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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 3, 2018

Paul Johnson

Greensboro, North Carolina

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson.

COACH JOHNSON: Well, excited to get back on track. Last week, I thought we played better. And it's an important game going to Louisville. Certainly they've got a lot of tradition there. It's our first trip to Louisville. First time playing them since they came into the league and it's going to be a tough game but we're looking forward to going and having a chance to play again.

Q. Talked about playing Louisville, you've never played them before. Have you ever played a Bobby Petrino-type team before?
COACH JOHNSON: I don't think we've ever crossed paths actually. I don't think we've ever played each other, which is really strange, as long as both of us have been coaching but this will be the first matchup, I believe.

Q. What do you guys have to do to pull out a win Friday night down there in Louisville?
COACH JOHNSON: We've got to go down there play our game and stay away from turnovers and penalties and just try to execute what we do. And defensively we've got to try to stay away from giving up some big plays. If we can do that, we ought to have a chance.

Q. What's your assessment of the state of your secondary as you get ready for that Louisville passing game?
COACH JOHNSON: Well, I think we've got some work to do. I thought that the team we played last week had some really good receivers and so does Louisville. Got some young guys back there, and I think the more they play the better they're going to get. And we spent a lot of time on our coverage stuff this week. Hopefully we'll see some improvement. We certainly need to.

Q. What have you seen from their quarterback's evolution? And is it a little more difficult to scout him because he's been in and out of the lineup?
COACH JOHNSON: Well, I think the two guys are different, but they don't -- they've got enough in their offensive package that they can do for both guys.

I think it's pretty much settled on the pass kid. He's more of a thrower, drop-back guy. The other guy is more of a dual threat.

Although passing run (indiscernible), too, he's a big (inaudible). They kind of got it going last week in the first half against Florida State. They were pretty good offensively. So I'm sure that that's the direction they're going to continue on.

Q. How have you been able to kind of balance out the carries with your running game, with your quarterback and the running backs where they have all at least 200 yards between them?
COACH JOHNSON: You know, it just kind of happened. We don't try to do that intentionally. We just kind of run our offense and we figure over the span of time it will equal itself out.

We could go into this game where the quarterback hardly carries the ball at all, or he could end up carrying it 25, 30 times. The defense kind of dictates who has the ball when we play.

Q. With the rise of Duke, Boston College and Syracuse doing pretty well this year, does that make this league even more parity-driven? Is there more parity in the league this year, do you think? I know it's early but there's kind of a surprising --
COACH JOHNSON: Yeah, I think the league for the past few years has been that way. Every game is tough. If you look, they're all going to be within a touchdown probably with people who try to do that for a living.

So I think there is a lot of that and that's why you have to go in and play well and especially on the road.

Q. Was Syracuse's performance against Clemson a good indication of that last week?
COACH JOHNSON: Possibly. I'm sure there was some other factors involved. I mean, I think Clemson lost their quarterback in the first half, didn't they?

Q. Yes.
COACH JOHNSON: Yeah, I'm sure that had something to do with it. But Syracuse has played Clemson well. The last couple of years they've given them fits.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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