Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson trying to avoid another 'beat down' by the Cougars


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ATLANTA, GA — Saturday's game between BYU and Georgia Tech will feature two teams going going in opposite directions.

The Cougars are riding a two-game winning streak after beating Utah State last Friday night, while the Yellow Jackets have dropped two in a row.

BYU beat Georgia Tech last year in Atlanta, 41-17. Here's what Yellow Jacket Head Coach Paul Johnson had to say about this weekend's game in Provo:

Head Coach Paul Johnson on playing BYU ...

"Well we've got a huge challenge this week, I think, traveling to Provo, coming back off a road trip to Miami. I told somebody just a few minutes ago that we had a chance to play in 90 degrees on Saturday, and maybe the high 30s this Saturday, going across two time zones but more importantly you're playing a really good football team. I think BYU has developed quite an identity on defense the last few seasons. They're physical, sound and you can always count on them being in the top 20 it seems like these last few years. This year they're rushing the ball very well offensively; they've kind of committed to a different philosophy where they're more option-oriented, more run-oriented, than the BYU teams in the past. They have a very talented quarterback, a good group of running backs, Jamal Willis (he means Jamaal Williams) and a veteran offensive line, which I think I saw they have three starters returning, three guys back this week on the offensive line so I think that's good timing for us. We did not play very well against them a year ago here. They kind of physically got after us and took us to the woodshed probably as good as any time since I've been here so it'll be a challenge to see if we can play well in Provo. It's a tough place to play, I've been there a few times; they have a great crowd that's in to the game, usually they sell-out their games so it'll be quite a challenge."

Coach Johnson on how BYU runs its option ...

"This week we have to play assignment defense. I think that no matter who you play, you've got to eliminate the missed assignments and the big plays. Taysom Hill is capable when he gets in the space of turning seven/eight yard plays in to a 70 yard play. He's got that kind of speed, is hard to tackle and so do their backs. It'll be a little bit of a change in gears for the defense, going from Miami, which is a pro-style team, to this. The principles are the same, you have to be consistent and have your eyes where you belong and do what you're supposed to do every week, but it'll be a challenge for them, no question....

Coach Johnson on how BYU's defense looks compared to last year ...

"Well they've got a lot of new guys but Kyle Van Noy, the outside linebacker, is very talented and probably a first round draft pick I would think. There's three or four guys who played last year, several new guys. It's hard to tell with them because they come back off mission so it's not like they're freshmen. It could've been guys who were playing and starting two years ago, or three years ago, then they go on mission and come back and start up where they left off. They're talented, they've got good players."

Coach Johnson on what stands out about BYU LB Kyle Van Noy ...

"He's just a really good football player. He's probably 6' 5", 245, can run and he's got great football skills. I mean, you look at their last game, the very first play of the game they tried to throw a quick game pass out there, and the outside linebacker jumps up and doesn't knock it down, he catches it and scores with it. He makes a lot of plays, he's a good player."

Coach Johnson on if last year's game is motivation for this year ...

"You would think. I don't know if "beat down" is the right term. We got physically on the edge, they got after us pretty good. We were 0-10 on third down and we had one third down that was less than five yards. We got ourselves behind the eight ball; they did a great job. I just went back and broke down the game for about the 10th time to see if I've missed something. We had the ball twice in the first quarter; they did a good job controlling the ball and staying on the field and converting third downs. We didn't make our third downs. We had a couple of different times where we had second and two and we tried to throw a play-action pass and we got a holding penalty or we got sacked. And you have to give them credit for making plays but we're not going to survive if it's third and 10 every time, nobody is. Contrary to popular opinion, there aren't a lot of teams that make a lot of third and 10s so you've got to stay out of that."

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