October 24, 2001

Ross Mitchell has bounced back and forth between fullback and linebacker during his Tech career, and his latest assignment is filling in for Daryl Smith and Ather Brown at middle linebacker. In the two games Ross has started at the Mike position, he's played a big role in Tech stuffing the run: Maryland and N.C. State gained a combined total of 133 yards rushing on 60 carries, an average of 66.5 yards per game and just over two yards per carry. Tech also held the nation's leading rusher, Bruce Perry, to 49 yards on 18 carries. Not too shabby.

Sterling Green had never really seen any action when the game was on the line, but he did so against State when Reco Wimbush sprained his ankle and had to be replaced at outside linebacker. Green nailed Rey Robinson for a loss on his third play in the game. He then made one of the most crucial tackles of not just the game but the whole season when he stopped Willie Wright inches short of a first down in the fourth quarter. That fourth-down stop essentially killed State's chances at a comeback.

Tony Hargrove played a lot at defensive end because Rogers and Gathers were moving inside to give Tech more of a pass rush on Philip Rivers, and he forced a couple of fumbles by the Wolfpack, including the one that Chris Young returned for a touchdown.

You haven't heard a lot said about Marvious Hester since he knocked Charles Grant out of commission and made a game-turning interception against Quincy Carter in 1999, but Marvious slobber-knocked a State receiver on a swing pass in the first half and also made a key interception against Rivers.

Sean Gregory seems to have been in George O'Leary's doghouse for the past year and a half and hasn't played much, but he made two important pass receptions against State, one for a touchdown that got the offense off the schneid in the first half.

In one of the most inspiring personal stories on this year's squad, Hal Higgins overcame cancer to become a key member of the special teams as the holder on place kicks. When State blocked a Luke Manget field goal late in the third quarter, Higgins alertly dived on the ball before a State defender could pick it up and try to run it in for a touchdown.

The entire defensive secondary should be cited here for the way it tightened up its coverage of State's receivers in the second half. Philip Rivers did hit one 55-yard pass for a score in the second half when there was a blown coverage, but he completed only four of his other 12 passes in that half, for a measly 33 percent completion rate. With the exception of that one long touchdown, Rivers was primarily throwing dink passes and screens most of the game, and Tech kept him in check. It may be just me, but it seems that Rivers is not as effective moving the ball this year as he was last year - he evidently misses having Koren Robinson at wide receiver.

I'd also like to salute the corps of linebackers for the way the second-teamers stepped up and performed against State. Wimbush, as noted earlier, was knocked out of the game with an ankle sprain on the second play of the third quarter, so Tech played virtually half the game with backups at each linebacker's spot: Green, Mitchell and Keyaron Fox.

One of the more interesting "games within the game" in the N.C. State matchup was the way Kerry Watkins and Terrence Holt were jaw-jacking the whole 60 minutes. Holt taunted Watkins after State's overtime win last year, but Watkins was able to return the favor on Saturday with several good receptions and his usual load of trash-talking. Kerry does like to talk.

And finally, I'll salute the most unsung hero of them all: Jimmy Raine, whose TV commercials for Osmose pressure-treated wood have been a source of much-needed income for the impoverished, underpaid football coaches of the Southeast. Jimmy gave up a promising career in show business to take up the cause of low-income football coaches. With a name like "Great Southern Wood," you have to figure he would have been a porn movie star ranking right up there with such immortals of the genre as Johnny Wadd and Ron Jeremy.

1. While Tech is putting up more than 34 points a game this year, the offense continues to bog down in the red zone. The Jackets were inside the 20 yard line no less than nine times against State, but converted less than half of those scoring opportunities with two touchdowns and two field goals. That's been the story for too much of this season, and if things don't improve there you can forget about them finishing 10-2.

   Tech continues to call far too many line smashes up the middle by Joe Burns, and the opposing defenses have more than proved they are capable of shutting that play down. Either O'Leary is going to have to give Bill O'Brien some more flexibility in calling plays (unlikely) or the offensive line is going to have to get it together and start opening some holes for Burns (a slightly better possibility). The offense is becoming less effective as the season goes on, scoring fewer than 30 points in two of the last three games. That is not an encouraging trend for a team that wants to win out.

   Ted Roof has caught a lot of grief from Tech fans because of the breakdown against Clemson, but the fact is that the defense has been superb in every other game. In the six non-Clemson games, Tech has given up only 68 points, an average of 11.3 per game. The bottom-line evaluation of any defense is the number of points it surrenders, and by that measure, Tech's has been first-rate. They rank 14th in total defense and 16th in scoring defense, which is the highest ranking in those categories in many years. If Tech does win out over those last five games, the defense is going to have to carry them.

   I see a real possibility of Tech losing two of its final five games: Florida State and North Carolina. The Seminoles aren't nearly as good this year as in preceding years, but they're still the Seminoles and Tech still has to play them at Doak Campbell. North Carolina right now is the hottest team in the conference. I wrote them off earlier in the year when they opened with those three straight losses, but I was very much premature in that assessment. Their offense is still a little erratic, but that defense is a killer. If Tech falters in the red zone again, the Tar Heels will stomp them.

