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It’s that time of year again, the holidays are upon us. People are with family and giving thanks, but there is one thing that I cant stop thinking about: Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate!
Number 22 ranked Georgia Tech travels the short 73 mile trip to Athens, Georgia to take on the number 11 ranked Georgia Bulldogs for the 102nd meeting in this storied rivalry. The two teams enter with one common goal – bragging rights in the state of Georgia for 365 fresh days of taunting.
Both teams enter on two different ends of the expectation spectrum. UGAy comes into the game expecting to win, having taken the last 7 consecutive games in the series – one shy of Tech’s series record of 8 straight set during the Bobby Dodd era. UGAy fans also enter the game a bit desperate, needing to avenge a disappointing season. Their anointment as pre-season top contenders for the BCS crown seems like a distant memory after embarrassing losses to Florida and Alabama. A win over Tech and a New Year’s Day bowl victory would make their season a success, but a loss to the state rivals and a weaker bowl invitation amount to a very underwhelming season. A loss would be a culmination of what UGAy football represents – more bark than bite.
GT on the other hand enters the game needing to win, wanting to prove that the last seven years were a function of being coached by Mr. Conservative – Chan Gailey. Tech has been the opposite of UGAy this year, a pleasant surprise. GT has won 8 games and secured no worse than a share of first place in the ACC Coastal Division – all this after being picked to finish next to last by experts before the season began. As a matter of fact, a Virginia win over Virginia Tech would put the Jackets in the ACC title game in CPJ’s first year as a coach. CPJ has turned doubters into believers all season long and it’s about time for the Dawgs to be tamed. As Mike Vick might say, the most effective way to stop a Dawg is to hit it in the mouth! What….Too Soon?
This task is easier said than done, however, as the GT defense will square off against the most prolific offense that they have encountered all season. UGAy is very talented at the skill positions on offense, lead by projected number one NFL pick Matthew Stafford. That isn’t a misprint; despite his disappearing act in big games, Stafford is being touted as a future star on the next level. Luckily for Tech, however, this is mostly due to his size and arm strength, not his pocket awareness and decision making ability. Nevertheless, Stafford is having a breakout season in his third year as a starter, leading the SEC in passing yards. A huge reason for this is the immediate impact of blue chipper, AJ Green. As a true freshman Green leads the SEC in receiving yardage and is tied for the league lead with seven td catches. The kid has great size at 6-4 and even better athleticism and body control in the air. He has the ability to go up and over defenders deep down the field and win a 50-50 ball that more times than not should probably be knocked down or intercepted. Needless to say, he will truly be a star on the next level. On the opposite side not to be overlooked is possession receiver Mohammed Massaquoi, who enters the game third in the SEC in receiving yards and has also caught a respectable 5 touchdowns.
Sheesh…that’s it right? Wait a minute – I almost forgot. I have yet to speak about the spark plug that makes this offensive machine go – Knowshon Moreno. Moreno is easily the best player on UGAy’s roster and he is the heart and soul of their team. Moreno is one of three Doak Walker finalists (the award given to the best running back in the nation) and he is 11th nationally in both rushing yardage and touchdowns, reaching pay dirt 15 times this year. UGAy runs a pro-set offense that is heavily dependent on the success of Knowshon. When he hits for his average of 6 yards per carry it opens up play action for UGAy, which is their bread and butter. Knowshon has only been held under both 100 yards rushing and 4.0 yards per carry three times this year. Two of those games were losses and the other was a narrow 14-7 victory over the Gamecocks. This is my first key to the game – shutting down Knowshon. This will be a very difficult task for the Jackets because Tech has had difficulty as of late wrapping up some of the better running backs that they have faced. Knowshon excels at gaining yards after initial contact and I’ll go so far as to say that he thrives on the challenge of breaking the initial tackle. This is evident by the way he bounces up after every single play, seemingly wanting more. I hate that crap – that’s why one of my favorite plays this season is when he gets drilled by Gator middle linebacker Brandon Spikes on the second play of the game and he won’t let him up off the ground. Tech likewise needs to put a big hit on him as early as possible. Here is video of the hit – it is worth revisiting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IQShWogLzw&feature=related
Another key to the game that will make the task of shutting down Knowshon – and the UGAy offense for that matter- a whole lot easier is jumping out to an early lead. This is more than a bonus rather than a key because it is not necessary for victory, but it would sure be a good sign. When UGAy has gotten behind this year they have tended to abandon the run and rely on Stafford’s arm. This is when the system breaks down for UGAy Offensive Coordinator Mike Bobo and defenses have then been able to key on the quarterback and force him into making difficult passes. This is Stafford’s achilles’ heel, he will almost always hopelessly rely on his strong arm to force a pass into double or triple coverage rather than simply throwing it out of bounds and surviving to see another play on offense. GT enters this game banged up in the secondary and not having to worry about tackling Knowshon all game long would make things a lot easier for them.
