h and Geoff Allott exposed limitations in the Habib tec | Forum

ATLANTA -- Justin Thomas weaved through the Duke defense on a 50-yard run, finally clinching a Georgia Tech win with less than 2 minutes remaining. Wade Boggs Jersey .After ending the crucial run with a slide, Thomas rose to walk back to his teammates with the added swagger that showed he knew this had been a special day.Thomas ran and threw for a combined 459 yards with four touchdowns and Georgia Tech recovered after blowing a three-touchdown lead to beat Duke 38-35 on Saturday.Im out there trying to have fun, just enjoying the moment, embracing it, Thomas said.Thomas ran for a career-high 195 yards with two touchdowns and threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns. He became the first Georgia Tech player with 400 yards of total offense since George Godseys school-record 477 yards against Virginia in 2001.Hats off to Justin Thomas, said Duke linebacker Ben Humphreys. Its probably the best game hes had in his career. Watching on film, hes a different player in person.Duke coach David Cutcliffe said he told Thomas after the game `Young man, you played like a senior.Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said Dukes defense forced Thomas to keep the ball on option plays.I thought he played very well today, Johnson said. He made plays.Said Thomas: Its just me trying to be aggressive.Georgia Tech (5-3, 2/3 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped a streak of two straight losses to Duke (3-5, 0-4).Duke running back Jela Duncan, who ran for two touchdowns, suffered a lower leg injury that Cutcliffe said appears to be season-ending.Cutcliffe called the injury news really just gut-wrenching.After trailing 28-7 at halftime, Duke took advantage of two Georgia Tech turnovers and a fourth-down stop to score 28 of the next 31 points for a 35-31 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Daniel Jones 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Daniel Helm gave the Blue Devils the lead. It was Helms second touchdown catch.Thomas and the Yellow Jackets had a quick answer. Thomas was chased out of the Georgia Tech end zone for a 46-yard run before completing a 21-yard touchdown pass to Clinton Lynch.FOURTH AND NONE: No team has converted a fourth down on Dukes defense this season. Add Georgia Tech to the list after Marcus Allen was stopped on a fourth-and-1 run early in the fourth quarter. It was the ninth straight fourth-down stop for Duke. Georgia Techs offense is 8 for 15 on fourth-down conversions.GREEN HURTGeorgia Tech running back J.J. Green couldnt put weight on his right leg and was helped to the locker room in the third quarter. Georgia Tech announced Green wouldnt return but provided no other update on his injury.THE TAKEAWAYDuke: The Blue Devils showed heart in not giving up after it appeared Georgia Tech put the game away in the first half. Though overshadowed by Thomas, Jones also posted big numbers as he passed for 305 yards with two touchdowns and ran for 73 yards. But the Blue Devils couldnt overcome three first-half turnovers, including Duncans two lost fumbles.Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets were hurt by their inability to make a third-down stop, a continued problem that stands in the way of Georgia Techs hopes of competing for the Coastal Division title. Georgia Tech is last in the ACC in third-down defense and Duke was successful on eight of 13 third downs. Georgia Tech allowed a season-high 559 yards.UP NEXTDuke: The Blue Devils will try again for their first ACC win when they return to Durham to play No. 25 Virginia Tech next Saturday.Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets begin a stretch of two straight road games against Top 25 teams when they play at No. 21 North Carolina next week.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org Anthony Banda Jersey . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. Chaz Roe Jersey . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/ .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.Often horrendous, occasionally hopeful... overall, Englands performance in the 90s was haphazard, as a record of 43 defeats, 38 draws and only 26 wins over the decade will testify. England did have a number of excellent players at their disposal in that time but there was also a number of more unusual selections.Here we look back at four of the finest players of the decade and four of those whose time in the limelight was all too brief… THE FINESTMichael Atherton The tenacity required to captain a struggling England side for a record 52 Tests over five years in the mid-90s should not be underestimated. To do so while nursing a chronic back condition, and in a pre-central contracts era where everything was stacked against the national side succeeding, speaks volumes.Limited bowling options and inconsistent batting meant his side was often up against it and his was the wicket that opponents craved above all others. As a batsman, an average of 37 might be considered good rather than great but should be viewed in the context of Englands troubles and take into account the great pace bowlers around in the 90s - Ambrose, Walsh, Donald, Pollock, Wasim and Waqar. If ever there was a career-defining innings, his 185 not out in 643 minutes, to save the Johannesburg Test of 1995, was it.Alec Stewart The most versatile England cricketer of his generation, his best role in the team was a regular topic of debate for the selectors and never proper resolved - in the 90s, he played purely as a batsman in 51 Tests (averaging 46) and as a keeper in 42 matches (averaging 34).The highs were his twin hundreds as an opening batsman in the 1994 victory at Barbados against Ambrose and Walsh in their pomp to seal a first defeat for the West Indies at the ground in 59 years. He also took over the captaincy in 1998 and led England to a home series victory over a strong South African side - their first major series win in 12 years. Less happily was his involvement in five successive Ashes series defeats (with another two to follow in the 2000s).Angus Fraser Despite only playing in 43 out of a possible 107 Tests over the decade, many of Englands most notable victories in the 90s owed much to Frasers accurate and consistent fast-medium bowling. The Caribbean was a particularly happy hunting ground - his 5/28 at Sabina Park in the first Test of the 1990 tour contributed to a shock England win by 9 wickets.A career-threatening hip injury cost him three years out of the side and led to the perception that his earlier nip had gone. This assessment was unfair and, in the 1994 Barbados Test, Frasers first innings 8-75 was as important as the Stewart batting heroics in Englands improbable win. He was in and out of the side during the mid-90s but back to his best for the 1998 home series victory against South Africa in which he took 24 wickets.   Darren Gough As with Fraser, Gough was often the victim of unfortunate injuries, only playing 34 Tests in the 90s. Australia may have dominated the era but the Yorkshireman won the respect of their public on his first Ashes tour in 1994-95 with an ebullient personality and 20 wickets in the first three Tests, including a man-of-the-match performance of 6-49 (to go with 51 with the bat) at Sydney before having to return home early.The SCG was again his stage four years later when he took the first Ashes hat-trick in 99 years, his searing yorkers deserving more than being on the losing side against Australia yet again. At least he had tasted team success the previous summer with victory at home aagainst South Africa - his 17 wickets had been key. Jesus Aguilar Rays Jersey. As England emerged from the difficulties of the 90s, Gough was a key component of Nasser Hussains developing side in the early 2000s.   THE FORGOTTENRichard Blakey In among several contenders, the England tour of India in early 1993 must be a good candidate for the most disastrous tour of the decade. Every excuse was used to explain away English failure, from the smog in Kolkata, to dodgy prawns in Chennai. The initial squad selection had been controversial enough with the omission of David Gower, and Yorkshires keeper-batsman Richard Blakey being chosen ahead of Jack Russell.After England lost in Kolkata, Blakey replaced Alec Stewart with the gloves for the remaining 2 matches. However, a failure to pick Anil Kumbles flipper, and to hold a simple chance behind the stumps, meant his Test career was short and not particularly sweet - two matches, both of them defeats by an innings, and a batting average of 1.75. Having expected to win the series, England suffered a 3-0 series loss.Mark Lathwell The story of Mark Lathwells career is a microcosm of the muddled selectorial thinking of the 90s. With England 2-0 down in the 1993 home Ashes series, and after seven successive Test defeats, press clamour for youth to be given a chance had reached fever pitch.The 21-year-old Somerset batsmen was chosen to open, strangely replacing Graham Gooch, who slid down into the middle order. After just two Tests, and with a a top score of 33, Lathwell was dropped, never to appear again. England used 24 players over the summer, eventually losing 4-1. For his part, Mark Lathwell retired from the game in 2001 at the age of just 29.Martin McCague That 1993 Ashes summer also saw rabbits pulled out of hats in the England bowling ranks - having been born in Northern Ireland, Martin McCague was able to play for Kent as a non-overseas player and qualify for England despite having played much of his cricket while growing up in Australia. The Aussie press labelled him the first rat to join a sinking ship but, after a fiery debut at Trent Bridge, this briefly looked like sour grapes.Alas, his bowling in the next Test at Headingley was ineffective and he was dropped. A year later, McCague was contentiously selected for the 1994-95 Ashes tour ahead of Angus Fraser, England supremo Ray Illingworth arguing that his pace would unsettle the home batsmen. In the event, his bowling in the first Test at the Gabba was less than impressive and a stress fracture meant he never appeared again for England.    Aftab Habib Whatever the struggles of the 90s, the one team that always seemed beatable was New Zealand, with England being on the winning side at home in 1990 and 1994, and away in 1996-97. There was no expectation that the Kiwis visit in 1999 would be any different. Aftab Habit had averaged over 50 for Leicestershire the previous summer and was drafted into the middle order to start the series.As it turned out, a strong seam attack of Chris Cairns, Dion Nash and Geoff Allott exposed limitations in the Habib technique and he was jettisoned with an average of 8.66 after just two matches. England went on to an embarrassing 2-1 series defeat and ended the summer bottom of the world Test rankings.Watch England In The 90s On Demand now, or at 10pm on Sky Sports 1 HD on Tuesday. Also See: Butch talks England in the 90s Watch England in the 90s Bumbles Blog ' ' '