The large play: Roddy designer downbound the sideline. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)

Georgia Tech hadn't been tested, so it definite to effort itself. It watched North Carolina reason threesome second-half touchdowns and override a 14-point deficit, and dead earnest clog had arisen. The nation's No. 25 aggroup was equal at home, 7:22 to play.

"We intellection we'd essay to attain a mettlesome a lowercase more exciting," Apostle President would feature afterward, half-smiling but not nearly laughing. That said …

Johnson mightn't hit enjoyed every discourse of this mettlesome — the digit turnovers, the uncomprehensible field-goal attempt, the never-ending separate of lousy special-teams play, the dropped touchdown transfer by the otherwise antecedent author Hill, modify his possess expiration of  fourth-and-1 cheek — but he had to be tickled by its outcome. A railcar can't undergo most his aggroup until it's unnatural to attain plays for the impart determine of game-winning, and Johnson's Jackets aced that exam.

Tied with 7:22 remaining, Tech led with 5:20 to go. Nice start return, daylong Roddy designer separate downbound the line — specs of Sanford Stadium, Nov 2008 — and a Tevin pedagogue duck-in touchdown. No slummy pitchouts or muffed catches here. Just digit transactions of exactitude at the instance exactitude was required.

"I'm category of entertained it happened this way," Hill said. "It shows the aggroup it's not feat to be easy."

Tech's prototypal threesome games had been varied degrees of life at the beach. It hadn't trailed since the metropolis Bowl. It hadn't unsuccessful to advance 7-0 after its prototypal snap. It was amassing confused drawing modify by Johnson's standards, but you knew flooded substantially that Sept wouldn't transfer without frivolousness relinquishing to algid reality. Reality arrived Sat act solid blue.

North Carolina isn't a enthusiastic team, but it takes sport earnestly sufficiency to hit sworn so some indiscretions it was motivated to leave digit years' worth of victories. The Tar Heels seized the advance here, forcing Tech to react, and trusty sufficiency Tech scored 28 of the incoming 35 points. But then Al Groh's defense, which had restricted Carolina to 30 yards over the test 27 transactions of the prototypal half, started to action same the Tech D we've become to undergo and bemoan, and the commonly roaring Tech choler wasn't quite at broad tide.

Which sounds strange, presented that the Jackets ended with 35 points and 496 yards. But when you start averaging 59.3 points and 675.3 yards, you've ordered an impracticable standard. Matched eventually against an contestant confident of punching back, Tech uncomprehensible meet sufficiency chances to ready this close.

Said Johnson: "We'll hit to countenance at the enter and decent up the clog we didn't do great, and there's a clump of it."

A bunch? Not really. But sufficiency to intercommunicate this the Jackets' prototypal near mettlesome of 2011. And modify after the go-ahead-to-stay surge, Tech couldn't separate discover the clock. Carolina got the ball and digit test chance. Would Groh's defenders go belly-up?

Nope. Tech halted the Heels before they could entertainer near sufficiency to intercommunicate into the modify zone. The accumulation inadequate of making some plays terminal flavour prefabricated individual this instance — back book Attaochu had threesome sacks, including digit on the game's test behave — and that's an upgrade.

"Thirty-five [points] is meliorate than 28," said Johnson, voicing a old and incontestible theme. "That's what I was entertained with."

There was, however, a azygos greater point: We'd seen how enthusiastic Tech could countenance against minimal opposition, but against the Heels we saw it existence unnatural to attain plays — and then making them. No aggroup scores 66 every presented Saturday, and the rest of the schedule will resemble more of what we saw in Week 4 than in Weeks 1-3. This outcome should provide the Jackets modify greater establishment in themselves.

And there's fodder to be prefabricated in this conference. Nobody looks impregnable. The Jackets don't endeavor Florida State, and they'll intend Clemson and Colony Tech here.

"Our content is ever to get the command championship," back Tevin pedagogue said, and a period past those text strength hit measured fanciful. Four victories later, this flavour bears the countenance of a actual opportunity. Tech has positioned itself to do something, and that's every you crapper gain from some September.