Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson not giving up on ACC Coastal Division title
Georgia Tech still hasn’t given up on the idea of winning the ACC’s Coastal Division. The odds are exceedingly long, but they aren’t impossible.
“You never know,” head coach Paul Johnson said. “You just keep playing. Right now, we’re trying to get win No. 5.”
The Yellow Jackets (4-3, 1-3) are in a difficult situation because of their three conference losses — a lopsided loss to Clemson and closer games against Miami and Pittsburgh. They have games remaining with North Carolina and Virginia Tech, who each have one conference loss.
“Guys at the front of the league, we’ve still got a chance to play,” Johnson said. “If we can find a way to put together a three or four-game winning streak … but who knows? Right now we’ve got to get win No. 5 and we’ve got to get No. 1. We’ve got to get the one on Saturday.”
There is some recent history on Georgia Tech’s side. The Yellow Jackets reached the 2012 ACC Championship with three conference losses and tied with Miami and North Carolina. Georgia Tech advanced because Miami was on probation and North Carolina self-imposed sanctions on itself.
Virginia Tech and Pitt, which also has one conference loss, met on Thursday night. North Carolina is off this week prior to next week’s game against Georgia Tech.
If Georgia Tech did somehow end up in a tie with another team with three conference losses, it would lose a tiebreaker against Pitt or Miami, but win one against North Carolina or Virginia Tech — two teams it would have to beat to make the math work.
Duke loaded with Georgians
Duke has made it a priority to recruit here, as evidenced by 18 Georgians on the Blue Devils roster.
Middle Georgia is represented on the roster by Marquies Price, a sophomore from Peach County who starts at defensive end. Price has played all seven games and has 14 tackles, two for loss, one sack and four hurries.
Duke’s most productive receiver is T.J. Rahming, a sophomore from McEachern. Rahming has 40 receptions for a 9.7-yard average and one touchdown. He is only 40 yards away from becoming the 36th player at Duke to have 1,000 receiving yards.
Deondre Singleton, a starting cornerback from Dacula, has 29 tackles, three for loss and is tied for the team lead with two interceptions.
Injury update
Johnson said all players were at practice this week but was not ready to announce the injury list. The biggest question mark is linebacker P.J. Davis, who missed the Georgia Southern game with a leg injury.
This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson not giving up on ACC Coastal Division title."