Football rolls past Orange, looks to future

For the second consecutive season, Tech football goes into the off-season riding high with confidence after drubbing the Syracuse Orange 51-14 in the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 21. The Jackets capped off the season with their third consecutive seven-win season under Chan Gailey.

Last season the Jackets defeated Tulsa 52-10 in the Humanitarian Bowl but were unable to take that momentum to end the season in the top 25. With this year's win, the Jackets kept the number-one bowl winning percentage in college football of .667, and are 6th with 22 bowl victories just behind Penn State and Oklahoma.

" In general there were six good weeks and five bad weeks, " Gailey said. " These guys played real hard and our coaching staff did a great job. I'm really proud of this coaching staff. "

The Jackets scored on four of their first six possessions, which also included the end of Travis Bell's school-record streak of 15 consecutive made field goals on a 48 yard attempt on the Jackets' second possession of the game. Bell ended the year making 15 of 17 field goals with a new school record for accuracy by a placekicker of .882. The mark also put the first-year kicker 5th overall in the nation in accuracy.

The Jackets strong performance was led by the arm of Reggie Ball, who threw for two touchdowns and 207 yards along with one interception. Ball garnered Most Valuable Player honors for the game.

" I don't know statistics, I know [Ball] performed extremely well in the ball game, " Gailey said. " I'm proud of the way he played. I'm not only happy for the team, but I'm happy for him as an individual. "

P.J. Daniels also looked like his old self after recovering from the knee problems that sidelined him for much of the latter part of the season. Daniels rushed for 119 yards on 17 carries.

Chris Reis picked off a pass from Syracuse quarterback Perry Patterson on the second play of the game and took it 20 yards for the touchdown. The Orange answered with a quick touchdown, but failed on the extra point to bring the score to 7-6. That would be all they could manage until the outcome was no longer in question as the Tech defense was determined not to give up anything easy.

After the Orange touchdown, Ball led the Jackets on a 10-play, 80 -yard drive that took up less than four minutes on the clock. The drive was capped with Calvin Johnson catching a ten-yard fade route in the back of the end zone.

Tech closed out the first quarter with an 80-yard touchdown pass as Ball hit senior Nate Curry in stride going down the sidelines to give Tech a commanding lead.

The stifling defense of the Jackets held the Orange to a three and out on the ensuing possession, and the special teams unit came up big blocking the punt and giving the Jackets the ball at the Orange 14-yard line, where Daniels capped off a four play drive with a two-yard touchdown run.

After trading punts, Syracuse pinned Tech down at the six-yard line, but their defense couldn't stop the Jackets on this night. The offense marched down the field mostly unopposed in ten plays that ended with Johnson taking an end around in for the score from five yards out. The Jackets added two more touchdowns in the third quarter along with a safety in the waning moments of the fourth quarter to earn the win.

With Jon Tenuta returning as defensive coordinator and suffering only the loss of James Butler at safety, the Tech defense should be one of the top defenses in the land next season. At season's end, the NCAA statistics for the season have the Jackets in the top 25 across the board.

The Jackets are 12th in the nation in total defense allowing just less than 300 yards a game. The rushing defense was 13th giving up just over 100 yards a game, and could have been even better if Eric Henderson had not missed the first three games of the season. In those games, the Jackets gave up 525 yards on the ground, including the 42 that they gave up against Samford.

In the remaining nine games of the season the defense gave up 758 yards on the ground and held six of these opponents to under 90 yards. The passing and scoring defenses were ranked 24th and 21st respectively.

The major question mark for next season will be the production from the offense. Tech loses three offensive linemen in Andy Tidwell-Neal, Leon Robinson and Kyle Wallace. They also lose starting fullback Jimmy Dixon and receivers Nate Curry and Levon Thomas.

Not only will Gailey and offensive coordinator Patrick Nix have to replace these key players, but they will also have to improve on one of the worst offenses statistically in Division 1-A.

The lone statistical bright spot for the Jackets is that the team ranks 49th in the nation in rushing yardage, gaining 162 yards per game, but the running game is the only position where the Jackets rank in the top 80 nationally out of 117 schools.

After the strong performance in the Champs Sports Bowl, the Jackets impressed several members of the national media, and the Jackets should be ranked in the top 25 for the first time under Chan Gailey when the season opens.

Next season, the Jackets will face one of the most difficult schedules in the nation. They will open up on the road against Auburn. Tech will also be traveling to play Virginia, Virginia Tech and Miami while hosting Georgia in the annual Thanksgiving weekend game.

The key areas of concern for next season will be if Reggie Ball can develop over the spring and on into the fall as the kind of quarterback that can lead the Jackets to the next level.

Ball admitted to a great transformation in the way he approached the game over the past couple games of the season. If more performances like the one he turned in at the Champs Sports Bowl are the result, it could be a great junior season for the quarterback.

" I felt that I didn't have to prove anything. Last two games of the season, the Georgia game and this game, I felt I carried a load into the games and in the back of my mind I kept feeling like I had to prove something to everybody. But, for these last two games of the season, I thought,' just forget it and play.'I knew what I could do and what I was capable of, " Ball said.

The other key will be if the Jackets can find the replacements that it needs on the offensive line, and can be healthy enough throughout the season to not look like a MASH unit. If the offense can catch up with the defense, Tech will be a strong team to contend with next season, and could vie for the ACC title if not being a major player on the national scene.

The Auburn offense and defense will be losing several key components as will Virginia Tech, Miami and Georgia. The door is open for Tech, but if the offense doesn't improve, the Jackets will be staring down the barrel of another mediocre season, and the school record for consecutive bowl appearances could come to an end. However, if the offense from the Champs Sports Bowl shows up next year, with a poised Reggie Ball, an electrifying Calvin Johnson and a strong rushing attack led by P.J. Daniels, the Jackets could be headed back to the upper echelon of college football.