Johnson-led Georgia Tech defense on a roll

ATLANTA (AP) Mississippi State quarterback Wesley Carroll couldn't come up with Michael Johnson's name, but he sure knew the number.

"That 93 is a heck of an athlete,'' Carroll said after Johnson led the Yellow Jackets' defense to a 38-7 rout of the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Johnson blocked a field goal, deflected two passes, recovered a fumble and had a fourth-down sack. By the time the 6-foot-7, 260-pound senior was through disrupting Mississippi State's efforts on offense and special teams, Carroll had seen enough.

``He's great,'' said Carroll of Johnson. ``They had a real strong pass rush. Their front four played really well.''

Georgia Tech had seven tackles for losses, five pass breakups and two interceptions. Backup defensive end Jason Peters had two sacks. The backups on Georgia Tech's defense were on the field when Mississippi State finally scored midway through the fourth quarter.

Johnson said he approached defensive line coach Giff Smith on the sideline as the Bulldogs moved closer to their only touchdown.

``I asked him are we trying to get the shutout,'' Johnson said. ``He was like, 'It's cool. We're trying to get some guys some snaps.'''

The shutout was lost, but coach Paul Johnson achieved the goal of giving backups some playing time.

``The score really doesn't matter,'' the coach said, referring to the difference between winning by 31 or 38 points. ``You want to win the game. We had the game in hand. We would have felt pretty stupid if we put one of those guys back in and we had an injury.''

Georgia Tech (3-1) already has other injury concerns as it has an off week before playing Duke on Oct. 4. Quarterback Josh Nesbitt left the game with a hamstring injury on the opening drive. Freshman Jaybo Shaw ran and passed for touchdowns as the Yellow Jackets had their first turnover-free game of the season and gained 500 yards, including 438 yards rushing.

Paul Johnson said Shaw would start against Duke if Nesbitt has not recovered from the injury. Either quarterback will have the advantage of the support the big-play defense.

The defense gave up 407 yards to Mississippi State, but held the Bulldogs to only one score in five red-zone opportunities.

``I'm proud of our guys,'' Paul Johnson said. ``Defensively, in the first half we bent a little but then when we got down with our backs against the goal line, we make and play and we find a way to get a turnover, find a way to do some things.''

Michael Johnson still wants to find a way to complete a shutout.

``It was good, but we wanted to hold them to zero points,'' Johnson said. `We'll go back and work harder.''

The win over Mississippi State was especially important after the 20-17 loss at Virginia Tech last week.

``Coach Johnson said after the loss to Virginia Tech that good teams don't lose two in a row,'' Michael Johnson said.

Georgia Tech should be favored in its next two home games against Duke and Gardner-Webb, giving the Yellow Jackets a chance to be 5-1 when they visit Clemson on Oct. 18.