Jackets suiting up for title run.(Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team)(Brief Article)

Meet college football's fresh face: Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are an adorably attractive pick to be this year's dark-horse national champion.

But why Tech, which is ranked 12th in TSN's pre-season poll after finishing last season 9-3 with a loss to LSU in the Peach Bowl? Well, it has a bright and dynamic coach, George O'Leary; a potent offensive attack directed by a Heisman contender, quarterback George Godsey, plus a fast and experienced defense led by end Greg Gathers and linebacker Daryl Smith. All together, it's enough for the Jackets to rub shoulders in title talk with Texas, Florida, Miami, Oklahoma and Oregon.

By the time they roll into Tallahassee, Fla., on September 15 to play Florida State, the Jackets will be hotter than a Chipper Jones bobblehead doll.

Though winning at Florida State ranks somewhere between highly unlikely to impossible, the Jackets could become the first team to win at Doak Campbell Stadium since Miami in 1991, a span of 52 games in which only one team got out of town without a loss (Florida, a 31-31 tie in 1994).

The Jackets' cause in Tallahassee will be aided by the game's early-season timing. There's a slim chance Florida State won't have its issues at quarterback, running back, receiver, defensive line, linebacker, the secondary and kicker worked out yet.

The Jackets already know they can hang with the Seminoles. Last year, Tech lost to the 'Noles, 26-21, and in 1999, the Jackets dropped a 41-35 decision. Still, this is Florida State, which has gone 36-0 against ACC foes at home and 70-2 in all conference games since joining the league in 1992.

"Speed and luck go hand in hand, and they have plenty of speed" says O'Leary. "We've played them tough, but that only counts in horseshoes.... They've done a great job not only in the ACC, but throughout the country of having outstanding athletes who are well coached."