Newton Citizen

ATLANTA - Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt was held out of practice Tuesday with a strained right hamstring.

Freshman Jaybo Shaw, who played all but eight snaps of Georgia Tech's 38-7 win over Mississippi State on Sept. 20 after Nesbitt was injured, could make his first start when the Yellow Jackets play Duke on Saturday.

Shaw worked with the first-team offense on Tuesday.

Nesbitt also missed practice Monday and wasn't available for comment on Tuesday.

'It's like day to day,' coach Paul Johnson said. 'Right now it's too hard to call. We're practicing the other guys. If Josh doesn't play, he doesn't play. It won't surprise me. If he is able to come in and play it might not surprise me either.'

Shaw said he is preparing to start.

'I want to go out and just try to lead the team. I don't have to do anything spectacular, just lead the offense, don't turn the ball over, just lead the team like we did against Mississippi State,' Shaw said.

Johnson said Nesbitt 'tried to run a little bit' on Monday but couldn't participate in drills.

Georgia Tech (3-1 overall, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) will be playing its first home ACC game after winning at Boston College and losing at Virginia Tech. Duke (3-1, 1-0) is coming off a 31-3 win over Virginia that ended its 25-game losing streak in conference games.

With Shaw leading the way under center, Georgia Tech had its first turnover-free game of the season against Mississippi State.

Georgia Tech had a season-high 500 total yards, including 438 yards rushing, the fifth-highest total in school history. Shaw threw a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas and had a 3-yard TD run.

'I can tell myself 'You did it last game. Let's do it again,' Shaw said. 'I think having almost a full game's experience, having that behind me will help me a lot.'

SideBar: Duke at Tech

When: Saturday, noon

Where: Atlanta

TV/Radio: ESPNU/790-AM