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Georgia Tech (7-5) vs. Fresno State (8-4) Monday, Dec. 31 | 2 p.m., ESPN2 Bronco Stadium, Boise, Idaho Bowl Web site |
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PREGAME KNOWLEDGE
Laughable and/or unknown title sponsor: Roady’s Truck Stops (what’s that?)
Announcers subject to our devastating witticisms: Dave Lamont, James Hasty, Heather Cox
Conventional wisdom: The Yellow Jackets have the defense and the running game (RB Tashard Choice) to win this one without much from first-year QB Taylor Bennett. But every year it’s tough to know what you’ll get from the ACC team forced to travel out to Boise for the Smurf Turf bowl.
All-star to watch: Georgia Tech LB Philip Wheeler (#41)
78 tackles, 6 sacks
Read up: Breaking it all down.
Best counterprogramming: “The Good Girl”
Don’t let the channel or the presence of Jennifer Aniston scare you. Does it sound better if I mention John C. Reilly? Jake Gyllenhaal? OK, maybe Gyllenhaal doesn’t make it sound any manlier. Lifetime, 2-4 p.m.
GAME BLOG
Who’s watching — Jim Reedy, UWIRE, predicting big things for Jon Tenuta … Hahnming Lee, The Technique, enduring the ups and downs of GT fandom.
2:15 Jim — Oh look, it’s a whole other bowl game! This is getting a little insane — and GT starts with a bang, Taylor Bennett connecting down the right sideline for a touchdown right out of the gate.
2:31 Jim — Fresno is on the doorstep, first-and-goal from the 5 … but three strong plays by the Jackets defense and it’s 7-3.
2:39 Jim — God, this Smurf Turf just looks so bad on the TV. It just doesn’t look like football. One team’s in red, one team’s in gold and white and the field is this aquamarine blue. It stings the eyeballs.
2:45 Hahn — Taylor Bennett is trying to enjoy his final game as starting QB.
2:47 Jim — Do you think Paul Johnson will use Nesbitt in the option?
2:47 Hahn — And Booker.
2:48 Jim — Will Johnson run the option at GT or will he be less radical now that he’s not at the Naval Academy?
2:49 Hahn — From what it looks like at this point, it won’t be pure triple option. But Bennett is not the … most mobile guy.
3:01 Hahn — Looks like there’s only about 100 Tech fans there besides the band. It’s about what I expected, which is why I couldn’t bring myself to make the trip to Boise.
3:04 Jim — That’s what always happens for the ACC team in Boise. Part of it’s self-fulfilling; the only teams that fall that low in the pecking order are the ones that don’t travel.
3:06 Hahn — Tashard Choice is at least having a pretty good final game, though he’s got no one to impress except NFL scouts.
3:16 Hahn — GREAT fake punt by GT, but negated by a specious illegal formation penalty. Harrumph.
3:22 Jim — At some point when I was off watching Shaun Carney’s knee explode in the Armed Forces Bowl, the Bulldogs scored a touchdown. They lead 10-7 — and they’re near another score after a great screen catch-and-run by Clifton Smith.
3:29 Jim — Short TD pass for Fresno on third-and-goal, and it’s 17-7 with about 2 minutes left before halftime.
3:35 Hahn — It’s going to be great to have a new offense next season, because what GT is doing now is painful to watch.
3:40 Jim — Following a failed fourth-down conversion for Georgia Tech, the Bulldogs tack on a FG as time expires. 20-7 at the half.
4:00 Hahn — I still can’t believe this defense doesn’t have a sack.
4:10 Jim — Clifton Smith runs a good distance for another Fresno touchdown. That’s 27 straight points for the nation’s No. 3 Bulldogs … and a totally humorless “excessive celebration” penalty for a faux-Lambeau Leap. I hate authority figures.
4:12 Hahn — Wow. I thought GT might lose, but didn’t think it would be a blowout.
4:22 Jim — Third-and-2 at the Fresno 36 and all Bulldogs defenders are within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. So when Jonathan Dwyer finds a hole, he’s gone. 27-14.
4:31 Jim — Fairly pathetic effort by Jackets DB Djay Jones there, and it’s 35-14 on a winding TD run by QB Tom Brandstater. This game bores me.
4:35 Hahn — If this game is like an audition for Jon Tenuta, he probably isn’t impressing too many people.
4:36 Jim — I’m not impressed by the want-to of the GT defense. Boise is always one of those “Who wants to be here?” bowls.
4:37 Jim — The Jackets are on their 3rd quarterback of the day. Awesome. James Hasty is annoyed, probably because he only prepared info on 2 QBs.
4:51 Hahn — This is exactly what Tech needed right now — and from special teams, of all places.
4:52 Hahn — And they follow that up with the quickest sack I have ever seen. Wow, what a complete breakdown on the offensive line.
5:05 Hahn — I am shocked.
5:05 Jim — Long, wild TD pass by Calvin Booker and Georgia Tech, improbably, trails 34-28 with 13 minutes left.
5:18 Jim — Ooh. Fresno fumbles about 1 yard from a touchdown that would have all but clinched the game. Philip Wheeler knocked it loose. … But they’re so deep in their own end that this might be a safety. Let’s go to the videotape!
5:25 Jim — No safety and no punt (yet) either — Booker hits James Johnson on a slant pass for the first down. … OK, here’s that punt — and what a punt! Durant Brooks sees a rush man come free and pulls it down, kicking rugby-style after a few running steps toward the line of scrimmage.
5:27 Hahn — Pretty nice kick considering the circumstances.
5:37 Jim — Another TD run by Clifton Smith and it’s 40-28. That should about do it. Fin.
POSTGAME WRAP
Final thoughts
Hahn — For once, Georgia Tech’s offense generally had its act together, while the defense seemed completely flustered and confused after the first quarter. Even when they seemed set to defend a run, the Jackets couldn’t handle Clifton Smith and the Fresno offensive line.
Jim — GT’s problem today: Not enough quarterbacks. I wanted to see at least four or five guys take snaps out there. … Nice job by the Bulldogs, one of the best non-BCS programs in the nation.
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