Football Fix

The AJC comes out with their annual college football preview issue, this time with Eric Henderson on the cover. Here are some of the articles:

OPPORTUNITY FOR MCMANUS
Well, you may have heard good things about Nate from Coach Gailey. Looks like he could see big-time PT this season.

THE MORE THE MERRIER
The Jackets are ready and willing to play in this new ACC. We're ready to watch. And folks, if you don't think we can recruit with the best in the nation, look at this:

Darryl Richard's original list of college options included LSU and Notre Dame, but when Richard stepped to the signing table at Destrehan High School in Louisiana last Feb. 4, the two caps he chose from bore the logos of Miami and Georgia Tech.

Miami offered him the beach, the sunshine and the opportunity to join a team that has played in two of the past three Bowl Championship Series national championship games.

Georgia Tech offered him a top-flight education, a seven-season bowl streak and the opportunity to play against Miami.

Richard put on the Georgia Tech cap.

With that move — and his signature on Tech's national letter-of-intent form — Richard became one of the Yellow Jackets' first victories in the newly expanded ACC. There are sure to be a lot more.

There were a bunch of other top schools we beat out to get recruits including UGAg, FSU, LSU, Ohio St and I could go on.

EVERY WEEK I'M READY TO PLAY
Ok Reggie, time to prove it on the field.

OFFENSE, WHO'S THE BEST?
When 3 seniors and 2 juniors are asked who is the best overall athlete on the offense and 2 of them say Calvin Johnson, it is eye-opening. Nice to see Nate Curry get mention also. Makes me feel pretty good about the WR core.

GETTING TO KNOW THE JACKETS
Brief bio's on some players, like D-Williams likes cars, M.Rhodes sings, CJ sketches, etc.

YOUNG LINEMEN FORCED TO CONTRIBUTE FASTER
Q&A with Andy Tidwell-Neal. This is NOT a good thing to have young guys play big minutes. GT seems to find a way to build successful O-Lines every year and this year we will need it. But this comment was comforting:

"We've got a lot of talent. We've got a lot of experience. I think we had 70 starts across the line. That's pretty good. I don't know how many we've had in previous years. Leon [Robinson] has got 19, I've got 13, Brad [Honeycutt] has got 13, Kyle's got 25. Whoever plays the other position, it will take a new person, but that's the way it is in college football. I think we can be great."

THE BETTER THE FRONT, THE BETTER THE SECONDARY
Q&A with James Butler.

DEFENSE, WHO'S THE BEST?
Well they did the offense - now the D. Butler, Henderson, Houston and Reis all get love.

GETTING TO KNOW THE DEFENSE
Anoai comes from a wresting famile - WWF stuff, not Greco-Roman, Houston likes Poker, Butler plays piano, Reis fishes and I-Perfection.... well has a unique name. Here's the story of it:

He was recognized as the best in the nation by Sports Illustrated — the player with the best name, that is. As the story goes, a friend of Harris' father had a child named Perfection, who was killed in a car accident. In honor of him, Harris' father named his son after that child, and added the letter I to make it unique. A name like that would seem to bring added pressure. "I play every game the same as I would if my name were John or George," said Harris, called IP by his teammates. Harris has three siblings — a brother, Supreme, and sisters Earthly and Nattia.

Q&A WITH GERRIS WILKINSON
Gerris does his best to make us feel good about the LB core. I think we will be fine here myself.

ACC FORECAST: SCOUTING THE CONFERENCE
Even the AJC cannot bear to predict us better than 7th.

7. GEORGIA TECH

• Last season: 7-6, 4-4 ACC; beat Tulsa 52-10 in Humanitarian Bowl

• Starters returning: Offense 7, defense 7, kicker 1

• Coach: Chan Gailey, 38-23 overall, 14-12 in his third year at Georgia Tech

• First game: Sept. 4 vs. Samford

• AJC RATING: 76

• Running offense rating: 15 out of possible 20. P.J. Daniels became only the third Georgia Tech player to lead the ACC in rushing, averaging 111.3 yards per game last season. He gained 307 yards in the Humanitarian Bowl. But there is no question the Yellow Jackets will miss center Hugh Reilly and tackle Nat Dorsey, who paved the way for him. There is talent on the line, but a lot of guys will be playing a lot of different positions.

• Passing offense rating: 15. Reggie Ball had a very good season for a freshman quarterback, with 1,996 yards passing and 10 touchdowns. But Ball's production dropped off in the second half of the year as opponents learned more about him. Ball will miss two great targets in Jonathan Smith and tight end John Paul Foschi. But with Nate Curry (37 catches) returning and the potential of freshman Calvin Johnson, the passing game will be good again.

• Running defense rating: 15. The ends will be great with the return of Eric Henderson (11 sacks) and Travis Parker, who moves there after two years at tackle. Defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta will find some tackles, but will he find some linebackers to replace Keyaron Fox and Darryl Smith? They combined last year for 284 tackles and five sacks. Sophomore Nick Moore (6-1, 225) looks like a future star.

• Passing defense rating: 17. This will be the strength of the defense if Tenuta can keep everybody healthy. James Butler should be an All-American at free safety after posting 119 tackles and five interceptions last season. Strong safety Dawan Landry (6-2, 215) also returns.

• Special teams rating: 14. There is work to be done here. The Yellow Jackets do not have a proven kicker, and no one claimed the job in spring practice. Incoming freshman Kyle Belcher could be the guy. The punting game was awful last season: the Yellow Jackets' net was only 32 yards per kick — No. 105 in the nation. Tech will miss the punt return skill of Darryl Smith, who averaged 12.7 yards. Kenny Scott averaged 22.3 yards per kickoff.

• Final analysis: Georgia Tech has been to seven consecutive bowl games, but some questions must be answered if the Yellow Jackets hope for an eighth. The offensive line must jell and Tech must find a consistent running game that doesn't rely so much on QB Reggie Ball. Some linebackers must be found. The schedule is tough early, but Tech doesn't play Florida State, and five of the last six games are at home.

KEY ACC GAMES........... A SEASON OF QUESTIONS FOR THE ACC............. What it takes to be a QB.......... Matt Leinart at QB.......... National storylines........ 10 Games that will determine the NC......... Scouting the conferences......... Scouting the top 25.......