Less than 24 hours after losing in double overtime to Tennessee, Georgia Tech began preparations for its Saturday matchup with Jacksonville State at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets had a brief practice Tuesday to address mistakes made in the 42-41 loss in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game and to do conditioning work. The team will not practice in pads this week, a rarity for a Johnson-coached team.
“It seems like we were just playing,” Johnson said following the Tuesday practice. “It’s going to be a challenge for them mentally and physically.”
Johnson did not have updates on defensive tackle Kyle Cerge-Henderson, who suffered a leg injury in the Tennessee game and was on crutches afterward. Johnson said he thought A-back Clinton Lynch, who sat out of Monday’s game with a lower-body injury, was getting closer to being cleared to play.
Johnson said Lynch was supposed to run in Tuesday’s practice, but he had not yet received a report. Johnson said there were a couple other players “banged up” in the game.
Part of Tech’s challenge this week will be rebounding from a crushing loss – Tech had led by 14 points early in the fourth quarter and then lost on the final play of the game, a failed two-point conversion attempt – and prepare for a team that is at the FCS level but has on occasion punched above its weight.
Jacksonville State, ranked No. 5 in FCS, took Auburn to overtime in 2015 and beat Ole Miss in overtime in 2010.
“These guys are pretty good,” Johnson said.
Further, the Tech offense played 96 snaps against Tennessee, the most in Johnson’s tenure, according to sports-reference.com.
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