Georgia Tech Football: Three Things the Offense has to do to win vs Clemson
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It is going to be a huge challenge for the Georgia Tech offense against the Clemson defense on Monday night.
Last season, Georgia Tech fell just short of pulling the upset, and a reason why is that the Yellow Jackets fell just short of 300 yards of offense and could not find any consistency. The Yellow Jackets averaged 2.5 yards per carry and were 3-14 on third down. It was a bad day offensively for Georgia Tech, but fortunately, Clemson was nearly just as bad.
This is going to be a brand new offense for Georgia Tech though. Chip Long is now calling the plays and there are going to be new players at nearly every position. Expect more varied formations and different use of personnel from the Yellow Jackets in an attempt to create big plays. However, Clemson's defense is not going to be changing much.
So what does Georgia Tech need to do to have success on offense against one of the best defenses in the country? Here are the three biggest keys for the offense.
3. Limit Havoc Plays by Clemson's defense
Clemson defensive tackle Bryan Bresee will look to dominate up front against Georgia Tech
One of the things that former Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables wanted his defense to do was to create havoc up front for an offense, particularly the line. Clemson's defensive line is one of the best in the country and is going to look to make plays behind the line of scrimmage.
I expect Clemson to put a lot of guys in the box and play man coverage on the outside and force Georgia Tech to beat them that way. That will mean more blitzes from linebackers Trenton Simpson and Barrett Carter to try and get Georgia Tech behind the chains.
Georgia Tech can't be conducting their offense in 2nd and long and 3rd long. That is not a recipe for success and that means they will have to prevent havoc plays when on offense.
2. Win One-on-One Matchups on the outside
Georgia Tech wide receiver E.J. Jenkins hopes to be a matchup nightmare
As stated previously, Georgia Tech is probably going to be facing a lot of man coverage on Monday night and their receivers are going to have to be ready to win matchups.
A guy like E.J. Jenkins at 6'7 245 LBS is going to be counted on to provide consistent mismatches against Clemson's defensive backs. Clemson is going to be starting two new corners, with Mario Goodrich and Andrew Booth Jr both off to the NFL and that is where the Georgia Tech offense is going to have to beat Clemson's defense.
There has been concern that Georiga Tech has not had receivers step up during fall camp, but they will have to on Monday night. Malachi Carter and Nate McCollum are two other guys at receiver to watch.
1. Create Explosive Plays
Donate Smith is going to be relied upon for big plays this season
It is going to be hard to drive the field on this Clemson defense. They are too talented up front and are not going to be getting pushed around for a whole drive. Georgia Tech is going to have to create explosive plays to win this game and that is something they failed to do consistently in last year's game.
The one area where Clemson's defense was vulnerable last year was allowing explosive plays in the passing game. I think that Georgia Tech is going to have to take some shots downfield to keep this Tigers front seven honest and where they are not stacking the box continuously.
If they can't get it done through the air, guys like Dontae Smith and Hassan Hall are going to have to hit big runs. Both have playmaking speed and ability and can create a touchdown from anywhere on the field.
Creating explosive plays, winning one-on-one matchups and preventing havoc plays are the biggest keys to success for Georgia Tech to have success on offense.
Georgia Tech vs Clemson is set for Monday night at 8:00 p.m on ESPN.
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