August 30, 2016
In This Issue
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Georgia Tech's Dedrick Mills a tough runner
One of Dedrick Mills' best runs back at Ware County High School wasn't even his longest.
Ware coach Franklin Stephens calls it a BYOB play - be your own blocker - because none of his players on the 5-or-so-yard TD run bothered to hit anybody. Mills still scored and he didn't do it by outrunning anybody. Described as a "violent" runner by his coach, Mills simply hammered his way into the end zone.
"When you are a 200-pound kid in high school with speed, ability and power that he does, he can do that," Stephens said.
Mills has been showing that violence, determination and athleticism since he enrolled at Georgia Tech in the spring semester. Playing behind a mix of offensive linemen in the spring game, Mills still rushed for 47 yards on 11 carries. Coach Paul Johnson has singled him out for praise several times, saying he and sophomore Marcus Marshall are "1A and 1B" in the race to be the team's starting B-back when the season opens against Boston College on Saturday in Dublin.
"He's a good football player," said Johnson, who doesn't allow freshmen to speak to the media until they have played in a game.
That Mills has rocketed up the depth chart speaks to his ability to learn, dedication to football and his willingness to assimilate into most situations, according to some who have coached him.
Not only is he having to deal with the academic and social transition from high school to college, but he's also dealing with a new position.
Mills played slotback in Ware's Wing-T offense, which is much different than B-back.
The position is a challenge even to those who have played the traditional running back because the B-back lines up slightly closer to the line of scrimmage, has quicker reads to make and has to absorb a hit from a defensive lineman on most plays.
Head Coach Paul Johnson's Press Conference Previewing Boston College
Opening Statement:
"
We had a really good fall camp. Preparation has gone well for Boston College. Its a little bit of a guessing game as to what we're going to get with two new coordinators, a new quarterback and all the things they have going for them. With any Steve Addazio team, they'll be hard nosed and well coached and physical.
"We're looking forward to have a chance to travel and go play. Its been a long time since we last played."
Q: What went into your decision to start Dedrick Mills at B-Back?
"He's had a good camp and practiced well.
Marcus (Marshall) missed a few practices and Dedrick's done everything we've asked hiim to do. Those guys are kind of 1A and 1B. They'll both play a lot.
The Boston College defense. Last year, #1 in the country
"They have 8 starters back. I'm sure they're going to be very similar to what they were a year ago. Their new coordinator is going to look at what they did successfully and add to his repertoire. They've got a lot of experienced defensive coaches there.
Jim Reid
has coached for a long time and so has
Paul Pasqualoni.
You're probably not going to give them anything they haven't seen.
Q: : Its not your typical opening, starting in a different country and a conference game. Its not your typical opener.
"There's a lot of variables involved in this game. If you want to be distracted, you can be easily distracted on this trip. Its been since we've played."
(November 28, 2015)
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Boston College Head Coach Steve Addazio's Press Conference Previewing Georgia Tech
Opening Statement:
"We are kicking off the new year and it's happening fast, getting ready to head out to (play) Georgia Tech and kick this thing open with an ACC opener, playing a tough Tech team that is just two years away from the conference championship game. They too, like us, had a bunch of injuries a year ago and certainly ended in a disappointing season. They have some fantastic players on their team, starting with Justin Thomas, their quarterback, who's coming back as a three-year starter and he's a dynamic player. Marcus Marshall, their fullback, is a dynamic player. And they've got a bunch of lineman back. We all know this offense is a tough offense to go against. It will keep you on the field and limit your possessions for your own offense, and can really grind you out if you don't have the opportunity to get them off the field.
On defense, Ted Roof, their coordinator, has done an excellent job everywhere he's been. They're very well coordinated, well put together, fundamentally sound team. They've got some good returning players: KeShun Freeman at the defensive end, PJ Davis at the linebacker.These guys are real productive players."
On if it's beneficial to play a team like this out of the gate ...
"It helps when you play a wishbone team to be able to have time to prepare. It's always a challenge when you open up with a tough ACC opponent for the opening game. Most people like to take an easier non-conference approach - gives you the chance to work kinks out. I've been a part of a lot of opening games. We start with it and we're both in the same boat."
If team preparation has changed due to traveling to Ireland ...
"Our goal was to get as much done as we could before we left, which we've done. The challenge? It's a long trip. We leave Tuesday night, 10 o'clock, fly through the night, get there and go to practice. The sleep you get is what you get on the plane, all in an effort to get yourself acclimated to the time change. It's not like you're sleeping in a great bed, waking up fresh the next day. This time of year when you're trying to get your team from training camp to regain its legs, you lose a day in travel of that recuperation.
We'll have the bulk of our work done Tuesday so Wednesday is more of a walk-thru mentality in Dublin and Thursday is much the same. It's forced us to really accelerate everything. From creating travel, creating this, that, everything has to be done. Game one you usually have game week to do some of these things, because you're usually home. I haven't even personally packed anything. You're going to Ireland. It's kind of bizarre. But that's what it is."
