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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

December 4, 2009

Paul Johnson

TAMPA, FLORIDA

COACH JOHNSON: Well, as I said earlier, we're excited to be here in Tampa to represent the Coastal Division of the ACC and have a chance to play for the ACC Championship and a BCS berth in the Orange Bowl. When we started the season, that was goal number one, and to our guys' credit they've fought their way here. There are only two teams left that are playing for it, and we've got a chance to play against a very good Clemson team tomorrow night with all that on the line.
So excited to be here and looking forward to the game.

Q. This will be the last championship game in Florida until it moves to Charlotte next year. I was wondering do you have any preference on where you would like to see this game being played in the foreseeable future?
COACH JOHNSON: No, I hadn't even thought about it. I'd just like to be in it. That's the only preference that I have is that we have a representation in the game. That would mean we had a successful year. I would think wherever you play it, I'm sure they'll do a great job.

Q. Just wanted to check back and make sure that Josh was healthy all week, and if not, if that changes anything, your game plan if you have to use Jaybo.
COACH JOHNSON: I think Josh will be fine. If something happens that he can't play or wouldn't play, then we wouldn't change anything with Jaybo. The game plan is what it is. We're very confident that he can go in and run what we've got planned for this game, so it wouldn't change a whole lot.

Q. Are you amused or bemused or do you not care that now you're being considered maybe an offensive innovator and that maybe this may be the first indication of a move back to option football?
COACH JOHNSON: You know, I haven't had time to think much about that. I think that football goes in circles anyway, and you know, with the big rage with the wildcat now, it's pretty much the old single wing, it just kind of goes in circles. I think defense does the same thing.
There are very few football teams now that don't have some option component to their package. Certainly most don't run it as often as we do or from the same formations and all that, but I think it comes in circles.

Q. What would it mean if you could win the ACC Championship and go to the Orange Bowl in your second year?
COACH JOHNSON: Well, I think it would be the ultimate finish to what has been a really good season for our football team and program. We're in our second year building the program, and you know, we've gotten ourselves in this championship game. Certainly if you're going to be here to play in it, you'd like to try to win it. That's why you're here.
I think that any time that you can be the conference champ and be in a BCS Bowl game, it would have to be good for your program, there's no question about that. So it would be big.

Q. Just kind of following up on that, have you heard from any of the old players, whether it's from '90 when you last won the title outright, or '98?
COACH JOHNSON: No, I don't think so, not directly. To be quite honest with you, this week we haven't had much time to do anything except practice and try to get ready. But haven't heard a great deal about it. I think that certainly I'm sure they'd be excited. Even though Georgia Tech won the National Championship in 1990, we have not been to a BCS Bowl game in a long, long time.
I think the way the structure was then, I don't know if they even called them BCS Bowl games. They played in the Gator Bowl and won the National Championship. So it would be a milestone for the program, I think, and for our football program to get there.

Q. Obviously both teams, you and Clemson, are coming off losses to your rival schools. Obviously I know that doesn't affect y'all's focus heading into this week, but did you notice any change in the excitement level around the city, around campus, in the wake of that loss or did it have any effect?
COACH JOHNSON: I don't know what effect it had. I did see anymore excitement. Certainly when you play your in-state rival, it's a big game, and it's a game that we were disappointed we didn't win. But I think you have to give Georgia credit, as I said earlier. They beat us, and you move on. The good thing is you have another game to play, so you don't have to live with that for the rest of the year. You have a chance to get that taste out of your mouth and move on.
It didn't dampen our enthusiasm and our excitement about being here as a football team, I can tell you that. Our goal is to try to win the ACC Championship, and that really doesn't have anything to do with that goal. While it is an important game, and it's a big deal to our players and our fans and alumni, we understand that, but the two are not mutually inclusive.

Q. What are you able to take away from the first game when there was so much separation here between the first meeting and then playing tomorrow night?
COACH JOHNSON: Oh, I don't know. I think that even though it's been a long time ago, the first game going in, we really didn't have any idea. We were kind of guessing how they would line up defensively. We had played Clemson in Coach Swinney's first week when he got the job, and the offense hadn't changed a whole lot. I think it's similar. They do some different things, but it's pretty much a lot of the same components.
We probably have a little better idea defensively how they're going to play, they have a better idea how we're going to attack what they're going to do or line up in.
Good teams have tendencies, and both teams have some, and it's going to come down to blocking and tackling and taking care of the ball, and the same thing that every football game comes down to. I don't know if it's an advantage for one team or the other. I don't worry about it.
It's been a long time since we played two teams in the same year, since I was coaching at Georgia Southern and we did it in the playoffs sometimes. It is what it is. Ten games ago seems like a whole 'nother season. It's been a long time. A lot of water under the bridge since then.

Q. Looking forward after this game, there's a pretty strong sentiment that the loser of this game could fall a couple notches in the Bowl pecking order, Clemson more than you guys because of your conference record. I didn't know if you saw any big picture fault in kind of a system that's based on a business model as much as merit.
COACH JOHNSON: Honestly, I don't know enough about that right now to even comment on it. I think that I'll let the people that deal with that deal with that, and we're just trying to get ready to play this football game and beat a good Clemson team and go to the Orange Bowl. We can control our own destiny. We've just got to go out there and get it done.
I've never really been to a bad Bowl game. They're all fun. They all have good things. You know, whatever happens happens. But we're going to put everything we've got into going to Miami. That's our goal is to get down there.

Q. I know you're only in your second year here, and Georgia is obviously your big rival, but what kind of sense do you get for the Georgia Tech/Clemson game in terms of the feeling of players and the fans and the rivalry sense of this game?
COACH JOHNSON: Well, I think there is a lot of mutual respect between the two schools. Certainly Clemson is our designated rival in the ACC. You know, within the Coastal and Atlantic, each team has a rival that you play every year. As opposed to rolling, Clemson and Georgia Tech are designated as rivals. They're very familiar with one another, the proximity of the two schools is fairly close, we recruit a lot of same kids. I know on our end at Georgia Tech we have a great deal of respect for Clemson and what they do. We love competing against them. They always have good athletes and a good program, and when the game is over, I think there's a lot of mutual respect.

Q. How important is it for Jon Dwyer to have a breakout game this game? Of course he didn't really get many touches last game and the last time you played Clemson.
COACH JOHNSON: Well, it would be important, but he didn't have a breakout game last time and we won. If you're asking would I like him to rush for 180 yards, you bet. I'd like to see him score four or five touchdowns, too. We'd love to get Jon cranked up and get started. He's a great player. But I'm more worried about our overall deal than Jon. You know, Jon will take care of Jon, and he'll get some touches at some point in the game, and hopefully he can do something with it. A lot of it doesn't depend on Jon, it depends on the guys in front of him and the guys blocking and the quarterback and those kind of things.
Clearly we're a better football team when he can rush for over 100 yards. I think you can say that about anybody. Hopefully he'll have a good game. I don't even -- I'll tell you how important it is, I couldn't even tell you how many touches he had the last time we played them. When I look at the tape, I don't get into that. I get into what we're trying to accomplish as an offense, and it'll kind of get in the flow of things. I can assure you he'll get to carry tomorrow if he's out there.

Q. I think I know the answer to this, but if it's a wet track does that affect what you do?
COACH JOHNSON: I don't think so. It'll depend on how wet it is, if it's a deluge or whatever, then certainly it'll affect both teams. We've played in the rain two or three times this year, and I don't think it'll affect the way we play. We might not throw it 30 times if it rains.

End of FastScripts

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