A Warrior at His Finest

Coming into the season the talk on the historic campus in Atlanta is best summed up in 2 words.

ACC Champions

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and their fans had high hopes entering the 2009 season led by reigning ACC player of the year in Jonathan Dwyer. Normally as the Diesel roles, the jackets role. However the Diesel did not get rolling fully until Saturdays game against #18 UNC where he carried the ball 19 times for 158 yards. This obviously meant that he led the team in carries.. right?

WRONG

Quarterback Josh Nesbitt carried the ball 32 times for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns against the 6th best rush defense in the nation. A person who watches the game by looking at the box score might see those 32 carries by nesbitt and wonder if he is still alive. After all he is a QUARTERBACK. Alive and mighty Nesbitt remains after leading Tech on a 17 play 76 yard drive that lasted 8 minutes and 20 seconds and consisted of five 3rd down conversions and ended when Nesbitt saulted the crowd after he had galloped into the endzone from 10 yards out. "He willed us to win"; coach Paul Johnson said of Nesbitt who also was 7/11 for 89 yards in the air. "He showed a lot of toughness and courage"

Nesbitt must have courage playing quarterback in the triple option scheme as it requires him getting hit nearly every play whether he has the ball or not. Most games you will see Nesbitt with his hands on his knees in the huddle or get up extremely slowly. When he breaks a run into the open field, you will see him running with a slight limp. This is about the time when the defense thinks they have him gassed. Well, in fact he is gassed, but he will not let that stop him. The next play, there is a good chance Paul Johnson will put the ball in his quarterback's hands and let him do what he does best. Lowering his shoulder, driving with his strong legs, and making big plays in crunch time. His heart outweighs his pain and stamina.

He did this against Clemson in the second game of the season. Georgia Tech had squandered a 24-0 lead and were down by 3 by the score of 27-24. Nesbitt had been harassed all night, not getting anything done in the air or the ground, or making correct reads. Paul Johnson switches up the formation and lets nesbitt take matters into his own hands. Nesbitt proceeded to carry the ball five straight times and seven out of 10 plays getting Tech down to the Clemson 19. After a failed 3rd down conversion Nesbitt hobbles off the field gasping for air. Kicker Scott Blair then ties the game at 27 all. After a defensive stop Tech gets the ball again. Facing a 3rd and 11 on what would be Tech's last drive, Nesbitt drops back and and completes a beautiful thrown 39 yard pass to his favorite target Demaryius Thomas. This completion set up the winning field goal as Tech avoided what would have been a crushing loss. Josh Nesbitt's play on the last two drives was incredible to watch as he played flawlessly when it mattered.

This play is nothing new for Tech fans as we saw Nesbitt come up with clutch plays in 08.

How Josh Nesbitt plays is simply incredible. He doesn't stop. His heart and will to win gets him that crucial 4th down conversion on that game deciding drive. It pumps the team up. It leads the team to victory. Nesbitt is on a mission every play. That mission is to win.

Josh Nesbitt is a Warrior.