Georgia Tech Gets a Ragged 13-7 Win

A run at the national title is still a long way off for No. 10 Georgia Tech at East Rutherford, N.J., but don’t count out the Yellow Jackets just yet.

A sputtering 13-7 victory over Syracuse in the Kickoff Classic on Sunday did nothing to dissuade quarterback George Godsey from believing his team is championship caliber.

Just look at Florida State’s opening game in 1998, he said.

“It wasn’t pretty, but look in the past,” Godsey said. “Florida State made it to the national championship game and they only won, 23-14. It’s hard to judge a season by the first game.”

The Seminoles beat Texas A&M; in the ’98 Kickoff Classic, then reached the national title game, losing to Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl.

But before Georgia Tech thinks national title, it still has to deal with dethroning annual Atlantic Coast Conference champion Florida State on Sept. 15. Tech warms up for the sixth-ranked Seminoles the next two weeks against The Citadel and Navy.

“Obviously, we have a lot of improvement to do,” Tech Coach George O’Leary said. “We have to play better in a lot of facets of the game.”

Against the Orangemen, Godsey hooked up with record-setting Kelly Campbell 10 times for 193 yards and Joe Burns ran for 113 yards and a touchdown in the lowest-scoring Kickoff Classic. In 1986, Alabama beat Ohio State 16-10.

Godsey completed 15 of 26 passes for 224 yards, and cornerback Marvious Hester intercepted a pass at the Syracuse six to set up Burns’ one-yard TD with 8:27 left in the half for a 10-0 lead. Luke Manget had field goals of 22 and 20 yards, one in each half.