Kritik und Lob » eek. The territory we got into this

ATLANTA -- Georgia Tech has already locked up its spot in a bowl game.Thats not enough for the Yellow Jackets.Coming off an upset at Virginia Tech, coach Paul Johnsons team is eager to keep pushing toward a nine-win season. The Jackets (6-4, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) will need to win out to accomplish that goal, beginning with Saturdays game against Virginia.Johnson noted that Georgia Tech has reached nine wins only seven times in the last three decades.I dont think anybody on our team wanted to be 6-6 when the season started, he said. You have goals and you try to play for them. My job as a coach is when it looks like those initial goals are gone, try to find a carrot to stick in front of them to say, `Hey, heres what were trying to do now.Virginia (2-8, 1-5) doesnt have much left to play for except pride. The Cavaliers are mired in a five-game losing streak under first-year coach Bronco Mendenhall.These kids are resilient and theyre tough, said Mendenhall, who is assured of his first losing season in 12 years as a head coach. The outcome and the record at this point doesnt show. But my internal day-to-day with these guys is really, really enjoyable. I think theres a super foundation being laid at least in terms of expectation.---Some other things to watch for when Georgia Tech hosts Virginia at Bobby Dodd Stadium:NEW QUARTERBACK: Virginia is going back to a familiar name at quarterback. Fifth-year senior Matt Johns is getting a chance to close out his up-and-down career as the starter, taking over for struggling Kurt Benkert. Johns started 15 games the past two years but had not played any quarterback this season until he took over for Benkert in last weeks loss to Miami. This is a little bit different experience, because I havent played all year, Johns said. But I think having the experience from the past couple years is beneficial going into this situation, in terms of knowing how to attack a game plan and move forward to be successful on Saturday.THOMAS RETURNS: Justin Thomas is set to return at quarterback for Georgia Tech after sitting out last weeks game with an injury. Thomas ranks second on the team in rushing with 561 yards and five touchdowns, and hes thrown for 1,168 yards with seven TDs and only one interception. While backup Matthew Jordan did a brilliant job running the offense against Virginia Tech, rushing for 121 yards and two scores, Thomas is the teams unquestioned offensive leader and provides more of a threat in the passing game.MENDENHALL VS. TRIPLE OPTION: The Virginia coach is familiar with Georgia Techs unique triple-option offense, having coached against it twice -- and easily winning both meetings -- in his previous post at Brigham Young. Also while at BYU, he had plenty of experience facing a similar scheme at Air Force, going 5-1 against the Falcons. Hes proven that he knows what hes doing stopping the option offense, Cavaliers linebacker Zach Bradshaw said. Im sure whatever we do this week, if we execute it like were supposed to, will work.IMPROVED DEFENSE: After getting torched for 1,195 yards and 83 points in its two previous games, Georgia Tech came up with a stout defensive effort against Virginia Tech. The Yellow Jackets forced four turnovers and shut down the Hokies until giving up meaningless touchdowns on their final two possessions. We got a little juice going. I hope we can carry it over, Johnson said. Im sure they were tired of hearing about their struggles.JOHNSONS FUTURE: There has been speculation about Johnsons future, especially with Georgia Tech bringing on a new athletic director, Todd Stansbury. The Yellow Jackets went 3-9 a year ago, and a three-game losing streak knocked them out of contention for the ACC title this season. Johnson said hes proud of his record in nine years at Georgia Tech and doesnt worry about his job security. If they think they can get somebody better, they ought to go get `em, he said. Thats certainly their right.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry .---For more college football coverage: www.collegefootball.ap.org Custom 76ers Jerseys . -- Brandon Jennings made the most of his first game with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Cheap 76ers Jerseys . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. http://www.custom76ersjersey.com/ . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. Custom 76ers Jersey China .Y. -- Jayna Hefford scored the winning goal Friday as Canada survived a scare with a 4-3 win over Sweden at the Four Nations womens hockey tournament. Custom Moses Malone Jersey . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus described the small details which things which made Saturdays visit of Glasgow difficult, a day after former captain Anthony Foley was laid to rest.As the European Champions Cup remembered Foley before all games this weekend, Munster supporters held aloft placards spelling out his jersey number and nickname AXEL. The name was sewn into the Munster players jerseys and afterwards Foleys sons, Tony and Dan joined the team on the field to sing Stand Up and Fight. It was an emotional day for all involved with Munster rugby. Their director of rugby included.The tough things are the small things, said Erasmus post match. You get into the bus to the field, Axels seat is there. You get into the changing room, all the little things that remind you.Then you get out to the field and the Munster people, the Irish people, do things that are very personal, with so much emotion and then I wasnt sure how that would impact on everyone, from the opposition to us, so I am relieved the guys handled it like that.On the field, players were overcome by emotion before and after tthe game as they sang the Munster anthem.ddddddddddddThe emotion carried over into an impressive performance on the field as Munster ran in five tries. Despite speaking to the players ahead of the game, Erasmus didnt know how the players would react to the loss of Foley.I feel relieved because of the unknown element about the week. The territory we got into this week and circumstances, different things, I did not know, myself, how we would react, how the players would react, even the referee or the opposition.It was such a weird week which you cant really prepare for. Even with the warm-up I wasnt even sure what we would get out of this. We had a good chat last night and this morning about what we were going to try and achieve, not even result-wise, but more the way we wanted to play.I was expecting that would come through, but not in such a mature way, for the players to do it so quickly after something tragic that happened to Axel (Anthony Foley), so I am relieved. ' ' '