Jackets Muzzle the Huskies

Here's the deal. There's only one important statistic.... 3-0......... 3 wins, 0 losses............. The Jackets beat UConn for the 3rd time in 3 tries 28-13. It wasn't pretty at times, but it doesn't matter....................


REGGIE BALL AT THE HOSPITAL
The real story of the game is that Reggie Ball was hospitalized with an undisclosed illness. He will stay overnight at the hospital tonight........... Reggie's the biggest competitor on the team, so you know that it has to be serious for him to miss the game. This is the first game he has not started in his Georgia Tech career. Our thoughts and prayers are with you big man!!


Chan Gailey's comments in the post-game sounded like this could be serious. He said "we don't know how long he'll be there, but it's going to be awhile". Coach said he became sick late in the week and it wasn't today that they decided to put him in the hospital. They are running tests


INJURIES KEY ALL OVER
Reggie Ball out.............. Eric Henderson was out (ankle)............. Long snapper Gavin Tarquinio was out and what happens - a bad snap by Bret White in the endzone that ultimately leads to a UConn TD after a new penalty rule gives UConn the ball when Arndt tries to illegally kick it out of the endzone........... take a breath............. but Gavin goes back out there and plays the rest of the game "on blood and guts" per Wes Durham.............. and a handful of guys get banged up during the game as well, including Michael Matthews (ankle).............


TAYLOR BENNETT GETS HIS FIRST START
So how do you top opening your career by throwing a 42 yard TD pass to Calvin Johnson? Well, you don't. There really wasn't another standout play after that, but all-in-all you have to give Bennett big credit for playing a respectable game and most importantly - not making any bad mistakes. He finishes the game 10-29, 131 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs. Not great stats, but as we say we didn't need a bunch of big plays from our QB. He helped move the ball and did just enough. Best of all, this really builds some much needed experience in our QB group. So this game will be important for many reasons.


Calvin Johnson makes the best of only 3 catches, going for 75 yards and a TD..............


THE QUESTION IS NO LONGER HOW TO RUN?
Coming into the game the question was - will we be able to run in the 2nd half? Well, the question became - what do you do when you can't run OR pass in the 3rd quarter? The answer is easy - depend on the defense to keep giving you chances.............. and you keep on trying........... and then we broke through. We did end up running successfully in the 2nd half. Nice job, even when UConn actually was stacking the line.


PJ Daniels ends up with his 4th straight 100 yard game, carrying 26 times for 124 yards. Even better, Tashard Choice carries 20 times for 91 yards. Now that is what Tech fans were expecting to see this season. A great 1-2 punch. If these guys can both stay healthy, that bodes very well for the Jackets. Just hange on to the rock fellows.........


TURNOVERS ACTIVE AGAIN
Kenny Scott gets an INT and "takes it to the house"............... The a critical fumble recovery by Tech on a kick-off................Chris Reis gets an important INT............ Good news that Bennett throws NO INT's............. However, both PJ Daniels and Tashard Choice lose fumbles. All in all, the Jackets get 3 INT's and 1 fumble recovery but lose 2 fumbles............... The Jackets now have as many INT's (10) as they did the entire 2004 season.........


THE REAL HERO - THE DEFENSE
Sometimes there's a tendency to focus too much on the offense. It was really the defense that won the game tonight. After giving up a 53 yard run on the 2nd play of the game, they shut down the run, only giving up 75 yards the rest of the way. That's no easy feat with 2 of the best rushers in the Big East. In addition, they finally shut down an opposing passing game, forcing M. Bonislawski into 7-25, 66 yards, 3 sacks, 0 TD's, 3 INT's. Big pressure on the QB.


The real feat was their outstanding performance in the 2nd half. Here is every UConn drive in the 2nd half:


3 plays......... 2 yards......... Punt
3 plays......... 4 yards......... INT
3 plays......... 9 yards......... Punt
3 plays......... 8 yards......... Punt
3 plays......... 2 yards......... Punt
4 plays......... 0 yards......... End of Game


UConn only had 38 yards of total offense in the 2nd half.............. Folks, that is bigtime. That is game. That is clutch. Game, set, match.................


Oh yeah - don't forget that the only UConn TD came after a botched snap of a punt in the endzone. So the defense gets no negative on that one.


3RD DOWN CONVERSIONS
Tech was leading the ACC in 3rd down conversion % coming into the game, which is way up from last season. In the first half we were 1-8, which is to be expected with a first-time starter. The 2nd half was a little better at 3-8. Can't complain too much with a 1st time starter at QB ...........


PENALTIES
Another slightly sloppy game with some bad penalties. Can we please learn the difference between the front and the back on a punt return when blocking?.......Discipline gents. Discipline.


SPECIAL TEAMS
Once again, special teams are critical - both good and bad. Chris Woods has a 60 yard kick-off return, Pat Clark has a good night returing punts........... Ben Arndt has another very good night punting night, with 7 punts averaging 41.4 yards and 3 inside the 20................... On the negative, Travis Bell misses his first FG of the season, a 43 yarder............... I mentioned the long-snapper problem that led to a UConn TD. Thanks Gavin Tarquinio for coming back in and taking one for the team.


NICKNAMES
We heard tonight from Wes Durham that Jon Tenuta has nicknamed Dawan Landy "WHOP". Why? That's the sound he makes when he hits you................. Wes also nicknamed KaMichael Hall "35mm". Nice..........


ON TO BLACKBURG
In the post-game interview, Wes says to Coach Gailey "VaTech has beaten their last two opponents 90-0"........... Coach Gailey says "That's nothing. We just beat a team that was 97-0 their last two games"............ I love it. Also, evidently Coach Gailey had hung rat traps from the ceiling in the lockerroom to remind every player that this was a "trap game". I love that too............


However, yet again, thoughts and prayers go out to Reggie Ball. Hopefully this is something minor.............