Dec. 28, 2005
With game day drawing near, the Georgia Tech football team continued its preparations for Thursday’s Emerald Bowl, in which the 24th-ranked Yellow Jackets will take on Utah. Kickoff is at 4:30 p.m. ET at SBC Park, with national television on ESPN.
In football lexicon, Tuesday was Thursday, the practice two days before the game that consists of a 90-minute workout in shorts and shells to put the final touches on the gameplan. The Jackets endured a steady drizzle throughout the workout at San Francisco City College.
Off the field activities Tuesday included a helicopter tour of the Bay Area and a team outing at Jillian’s, where the video games are always a hit.
Tuesday was also the Emerald Bowl press conference, at which the head coaches and selected players from both teams met with media from San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Atlanta.
As expected, Tech linebacker Gerris Wilkinson has been a popular subject as he plays his final game near his hometown of Oakland. Wilkinson, who has collected nearly 200 tickets for family and friends, noted the irony of going to across the country to attend Georgia Tech but playing his first and last bowl games so close to home. Wilkinson was a freshman backup when the Jackets played in the 2002 Silicon Valley Classic in nearby San Jose.
As he did earlier, Tech head coach Chan Gailey remarked to the media about how big the Utah players are.
“Those of you who were on the media conference call a few weeks ago might remember that I said that playing this game at SBC Park, the home of the Giants, is very appropriate with the size of Utah’s team,” said Gailey. “After going over to Alcatraz on the boat with those guys yesterday, I haven’t changed my opinion.”
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham noted that his team overcame adversity to reach their fifth straight bowl game.
“This is a great opportunity to play a Georgia Tech team with the national reputation that they have,” said the Utes’ first-year head coach. “We had some bumps in the road getting here, with a three-game losing streak at mid-season. It’s a credit to our seniors that they helped us bounce back.
“This should be a great matchup with our offense against their defense.”
On Wednesday, the team will get its first look at SBC Park, where the teams will be on the same sideline because of the baseball configuration, similar to the setup when Tech defeated Stanford in the 2001 Seattle Bowl at SAFECO Field.