   It looks like the Jackets will finish somewhere between 8-4 and 10-2, with an 8-4 finish more likely. That would drop them to a slot in the Peach or Tangerine bowls, which is a far cry from what the fans were expecting back on Sept. 1. But that's what you get when you don't take care of business. If Tech were to win out and finish 10-2, then a higher bowl bid would be within reach, but that seems like a slim possibility at this point.

1. Let me try to answer your questions, Gregg. I personally don't boo the Yellow Jackets when I'm attending one of the home games, but I certainly can understand the frustrations of those fans who do. My feeling has always been that the price of the ticket carries with it the implicit license to boo if you're not happy with the way the home team is performing. If a lot of fans are booing, then George O'Leary and Dave Braine need to take note of that and do something about it. That's why they're paid the big bucks.

   As for the identity of "Mr. Boobird," that should be obvious to anyone who posts regularly on the internet message boards. He's a person of great intelligence and wit who is obviously familiar with the Hive and how it operates. He understands the niceties and nuances of football and doesn't mind sharing his informed insights with us. He's someone with a refined sense of humor who makes the Hive denizens break out in giggles every time he posts. That person could only be . . . Bassndawg.

1. You're referring to the case of Cooper Rego, who was expelled from Notre Dame because of circumstances arising from an alleged rape incident four years ago and subsequently transferred to West Virginia. Rego was threatened with arrest for trespass if he showed up on the Notre Dame campus, so he decided not to go to South Bend for the game.

   Considering the nature of the accusation against him, it doesn't seem unreasonable that the Notre Dame officials didn't want Rego back on campus. Also, Notre Dame has a well-established policy that any student expelled from the school is banned from ever setting foot on campus again. Notre Dame's president, the Rev. Edward A. Malloy, said there were no exceptions to the ban and anyone violating it who refused to leave campus would be charged with trespassing. If that ban applies to all students who have been expelled, then the school has an obligation to enforce it against everyone - even if the expelled student happens to play for the opposing football team. Rules are rules.

   I would also observe that it's a good thing Georgia doesn't have a game scheduled against Notre Dame in South Bend, because there are quite a few Georgia players with arrest records who might be barred from setting foot on that campus. You've got Bruce Adrine (who was arrested for punching a female student), Charles Grant (sexual pandering), Verron Haynes (domestic disturbance involving the mother of his daughter), Jasper Sanks (drug possession), and Randy McMichael (suspended for a game for his involvement in a barroom brawl), to name just a few. At this rate, Georgia would have a hard time just putting 11 players with clean records on the field against the Irish.

   Of course, it's a moot point because Georgia would never travel to Notre Dame for a game. As we all know, athletic director Vince Dooley is afraid to schedule any out-of-conference games outside the southeast.

1. Now that they've crashed and burned against Boise State we don't have to worry about Fresno State anymore, but it's worth noting that Fresno's roster includes 23 non-qualifiers - players who did not meet the NCAA's minimum academic standards when they were initially recruited. That's far more than most conferences will allow their schools to take, so I'd have to agree that Fresno has a major advantage over most of the teams they play. On the other hand, with that many non-qualifiers on the roster Fresno seems like a perfect choice for the SEC when the SEC decides to expand again.

1. In the words of a certain SEC football announcer, it looks like Troy State took a hob-nailed boot and stomped Roy Kramer right in the face. What's so hilarious about it is that Troy State was a Division II school for many years and just moved up to the Division I-A level, and now they've put a humiliating butt-whipping on a team from "the mighty SEC."

   SEC fans, who are absolutely the most arrogant in the world, believe they have the only conference where "real" football is played. They constantly justify their refusal to schedule meaningful out-of-conference games with the lame excuse that a conference schedule is so "tough" that SEC schools have to play OOC patsies so that they can get a breather. Pardon me while I puke. I haven't heard an argument that specious since the last time Lionel Hutz appeared in a courtroom scene on "The Simpsons."

   I'll concede, for the sake of this discussion, that the SEC has some halfway decent teams this year like Florida, Tennessee, Auburn and South Carolina. But Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State are also SEC schools - and they have a combined record of 3-16 at this point. The SEC also includes Arkansas and Alabama, neither of which could be considered a strong team by any stretch of the imagination. If you've got stiffs like that on your conference schedule, you have no legitimate excuse for not playing tougher OOC opponents.

   That's why it's so gratifying when these bearded clams rear up and stuff their hob-nailed boots into the posteriors of "the mighty SEC." Besides Troy State's spanking of Mississippi State, in recent years we've seen Alabama lose to Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss and Central Florida, Tennessee lose to Memphis, and Georgia lose to Southern Miss. And we haven't even mentioned the 15 regular season games between SEC and ACC teams from 1998 to 2000 - eleven of which were won by ACC teams. One might ask at this point: which teams are the real patsies?