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Georgia Tech-Kansas Preview

Sep 7, 2010 - 7:21 PM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Editor

No. 9 Georgia Tech (1-0) at Kansas (0-1), 12:00 p.m. EDT

Georgia Tech completed only two passes in its season opener, but the 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets still cruised to a blowout victory behind their relentless running game.

They may not need much offense to outscore Kansas.

The Jayhawks posted their lowest point total in almost five years while losing Turner Gill's coaching debut, and their task won't get any easier Saturday as they host the reigning ACC champions.

Georgia Tech (1-0) had the nation's second-ranked rushing offense en route to an Orange Bowl appearance last year, and the departure of leading rusher Jonathan Dwyer may not slow down coach Paul Johnson's triple-option attack.

Senior quarterback Joshua Nesbitt went 1 for 6 for eight yards and an interception Saturday against South Carolina State, but he also ran for 130 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries in the Yellow Jackets' 41-10 win.

All six of Georgia Tech's touchdowns came on the ground as 12 different rushers totaled 372 yards - 6.6 per carry.

"We'll take that," Johnson said. "It doesn't matter how you get them. I don't know if it would have been better if (Nesbitt) got them passing."

Nesbitt may wish his favorite target were still around, but wide receiver Demaryius Thomas was drafted in the first round by the Denver Broncos after accounting for more than 65 percent of Georgia Tech's receiving yards and eight of their 11 receiving touchdowns in 2009.

Johnson, however, doesn't seem particularly concerned about his team's passing game, which ranked 116th out of 120 Bowl Subdivision teams last year.

"The bottom line is you try to score more points than the other team," Johnson said. "We scored 41 points and they had 10. That will leave everybody else to talk about how we can't throw it. Maybe they're right and maybe they're not. We might throw it next week at Kansas. We might throw it better."

The coach wasn't thrilled with his defense, which Johnson said had "a ton of missed assignments" in allowing 178 rushing yards to its Championship Subdivision opponent. It was Georgia Tech's first game with a new 3-4 scheme under defensive coordinator Al Groh.

"We would have liked to have played better," Groh said. "We were disappointed with the long runs."

Facing Kansas (0-1) may represent a prime opportunity to bounce back. A first-quarter field goal by Jacob Branstetter was all the offense the Jayhawks could muster during Saturday's 6-3 loss to FCS foe North Dakota.

It was the first time Kansas failed to score at least seven points since a 19-3 loss to Oklahoma on Oct. 15, 2005.

"It's one game and that's how you have to take it and move on from there," said Gill, the former Buffalo coach who was hired Dec. 13. "From an offensive standpoint, we just have to get those things collected and execute better."

The Jayhawks have lost eight consecutive games since starting last season 5-0 under coach Mark Mangino. The 2007 national coach of the year resigned in December amid allegations of player abuse.

Kansas also had to replace quarterback Todd Reesing, who totaled 10,990 passing yards and 87 touchdowns in three years as starter.

Sophomore Kale Pick started Saturday, but he was replaced by freshman Jordan Webb after going 13 of 22 with an interception. It's unclear which player will start against Georgia Tech.

"I need to watch the videotape so I can see a lot more details," Gill said. "You have to hope that you score more than three points."

Kansas is trying to avoid its first 0-2 start since 2002, when it finished 2-10.

Georgia Tech won the 1948 Orange Bowl in the only game between the teams.