Georgia Tech, Stanford Battle the Blahs

At first glance, the inaugural Seattle Bowl, matching Stanford and Georgia Tech at 1 p.m. today at Safeco Field, appears to be one of those letdown games that doesn’t particularly interest anyone.

In this kind of also-ran bowl game, the objective is to play with enough enthusiasm to avoid embarrassing oneself, salvaging a feel-good ending to an otherwise disappointing season.

Judging by the players’ pregame comments, neither Stanford nor Georgia Tech seemed all that thrilled to be here today. No question, they would much rather have been playing on New Year’s Day and/or in one of the bowl championship series games.

Stanford came closest to playing in a major bowl game, finishing the regular season 9-2. The 11th-ranked Cardinal is the only team to defeat Oregon, which still has an outside shot at winning a share of the national championship with a victory over Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl coupled with a Miami loss to Nebraska in the Rose Bowl.

What’s more, a Stanford victory today would give the Cardinal its fourth 10-win season in 106 years. Stanford last won 10 games in 1992, when Bill Walsh was its coach.

Georgia Tech (7-5) started strong and ended with a whimper, losing three of its final four games before losing its coach, George O’Leary, to Notre Dame on Dec. 9. O’Leary had to quit days later after it was revealed that he embellished significant details of his resume.

Suffice to say, the Yellow Jackets aren’t asking O’Leary back, but they are reportedly set to hire Chan Gailey, former Dallas Cowboy coach and current Miami Dolphin offensive coordinator. An Atlanta newspaper said Gailey’s hiring is expected to be announced Saturday.

Today’s game figures to be Mac McWhorter’s only game as Yellow Jacket coach.

So, spotted the team most likely to suffer a letdown on the order of USC’s Christmas clunker against Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl?

“All of us feel disappointed that we ended up finishing fourth [in the Pacific 10 Conference standings],” Stanford defensive tackle Matt Leonard said. “You can’t help but look back at a few plays that made the difference. It’s bad luck how things worked out, and it couldn’t have rolled any worse for us.

“But we’re happy to go to Seattle.”

Contrast Leonard’s comments with those of Georgia Tech’s Ross Mitchell, a fullback and linebacker.

“Nothing is more important to me than winning,” Mitchell said before the Yellow Jackets arrived in Seattle. “We’re obviously not playing for a national championship or anything. We know that, but we need to play well--not only to get some outside respect, but also to show ourselves that we’re not the disappointments some people have said we are.”

In the final analysis, this should be a game that features plenty of offense. Georgia Tech quarterback George Godsey passed for 3,085 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Stanford quarterbacks Randy Fasani and Chris Lewis combined for 2,756 yards and 25 touchdowns.

The Cardinal averaged 37.1 points and had a school-record 54 touchdowns.

Georgia Tech would have the edge in the running game if tailback Joe Burns were playing.

He rushed for 1,165 yards and 14 touchdowns, and was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team but has been ruled academically ineligible.

Fasani is perhaps the game’s most intriguing player.

He was a standout quarterback at Del Oro High near Sacramento, but has twice torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

He also sprained his medial collateral ligament in his right knee this season and is not expected to be taken in the NFL draft until the late rounds.

Fasani’s favorite receiver is Teyo Johnson, a 6-foot-7 receiver who also plays on the Cardinal basketball team.

A crowd of about 30,000 is expected at the 45,000-seat Safeco Field, home of baseball’s Seattle Mariners. Next season, organizers hope to play the game in the Seattle Seahawks’ new stadium, which is being built next door to Safeco.

Organizers also have secured a five-year contract with ESPN, which probably ensures the game’s survival for at least that long.