It would seem as though only one victory would separate Florida State from a trip to the first College Football Playoff although one can no longer be so certain as the Seminoles dropped to fourth in the College Football Playoff rankings. Florida State will aim to win a third straight ACC Championship on Saturday night as it takes on 11th-ranked Georgia Tech in Charlotte.
Both the Seminoles and Yellow Jackets are coming off in-state rivalry victories. Florida State defeated Florida 24-19 while Georgia Tech used a last second field goal and an overtime interception to down Georgia 30-24.
Surprisingly, among the big concerns for Florida State entering the contest is the play of sophomore quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston, who had what was by far his worst collegiate game against Florida. Winston threw two touchdowns to Nick O’Leary, but was intercepted a career-high four times and complete just half of his 24 passes for 125 yards.
FSU will need a better effort from its star quarterback this week as it takes on a Georgia Tech team that ranks second in the ACC in interceptions. Juniors D.J. White and Jamal Golden are tied for the team lead with four interceptions apiece. They’ll look to slow down the ACC’s leading receiver in Rashad Greene and a very potent aerial attack for Florida State.
In recent weeks, the Florida State ground game has found its spark and with Winston struggling against Florida, no player performed better than Dalvin Cook, who finished with 144 yards rushing. With Karlos Williams fighting a concussion and Mario Pender a non-factor in recent weeks, expect a lot of touches for Cook this week.
While Florida State has found its running game in recent weeks, Georgia Tech lives off of its. Running head coach Paul Johnson’s triple-option attack, the Yellow Jackets average 334 yards-per-game on the ground, which ranks fourth in the country. Georgia Tech is the ACC’s leading scoring offense as well, just ahead of Florida State.
Sophomore quarterback Justin Thomas leads Georgia Tech with 861 yards on the ground this season. Thomas is completing about half of his passes, but the Yellow Jackets will not have leading receiver DeAndre Smelter, who leads the team in receptions (35) and yards (715) by a wide margin, on Saturday due to a knee injury.
Fullback Zach Laskey ranks second on the team with 748 yards rushing this season while finding the end zone a team-high eight times.
For the Seminoles to be successful defensively, it will need a big day from its defensive line, led by defensive tackle Eddie Goldman. Fellow defensive tackle Derrick Mitchell is coming off one of the better games of his career and will need to continue to be stout against the run.
Linebackers and safeties will need to fly to the football this week as well. Junior linebacker Terrance Smith made a game-changing play last week against Florida as he returned an interception 94 yards for a touchdown with FSU trailing 9-0. Safety Jalen Ramsey does just about everything for Florida State and will need to be involved against the run this week.
Saturday’s contest in Charlotte will be the first between the Seminoles and Yellow Jackets in two years. In the 2012 ACC Championship, Florida State raced to a 21-3 lead before holding off Georgia Tech, 21-15, thanks to a late interception by Karlos Williams, who at the time was a safety.
Florida State trounced Duke 45-7 in last year’s ACC title game as FSU looks to become the first team to 3-peat as ACC champs since the conference added a championship game in 2005. Georgia Tech will be looking for its first conference crown since 2009. The Seminoles are 3-1 all-time in ACC Championship games. Georgia Tech is 1-2.
Saturday’s game is scheduled to begin after 8:00 P.M. eastern time and will air nationally on ABC.
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