Knowshon has also sparked an interesting side bet through some comments that he made to the media a couple of days ago. When asked about the success of GT’s starting tailback, Jonathan Dwyer, Knowshon replied, “Who?”
Ohhhh Snap! Well Noshow, first of all don’t think that those comments went unheard by both Dwyer and the GT defense, but secondly let me educate you about your fellow Georgia high school product that you surprisingly know nothing about. Dwyer currently ranks 15th in the nation in rushing yards, only a miniscule 60 yards behind Knowshon (roughly 5 yards per game) while averaging 7 yards per carry, more than a full yard per carry more than Knowshon! It appears that Moreno may cross the orange pylon much more than Dwyer, but when you pry a little deeper – Moreno averages 1 score per 14.5 touches and Dwyer averages 1 score per 15.9 touches, a remarkably similar stat line. Furthermore, Dwyer easily appears to be the more dangerous scoring threat having score on runs of 88,85,79,66, and 43 yards. Moreno on the other hand has only one td scamper of 40+ yards. The facts are all out on the table, but this a battle that will need to be settled on the field mano-a-mano. The day of reckoning is coming Knowshon and you will soon come to know the name of the one and only Earth, Wind, and Dwyer!!
Anyways, I could go on for awhile displaying my dislike of the UGAy running back but moving on to the other side of the ball, UGAy brings a defense that has slipped as of late. UGAy is still very good against the run, ranking 15th in the nation in yardage per game and they also have the added benefit of an extra week to prepare for the Jackets. The last time GT was faced with a similar predicament was against the Tarheels, their biggest loss of the season. However, CPJ has stated that most of the problems in that game were due to missed blocking assignments rather than what UNC did on defense. This is very true, especially considering that the game was the first starting gig for several offensive lineman and they appeared shell-shocked and a bit lost at certain times on the field. That all changed in hurry last week after GT demolished the U in route to ringing up their largest single game rushing total of the season. Our O-line needs a repeat performance against UGAy and we also need to once again protect the ball on the road. Luckily for GT, UGAy is nearly dead last in the nation in fumbles recovered and struggles to force turnovers, having actually lost one more turnover than they have gained all season long. UGA’s defense is lead by linebacker Ronnie Curran who is second in the SEC in tackles and also ranks among the leaders in tackles for loss. Their secondary is lead by Jim Thorpe Award semi-finalist, Asher Allen, who at 5-10 will more than likely have the difficult assignment of matching up with man-child Demaryius Thomas.
The sometimes forgotten category, special teams, will also play an important factor in this game. One stat that stands out is that UGAy is 4th in the nation in punt return yardage. A big punt return can sometimes swing the momentum of a close game and GT’s defense will need to step up and prevent this from happening at a key moment in the game. Another important battle will be the kicking battle. UGA starts a freshman, Blair Walsh, and GT starts a kicker that plays like a freshman, Scott Blair. Both kickers rank near the bottom nationally in field goal percentage and both will be starting their first rivalry game. This will be my second key to the game – The Battle of the Blairs. In a close game, which I think this game will be, kicking will become a crucial element of the game. Which Blair will put up and which will shut up and go home?