ACC Football:
Week 1 Power Rankings
It's finally game week for college football programs across the country with football just days away until Florida State's 2016 season opener against Ole Miss and Georgia Tech and BC early Saturday morning in Ireland. Here's the preseason edition of our Atlantic Coast Conference power rankings:
1. Clemson -
It's nearly impossible to deny the top spot in these rankings to the national runner-ups from last year who returned their Heisman finalist, defending ACC Player of the Year quarterback Deshaun Watson as well as the rest of the ripe-with-talent offense from 2015. The Tigers lost a number of key defenders from last year's squad but a relatively soft schedule could go a long way towards aiding Clemson's possible return to the College Football Playoff. The Tigers, ranked No. 2 in both the AP and Coaches Polls, get their 2016 campaign underway on Saturday with a trip to Alabama to take on an Auburn team projected to be among the worst in the SEC West.
2. Florida State -
The Seminoles find themselves in a good place entering the 2016 season. They return all 11 offensive starters from a season ago and have found their next quarterback in redshirt freshman Deondre Francois. The defense, however, is the more heralded unit for the Seminoles, chock full of talent at each position group. The game being circled on calendars nationwide as the ACC game of the year pits FSU against Clemson in an October 29th showdown in Tallahassee.
That being said, FSU's schedule features a number of challenging opponents before the Seminoles have the chance to dethrone Clemson, beginning with a Labor Day matchup against Ole Miss in Orlando to close out a fantastic slate of games in week one of the 2016 season.
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Tech Opens 2016 In Ireland
GA Tech vs. Boston College
Sat. 9/3/16, 7:30 a.m. ET
* Dublin, Ireland
* Aviva Stadium (49,000)
TV: ESPN2:
Radio: 680AM, 93.7FM, GT Radio Network. Satellite: XM 83 / Sirius 83
Georgia Tech's unusual opener against Boston College on Saturday in Dublin, Ireland, marks the Yellow Jackets' first game outside the United States.
Yellow Jackets coach
Paul Johnson, who has coached in Ireland before, says the Dublin fans may have a different take on the game.
Johnson was Navy's offensive coordinator in 1996 when Navy played Notre Dame in Dublin. He says he heard the same question from local fans leading up to the game.
"It was really kind of weird," Johnson said after Monday's practice. "We were over there for a couple of days, and it was all 'How could a tiny school like Notre Dame play the whole Navy?' Fans thought they were the big underdog. It was kind of funny."
Saturday's game will give Johnson an earlier Atlantic Coast Conference opener than he would prefer in an ideal schedule.
"You'd like to have more of a dress rehearsal game but we're not fortunate enough to do that," he said.
Georgia Tech and Boston College are coming off disappointing 3-9 seasons in 2015. Georgia Tech won only one ACC game last year and the Eagles finished 0-8 in conference games.
Johnson's hopes for a positive start to the 2016 schedule could be complicated by the unusual travel and the possibility of jet lag. Georgia Tech will have its final practice of the week in Atlanta on Wednesday before flying through the night and arriving in Dublin on Thursday morning. BC left Tuesday night.
"I'm going to try to sleep as soon as we get on the bus going to the airport," strong safety Lawrence Austin said Monday.
The team's schedule for Thursday includes lunch, practice, dinner, and a movie.
"I'm thinking by that time they're gonna be zonked out," Johnson said, adding he hopes players then will sleep and feel like they are on a more normal schedule for Friday's light practice and Saturday's game.
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New Tech voice Andy Demetra: Son of mathematicians, heir to legacy
Andy Demetra understands that there will never be the perfect call of a game. It doesn't prevent him for pursuing it, though.
Recently named Georgia Tech's new broadcasting  voice, the tools in Demetra's chase of the flawless broadcast include meticulous preparation, a habit of self-critique and a weathered sheaf of synonyms.
"You're trying to place a listener there alongside you, and I love that challenge of trying to build a more vivid picture for a listener," Demetra said. "That's why I wake up so excited every day, that challenge of trying to paint a picture more accurately and artfully for an audience."
Demetra, 35, was hired after seven years as director of broadcasting for the South Carolina radio network, for which he oversaw broadcast production and called Gamecocks basketball and baseball games. (Football has been handled by former South Carolina quarterback Todd Ellis.) He replaces Brandon Gaudin, who ended his three-year tenure as voice of the Yellow Jackets in June to accept positions with EA Sports, the Big Ten Network and Westwood One.
"I'll tell you first of all, Andy is extremely prepared," said Tommy Moody, Demetra's partner on Gamecocks baseball broadcasts. "He paid an incredible amount of detail in that preparation. I cannot overstate that it's totally amazing to me and a lot of people."
Raised in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Ill., Demetra (pronounced De-MET-tra) is the son of a math-teacher mother and a consultant father who majored in math. His brother earned math and economics degrees and is a stock analyst. Demetra's career path suggests a different type of wiring, but he approaches his craft with an inclination for exactness that might please a mathematician (or an engineer).
