| Miami aims to counter Calvin Johnson
Posted: Oct. 26, 2006
By Clark Spencer
MIAMI - Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson doesn't yakety-yak. Doesn't talk back. Doesn't talk much, period.
With Calvin Johnson, what you see is all you get. You want an elite pass catcher who blusters and showboats? Please see Terrell Owens or Randy Moss. You want one who does it with lips super-glued shut? Johnson is the man.
For 10 minutes during a conference call, five reporters took turns at him, trying to pry loose a tidbit here or a scrap of information there, and Johnson yielded about as many goodies as a house on Halloween with its porch light turned off.
"That's the way I am," Johnson said, revealing himself ever so briefly.
But hack sportswriters aren't the ones who have it the toughest when dealing with Calvin Johnson. Save your pity for the defensive backs assigned to cover him.
On Saturday, this will be the task for the University of Miami secondary, which ought to pay close attention to tapes of Clemson's victory over Tech last week.
Clemson denied Johnson a catch, the only time that has happened to him since, well, he can't remember the last time it happened, or if it ever did. Not his fault that the ball hardly was thrown his way or that he looked open half the night.
"I was upset for a little while," Johnson said.
And as sure as there is a Downtown Athletic Club in New York, Johnson's Heisman Trophy bid died in Death Valley with that goose egg in the stat column.
The Hurricanes can only be so fortunate when they travel to Atlanta for an Atlantic Coast Conference showdown against the Yellow Jackets.
GOING PRO EARLY?
Johnson, a junior, has not said for certain whether he will hang around for another season or turn pro. But if he does put his name in the NFL's draft bin, it's almost a given he would be the first wide receiver taken and one of the top picks overall, if not the top pick.
UM coach Larry Coker is just a little awed, remembering a catch made by Johnson last season in the Orange Bowl.
"I'll never forget it," Coker said. "I'm standing on the boundary and they run a fade route to Calvin Johnson, and I'm watching the ball, and I promise you the ball is going to go out of the Orange Bowl - I mean, it's not even going to come down in the Orange Bowl - and literally he jumps higher than the makeshift lighting they have, pulls it down and comes down with one foot inbounds. One of the most phenomenal catches I've seen."
Calvin Johnson was a first-team All American last season and the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2004, and rarely misses a throw in his direction. This season, he has 35 receptions for 559 yards and eight touchdowns - remember, he had all zeroes in those categories last weekend.
FROM ONE WHO KNOWS
Buddy Geis, the wide receivers coach at Georgia Tech, has been around the football block. He was an assistant coach in the NFL, guiding the likes of Sterling Sharpe in Green Bay and Marvin Harrison in Indianapolis. Geis doesn't knock either of those All-Pros.
"Marvin Harrison is 5-11, 185 pounds," Geis said. "He runs a quick 4.4 and vertical jumps 38 inches, which is an A-plus in the NFL. Now, here's this guy Johnson, who is close to 6-5, weighs 238 pounds, does a 4.3 and vertical jumps 45 to 46 inches. All have the same hands and explosion."
There is a pause, for intended effect.
"Now," Geis said, "who would you take?"
The Canes held Johnson to 89 yards on six catches and no touchdowns last season. They gladly would accept the same results Saturday.
Johnson, true to form, dismisses all talk of personal goals.
"We're trying to get to the ACC championship," he said, underscoring the significance of Saturday's game.
Just don't look for Johnson to ham it up if Tech rolls over Miami. Don't look for him to complain, either, if he has another week like he did against Clemson.
"How many receivers in college would walk out of a game, when you're supposedly the superstar, don't make a catch and never say a word?" Geis said. "It's not even on his mind." |