Another thing to monitor closely in this game will be the officiating. UGAy is next to last in the nation in penalties committed while GT is disciplined enough to be in the top half nationally. UGAy’s lack of discipline won’t go away overnight, especially in a rivalry game so watch to see if they are flagged early and often. If they aren’t GT might have an extra hill to climb in Sanford Stadium.
Up until 1964, GT held a 27-26 advantage in the annual state of Georgia rivalry. Since then, Georgia has won 33 of the last 44 match ups to take a commanding 59-38 advantage in the series. The bleeding has gotta stop and it has gotta stop now. CPJ realized this after being hired at GT and the number one goal for the season has been to beat UGAy. This goal has taken even more priority than winning an ACC title. For the time being, shutting up the Rednecks that support UGAy and never even sniffed going to school there is rightfully a top priority. Pretty soon, however, GT will be eyeing a larger prize and defeating UGAy consistently is a key to achieving that level of national prominence. CPJ is well known for squashing winning streaks, having ended the largest win streak of one team over another in college football history when Navy prevented Notre Dame from beating them for the 44th consecutive time. CPJ has also had success turning the tide in a rivalry, defeating Navy’s rival Army all 6 years as head coach – this after Army had won the previous 11 out of 16.
There is no way to sugar coat it – this is a huge game! UGAy comes in with a much more talented team and to go into their Stadium and beat them to end the streak and add a sour taste to their already disappointed Redneck fans would be symbolic for years to come. The CPJ era – The Yellow Jackets don’t take crap from nobody and dish it out to everybody that stands in their way. What’s the good word….TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!
It was a glorious day. The weather was perfect outside and Tech was the featured game on national television against FSU, the one team they had never beaten in ACC competition. GT got off to a great start and the triple option was hitting on all cylinders. Tech was leading 24-20 going into halftime and received the ball first in the second half. On the third play from scrimmage in the second half, Dwyer broke one for a 66 yard touchdown, his second of the game to put Tech up 31-20. GT then forced FSU to punt the ball and started marching back down the field. Josh Nesbitt was making all the correct reads en route to 61 rushing yards and a very efficient 4 completions on 5 attempts for 55 yards. Tech had orchestrated 327 yards of total offense, including 274 on the ground and it was only midway through the third quarter! They were absolutely dominating FSU, but then the impossible happened. Josh Nesbitt got hurt and the momentum turned. The once hollow FSU war chants picked up volume after Jaybo fumbled when a defensive lineman had an unblocked path to the qb. Tech then went three and out on its ensuing possession and FSU marched right down the field and scored. They tacked on a two point conversion to make the score 31-28 with only 6 minutes to go in the game and suddenly things didn’t feel good anymore. GT got the ball back but gave it away on the first play when Jaybo threw an interception. I remember thinking that this felt all too familiar, but strangely I still had a slightly confident feeling. GT then stopped FSU on third down and forced a fourth and long punting situation. Ha, things were looking good again, but wait, offsides….ON A PUNT! Hold on what are they doing, why is the punter running off of the field? Noooo, they are going for it! First down FSU. The stadium is rocking at this point, but it’s the team wearing the scarlet colored jerseys that is making all of the noise. This can’t be happening….AGAIN. First and goal on the GT 6. Once again the improbable transpired….FSU fumbles in the end zone and GT recovers the ball!! That didn’t just happen, GT doesn’t win games like this. But wait a minute, a new era has begun. One lead by a coach that is gutsy enough to call a play action pass on first down with a freshman qb under center and only 6 minutes to go in the game. One with a coach who refuses to back down to anybody and whose team reflects this attitude. One with a coach that makes his own luck. This is Coach Paul Johnson. These are your 7-2 Coastal Division leading Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets!
