Choice in no rush for personal glory

By MIKE KNOBLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 09/13/07

Tashard Choice ranks ninth in the nation with 153 yards rushing per game.

He could easily rank higher if Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey hadn't pulled him after just 11 carries against Samford. Choice came out before the end of the first quarter and didn't return as the Yellow Jackets won in a 69-14 rout.

Choice ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns, and, Gailey said, "more than likely could have had about 200 yards if we had left him out there."

Leaving Choice in might have helped his chances at winning awards but would have unnecessarily exposed him to the chance of getting hurt in a game whose outcome was no longer in doubt. It also would have deprived other running backs of game experience they needed to become better able to help the Yellow Jackets in the future.

"My theory about that is if you create championship teams there will be enough awards and accolades to go around," Gailey said. "If you start going after the individual awards and looking at that and focusing on that, that's where you get offbeat and your team starts to split."

Choice was outwardly unhappy last season when he didn't get the ball, but only in situations like the ACC championship game where he thought he could have helped Tech win a game it lost. The Samford game was different.

"I said, 'Look, Tashard, I'd like to play some of these other guys,'?" Gailey said. "I was going to say, I'm all for the individual-type awards and stuff like that, and he said, 'Coach, hey, we're trying to win a championship. It's not about me and my yards and all that kind of stuff. You do what you think we need to do to win a championship.'

"That's what makes him unique.

"When you have the great players that are team-oriented, that's when you have the chance to have a great team. When your great players are team players, that keeps the team headed in the right direction. We were fortunate that Calvin [Johnson] was that way last year, and Tashard and a bunch of the other seniors are in the same boat this year with their senior leadership."

Not every team takes the same approach. Rutgers Heisman Trophy candidate Ray Rice averaged 31 carries in a 35-point victory over Buffalo and a 17-point victory over Navy.


Tickets for Saturday remain, selling fast

Fans who don't have a ticket for Saturday night's game between No. 15 Tech and No. 21 Boston College might need to act fast. Assistant athletics director Scott McLaren said Wednesday that sales have been picking up. One reason: The Clemson game is nearly sold out, and the only way to get a seat for that game is to buy a three-game package. Fans who buy those flex packs to get seats for the Clemson game have been requesting Boston College tickets as part of their package, McLaren said.

Boston College requested 3,000 tickets but returned about half. Seats remain in the upper west and upper north stands.


Tenuta, Gailey have good coordination

Jon Tenuta and Gailey have a straightforward working relationship. "He runs the defense," Gailey said, "and I don't mess with him." It's not quite that simple, of course. They do talk about things like two-minute situations, Gailey said. ... Tech will recognize its national champion women's tennis team at halftime of Saturday's game.