Off week came at good time for Georgia Tech

ATLANTA -- If any team in the country needed an off week, it's Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets have taken the opportunity to take time off and try to get players healed for the stretch run.

"Certainly, we're pretty beat up, and to this point we haven't played very well at all," head coach Paul Johnson said. "It's kind of been one of those years where it's been embarrassing the way we've played.

"So hopefully we can take this bye week and heal up a little bit and get to work on some fundamentals and come back and finish off the season in a little better fashion. Certainly, that's my goal."

All the ground the team made up by beating No. 9 Florida State was wasted in last week's road loss to a two-win Virginia team in a half-empty Scott Stadium in Charlottesville. Now, the Yellow Jackets have to win their remaining three games (Virginia Tech, at Miami and Georgia) in order to be eligible for a bowl game.

Even if that happens, the team would be 6-6 and likely would be invited a lower-tier bowl game like the Independence Bowl the Quick Lane Bowl, the St. Petersburg Bowl or the Birmingham Bowl.

Lynch makes impression

When preseason practices began, Clinton Lynch was running third at one of the A-back positions. The redshirt freshman from Norcross was having trouble keeping up and at times looked lost.

Things certainly have changed.

Partially due to the injuries that have beset Georgia Tech at A-back and partially because of hard work and effort, Lynch has become a crucial piece of the offense for the Yellow Jackets.

"He's had to play probably more than we thought he would as a redshirt freshman, but I think he's probably benefitted some from that," Johnson said. "Hopefully, he'll continue to grow and get better."

Lynch still doesn't get a ton of touches. Like most of the young players at that position, he's still learning the plays and trying to grasp the blocking demands that are placed on him. But when Lynch has been given the chance, he has delivered some big plays.

Last week against Virginia, he ran the ball three times for 63 yards and one touchdown and caught three passes for 69 yards and two touchdowns.

"He had three scores, he had a long run, made a really nice catch in the end zone on one, and the other one he was kind of the guy on a little bit of a trick play, a delay thing," Johnson said.

His three carries against Virginia were for 9, 49 and 5 yards. The 49-yarder was a career high, besting the 45-yard touchdown run he had against Tulane. His receptions against the Cavaliers were for 30, 17 and 22 yards.

Lynch has six plays of 25 or more yards this season, five of them in the past six games.

He has rushed 33 times for 312 yards, a 9.5-yard average, and three touchdowns -- the best among the A-backs. He has caught seven passes for 195 yards, a 27.9-yard average and three touchdowns -- the most among the non-wide receivers.

Lynch has rushed for more than 50 yards in the past three games, including a career-best 67 yards against Pittsburgh.

"He's very competitive, and hopefully he's going to continue to grow and get better as he plays," Johnson said.

Johnson the dean of ACC

With the announcement that Frank Beamer is stepping down after 29 years at Virginia Tech, Johnson will become the most tenured coach in the ACC. Johnson is finishing his eighth season at Georgia Tech.

"It just speaks to the profession right now," he said. "I think that at some of the schools in our league, since I came in, there's been three coaches. It's a high-pressure, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately job. It's amazing what Frank accomplished at Virginia Tech and amazing that he was able to stay there that long."

Duke's David Cutcliffe was hired a few weeks after Johnson and is also in his eighth season.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 6:28 PM with the headline "Off week came at good time for Georgia Tech ."