Tech will have no time to recover from the emotional roller coaster of last weekend as they travel to Chapel Hill to take on the highest ranked ACC team in the BCS standings. The game pits two of the top young coaches in the ACC against one another in a huge match up where the loser is all but eliminated from the ACC title game. UNC comes into the game rested from a bye week, while GT comes in battered and bruised. Tech will also be without arguably the best player on their team in offensive tackle Andrew Gardner as he elected to have season ending shoulder surgery in order to be ready in time for the NFL Draft. This will be a big loss as he anchored Tech’s offensive line, but as CPJ has said the best team finds ways to overcome adversity and win.
UNC finds themselves in a similar situation as the Yellow Jackets, having brought in a new coach to turn their program around in Butch Davis. This turn around process was thought to take 4-5 years as the new coaches were able to get recruits that execute their system, but in both cases the teams have greatly outperformed expectations by winning sooner than anticipated. This is especially true of the Tar Heels who are currently starting their third string quarterback, Cameron Sexton, according to the opening season depth chart. Incumbent starter TJ Yates has been injured since the third game of the season and highly touted Freshman Mike Paulus (the brother of Duke point guard Greg Paulus) was benched after not performing well as a back-up to Yates. Enter Cameron Sexton, an efficient drop back passer who is coming off of a breakout 3 td performance against Boston College. UNC also lost another playmaker when dynamic starting receiver Brandon Tate succumbed to injury for the year after only playing 5 games. In his first game of the season, Tate broke a UNC school record by going for 397 all purpose yards and his loss has been felt, especially returning kicks on special teams. He was leading the ACC in all-purpose yards before he was injured. However, in Tate’s absence starting wide receiver Hakeem Nicks has stepped up in a big way by leading the ACC in receiving yards per game. He has caught 7 touchdowns for the season and probably makes Sexton look better than he really is, having caught 5 of the 6 td passes that Sexton has thrown including all 3 last weekend against BC. A key to this game will be getting pressure on Sexton so that he does not have time to stretch the field by going deep to Nicks. Hakeem is a good enough player to where he will probably get his yardage, but preventing him from entering the end zone on a huge game breaking play is a must. This will be a particularly tough task considering how thin Tech is in the secondary right now. Word Daniels will still not be available to play and it looks like the burden will fall on the shoulders of freshmen corners Michael Peterson and Rashaad Reid and sophomore corner Mario Butler. One encouraging sign in the secondary has been the play of freshman safety Cooper Taylor, who was named ACC Freshman Player of the Week after leading the team with 10 tackles against FSU, intercepting a pass and returning it 28 yards to set up an easy touchdown, and last but not least putting his helmet on the ball to force what turned out to be the game winning fumble. Quite a performance for a freshman. Of course at the other safety spot is the predator, Morgan Burnett, who is always out for blood. Burnett dealt some vicious hits last weekend and with 6 picks on the season he is still on pace to break the Tech record of 9 interceptions set by Jeff Ford in 1969 and Willie Clay in 1991.
On the defensive side of the ball UNC has some talent but doesn’t bring anything special to the table. They are decent against the run but towards the bottom of the ACC in pass coverage. One area that they do excel in is creating turnovers and also protecting the ball on offense. They are currently 6th in the nation in turnover margin at +10 for the season. This will be the second key to game – protecting the ball. Nesbitt did a great job with this last game, but he has struggled holding on to the pigskin at other crucial times this season. The Tar Heels will also have an added benefit of an extra week to prepare for Tech’s triple option offense that most teams have had difficulty game planning for. Nevertheless CPJ did a good job putting it all in perspective, “My take on that is if they can get better at stopping it in two weeks than we can in running it 19, they’re going to beat us anyway,” Well played CPJ.
