Before Miami’s 31-7 loss to Virginia Tech, they were the talk of the nation. Was the U Back? They ran into a buzzsaw Saturday in Blacksburg, but that’s a good Cane’s team. They’ll be heard from again. Virginia Tech is never far from the discussion of best team in the ACC Coastal Division. After their win over Miami, they are the team to beat.

What about Georgia Tech? 

They came up with significant win Saturday, a 24-7 victory over #22 UNC. The Yellow Jackets win says to the rest of the ACC, they will be a factor in the ACC all year. 

After the Miami game, people were questioning the triple option offense and the defense was struggling. Tech was one game from being an afterthought. Make no mistake North Carolina is going to win a lot of games this year, and they still have Miami and Virginia Tech to play. For Georgia Tech though, this was an absolute must win. The Jackets would have been 1-2 in the ACC with a loss.

This is what I like about Paul Johnson, you might win one game against him, but he just doesn’t lose 2 games in a row. His team came out focused and ready to play. I figured the offense would eventually get their yards, but what really was good to see was the Georgia Tech defense play well. They really controlled the line of scrimmage against a very good defensive front for North Carolina. I think the switch to the 4-3-4 defense from the 4-2-5 defense allowed Tech to get more guys on the line of scrimmage, making it easier to throw in a blitz or two. The Tar Heels only had 17 yards rushing. DE Anthony Egbunwie who replaced the injured the Robert Hall was a nice complement to star DE Derrick Morgan and had a good game.

The offense made some strides today too. Somewhat hit or miss during the first three games of the year, they played consistent all day. The Yellow Jackets had 317 yards on the ground against a defense that was only giving up 52 yards a game rushing. Jonathan Dwyer had 158  yards on 19 carries. 

Next up for the Jackets is a tricky game at Mississippi State. Tech beat the Bulldogs last year 38-7, but I think MSU is a better team this year. Bulldog head coach Dan Mullen’s spread offense will be a challenge for the Jacket’s defense. They gave LSU all they could handle Saturday in a 30-26 loss. The Jackets will need another solid around effort to win in Starkville.

For the first time in Paul Johnson’s tenure at Georgia Tech, Johnson is facing a little bit of adversity. After an ugly 33-17 loss down in Miami last Thursday night, I ask the question What’s Wrong at Georgia Tech?

Maybe you think oh its just one game, but a disturbing trend is starting to be seen beginning with the Georgia game last year. This team just gives up too many points, UGA – 42, LSU – 38, don’t care about Jacksonville St, Clemson – 27, Miami – 33. That’s 35 points a game against the Jackets last four quality opponents. Miami also held the Georgia Tech rushing offense to 95 yards and 17 points.

This has put Johnson in the position of answering questions about his offense, and defense, with a tough UNC team coming to town that beat Georgia Tech 28-7 last year. If the Jackets fall to 1-2 in the ACC with losses to Miami and UNC, their ACC title chances are virtually gone before October. You’d be asking UNC and Miami to lose 3 times in the ACC, just to the win the tiebreaker, and you haven’t even played Virginia Tech yet. 

So what can Georgia Tech do? Was Miami just that much more ready to play?

Defensively, I say yes. Just like any game when you win the line of scrimmage you win the game. Miami did a fantastic job of staying at home and taking the dive play away. Remember though against a very good Clemson defense the Jackets ran for 301 yards. I’m not ready to give up on Paul Johnson’s offense yet. He just has too much experience to not make adjustments there. Give Miami credit they had the Tech game circled on their schedule.

Where I am really concerned is the defensive line. Wow Miami manhandled Tech upfront. Some Georgia Tech fans said their smaller d-linemen (none over 285) would actually have more success, because they would be quicker. I don’t buy that argument ever. You need size along the defensive line and the Jackets simply don’t have it. The linebackers aren’t making plays either. 

What can defensive coordinator Dave Wommack do? How about blitzing more? At least try to create some pressure. You get beat you get beat. You are getting scored on with what you are trying. Jacory Harris is playing lights out right now for Miami, but up next is T.J. Yates at North Carolina. He’s a pretty solid drop back passer as well. Give him time and Tech will give up another 300+ yards in the air.

I believe the offense will be fine, but if the defense doesn’t starting picking it up then Tech will be out of the ACC picture by the end of next weekend. I hope Wommack is working on something, because running his base 4 down linemen isn’t going to get it done.    

