Oct. 1, 2009

By Bill Hass
theACC.com

GREENSBORO, N.C. - For defensive players at Georgia Tech, the eyes may not necessarily be the windows to their souls, but they are the windows to playing well.

When offensive players, particularly running backs and quarterbacks, see the field well they are said to have "good vision." But defenders need it, too. Here's how Georgia Tech safety Morgan Burnett, who made two interceptions against North Carolina last weekend, put it:

"I just try my best to play with my eyes and play my assignment. It's basically reading your keys, knowing whether it's play-action."

Yellow Jackets coach Paul Johnson doesn't know where the term "play with your eyes" came from, but he wants his defenders to know what it means.

"I think that is the way you are supposed to play," Johnson said. "The worst thing you can do on defense is have a bunch of guys staring in the (offensive) backfield. They have keys that they have to look at. If the defender is playing man-to-man defense but looking in the backfield, then he is going to get toasted. He better have his eyes on the receiver."

It's not often that Burnett gets toasted. The junior safety has 13 interceptions so far in his career. He's one of those players with a knack for being where the ball is and making a play on it. To do that, the first thing he does is know his assignment.

"Then a good push from the defensive line hurries the quarterback up on his reads and his passes," Burnett said, "and it makes it easier for me to come away with picks."

Johnson said the combination of athleticism and awareness helps Burnett be in position for interceptions.

"When he puts his eyes in the right place and does the right things he can come up with a lot of big plays for us," Johnson said. "Some kids are just blessed with that ability and certainly he has it."

North Carolina coach Butch Davis said Burnett reminds his staff of former Tar Heel safety Trimane Goddard, who matched Burnett's total of seven interceptions last season.

"(Burnett is) a very heady, very smart, instinctive football player," Davis said. "He's somebody that's very aware, he diagnoses routes and concepts in the secondary very well, and he's always been a good playmaker for them."

At North Clayton High School in College Park, Ga., just outside Atlanta, Burnett played quarterback, wide receiver and safety. He said a lot of schools recruited him as an "athlete," meaning he could wind up at any number of positions. When he chose Georgia Tech, he knew exactly where he wanted to be on the field.

"A safety is more of an aggressive player and has good range to play the field," he said. "I play both sides of the field, and I have the range to fly around and find ways to be around the football.

"Sometimes I have to come on run support. It's pretty much fun to me, especially when the defense is dominant."

When Burnett paid his official visit to Georgia Tech, he bonded quickly with quarterback Josh Nesbitt and linebacker Brad Jefferson. The three are nearly inseparable - Morgan rooms with Nesbitt, and Jefferson is his partner in keeping the locker room loose.

"He's probably a little bit shy at times," Johnson said, "but once he gets to know you and around the guys he's certainly a leader. I think they respect his ability on the field and respect how hard he works.

"He's a funny guy. He and Brad Jefferson can have the whole locker room rolling in there. They've got a little rap routine they do, and they're always cutting up. But Morgan is a leader on the football team."

That respect showed when his teammates voted Burnett one of this season's three captains.

"That's the thing you love the most in the locker room, being respected by your teammates," he said. "I take that to heart very much. It really did (surprise me) because there are so many players on our team who could be captain, so to vote me was a great honor."

Burnett admitted to being a fairly quiet person around campus. But the other side of him bubbles up around his teammates and other close friends.

"Me and my partner, Brad Jefferson, most of the time we're singing and dancing in the locker room, doing some crazy things," he said. "Once I warm up to a crowd I get my funny side out."

With their 24-7 win over North Carolina, the Yellow Jackets thrust themselves squarely into the Coastal Division race. Their 2-1 ACC record is tied with Miami for second behind Virginia Tech, although Miami owns the tiebreaker by virtue of its win over the Jackets.

This week, Georgia Tech steps outside the ACC to play at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs came within an eyelash of upsetting highly regarded LSU last week. Burnett is aware of the ACC-SEC implication but tries not to be drawn into it.

"We don't look at it as ACC vs. SEC, it's Georgia Tech vs. Mississippi State and that's a great ball club over there," Burnett said. "Their passing looks good, their running game looks good, you can tell that they have improved from last year and they look like a real good football team.

"People are going to hype it as ACC vs. SEC but we just want to stay focused on Mississippi State and try to figure out a game plan that will beat them."

Tech has two other cracks at SEC teams later this season - Oct. 31 at Vanderbilt and the regular season finale Nov. 28 against Georgia. The latter game is of heightened significance to Burnett because his older brother, Cap Burnett, played safety and linebacker for Georgia from 1998-2002.

The brothers are close - Morgan lists Cap as his "Childhood Sports Hero" in the Georgia Tech media guide. He said Cap wasn't too rough on him when he picked Georgia Tech as his school.

"He supports me anyway because he's my older brother," Burnett said. "When that weekend comes around, though, it gets interesting in our household."

Cap had the bragging rights when Georgia won Morgan's freshman season, but Georgia Tech evened the Burnett series by winning in 2008. Regardless, Burnett knows his older brother is always there for him.

"I talk to him all the time about football, about things in life," Burnett said. "He always gives me positive (feedback), motivational words, he keeps me lifted up even when I'm down. He does sometimes (critique) but he always does it in a positive way."

Burnett said the most important team goal this season is to stay focused on winning the ACC championship, which the Yellow Jackets set during summer workouts.

As for his own play, there are things on which Burnett wants to concentrate.

"I think I'm doing OK," he said. "I can improve on my coverage, my tackling and playing with my eyes."

In the end, then, the eyes have it at Georgia Tech.

Bill Hass is a long-time observer of ACC sports. His career at the Greensboro News & Record spanned 36 years, from 1969 until his retirement in March, 2006. He is now writing "Bill Hass on the ACC" for theACC.com. His weekly columns will keep fans plugged in to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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