All in all GT is easily the more talented team in this game. The loss of Gardner will hurt a good bit, but the Tech coaching staff has been encouraged by the play of his replacement, red shirt freshman Nick Claytor. The offensive line will of course need to step up to replace a player of his caliber, but the important thing for this game is that Nesbitt has been declared 100% as he went through a full practice yesterday. If he can play like he did last week it is tough to see anybody beating Tech. It would be easy to predict a let down for any team coming off of such a hard fought, emotional win like Tech had against FSU. This is particularly true considering that Tech is going on the road against a rested top 25 team. Nonetheless, the confidence and swagger that CPJ has brought back to GT football is contagious and I simply don’t see us backing down to anybody this season. We will find a way to win.
Georgia Tech looks to rebound against the Seminoles after laying an egg at homecoming against the streaking Virginia Cavaliers. Tech lost their first homecoming in 13 years to UVA in a game where the normally stifling GT Defense looked rather, well, ordinary. Virginia was able to win the time of possession battle despite playing against a run-based wishbone offense, which is very hard to do. However, GT did do their best to help UVA by missing countless open field tackles which led to a very efficient third down conversion rate for the Cavaliers (11-18) that in turn kept numerous drives alive. As a result, there were very few total offensive possessions in the game, making every possession in the second half that much more important. GT only had 5 offensive possessions total in the second half, 3 of which resulted in turnovers by sophomore quarterback Josh Nesbitt. The first was a fumble on the first possession of the second half that halted a momentum building 6 play, 30 yard drive with Tech up 14-10 at the time. UVA then took over and marched in for the touchdown to re-take the lead at 17-14. This was a big turn of events, but the most pivotal turnover was the second of the half, that came by way of another fumble (surprise surprise – GT is second in the nation in total fumbles). Tech had driven the ball all the way down to the 5 yard line and looked poised to score the go ahead touchdown, but instead coughed the ball up again. The final turnover came on an interception on the last Tech possession on a pass that was thrown about 3 seconds too late. All in all it was a very frustrating and disappointing effort, but it served as a reminder that GT is still a very young team on offense and their defense won’t always be dominant.
One positive to take away from last week is that GT should come into the game this weekend against FSU extremely hungry. The defense now has something to prove, especially against the Seminoles who own the top scoring offense in the ACC at over 36 ppg. GT has also tried in vain to beat the Noles, having lost in all 12 of their attempts since FSU joined the ACC in 1992. As a matter of fact FSU is the one team that I have personally wanted the Jackets to conquer more so than any other team that I have witnessed them play, which is probably why Tech has yet to beat them while I have been a fan! The challenge will be no easier than in years past as FSU comes in ranked 15 in the BCS standings behind a very well balanced attack. They are 1 of only 6 teams that are top 20 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense (USC, Florida, Penn St, Ball St, and TCU).
FSU’s offense is lead by sophomore quarterback Christian Ponder who is a threat with both his arm and his legs. Ponder looked good early against some of the cupcake opponents but has struggled in ACC play having thrown only 3 tds along with 5 ints and only completing 52% of his passes. Ponder is much better when he is called upon to do less by handing off to senior running back Antone Smith, who leads the ACC with 11 rushing touchdowns. Ponder also has two playmakers at wide receiver in Preston Parker and Greg Carr. Parker is more of a possession wr while Carr is their deep threat. Carr is a very talented player with great hands and a useful 6-6 frame in the red zone. Carr was hand picked to be the next Calvin Johnson type wr in the ACC but has yet to live up to the hype, but then again nobody really has and nobody probably ever will. FSU is anchored by a very young but talented offensive line which includes returning freshman All-Americans Ryan McMahon and Rodney Hudson. Look for GT’s superb defensive line to really tee off against the young fellas, especially coming off of a poor showing last week. This is the first really big key to the game – getting pressure on Christian Ponder early and often. Too many times last week UVA’s qb had seemingly all day in the pocket to stand tall and make good decisions. Tech faces a similar situation this week against a qb capable of burning them when given time, but also the potential to make bad decisions when under pressure. Hopefully it will be more of the latter, because when given time FSU’s wrs will make Tech’s dilapidated secondary pay dearly. GT missed Word Daniels’ presence tremendously last week, especially in the tackling department. His services will not be available this week and to make matters worse safety Dominique Reese is banged up after suffering a mild concussion last week but is expected to play. Tech is so desperate for bodies right now that they are considering moving safety Morgan Burnett up to play corner. This concerns me because the predator is much more effective when he can lurk across the entire field and not be bottled up on one man.