Lost in the excitement of the thrilling victory over Clemson are the significant contributions of two lesser-known Georgia Tech players in that game. Anthony Allen is a running back who has been sitting out for year due transfer. Scott Blair is a much-maligned FG kicker who was one of the Yellow Jackets biggest marks.

Allen, a transfer from Louisville, came to Georgia Tech with impressive credentials. He is the Louisville record holder for most rushing yards in a game at 275. Word around Tech was that Allen looked really good in practice. Jacket fans couldn’t wait to see him on the field. Thursday night showed what he’s capable of. He scored Georgia Tech’s first touchdown with an 82 yard TD run. He finished the game with 127 yards rushing on just 5 carries. He also made a critical 24 yard catch on a 3rd and 9 play on a drive that ended in a FG, that tied the score at 27. That brings me to the player who made the FG Scott Blair.

Scott Blair was 12 for 19 last year on FGs and didn’t have a made kick over 40 yards. He was coming off the previous game against Jacksonville St. where he missed a FG and had a failed XP try. I know I was getting nervous about Blair. Against Clemson though, Blair came through big time.

He nailed the game winning FG first off, but also hit his other 2 attempts. His kickoffs were high and deep helping control the great Clemson return men C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford. What else? He also threw a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas on a fake FG. I believe this game will do wonders for Blairs confidence.

While RB Jonathan Dwyer gets a lot deserved publicity, and Demaryius Thomas is the All-ACC WR, the Yellow Jackets are getting contributions from less well known players as well. This will pay dividends as the year continues for Georgia Tech.   

Year after year Georgia Tech and Clemson play the most competitive series in the South.

Tonight was another classic. Georgia Tech nearly blows a 24 point lead to hold off a furious Clemson rally 30-27.

A couple of thoughts. Please no more questions about Paul Johnson’s offense. It was stuffed for 2 quarters, but he found a way to move the offense to 2 late FG’s. No more questions about Dabo Swinney either. He can coach.  

Clemson’s defense is great. You always hear about the DEs Bowers and Sapp, but the DB’s Chancellor and Butler are as good a pair of corners as you’ll see.

Both of these teams will be contenders in the ACC race all year long. I’ll be in Miami next week to see the Jackets take on the Canes. I’m hoping for a 3-0 start!

We have found that once the ACC teams play each other(and not FCS opponents) that it will produce high drama.

First off, I gotta give kudos to whoever did the ACC schedule because they did a bang-up job. They could not have foreseen all the other ACC troubles, but scheduling FSU/Miami and Clemson/GT(two of the ACC’s best rivalries) as the showcase game for the ACC each week was genius.

What Knowledge We’ve Gained: 2 ACC Games In(because “what we learned” is beyond trite)

*Clemson’s defense is capable of being one of the nation’s best. Bud Elliott of Raycom’s FSU team blog and Tomahawk Nation tweeted that, “Clemson easily has a top 5 defense in the country, probably top 3″.

*Miami’s offense is vastly improved over the last few years. New Miami OC Mark Whipple was playing chess and FSU DC Mickey Andrews was playing “Sorry!”.

*Georgia Tech’s running attack could be as viable as ever. Allen showed from play one for the Jackets that he is a weapon. He’s a Dwyer-like player from one of the wing position on the flexbone.

*The Jackets can be stopped. Clemson was killing Dwyer every play. They sacrificed the dive play and told GT’s QB Nesbitt and the other backs to beat them–and it worked for the most part. Georgia Tech will have develop the passing game better or they will struggle–especially next week versus Miami.

*Clemson’s Parker could be a star in the next couple seasons. He had issues no doubt, but oh, the potential he has. He has a gun for an arm, can be accurate when he calms down, and is mobile.

*C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford are fast…and deadly. For all the years that we have heard about this duo’s speed, there has not been a game that it has been more showed off then this game.

*Oh, and just in case you want my opinion, I don’t like when referees dramatically alter games–they should be seen but not heard on big plays that could go either way down the stretch–just saying.

*FSU’s offense, with a little more development of the rushing game, could be monstrous in the Atlantic versus every team not named Clemson.

There are probably a few more points that I have not caught, which means…fill in the blanks in the comments…I love to see what everyone else thinks and welcome comments.

