Eziemefe aces first test as replacement for Hollings

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Posted 8:08AM on Monday, September 30, 2002

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - In the past three weeks, Ajenavi Eziemefe has gone from a would-be redshirt working with the scout team to the starting tailback at Georgia Tech. He might hold onto the position for a while. The freshman from New Orleans ran for 136 yards on 32 bruising carries in his first career start, leading the Yellow Jackets to a 21-13 victory over North Carolina. Eziemefe took over for Tony Hollings, who's out for the rest of year with a knee injury. A converted safety, Hollings was leading the country in rushing with 158 yards a game. For one game, at least, Eziemefe filled in admirably. "I knew that he had the ability, but whether he would do that, I had no idea," Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said. Gailey may not have been sure how his new tailback would do, but Eziemefe had enough confidence for both of them. He had a goal to gain 150 yards, and even though he didn't reach that mark, he did enough to help the Yellow Jackets finish with a nearly 14-minute advantage in time of possession. Just as importantly, he didn't fumble. "The opportunity arose so I just had to take it," Eziemefe said. "There are not that many times you get to be a starter for a Division I school, so I had to take it and run with it." And he's not too worried about getting his 150-yard game. "I didn't achieve it, but we have seven more games and a bowl game," he said. The Yellow Jackets (4-1, 1-1 ACC) beat North Carolina (1-3, 0 (1)- for the fifth straight time, and the Tar Heels dropped their Atlantic Coast Conference opener for the fourth time five seasons. North Carolina coach John Bunting was fuming after the game, complaining about silly penalties and missed several tackles. "Do they have a better football team than us? I don't know," Bunting said. "They just won. But if we keep playing like we're playing on defense and making bonehead plays to keep drives alive, we won't be very good." North Carolina trailed by one at halftime and had a chance to regain the lead on its first possession of the second half when Darian Durant connected with 276-pound tight end Bobby Blizzard over the middle. Blizzard warded off several tacklers and was headed for a 61-yard touchdown, but cornerback Reuben Houston stripped him of the ball at the 2. It was recovered in the end zone by Jonathan Cox for a touchback. The Yellow Jackets then used eight minutes to drive 80 yards on 18 plays for a 21-13 lead. "How do you put any value on what that play was worth?" Gailey said. "Then to cap it and go 80 yards and take a lot of time off the clock, you can't underestimate how big that was." Georgia Tech was stopped on the 5 and kicked a 23-yard field goal, but Derrick Johnson was called for running into kicker Dan Burnett, giving the Yellow Jackets a first down at the 3. Two plays later, Eziemefe dove over from the 1 for his second career TD. "After the first series, I calmed down and played my game," Eziemefe said.