Infractions hearing takes up prep time

ATLANTA - Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey spends most fall Fridays prepping for the next day's game.

Friday won't be too productive for Gailey this week. He and several other Georgia Tech employees, including the school's president and athletic director, will be in Indianapolis for a hearing before the NCAA's infractions committee.

Georgia Tech reported 17 eligibility rules violations to the NCAA in the summer of 2004 and spent several months working with the college athletics governing body on a summary disposition.

The report outlined what went wrong and how the school has corrected the problems to prevent them from happening again. It also outlined a list of penalties, including scholarship reductions in three sports and a year of probation for the athletic department.

The infractions committee rejected the report in May and scheduled this week's meeting to hear the case.

Ten football players were among 17 ineligible players, forcing Gailey to spend Friday in the Hoosier state and not studying Saturday's opponent, Connecticut.

Gailey's program has much at stake in the case. He is already abiding by the scholarship reduction penalties recommended in the summary disposition. He signed six fewer players than usual in this year's class and will do likewise in next year's class.

UCONN'S PROLIFIC OFFENSE: Connecticut rolled up 97 points and 1,022 yards in defeating Buffalo and Liberty the past two weeks. While the level of competition might account for the inflated numbers - Buffalo has won just four games the past three seasons, and Liberty competes in Division I-AA - the Husky offense still impresses Georgia Tech's coaches and players.

"When you score 97 points and give up none, that's pretty good no matter what arena you're in," Gailey said.

UConn's leading rusher Terry Caulley averages 7.4 yards a carry, and quarterback Matt Bonislawski completed 67 percent of his passes so far this year.

Reach Adam Van Brimmer at (404) 589-8424 or adam.vanbrimmer@morris.com.