front seven once again. They only allowed 3.0 YPC last season, and have been around that mark the L/6 years. No reason to expect that to change now. The secondary is the biggest question mark, but does return CB Kenny Scott whose one of the best in the country. K Travis Bell saw his numbers decline but should bounce back in ’06, and the overall special teams rankings will benefit from it.

Georgia Tech has been a winning program for a long time now. They return a very skilled team in ’06 that has tons of experience in the most pertinent areas. However, they’re schedule is a beast once again with home dates vs. Notre Dame, and Miami, and road dates vs. VTECH, Clemson, and Georgia. There’s no doubt they’ll upset one of those squads as they always seem to sting someone every year, but a BCS Bowl looks highly unlikely. A 10 th trip to the post-season is on the docket for the Jackets in ’06.