FSU’s defense is once again very dominant and laden with pro talent. They are lead by future first round defensive end, Everette Brown, who is third in the ACC in sacks and second in tackles for loss. FSU also has a solid middle linebacker in Derek Nicholson and a very experienced secondary guided by the talented future NFL safety Myron Rolle. This is by far the best rush defense GT has faced all season as the Noles give up a paltry 80 yards per game – good for 7th best in the nation. Tech, however, comes in with the 9th best rushing offense in the nation at almost 240 yards per game. The numbers speak for themselves – something’s gotta give. One final intriguing stat about the FSU defense is that they lead the nation in third down defense. Their opponents have only converted 16 of 92 attempts all season long which is almost unbelievable. This brings me to they second key of the game. GT will need to be effective on first and second downs to set up third and manageable yardage situations. If GT gets stuffed on first and second downs to force third and long situations, they will be in for a very long day.
Overall the task ahead on Saturday appears very daunting on paper, which is why I think that GT will come ready to play. Sadly, it appeared that this might be the year that Tech veered away from playing down to the level of the competition, but mistakes due to the combination of youth and unfamiliarity with the new offense will probably prevent GT from soundly beating mid-tier ACC teams. I think that this will be a game won by our defense with Ponder on his backside all game long. The curse of FSU will finally be lifted and I can joyously watch FSU fans walk out of our stadium in silence.
ACC rivals Georgia Tech and Clemson meet in an intriguing mid season match-up. The circumstances leading up to the game could not be more strange and unpredictable.
On one hand are the Tigers, the unanimous pre-season ACC champions and fringe BCS championship contender who have not come even close to living up to expectations. After getting wiped out in the opener by SEC frontrunner, Alabama, the Tigers are on a slippery slope plummeting toward the basement of the ACC after consecutive losses to Maryland and Wake Forest. All of this despite boasting pre-season ACC player of the year, Cullen Harper, two potential first round NFL running backs in James Davis and CJ Spiller, and the top returning wide receiver in the ACC in Aaron Kelly. None of these players have been playing up to their potential and someone had to take the blame for it. That someone was head coach Tommy Bowden and his offensive coordinator, who were both fired within the last week. Bowden was fired despite just signing a new contract recently that included a clause that will require Clemson to pay him the remainder of his salary this season and $3.5 million to buy him out. Bowden leaves Clemson with an overall record of 72-45 (roughly a 7-5 season average) despite having some of the most talented recruiting classes in the nation. He never quite lived up to expectations, a la Chan Gailey.
So how will this all affect the game this weekend? Well first of all there will be a new starting qb in redshirt Freshman Willy Korn. He was named the new starter by Bowden before he was fired but it looks like interim coach Dabo Swinney will stick with him as the go to guy. Korn is a mobile qb with a lot of speed and loads of talent. He was recruited as a top 10 qb nationally in the same class as both Nesbitt and Tyrod Taylor and some publications had him ranked in front of both of them. The previous offense with Bowden involved a lot of short wide receiver screens behind the line of scrimmage, but this was one of his biggest criticisms and I look for Look for Swinney to call a lot more passing plays down the field early and often to try and spark his team with a big play. Clemson will be without their most explosive player in CJ Spiller due to a hamstring injury. This is great news for Tech because along with being one of the top rushers in the ACC he is also a dangerous punt returner who you might recall absolutely killed the Jackets two years ago as a Freshman on national television.
