|
Who: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs Utah Utes Where: Sun Bowl Stadium (El Paso, Texas) When: Saturday, Dec 31st at 2:00 PM EST TV: CBS |
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-4 overall, 5-3 in ACC)
Most impressive victory: 31-17 vs Clemson (Oct 29th)
Worst loss: 24-7 vs Miami, Fl (Oct 22nd)
Notable alumni: Reggie Ball, Keith Brooking, Frank Broyles, Bill Curry, Jeff Foxworthy, Joe Hamilton, Calvin Johnson, Dennis Scott
Georgia Tech started out the season a house of fire as they won their first six games and did so in pretty impressive fashion. The problem was that they didn’t do it against very good competition. They did beat a couple of decent teams in UNC and NC State but when they lined up against better competition (Virginia, Miami, Virginia Tech, Georgia) the Yellow Jackets fell short this season. The highlight of the year for Tech was beating Clemson (ranked #5 in the country at the time of the game).
Georgia Tech runs the option so they are going to be coming downhill at you all game long. Their strength is that they just keep coming and they wear you down as they game goes on. Georgia Tech runs the ball on approximately 81% of their plays which sets up the deep ball with Stephen Hill. Hill is a 6’5″ receiver who gets single coverage because of the attention paid to the run. He only caught 26 balls this year but he averaged 30 yards per catch and had 4 TDs. Watch out for the deep jump ball that Tech likes to throw to him.
One big difference in Georgia Tech this year that makes them not quite as dangerous as the last couple of years is the lack of a feature back. In 2009 they were led by Jonathan Dwyer (1395 yds) and last year Anthony Allen (1316 yds) led them. This year their QB, Tevan Washington, is actually their leading rusher (890 yds). Tech has talent in the backfield (David Sims, Orwin Smith, Roddy Jones, Embry Peeples) but they haven’t been able to consistently get production from the RB position when they need it. Washington also struggled down the stretch passing the football as competition increased. In the first six games, Washington threw for over 100 yards in every game and had multiple TD passes in four of the first six games. In five of the last six games, Washington did not eclipse 100 yards passing and didn’t even hit 35 yards against Virginia and Georgia.
Georgia Tech is yet to turn the corner in their second year in the 3-4 defense. If you compare their numbers in 2009 to their numbers this year they are pretty much the same. Paul Johnson didn’t like the defense and had to make a change. Change takes time but as of right now the change is not paying dividends for the Jackets. One area where Tech has really struggled this year is getting off the field on third down as they are 10th in the ACC in his metric.
Utah Utes (7-5, 4-5 in Pac-12)
Most impressive victory: 54-10 at BYU (Sept 17th)
Worst loss: 17-14 vs Colorado (Nov 25th)
Notable alumni: Jamal Anderson, Norm Chow, Gordon Gee, Mills Lane, Holly Rowe, Alex Smith, Steve Smith
With their jump to the Pac-12, Utah predictably saw a reduction in wins this season. Last year they went 7-1 in their conference and this year just 4-5 in the Pac-12. It was an up and down year for the Utes as they had some good wins (BYU, Pitt, UCLA) and they also had some bad losses (Washington, Arizona State, Cal, Colorado).
One of the factors was the loss of QB Jordan Wynn just four games into the season. Utah ended up passing for over 1,000 yards less than they did last year and also saw a reduction in rushing yards by about 300. Increased competition will do that to you but so will losing your QB. Wynn’s replacement, Jon Hays, struggled to find his way early as he threw three picks in two of his first four games which resulted in blow out losses to Arizona State and Cal. Hays seemed to settle down as the season went on as he finished his last five games with 6 TD vs 0 INT. His best game was 199 yards passing but the coaching staff seemed to find a more comfortable fit for him in the offense as the season progressed.
Utah’s defense has been statistically impressive against the run this year allowing just 98 yards per game and 2.97 yards per carry. But Utah also didn’t play the top two rushing offenses in the Pac-12, Oregon and Stanford.
THE PICKS:
Kevin: I’m going to go against my Bulldog instincts in this one and pick the Jackets. Utah is coming off of a loss to Colorado and they’ve just been too inconsistent this season. With Georgia Tech, you know what you are going to get and I think they are more dependable here than the Utes are and I don’t think Utah can match points with Georgia Tech if this turns into a high scoring game.
Georgia Tech 28 Utah 20
Jay: The rap on this one is simple: When teams get a solid couple of weeks of bowl prep to get ready for Paul Johnson’s flexbone option attack, they usually do well stopping it. In his 3 seasons at Georgia Tech, his bowl record shows 3 straight losses: 38-3 to LSU in 08, 24-14 to Iowa in 09, and 14-7 to Air Force last year. I don’t see much reason for that to change this season. Kyle Whittingham is a good defensive coach, and the Utes are no strangers to unique option attacks, having previously been conference-mates with Air Force in the Mountain West.
Utah 20, Georgia Tech 10
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