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Across The Pond: Francis Kallon hopes a homecoming - and a new diet - will be the kickstart
to a breakout senior season
By Andy Demetra
The new "Voice of the Yellow Jackets" Andy Demetra will offer Georgia Tech faithful exclusive stories, stats and anecdotes in his Inside The Chart column, which will run on Thursdays going forward at RamblinWreck.com.
When Francis Kallon learned that Georgia Tech would open the 2016 season in Dublin, Ireland, the redshirt senior thought someone was playing a joke on him. "I honestly didn't  believe it at first. I thought it was one of those myths," he said.
If this week's game against Boston College qualifies as a homecoming for anyone, it'd be Kallon, the Jackets' London-born, 294-pound defensive tackle. Kallon, who moved to Lawrenceville, Ga., before his junior year of high school, says he expects a large family reunion at Aviva Stadium. Hopping from London to Dublin only takes an hour by plane.
"I'm reaching out to all my family, all my sisters and brothers, trying to see if they can come out and see me play for the first time ever," he said. (It also makes Kallon, to the delight of director of football operations Mike Huff, one of the roughly 30% of Yellow Jacket football players who already had a passport.)
Six years of living in the U.S. has done little to soften the London lilt in Kallon's voice. When asked what he looks forward to seeing the most in Ireland, his thoughts immediately turned to the creature comforts of home.
"The currency," Kallon replied, eyes twinkling. "Being back with Pounds Sterling. It's going to be amazing."
He then went into a rumination not uncommon for a defensive lineman: food. "Just seeing the candies, things like that," he added. "Instead of seeing Fanta, you see Ribena. Instead of seeing Sunkist, you see Tango, which is one of the big sodas in England. Just to see that will bring back that nostalgia, like, 'Yeah, I'm a Brit.'"
It was an ironic answer, given how hard Kallon worked in the offseason to reshape his diet. Since the summer he's sworn off red meat, opting for chicken or tilapia at the Edge dining hall. He says he eats so many greens now, "I wouldn't say I'm vegan, but I'm heavy on the vegetables." He eats salads every day, so long as they include banana peppers ("it has to have some type of taste").
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 3-0
Georgia Tech Volleyball Heads West To The
Kansas State Invitational
Senior libero London Ackermann was named tournament MVP as the Georgia Tech volleyball team (3-0) swept Furman (1-2) Saturday to sweep the competition at the War
Eagle Invite. Annika Van Gunst and Teegan Van Gunst were also named to the all-tournament team.
Georgia Tech took the lead from the start of set one and never looked back to win 25-13. Furman settled into the match in game two, which featured 11 tied scores and two lead changes, but the Jackets prevailed 25-20. Tech put the match away with a 25-17 win in game three.
"Our team played very focused and we were able to stop Furman's go to players and execute our great plan," head coach Michelle Collier said. "It was a great weekend overall. I'm proud of this entire group. There was not one match that we finished with the same line up we started. We had players step up in every match and come in and make an impact. This group is special and I am looking forward to getting back in gym and getting better for next weekend."
The 3-0 Jackets are back in action this weekend Sept. 2-3 at the Kansas State Invitational where they'll be facing a pair of undefeated teams when they play Tennessee State (4-0), Michigan (3-0) and Kansas State (2-1).
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GT Swim/Dive Announced 2016-17 Schedule
Georgia Tech's swimming and diving program has released its complete 2016-17 schedule, which is highlighted by 10 home meets at the McAuley Aquatic Center, including the Georgia Tech Invitational on Nov. 17-19 and the USA Winter Nationals from Nov. 30 thru Dec. 3.
"After coming off a very successful and record breaking season last year, I am very excited about the upcoming year," stated head coach Courtney Shealy Hart. "We have several strong schools coming to compete at Georgia Tech this year, as well as some great competition in meets on the road away from the McAuley Aquatic Center. This schedule is a challenging one that will only help our program and our student-athletes continue to grow."
Following a White vs. Gold intrasquad dual meet on Sept. 23-24 at the McAuley Aquatic Center, the Yellow Jackets will dive into its challenging 2016-17 regular season slate at home versus Georgia Southern on Friday, Sept. 30, at 4 p.m.
After trekking north for a dual meet versus Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. on Friday, Oct. 7, at 3 p.m. and an ACC tri-meet with Boston College and Pittsburgh in Boston, Mass. the following day, Oct. 8, at 5 p.m., Tech will return home to host both Notre Dame and Emory in a two-day tri-meet on Oct. 21-22.
Just under two weeks later, the Yellow Jackets will return to the McAuley Aquatic Center to host rival Georgia in a mid-week clash on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 4 p.m., before hosting the annual Georgia Tech Invitational on Nov. 17-19.
The Jackets will then host the USA Winter Nationals on Nov. 30 thru Dec. 3 and will conclude the fall semester of the 2016-17 slate in a winter break meet versus Cincinnati and another opponent to be determined in mid-December in Naples, Fla.
Click Here For The Full Story and More on GT Swimming & Diving
Click Here For The Tech Men's & Women's Swim/Dive Schedule
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