(Editor's note: Georgia Tech quarterback Joe Hamilton will share a weekly diary with ESPN.com throughout the season. For more on the Yellow Jackets, visit the FANSonly Georgia Tech team page. For more on the ACC, visit the conference's official site at theacc.com.)

Nov. 3, 1999

Last year we had a great game with Virginia (Georgia Tech scored 24 points in the final 20 minutes to win 41-38), so I know the Cavaliers will be ready for us this year. At halftime of that game, I was thinking, "It's not over, but we really have to pick it up." And we were able to start making some plays and going after those guys.

	Hamilton passed for 2,166 yards in 1998, leading Tech to a 10-2 record.

They had been pretty much doing whatever they wanted to do with us. But it's a 60-minute game and we knew that all we needed was a break. We got a defensive touchdown and from then on the momentum switched.

After a game like that, the win feels good, just like any other win. But when we have to make that comeback I feel a little nervous. When you come out on top it is something you have to be proud of, but during the game it isn't anything you ever want to be proud of.

The Heisman is on a lot of people's minds, and I guess it is impossible to never think about it. You just have to think about it at the right time. You have to think about it amongst people who know that it is not a major priority. I continue to let the guys know that I am here for the team and I want to win team awards first.

I do enjoy the attention sometimes, but there are some times when you want to just go to class and relax. I want to be a normal student sometimes, but I know that at this point it can't happen. You just do what you are called to do.

From my perspective, the team definitely comes first. If I just keep it in that perspective and know that every time I go out there it is not just about me, that it's for the whole team, I think I'll do all right. I am not focused on the Heisman at all. We have a lot of team goals that we want to accomplish and I think that would be selfish on my part to try to think about individual goals at this point in the season.

I wouldn't be where I am without teammates like Kelly Campbell (Tech's leading receiver). His production doesn't surprise me because I know that he is a guy who comes out to the practice field and works hard. He wanted to prove to the coaches that he could be a guy that we could count on. Knowing what the defense is going to do to Dez White -- and having that ability to go to the other side -- allows Kelly Campbell to make a lot of plays. Our opponents' defenses have to play guys honest. You can't play one or the other. Whatever Kelly Campbell is doing for us -- blocking, catching, running -- he is an asset to us.

So with receivers like those two guys, I don't see the negatives about being a so-called "short" quarterback (Hamilton is 5 feet 10). I think sometimes you have a problem seeing lanes. But every quarterback has to find lanes. Guys bat the ball down sometimes. But I have yet to see any negatives in being a small quarterback. A short quarterback can have just as many positives as a tall quarterback -- good arm strength, able to see the field and deliver the ball on time with good accuracy. So I'm not the kind of guy who sees any difference in height at all.

Whether you're tall or short, there are a lot of things you have to do as a quarterback. I have to make sure that we are running all the good plays, and that we don't have many bad plays. I think coach Ralph Friedgen does a good job all week of making sure that we know what we are doing and that we know what is coming from the other team. So there is a lot of pressure but there is a lot of pressure on the whole team to make sure that they know what they are doing. I want to feel that no matter which play the coaches call, I am able to execute to the best of my ability.