SITE: Scott Stadium

TIME: Saturday, 12:00 PM ET

WEATHER: 60 degrees, Rain (70% Chance of Precipitation)

RADIO: Georgia Tech ISP Network (WQXI 790-AM Atlanta, WYAY 106.7-FM Atlanta)

TV: Raycom

RECORDS: No. 11 Georgia Tech 6-1, Virginia 3-3

COACHES: Georgia Tech – Paul Johnson (15-5, second season), Al Groh (59-47, ninth season)

Georgia Tech Players to watch:

QB Josh Nesbitt (Jr., 6-1, 214), B-Back Jonathan Dwyer (Jr., 6-0, 235), A-Back Anthony Allen (RS Jr., 6-0, 225), A-Back Roddy Jones (RS So., 5-9, 192), WR Demaryius Thomas (RS Jr., 6-3, 229), OG Cord Howard (RS Sr.,6-5, 300), DE Derrick Morgan (Jr., 6-4, 270), DB Morgan Burnett (Jr., 6-1, 210), DB/PR Jerrard Tarrant (RS So., 6-0, 202)

Virginia Players to watch:

QB Jameel Sewell (Sr, 6-3, 219), RB Mikell Simpson (Sr., 6-1, 200), RT Will Barker (Sr., 6-7, 315), DT Nate Collins (Sr., 6-2, 290), LB Steve Greer (RS Fr., 6-2, 225), DB Ras-I Dowling (Jr., 6-2, 200)

Georgia Tech keys to the game

Josh Nesbitt. He has been instrumental to Tech’s improvement on offense in the last three games. Nesbitt is on a roll rushing the ball, having run for 262 yards and six touchdowns over the last two games. He has put himself within reach of several Georgia Tech records. Nesbitt now has 1,658 rushing yards for his career and needs only 102 yards to break Joe Hamilton’s career rushing mark by a quarterback. He can also surpass Hamilton’s single season mark of 734 yards rushing if he goes for at least 110 yards against Virginia. Nesbitt has already tied the single season mark of 9 rushing touchdowns by a quarterback and four more will allow him to pass Shawn Jones’ career record of 19. There is still room for improvement in other parts of his game with crisper pitches on the triple option and better decision making in the passing game.

All the way turnt up. Last week the Jackets brought the intensity on defense, which will need to carry over on the road. GT has allowed a startling 36 points per game on the road compared to only 18.5 per game at home. UVA’s offense is not very good, ranking 10th in the ACC with 24 points per game and 11th in the ACC with 304 total yards per game. Tech will need to hold them to those totals. The Jackets also need to continue to get pressure with their front four as they did last week against VT because there is no way that Sewell dances all over the field to avoid sacks as Tyrod Taylor did.

Killer Instinct. GT should have put VT away in the third quarter, but then Nesbitt made a poor read in the passing game and threw an interception. Early in the fourth quarter GT had another opportunity to put them away, but Nesbitt again gave the ball away on a bad pitch. Three of their four ACC victories have come by five points or less. If the offense continues to play with fire, the defense will eventually get burned at the end of the game.

Virgnia keys to the game

Red Zone Offense. The Cavaliers lead the ACC in red zone offense, having scored every time they entered the red zone this season. The problem being that they are also next to last in total opportunities with only 17 chances. They will be up against GT’s red zone defense, which is second best in the ACC, as their opponents only have a 75 percent success rate. UVA will need to continue their streak if they expect to be successful against the Jackets.

Turnovers. After losing their first three games of the season, including an embarassing home loss to William & Mary, UVA has turned it around with three straight wins. The key has been forcing turnovers. The Cavaliers have taken the ball away nine times in the last three games while only turning it over once. Their defense has only given up an average of six points per game during these contests. Their run defense has been especially strong during these wins, giving up an average of 82.3 yards per game with a long of only 12 yards. This is not likely to continue against GT, but the Cavaliers will have a strong chance if they win the turnover battle and limit big plays by the Jackets.

Health concerns? Virgnia’s two best offensive weapons, Sewell and Simpson, may not play in the game. The loss of Sewell would especially hurt, considering that that he has been very effective during the three wins. He has now thrown 109 straight passes without an interception. His potential replacement, Mark Verica, is no stranger to the Yellow Jackets. Last year he orchestrated a victory against GT to ruin their homecoming weekend. He was an impressive 29-39 with 270 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Third Down Efficiency

Georgia Tech leads the ACC and ranks fourth nationally with a third down conversion rate of 52.6 percent on offense. Virginia, on the other hand leads the ACC and ranks tenth nationally on third down defense as their opponents only convert 29.4 percent of the time. The Jackets will look to put themselves in third and short situations in order to help them win this battle.

Rushing Offense

Sean Bedford has won the ACC offensive lineman of the week award twice and Cord Howard has won it once, paving the way for the second best rushing offense in the nation. Tech averages 282 rushing yards per game this season and scores 32.4 points per game, good for 24th nationally. They also have three of the top seven rushers in the ACC in Nesbitt, Dwyer, and Allen. Allen averages an astonishing 11.5 yards per carry this season and the three players have combined for 17 rushing touchdowns.

First Quarter Domination

GT is outscoring their opposition 76-28 in the first quarter, while UVA has outscored their opponents 37-7. The Cavaliers have not allowed an opponent to score in the first quarter for five consecutive games. They have also not allowed a touchdown in the first half in their three victories. GT will need to maintain their first half dominance and take a lead into halftime. They are now 12-1 under CPJ when they accomplish this.

Curse of Scott Stadium

Name the longest standing road losing streak for the Jackets against an ACC team. FSU? VT? Miami? No, the correct answer is UVA. Tech has not won at Scott Stadium since 1990, which ammounts to eight straight losses. Good thing the Jackets have CPJ, who has already broken long standing losing streaks against both UGA and FSU.

Injury Update

Out: DE Robert Hall (knee), LB Kyle Jackson (foot), WR Kevin Cone (ankle)

Questionable: DB Cooper Taylor (undisclosed)

Prediction