ATLANTA — Postseason play may officially start the week after Thanksgiving, but try to convince Georgia Tech of that.

The Yellow Jackets, according to their head coach Paul Johnson, have been in a postseason mind-set since the week after Labor Day. Maintaining dreams of winning a conference championship — even just days after experiencing a key conference loss to Miami — they had to, he said.
“Since we lost to Miami (Sept. 17), I told our guys every Monday that that week’s game is single-elimination,” Johnson, a former Hawaii assistant coach, said Tuesday during his news conference. “It’s like the playoffs. That is the way we’ve tried to go at it.
“I don’t know if you remember, but I sat here and said after the Miami game that I thought no one would win our division with two losses.”
On Saturday, the No. 7 Yellow Jackets (9-1, 6-1 ACC) will be out to avoid a second conference loss when they travel to Durham, N.C., to take on ACC foe Duke.
At 3-2 in the conference, the Blue Devils (5-4 overall) sit just behind the Yellow Jackets in the Coastal Division standings, and with a win, they could force a first-place tie by season’s end. For that reason alone, Johnson said his players will not overlook the once hapless program.
A Georgia Tech victory would clinch the division title and send the Yellow Jackets into the ACC championship game Dec. 5 in Tampa, Fla.
“We’re getting closer to the finish line as far as the conference race goes,” Johnson said. “We have it in our sights now. We’ve talked about it for about six weeks, and now we’ve got to go up to Durham and play an improved Duke team.”
The Blue Devils’ most noted improvements have taken place defensively, Johnson said.
Allowing 16.3 points in its past three games, the Duke defense ranks among the top 30 teams nationally in total defense and passing defense. It also ranks third nationally in fourth-down defense, holding opponents to a 25 percent conversion rate.
“They’ve been better on offense, but I think on defense is where they’re most improved,” Johnson said.
While much of the attention paid to Duke this season has revolved around its offense and quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, who ranks among the ACC’s best with a 269.8-yards-per-game average, Johnson contends that the Blue Devils’ defense has made the biggest strides.
Citing last week’s Duke game against North Carolina, he credited the Blue Devils’ defenders for keeping the team in what was a tie game until late in the third quarter. For the game, they allowed just 119 yards passing.
With defenders like linebacker Vincent Rey and cornerback Leon Wright playing so well that day, it made watching the offense’s struggles all the more troubling, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said.
“We got so one-sided in a close ballgame, and it was frustrating in that regard,” said Cutcliffe, whose offense was held to just 125 yards of total offense against North Carolina. “We have proven that we can make plays in the passing game. (But) we’ve got to improve our balance (against Georgia Tech) to have a chance.”
Cutcliffe did say he was proud of how his team has played throughout this season. A big surprise in the ACC, the Blue Devils are hoping to be the conference’s Cinderella story.
“From where we saw our first workout, I’m going to be real honest and say that we’ve moved faster than I thought we could have moved,” Cutcliffe said. “And it’s because of these players. I’m really proud of their commitment, their work ethic. I can’t say enough about them; our circumstance is about our players. And this is not just coach talk. They’ve done far more than what I expected them to be able to do.”