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closeATLANTA — At the time, it may have been the most heroic act the Georgia Tech quarterback had performed.
Well, back then, most probably thought so. Now, it could be debatable.
Snatching the football back from a Florida State defender who had just scooped up a loose second-half fumble, Josh Nesbitt regained possession for his Yellow Jackets on a crucial late-game drive that later helped seal a key 49-44 victory.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a quarterback do that,” Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson said of his pick-pocket signal-caller days after the mid-October win.
Calling Nesbitt “a hero” for his three-touchdown, 140-yard rushing effort against the Seminoles — as well as that clutch, heads-up play — Johnson perhaps hoped — but likely doubted — he would see an equally impressive moment from his quarterback less than a month later.
But with Georgia Tech’s BCS hopes and ACC championship dreams on the line Saturday, Nesbitt took matters into his own hands once again in an equally intense situation.
As the then-10th-ranked Yellow Jackets sat inches from poll freefall and an upset loss to Wake Forest, Nesbitt told Johnson that he knew he could convert a short-yardage fourth down that would set up Georgia Tech for a game-winning score.
“Before (Johnson) said it, I was coming, running off the field (after a timeout) saying I could get it,” Nesbitt said of an overtime fourth-and-short from the Wake Forest 5. “He asked me was I sure, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I know I can get it.’ So he said, ‘We’re running it.’ ”
As Nesbitt dove two yards for the first down and then ran for three more for a score on the next play, his bold assertion came true. The conversion and subsequent score drove the Yellow Jackets to an important 30-27 win over the Demon Deacons that kept their conference title hopes alive entering this weekend.
While moments like Saturday’s continue to add to the legend of Josh Nesbitt — a player who sits just 183 rushing yards shy of becoming the first Georgia Tech player to ever pass for 1,000 yards and run for 1,000 yards in a season — they make opposing coaches nervous about planning around him.
“We have great respect for him and he’s one of the reasons they’re now the No. 7 team in the country,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said.
Cutcliffe’s Blue Devils face Georgia Tech on Saturday in a game that could help the Yellow Jackets clinch the ACC’s Coastal Division. If that happens, the Duke head coach believes Nesbitt would be a prime factor in his opponent’s success.
“I was very aware of him in high school,” Cutcliffe said of Nesbitt. “He’s so skilled at running the option, he’s timely with his passing game, and he’s certainly a great threat to break tackles and use his speed to make runs.
“And on top of all that, if that’s not enough, he takes good care of the ball. So he’s a heck of a player, all you can do is go prepare as well and as hard as you can. They haven’t been stopped yet. You’re not going to stop them, you just try to slow them down.”
Last season in Atlanta, Duke was unable to slow down the Yellow Jackets’ prolific spread option attack, which amassed 454 total yards of offense in a 27-0 blanking of the Blue Devils. To make matters worse for Duke, however, those statistics came with Nesbitt on the sidelines.
Nursing a hamstring injury, the starting quarterback did not play that October afternoon.
Instead of being treated to his straight-ahead, hard-running style, the Blue Devils were the recipients of an aerial assault by backup Jaybo Shaw. The true freshman completed nine passes — all to West Laurens product and receiver Demaryius Thomas — for 230 yards.
With Nesbitt’s absence last year, Duke might have a tougher time gauging for Nesbitt’s game speed than other teams that have faced Johnson’s offense for a second time this season. That still will not change the Blue Devils’ preparations.
“The offense they’re running is the same, but there’s a reason Nesbitt’s the starter,” Cutcliffe said. “He’s a heck of an athlete.”
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