Calvin Johnson's Prayers Have Been Answered

Reggie Ball has been ruled academically ineligible and will not be accompanying his Georgia Tech teammates to the Gator Bowl on January 1st. Ball's up-and-down season saw him pass for 20 touchdowns while throwing 14 interceptions and making numerous poor decisions that frequently left Georgia Tech fans scratching their heads and turning to the bottle for comfort.  Starting cornerback Kenny Scott was also an academic casualty for the Yellow Jackets.  Both players are seniors, so their collegiate careers will come to an anticlimactic finish. Chan Gailey named Taylor Bennett as the new starting quarterback.  He will take the majority of the practice snaps and will replace Ball in the Gator Bowl against West Virginia.  Bennett played in parts of five games this season, completing 16 of 29 passes for 197 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Jahi-Word Daniels will get the call to start at cornerback in the place of Scott. Interestingly, many Georgia Tech fans are more optimistic with the game now that Ball is out.  The team was on a downward spiral, with two straight losses, and most attributed its offensive shortcomings to Ball's inability to manage games well and his failure to frequently get the ball to all-world wide receiver Calvin Johnson.  With Bennett, just a sophomore, under center, fans will catch a glimpse at their likely 2007 starting quarterback.  Factor in that Gailey will have several practices to prepare Bennett AND that West Virginia's defensive gameplanners will have a limited opportunity to look at Bennett on film, and Georgia Tech may actually have a better opportunity of upsetting the Mountaineers, who are currently favored by 10-points. Maybe Calvin Johnson hid Reggie Ball's books during finals week?