Yellow Jackets prepare to right their sinking ship

It's a short distance from the penthouse to the outhouse.

Just five years ago, the Georgia Tech football team was national champs. Now they are surviving on life support after a dismal 1-10 finish last year.

In the midst of losing a school-record 10 games, head coach Bill Lewis resigned. His replacement, George O'Leary, is burdened with the task of trying to rebuild the Yellow Jackets. But he knows that turnaround will take more than one year.

"I think attitude-wise right now the program is an A, but talent-wise it's probably a C," O'Leary said. "Hopefully A and C will combine to equal a B, and we'll be alright by that. We need a couple of years recruiting to get the players I want in the system."

Thus the prospects for Tech this year are noticeably dimmed. It returns 10 starters, including only three on defense. The Yellow Jackets will be young and inexperienced in many places on the field. They open their season Saturday against Division I-AA Furman, but even that game might be a challenge for them.

"I think that after you come off a 1-10 season every game seems tough," O'Leary said. "I think we'll go in and play a lot of young players in a lot of positions on defense. We'll find out how they react to playing big-time football right away."

Tech will have to try real hard to be any worse on defense this year. Last year it gave up an average of 29 points a game and over 400 yards in offense. Unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets, it just may be possible for them to be more porous this season.

The only returning starters are defensive linemen Patrick Bradford (6-2, 274) and Dan Witherspoon (6-2, 277) and cornerback Nathan Perryman (5-9, 160). O'Leary will be throwing freshmen and junior college transfers into the fire feet first.

On the offensive side of the football, the on-again, off-again saga of senior quarterback Donnie Davis is nearing an end. Davis signed with Tech following the national championship season, but he has been inconsistent throughout his career.

After patiently waiting on the sidelines for his chance to start, Davis took the reins in 1993, but he slumped throughout the season and was replaced last year by junior college transfer Tommy Luginbill. Not content with being a backup, Davis played wide receiver after junior Derrick Steagall was lost for the year when he broke his arm in the fifth game of the year.

O'Leary has straightened the situation out--naming Davis as the No. 1 quarterback after a strong spring practice--but Luginbill has since transferred to Eastern Kentucky and Steagall is out for at least the first game of the season with a strained hamstring.

"I think Donnie has always had some confidence," O'Leary said. "Now I think that it's a matured confidence. We're playing within a scheme where he can get some things done and really utilize his talents as an athlete.

"We're trying not to build the offense around Donnie, but rather to make him a part of it. We're not putting any undue pressure on him to make the big play every time he drops back to pass."

The loss of Steagall may be the most devastating for the Jackets. When healthy, Steagall, 6-0, 202, is Tech's big-play man. He possesses world-class speed and is a threat to score anytime he touches the pigskin.

Elsewhere on the offensive side of the ball, Tech should be better this year. At running back, sophomore C.J. Williams returns after his discovery last year. After being redshirted and then playing in the secondary for the early part of last year, Williams, 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, was moved to tailback after injuries depleted the Yellow Jackets running back corps.

Williams, a running back in high school, flourished for Tech in six games in the backfield. He ran for 564 yards and averaged 4.7 yards per carry.

When he gets the ball this year he will primarily be running behind senior All-American candidate Michael Cheever, a 6-foot-4, 281 pound, center. Cheever and two other starters return on the offensive line, which will average nearly 300 pounds a man.

The Jackets hope to control the ball more on offense after committing 38 turnovers last year. If they are unable to do so, they will place even more pressure on their inexperienced defense.

After three straight losing seasons, Tech is determined to right the sinking ship. But getting back above .500 this year may not be in sight for this Yellow Jacket team.

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