Ground Report

Contact: Chris Yandle, Assistant AD / Communications & Public Relations

E-mail: cyandle@athletics.gatech.edu, Phone: 404-894-6283

Website: www.ramblinwreck.com

Twitter: @GeorgiaTechFB / @ChrisYandle

Story Link: http://buzz.gt/2014OrangeBowlNotes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The 12th-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will make their 18th consecutive bowl appearance and seek its first 11-win season since 1990 when they play the seventh-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs in the 2014 Capital One Orange Bowl. Kickoff if set for 8 p.m. ET on New Year’s Eve.

GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN
Georgia Tech will make the program’s seventh Orange Bowl appearance and second under Paul Johnson. It is Tech’s first Orange Bowl trip since 2010. Prior to that, the Jackets had made trips to South Florida in 1940, 1945, 1948, 1952, and 1967. Tech is 3-3 all-time in the Orange Bowl.

SCORING STREAK
Georgia Tech has played 224 consecutive games without being shut out – the second-longest active streak in the ACC. Georgia Tech hasn’t been shut out since Oct. 18, 1997.

POSTSEASON FORMULA
Paul Johnson has led his teams to either the FCS playoffs or an FBS bowl game in 17 of his 18 years as a college football head coach. The only season that a Johnson-led team did not make the postseason was 2002, his first at Navy. Johnson led Navy to the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl, but he did not coach in the bowl game after taking the Georgia Tech job.

GAINING GROUND
Georgia Tech leads the ACC and ranks second nationally in rushing offense with 333.6 rushing yards per game, and is one of four schools averaging 300+ yards per game. Georgia Tech also leads the nation with 13 straight games of 200+ rushing yards.

BOWL STREAK-ING
With Georgia Tech’s appearance in the 2014 Capital One Orange Bowl, the Yellow Jackets’ streak of consecutive bowl appearances now stands at 18, which is tied for the second-longest active streak in the nation (and the second-longest in the ACC).

TAKEAWAYS
Georgia Tech is tied for 15th among FBS teams with a +10 turnover margin and is tied for 16th in turnovers gained with 27. The Yellow Jackets are averaging 2.6 takeaways and 12.3 points off turnovers in their 10 wins this season.

DID YOU KNOW? Georgia Tech was the first program to win each of the four traditional major bowls – Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Cotton. The Jackets completed the feat in 1955.

SERIES HISTORY
Georgia Tech leads the all-time series, 4-0. Georgia Tech and Mississippi State, two of the SEC’s charter members when the league was established in 1932, never met during Tech’s tenure in the SEC (1932-64). The first three series meetings – 1908, 1929, 2008 – were all played on The Flats.

RUNNING CLOCK
Georgia Tech leads the ACC and ranks third among all FBS teams in average time of possession (34:02). The Jackets have also had the ball for more than 10 minutes in 13 of 52 quarters this season. Only Michigan State (35:14) and UTEP (34:49) have held the ball more than Georgia Tech in 2014.

DEFENSIVE OPPORTUNITY
Georgia Tech is tied for second nationally with six defensive TDs this season – tops among ACC schools. Tech leads FBS with five interception returns for TD. Five different Yellow Jackets have scored a defensive TD – Quayshawn Nealy (2), P.J. Davis, D.J. White, Jamal Golden, and Chris Milton.

#GT300
Georgia Tech has rushed for 300 or more yards in 47 of 93 games and 400 or more yards 14 times in the Paul Johnson era. The Yellow Jackets are 37-10 when rushing for 300+ yards, including an 12-3 mark in the last 15 games. Johnson is 72-19 at the FBS level when his teams rush for 300+ yards. Georgia Tech has now rushed for 200 or more yards in 13 consecutive games – the longest active streak among FBS schools.

For the latest information on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, follow us on Twitter (@GeorgiaTechFB), Facebook (facebook.com/GTAthletics), and Instagram (@GTAthletics) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.

-#TogetherWeSwarm-

Chris Yandle
Assistant AD / Communications & Public Relations | Georgia Tech Athletics
Georgia Tech Athletic Association | 150 Bobby Dodd Way NW | Atlanta, GA 30332-0455
Cell: 404-702-7886 | Office: 404-894-6283 | Twitter: @ChrisYandle
RamblinWreck.com | Facebook.com/GTAthletics | @GTAthletics | @GeorgiaTechFB
#TogetherWeSwarm