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2009 Georgia Tech

11–⁠3 (7–⁠1 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Paul Johnson, finished No. 13 in the AP poll. Officially 10–⁠3: the NCAA vacated the 2009 ACC Championship Game win.

From the season’s Wikipedia article: “Later in 2011 the ACC Championship was vacated by the NCAA due to the circumstances surrounding an improper benefits investigation.”

Schedule and results

Georgia Tech in 2009, game by game: won vs. Jacksonville State 37–17; won vs. Clemson 30–27; lost at No. 20 Miami 17–33; won vs. No. 22 North Carolina 24–7; won at Mississippi State 42–31; won at Florida State 49–44; won vs. No. 4 Virginia Tech 28–23; won at Virginia 34–9; won at Vanderbilt 56–31; won vs. Wake Forest 30–27; won at Duke 49–10; lost vs. Georgia 24–30; won vs. No. 25 Clemson 39–34; lost vs. No. 10 Iowa 14–24+39−16Won 37–17 vs. Jacksonville State+20Jacksonville St…Won 30–27 vs. Clemson+3ClemsonLost 17–33 at No. 20 Miami-16No. 20 MiamiWon 24–7 vs. No. 22 North Carolina+17No. 22 North CarolinaWon 42–31 at Mississippi State+11Mississippi Sta…Won 49–44 at Florida State+5Florida StateWon 28–23 vs. No. 4 Virginia Tech+5No. 4 Virginia TechWon 34–9 at Virginia+25VirginiaWon 56–31 at Vanderbilt+25VanderbiltWon 30–27 vs. Wake Forest+3Wake ForestWon 49–10 at Duke+39DukeLost 24–30 vs. Georgia-6GeorgiaWon 39–34 vs. No. 25 Clemson+5No. 25 ClemsonLost 14–24 vs. No. 10 Iowa-10No. 10 Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsJacksonville StateW 37–⁠1779%
Sep 10vsClemsonW 30–⁠2756%
Sep 17at20MiamiL 17–⁠3347%
Sep 26vs22North CarolinaW 24–⁠754%
Oct 3atMississippi StateW 42–⁠3155%
Oct 10atFlorida StateW 49–⁠4445%
Oct 17vs4Virginia TechW 28–⁠2348%
Oct 24atVirginiaW 34–⁠958%
Oct 31atVanderbiltW 56–⁠3175%
Nov 7vsWake ForestW 30–⁠2776%
Nov 14atDukeW 49–⁠1071%
Nov 28vsGeorgiaL 24–⁠3072%
Dec 5vs25ClemsonACC Championship GameW 39–⁠34vacated57%
Jan 5Bowls & playoffvs10IowaOrange BowlL 14–⁠2452%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Iowa 24–⁠14 in the Orange Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 19th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 15
  2. Wk 2: 15
  3. Wk 3: 14
  4. Wk 5: 25
  5. Wk 6: 22
  6. Wk 7: 19
  7. Wk 8: 11
  8. Wk 9: 11
  9. Wk 10: 10
  10. Wk 11: 7
  11. Wk 12: 7
  12. Wk 13: 7
  13. Wk 14: 12
  14. Wk 15: 9
  15. Final: 13

Atlantic Coast Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference, won the ACC Championship Game

Record
11–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 7
Points
473–⁠347
Coach
Paul Johnson
Elo
1669 +112 this season
SP+ rating
9.7 No. 36 of 120; offense No. 19, defense No. 60, special teams No. 52
SRS
12.9 No. 14 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 41
Defensive coordinator
Dave Wommack
Offense
Flexbone triple option
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense18th of 120
  • Defense80th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted7th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted90th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1043%0.9418th of 120
Defense0.0741%0.9680th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.11 off
0.06 def		44% off
41% def		—7th off
90th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.2own 322% allowed
Defense0.0own 323% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsJoshua Nesbitt QB1,701 yds
Passing touchdownsJoshua Nesbitt QB10 TD
Rushing yardsJonathan Dwyer RB1,395 yds
Rushing touchdownsJoshua Nesbitt QB18 TD
Receiving yardsDemaryius Thomas WR1,154 yds
Receiving touchdownsDemaryius Thomas WR8 TD
InterceptionsMorgan Burnett S4 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Roderick Sweeting CB★★★★No. 331
Jordan Luallen DUAL★★★★No. 359
David Sims ATH★★★No. 377
Will Jackson OG★★★No. 377
Euclid Cummings WDE★★★No. 865

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.890
Receivers13.00.853
Offensive line13.00.889
Defensive line13.00.857
Linebackers13.00.836
Defensive backs33.00.839
Athletes and specialists13.00.889
Whole class93.10.859

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 1Derrick Morgan DETennessee Titans
Rd 1Demaryius Thomas WRDenver Broncos
Rd 3Morgan Burnett SGreen Bay Packers
Rd 6Jonathan Dwyer RBPittsburgh Steelers

Roster 120

The 2009 roster

120 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 30 have a stat line. See the roster

2009 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia Tech7–⁠111–⁠313
Virginia Tech6–⁠210–⁠310
Clemson6–⁠29–⁠524
Miami5–⁠39–⁠419
Boston College5–⁠38–⁠5
North Carolina4–⁠48–⁠5
Florida State4–⁠47–⁠6
Wake Forest3–⁠55–⁠7
Duke3–⁠55–⁠7
NC State2–⁠65–⁠7
Virginia2–⁠63–⁠9
Maryland1–⁠72–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.