The 2009 installment of what has to be the best rivalry in the ACC is on display Thursday night in Atlanta, facing off Dabo’s Tigers against the #15 Yellow Jackets. I know I’ll get a lot of questions from people because I am touting this as the best in-conference rivalry, but while Florida State/Miami might have a better national cache, Clemson-GT brings a guaranteed nail-biter to the table almost every year. And if you’ve somehow had your head under a rock the last decade, you’ve missed out. Of the last 10 meetings, all but 2 have been decided by 10 points or less, with numerous contests won in the final moments. (more…)

It could be the biggest game for either team this season.

Georgia Tech, fresh off a 37-17 victory over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks of the FCS, stays at home to face the Clemson Tigers for a huge early ACC matchup on Thursday night at 7:30.

Georgia Tech cannot lose this Thursday versus the Tigers. Well, they can lose, but if they do—the season is going down the tubes. Think back to last season’s Chick-Fil-A Bowl, Georgia Tech came in riding high with a strong ACC performance and facing off with a solid LSU team. They lose 38-3. The whole off-season has been predicated on shaking off their bowl loss. Clemson is the first true test of this year’s Yellow Jackets. In game one of the 2009 slate, the Ramblin Reck blew through Jacksonville State with ease. They racked up 335 yards rushing and were an impressive 8 of 12 on 3^rd down conversions.

Yet, this game is just a bit different(and by a bit, I mean huge). The first ACC test for the 2009 Jackets could be the difference between a BCS or mid-tier bowl. It is a “White-Out” on campus at Georgia Tech and the Tech fans are looking for a signature early ACC win. A loss to a squad in Clemson that still has so many unknowns—at home—would be disastrous for a Tech team that many are starting to believe will take the ACC. As Georgia Tech embarks on a tough stretch of conference games in a row, they simply cannot lose this game.

But what about Clemson? Can you imagine the momentum that an ACC road upset at a rival would be? Clemson goes from off the radar to national TV darlings—like 2006 perhaps? Who knows how they would handle the hype this time around, but the excitement would be off the charts with a strong defense and rushing game led by Heisman candidate C.J. Spiller.

The Tigers are coming off a 37-14 domination of Middle Tennessee State—defensively at least. The Clemson defense only allowed one TD as one of the Blue Raiders’ scores was a funky fumble return for a touchdown off from Clemson QB Willy Korn. At the half, the Tigers had given up negative rushing yards—yeah that’s right—negative yards (which is kind of important going into facing a run-centered offense like GT). In that half, they did not give up a score and forced 2 INTs from a relentless pass rush on MTSU.

The offense, by recent ACC standards, wasn’t too shabby either. An injury to Clemson star RB C.J. Spiller would affect the game a little, but underclassmen RBs Jamie Harper and Andre Ellington would each reach the 70 rushing yard mark. The great aspect of this analysis for Clemson is that redshirt freshman QB Kyle Parker has not appeared yet. He was a solid 9/20 for 159 yards and 2 TDs. He would have had a better day if it were not for some early and often drops by Clemson wide receivers.

The Clemson skill players did perform, but the absolute key to any chance of taking down 15th ranked Georgia Tech is the offensive line—and it was not quite as encouraging as a Clemson fan would like. Clemson offensive coordinator Billy Napier had to repeatedly pound the ball in short yardage situations and was not highly successful. There were no injuries which were the apocalypse of the Tigers’ season last year, but they will have to improve quickly in the short turnaround to the Georgia Tech game.

Who wins? My picks will up at my site on Thursday at On The B. Rink, but would love to see your picks!

-Brandon Rink

Hi there Georgia Tech fans!

My name is Jeffrey Fann and I’ll be blogging about Georgia Tech football this season. I have my own blog site, that I hope you’ll take a look at. It’s called All About Sports, where I talk about anything going on in the sports world. It certainly leans towards covering ACC and Georgia Tech sports, which is what I follow the most.

I graduated from Georgia Tech, so I’m a huge Yellow Jacket fan. I’m looking forward to talking Georgia Tech football with everyone all year.

Hey everyone and let me introduce myself. I am Winfield Featherston, the blog administrator of another fine blog site called “From The Rumble Seat” and I have two other Tech fans who write with me in “EffinDane” and “Bird”. Eventually you will see them over on this site as well sharing their thoughts and opinions. Georgia Tech holds a very special place in our hearts as we are all lover of Tech traditions, history and athletics. We all three have also shared a role in the maintenance of the one and only “Ramblin’ Reck from Georgia Tech” and have all come to love the Institute in different ways but have all arrived to the same location.

Well it’s getting late on this end and I still need to get some reading done. More to come later! Go Jackets!