Clemson also brings one of the most talented defensive units in the ACC. They have a lot of speed along the defensive line lead by senior DE Ricky Sapp and blue chipper DaQuan Bowers, who was recruited last year as the top defensive lineman in the nation. Clemson also has arguably the best secondary in the ACC lead by corner Chris Chancellor and safety Michael Hamlin. It will be interesting to see if the Yellow Jackets will challenge the undersized Chancellor, who at 5-10 will be at a big disadvantage going against 6-3 Demaryius Thomas.
GT on the other hand also comes into the game with some unknown factors. After impressive wins against both Miss State and Duke, the Jackets rolled into what looked to be like a sure blow out victory against the likes of D1AA Gardner Webb. It turned out, however, to be one of the closest games of the season that almost ended right before my eyes as G-Webb went for the win on a fade to the back corner of the end zone before missing the game winning field goal on the ensuing play. If that game had gone to overtime, Tech would have lost. Nevertheless somebody is smiling down on the Jackets this season because despite the atrocious offensive performance, the defense was once again stellar and basically won the game for Tech. Derrick Morgan, my sleeper pick to have a great season for the Jackets is doing just that as he is second in the ACC in both sacks and tackles for loss. Morgan was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week, garnering 10 tackles, 4 for loss, 2.5 sacks, and deflecting the potential game winning field goal against the Webb. Morgan benefits from consistent solo blocking while his more widely known counterpart, Michael Johnson, sees constant double teams. Despite this fact, MJ is still third in the ACC in tackles for loss and all four defensive lineman for GT are in the top 20 in the ACC in this stat category – amazing.
More great news for the Jackets is that starting quarterback Josh Nesbitt practiced at full speed all week and is ready to go this weekend after being named the starter. Jaybo Shaw will also be healthy to back up Nesbitt as will B-back Quincy Kelly who will allow Lucas Cox to shift back over to A-back where he showed some potential early this season against VT. I think that the close call against G-Webb was a blessing in disguise as it has provided some motivation for the coaches and the team to get better. The offensive line was looking much improved against Miss St and Duke before it was beaten back down to reality. CPJ has made some changes for the first time this season along the offensive line and I look for them to respond with authority against Clemson. I believe that the team understands that despite all of the turmoil surrounding the Tigers, that this is a rival team in a match up that is typically decided by less than a touchdown. They will be well prepared and focused for this game in what could be a statement win. CPJ has also made the claim that the entire team as a whole is the healthiest they’ve been since the start of the season. On the other side of the field, despite what people want to say about how a new coach can instill life into a program, old habits tend to repeat themselves…..Clemson has a terrible, patch work offensive line trying to protect a Freshman qb in his first ever start. This is quite a tall order, especially considering that the defensive line for GT is their bread and butter. If GT is able to get out to an early lead and keep the fumbles to a minimum, this game should be a big victory and an enjoyable ride home for the Old Gold and White (Cue Song “Up With The White and Gold”)
The upstart Duke Blue Devils are brimming with confidence after thumping UVA 31-3 last weekend to break a 25 game ACC conference losing streak. As a matter of fact, the Blue Devils at 3-1 are off to their best start since 1994, in a season in which former head coach and GT alum Ted Roof predicted that his team would be bowl eligible (6+ wins). Duke returns 17 starters from a team that was competitive in the majority of their games last year until they collapsed in the 4th quarter. This year has been a completely different story, however, as Duke is outscoring its opponents 76-17 in the second half. This is in large part due to the leadership and experience of third year starting quarterback, Thaddeus Lewis, who has improved in each of his seasons as a starter. This kid is dangerous having thrown for more than 220 yards per game with 7tds against only 2ints. He is also elusive and uses his scrambling ability to avoid the rush and look downfield. Six of his touchdown passes have been caught by All-ACC candidate Eron Riley, whose touchdown reception total is double the next best in the ACC. Beyond those two, Duke does not have much to brag about on offense.
