Yes, Georgia Tech would prefer not to see the ball in the air while it’s on offense. Still, when they are forced to trade a handoff for a forward pass, they’ll do so without a pair of players in the opener.
On his Tweeter feed of all things, head coach Paul Johnson announced that wide receivers Darren Waller and Travin Henry have been suspended for Saturday’s game against FCS-level Elon. “Violation of team rules” was, obviously, the only reason given.
As a result, per a subsequent Tech release, the Yellow Jackets will head into the opener without a receiver with a career reception at the collegiate level. And, yes, for the snide ones in the audience, that could very well be the case exiting the game as well. Tech’s release went on to state that “it’s quite possible that the two starters could be making their college football debut – r-Fr. Micheal Summers and former baseball player DeAndre Smelter.”
Of the two, though, the loss of Waller is the more significant one. While Waller had just eight receptions in 2012 -- good for fifth on the team, incidentally -- he had 162 yards, a 20.3 average that was second among receivers with at least five catches.
Henry took a redshirt as a true freshman last season.