DURHAM, N.C. — Mario Edwards flipped the bright orange orb into the air and chuckled.
“Yep, a fan threw it to me, and I caught it,” the Georgia Tech free safety said, grinning.
In the moments immediately following Georgia Tech’s 49-10 thumping of Duke on Saturday afternoon, Edwards and his teammates were peppered by sporadic launches of the tiny spheres, much to the joy of those throwing them.
SARA D. DAVIS/Associated Press Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt pitches the ball as he is tackled by Duke’s Damian Thornton during the first half Saturday.
As a giggling, gleeful and highly vocal traveling section of roughly a few thousand Georgia Tech supporters sang along with players to the tune of the school fight song, they chucked oranges at players, symbolizing their blissful January hopes.
“I didn’t catch an orange; I should have,” offensive lineman Cord Howard (Central-Phenix City) said. “But it means a lot to have our fans support us, and it makes us proud to make them proud.”
Desires deep-rooted in BCS bowl dreams, the oranges represent the place where those Yellow Jackets fans want to be.
No, they weren’t subtly asking the players to do some grocery shopping for a jolt of Vitamin C. Instead, it was their excited plea that with this most recent win, the Yellow Jackets might soon earn a bid into the Orange Bowl.
A BCS bowl played at Miami’s LandShark Stadium at the start of the new year, the Orange Bowl is the site the ACC’s conference champion will land following next month’s conference title game in Tampa, Fla.
With the win over the Blue Devils, the Yellow Jackets clinched a spot in that Dec. 5 game.
All that stands in their way between now and that game is an off week, followed by the annual rivalry game with Georgia in two weeks.
“We’ve been working hard ever since the last season ended,” sophomore A-back Roddy Jones said. “This is our goal, but we’ve (now) put ourselves in position to accomplish the ultimate goal, which is an ACC championship.”
Georgia Tech has not been to that contest since 2006, when it lost to Wake Forest in a defense-heavy 9-6 finish.
Last week, as the Yellow Jackets anticipated a Saturday victory, senior linebacker Sedric Griffin appealed to his teammates’ sense of urgency.
Even if they made it to Tampa, the year was far from over, he said.
“(This is) no time for slacking right now,” said Griffin, who was a true freshman in 2006. “We’re in a very similar position as we were in ’06. Then, we lost the last four games (each) by three points. This is no time for slacking, let’s finish strong and get to the championship game and win it and win in the BCS.”
In his post-game news conference, head coach Paul Johnson — who is 19-5 in his short two-year stint with the program — struck a similar chord.
After coming from behind to win in each of their past six games, the Yellow Jackets need to understand the value of finishing the year strong, much like they have during their recent outings, Johnson said.
“I’m awfully proud of them,” Johnson said. “Lord knows we can play a lot better and we need to. But I’ll give them credit; they find a way to win. For the last few weeks, every game, they’ve found a way to win. It may not be pretty, and sometimes we do dumb things, but bottom line is we find a way to win.”
E-Mail
Print
@Nyx.CommentBody@