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Last summer, one of the big questions in the ACC was whether new coach Paul Johnson's flexbone offense would succeed at Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets answered the skeptics in emphatic fashion. They went a surprising 9-4, finished in a first-place tie atop the Coastal Division standings and beat arch rival Georgia to snap a seven-year skid in that series. Georgia Tech led the ACC in total offense (372.5 ypg) with its ground-oriented attack.

Now the question is: was last year a fluke? Will ACC defenses have a better handle on the triple-option scheme after having faced it last fall?

"Now that everyone's seen it, I think the defenses are going to play better against it," Clemson defensive end Ricky Sapp said at the ACC's recent preseason media gathering in Greensboro, N.C.

But Georgia Tech returns nine offensive starters, including fullback Jonathan Dwyer and quarterback Josh Nesbitt. Dwyer was the ACC player of the year last season, when he ran for 1,395 yards and helped Georgia Tech rank fourth in Division I-A in rushing offense (273.2 ypg).

"We'll just see on Saturdays whether or not they can stop it," Dwyer said. "The offense last year, we didn't even have all our plays in. We only ran a couple of plays over and over.

"And we played with an inexperienced line. ... Half of us were just first-year starters. By having everybody back, the expectations on offense [are] high.

"We're going to prove that last year was not a fluke."

Johnson isn't fretting.

"We're better on offense right now than at any time we were a year ago -- because we've done it," he said.

The flexbone offense clicked year after year at Johnson's previous head-coaching stops, Georgia Southern and Navy.

"At Georgia Southern, ... we got better. They might've got better, but so did we," said Johnson, the 2008 ACC coach of the year. "We played the same teams for five years; we won the league all five years.

"There was no magic -- 'OK, now we've got the answer. We know how to line up.' The same thing at Navy. ... If there was a magic way to line up, then Air Force and Navy would never, ever score on each other."

Georgia Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan doesn't envision an offensive slide, either.

"We still have difficulty [in practice] trying to stop this offense," he said. "When it comes to other opponents that have only seen it once, I think it's going to be tough to kind of stop the offense. ... If you miss one simple assignment, it's a touchdown."

LSU did stifle Georgia Tech 38-3 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl last year, but the Tigers had a great defense and a month to prepare for the flexbone. ACC teams will still have only a week to get ready for an offense that is decidedly different from what they will have seen the game before.

"When you play Georgia Tech, you need an open date," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. "You have to change your defense completely, and you can't hardly do it in a week.

"It's a tremendous advantage if you've got guts enough to do it, and he's got guts enough to do it."

Johnson's offense features a ball-carrying fullback, two slotbacks, two receivers and no tight end.

The Yellow Jackets averaged just 99.2 yards passing last year, when they passed only 12.6 times per game. Nesbitt completed just 54 of his 123 passes (43.5 percent).

Johnson isn't sure if his team will throw more this year. After all, the Yellow Jackets beat Georgia 45-42 last season even though Nesbitt was just 1-of-6 through the air.

"We're going to try to win the game. If that'll help us win the game, then we'll throw more," Johnson said. "If we get good enough at running the ball, we don't have to throw it."