Jacksonville St.-Georgia Tech Preview
VIDEO PLAYLIST 
| Top 25 Overview |
ATLANTA, GA - 1:00 PM ET  Georgia Tech routed FCS foe Jacksonville State to start the 2008 season. The Yellow Jackets will be looking for more of the same this season. Georgia Tech returns stars Jonathan Dwyer and Josh Nesbitt. The Gamecocks will be playing without senior QB Ryan Perrilloux, who is out for violating team rules. |
| Complete Top 25 Overview |
| Matchup |
| | W-L | PF | PA | HOME | ROAD | DIV | CONF |
| JVST | 0-1 | 17 | 37 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| GT | 1-0 | 37 | 17 | 1-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| · Complete Standings |
| In Close Games (7 points or less. Since 2001) |
| | RECORD |
| JVST | 10 - 8 |
| GT | 10 - 14 |
| Record When Scoring... (Since 2001) |
| | 20 OR MORE | 30 OR MORE | 40 OR MORE | 50 OR MORE |
| JVST | 49-16-0 | 37-6-0 | 15-0-0 | 5-0-0 |
| GT | 50-9-0 | 27-3-0 | 11-1-0 | 4-0-0 |
| | LESS THAN 20 | LESS THAN 30 | LESS THAN 40 | LESS THAN 50 |
| JVST | 4-20-0 | 16-30-0 | 38-36-0 | 48-36-0 |
| GT | 11-33-0 | 34-39-0 | 50-41-0 | 57-42-0 |
| THIS WEEK'S LINE |
| FAVORITE | SPREAD | UNDERDOG | OVER/UNDER |
| GATECH | 0.0 | JAXVILLEST | 0.0 |
| Full Daily Lines |
| Jacksonville State Passing | | | CMP% | YDS | TD | INT | | Perril... | 58.5 | 2345 | 23 | 2 | | Ivory | 65.0 | 315 | 4 | 1 |
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| Jacksonville State Rushing | | | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | | Middle... | 126 | 629 | 5.0 | 6 | | Young | 100 | 523 | 5.2 | 4 |
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| Jacksonville State Receiving | | | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Wilker... | 36 | 711 | 19.8 | 6 | | Smith | 30 | 485 | 16.2 | 4 |
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STATS LLC
In his debut as Georgia Tech coach last season, Paul Johnson unveiled a spread option attack which ran all over Jacksonville State.
It sparked a successful first year for Johnson, whose 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets open this season with high expectations and a rematch against the Gamecocks on Saturday.
Georgia Tech begins its second year under Johnson with its best preseason ranking since 2001 and is expected to vie for the ACC's Coastal Division title with Virginia Tech.
"We're excited to be getting started here on the second season," Johnson said. "We have a good nucleus of players back. Everybody has good focus and attention to detail. It can certainly get better and has to get better, but we're way ahead of where we were a year ago at this time."
The Yellow Jackets shared the Coastal crown with the Hokies last season en route to a 9-4 record, but did not get a spot in the conference championship game because they lost to Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech did earn a 12th consecutive bowl bid but lost its fourth straight, 38-3 to LSU at the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta.
The nation's eighth-ranked rushing offense returns its entire backfield, led by preseason ACC player of the year Jonathan Dwyer, and adds Anthony Allen, who ran for 1,102 yards and 20 touchdowns in two seasons at Louisville.
Georgia Tech brings back 17 starters and has only 10 seniors on its roster -- fourth-fewest in FBS.
Dwyer is the conference's reigning player of the year after finishing with a league-best 1,395 yards and 12 touchdowns. Quarterback Josh Nesbitt had 1,501 total yards, including 693 on the ground with seven TDs.
However, the team's third-leading rusher, sophomore Roddy Jones, is questionable for Saturday after dislocating his right wrist in June. He ran for 690 yards as a freshman and was one of four players to rush for at least 50 in last year's 41-14 win over Jacksonville State.
Dwyer and Nesbitt scored two touchdowns apiece in the first half as Tech built a 27-0 halftime lead. Dwyer ran for 112 yards and the Yellow Jackets finished with 349 of their 484 yards on the ground.
Georgia Tech's defense is led by safety Morgan Burnett, who was the nation's co-leader in interceptions with seven and had a team-best 93 tackles. Burnett was named to the preseason ACC first team with Burnett, Dwyer and junior receiver Demaryius Thomas, who had a team-leading 39 receptions for 627 yards and three TDs in a running offense.
Derrick Morgan is the only returning starter on the defensive line and he had seven sacks in 2008, second on the team behind current Cincinnati Bengals player Michael Johnson (nine).
After finishing 8-3 for its sixth straight winning season, Jacksonville State begins this year ranked No. 19 in FCS, but senior quarterback Ryan Perrilloux will miss Saturday's game for violating team rules.
Perrilloux, who had 3,086 total yards and accounted for 26 touchdowns in his first season with the Gamecocks, transferred to the school after LSU coach Les Miles kicked him off the team for skipping classes, missing a meeting and arriving late for conditioning workouts.
Perrilloux was a part-time starter in his two seasons with the Tigers and was the MVP of the 2007 SEC championship game, which LSU won en route to a national title.
"He had the same consequences as any one of our players, and there is very little room for error," coach Jack Crowe said. "I do not think this is a reflection of his accountability since he has been here. Our fans do not need to assume more than it is, which is a team rule.
"Since the incident, Ryan has demonstrated his responsibility to this team and this university. I expect this to just be a one-time incident."
Sophomore Marques Ivory, who threw for 127 yards and two touchdowns in four games last season, is expected to start. Ivory is one of 61 underclassmen on the team's 91-man roster, but All-American defensive back Carnell Clark returns for his senior season.
Jacksonville State also brings back senior Alexander Henderson, who finished with a team-leading 103 tackles despite missing the Georgia Tech game.
The Gamecocks, who faced the Yellow Jackets for the first time last season, are 3-11 all-time versus FBS opponents with its previous win in 2001 at Arkansas State.
Jacksonville State 17, 
(15) Georgia Tech 37