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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 13, 2010

Paul Johnson

THE MODERATOR: We now welcome Georgia Tech head Coach Paul Johnson.
COACH JOHNSON: Good morning. It is a little bit different to have a nonconference game this late in the season. We're coming off back-to-back conference games. And hopefully we're trying to build a little momentum. Certainly Middle Tennessee won ten games a year ago and Preseason Player of the Year in the league and picked to win their league this year. So it will be a challenge.
They also have a lot of kids from Georgia. I think 26 kids on their team are from Georgia. So usually when that happens, they come in and are excited to play. So hopefully we'll continue to progress and keep making improvement.

Q. I wanted to ask you about your offensive line. Can you talk about the problems in building a line and establishing stability in the offense you want to run and getting guys that can do what you need to do?
COACH JOHNSON: Well, I think the problem with trying to build the line with any consistency is when we got here, we had very few guys on scholarship. We've had to convert a lot of guys. This is the first time -- we tried -- usually with those guys, you like to red shirt them. There are very few coming in and capable of playing at freshman. So we are starting in the depth-building process.
Our starting line even today, the guy that will start at right tackle this week was an A back when we first came. He was a converted tight end. Starting center was a walk-on defensive lineman, that type of situation.
We had to move guys because there just wasn't -- we didn't have a large number of scholarship offensive linemen when we got here.

Q. When you talk to people at the service academies, they say one of the reasons they like to run that offense is you can get by with smaller offensive linemen. Is that how you found it, or would you rather have the monsters?
COACH JOHNSON: Well, good big players are better than good little players. That's no matter what you do. You just want good players.
Now, do you need 340-pounders? No. I'm not sure you need 340-pounders at anything. If you looked at the last couple years, I think the great example would be the kid at Florida State, the Hudson kid. He was the most valuable offensive lineman. He is probably 270, - 80 pounds. He is not one of the bigger kids in the league. He is just a really good player.

Q. Given that you are in the middle of the ACC season and that Middle Tennessee is not what you call a named opponent, how much do you have to remind your kids this week to not lose their focus, that this is a dangerous game and to just play at your height rather than try to skate through?
COACH JOHNSON: Well, you talk about it. Certainly, you hope that they'll listen. We've got a couple of lessons that we've learned here that aren't so long ago. I mean, so you never know what's going to happen when you are dealing with 18 and 22-year-olds. I can assure you that Middle Tennessee has enough good players to come in here and give us all we want to win the game if we don't play well.

Q. Those lessons you talked of, do you think that helps in preparation for this?
COACH JOHNSON: Well, it should help. I mean, if you keep touching a hot stove and you get burned, you are not real smart if you keep touching it. You think it would help, but we'll see.

Q. I was wondering what kind of transition it took for Anthony Allen to move from the A back to the B back position. He's obviously handled it very well, but is that a big deal? Or is that just a matter of a little bit different running style maybe?
COACH JOHNSON: That's a little bit of a different running style. But Anthony actually played B back the year that he sat out when he transferred. That's what he was.
He had played some -- we split time last year. He ended up starting at A back really in camp. He went off the spring before as a B back as well. We felt like he was one of our better players, and we need to get him on the field.
And we had a great B back in John Dwyer (phonetic). So I think he is naturally suited to it. Certainly he played his best game on Saturday. I thought he finished some runs and played a lot faster and hopefully he will continue to get better.

Q. Coach, it seems like oftentimes you will have a massive edge in time of possession. And just watching the game, it seems like Georgia Tech should -- or is really more dominant than the scoreboard suggests. Do you ever get -- I don't know -- frustrated? Does the thought go through your head, "I can't believe we're not ahead by two instead of one"? And if so, how do you fight that?
COACH JOHNSON: I was frustrated last week at halftime. We had 306 yards, and they had a little over 100 and it was 13-7. That was our own doing.
We turned the ball over in the red zone and lost it on downs down. That was three scoring opportunities. If you score those three times you are down there, even if they are field goals, the score is not what it is.
Normally, if that's happening, it's our own doing. We're turning the ball over or not capitalizing, missing kicks or whatever. So, you know, it is just like anything else, you just kind of deal with it.
THE MODERATOR: Coach, thanks for being with us today. Good luck this weekend.

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