Having said all of that, the Blue Devils have not seen the likes of a top tier national defense such as Georgia Tech’s. Nationally, Tech currently ranks 17th in scoring defense (14.3ppg) and 25th in total defense (293ypg) including 14th in passing defense (156ypg). Michael Johnson is coming off a break out game that had NFL scouts drooling in which he blocked a field goal, defended two passes, recovered a fumble, and recorded a sack. Another player that deserves recognition is The Predator, Morgan Burnett who is currently top 10 nationally and tied for the ACC lead with 3 picks, second in the ACC in passes defended, and top 10 in the ACC in tackles, which is extremely impressive considering that he plays safety not linebacker. Additionally the Blue Devils have yet to play on the road this year in a noisy, rowdy environment such as the Flats.
I’m not worried so much about their offense versus our defense, but rather our offense versus their defense. The Yellow Jackets rest their hopes on true freshman quarterback Jaybo Shaw, who starts the first collegiate game of his life after regular starter Josh Nesbitt was unable to practice the past two weeks due to a pulled hamstring. Jaybo comes off of an impressive showing against Miss St, stepping for Nesbitt (after he was injured on the first offensive possession of the game) to orchestrate a 38-7 drubbing of a supposedly comparable mid-tier SEC team. Jaybo never skipped a beat running the offense nearly flawlessly with timely, well-placed pitches to the A-backs and intelligent scrambles of his own when the pitch wasn’t there. One of his tosses to stud ACC POY candidate Jonathan Dwyer went for a GT record 88 yards for the touchdown. Dwyer’s impressive start to the season has fueled debates about which of the collegiate running backs in the state of Georgia is truly the best, a comparison that I will save for argument later in the season. Back to Jaybo. Although he is only a freshman, he plays with the presence of an experienced quarterback. This is largely due to the fact that he was the coaches’ son all throughout high school, starting from his freshman year on in a spread offense that operates similarly to CPJ’s. Nevertheless, the reason that I am slightly worried is that Duke brings an experienced defense to the table with some playmakers at the linebacker position. They also have a beast in the middle, pre-season first team All-ACC Defensive Tackle, Vince Oghobaase, who at 6-6, 310 could pose some problems. Mike Taulili at middle linebacker currently leads the ACC in tackles by a wide margin over. Believe it or not his teammate, weakside linebacker Vincent Rey ranks second. Furthermore, Duke has played Navy for the last four consecutive seasons, which was CPJ’s previous coaching job. They still run the same triple offense at Navy, who Duke has already played and defeated earlier this season. This is the same Navy team that won at Wake Forest last week so they are a legitimate team. Be it as it may, CPJ shed a different perspective on Duke’s familiarity with his offense. According to CPJ this could be an advantage because now he knows how Duke’s defense will line up against him. In the words of CPJ, “I’ve got the [game] tape, I kind of know what they’re doing.” Ha!
I have two keys to this game. The first is for Tech to get off to a quick start. I think this will help tremendously to instill confidence in Jaybo because although he is very well prepared, he is still only an 18 year old kid starting in his first collegiate game ever! Also, you never want to let a wildcard team like Duke hang around long enough to where they start believing that they can compete with a team of our caliber, especially considering that they have an experienced leader at quarterback. One more ramification is that I don’t want CPJ to even entertain the idea of playing Nesbitt. I think Josh could play if the situation really called for it, but I get the feeling that CPJ would prefer to rest him as long as possible so that he is 100% healthy for Clemson. The second key will be to contain Thaddeus Lewis. I always get nervous when the opposing team has an experience quarterback that can elude the pass rush, because although we have an outstanding defensive line, they had some trouble with Tyrod Taylor when we played Virginia Tech. The last thing I want to see is him scrambling around the pocket buying time for Eron Riley to get open deep down the field.
Despite all of this I think that GT gets out to an early 10 point cushion and maintains that lead throughout the game. I think that this could be a high scoring affair, which I hope for because it is always more entertaining that way. (Plus my boy Dwyer needs to score 3 tds and start getting some national recognition) I’ll see you fellas on gameday.