Biggest X-Factor For Georgia Tech's Offense vs Georgia
Georgia Tech has not scored more than 30 points against an FBS opponent this season and to beat that streak, they will have to do so in Athens against the No. 1 scoring defense in the country.
The numbers on offense for Georgia Tech this season are... not good. 80th in rushing offense, outside of the top 100 in passing offense, and 123rd in scoring offense. It is going to be tough sledding against Jalen Carter and this Georgia defense, but offensive coordinator Chip Long is going to have to come up with a manageable game plan for starting quarterback Zach Gibson and the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech's offense will face the top defense in the country tomorrow
Moving the ball against Georgia's defense is going to be tough, but I think the X-Factor for Georgia Tech is not letting Georgia get them behind the chains and make things even more difficult.
As elite as Georgia's defense is, there are two categories where they are in the bottom half of the country. The Bulldogs are 97th in the country in sacks and 87th in tackles for loss. Their leading pass rusher, Nolan Smith, is out for the rest of the season after suffering an injury and Georgia has not found an individual to replace his production.
The problem is: Georgia Tech's offensive line is among the worst in the country. The Yellow Jackets are 118th in sacks allowed and have not faced a defensive front like this since they played Clemson. The Tiger's front seven dominated that game and I am worried about a similar result.
Jalen Carter is a projected top-five pick for Georgia in next year's draft
Clemson has several future NFL players on its defensive line, but none are as good as Jalen Carter. Earlier this week, Interim head coach Brent Key spoke highly of Carter and this defense as a whole:
"He is a tremendous player. You can put him in any scheme you want. He can play the block, he can go around the block, he can get caught in run down thinking it is pass or vice versa and still be able to make plays so he just has an uncanny ability to find the football and be around the football. He has a lot of God-given ability, but they do a good job of developing those guys as well within the program.
Defensively, they are going to line up and they are going to do what they do. They are going to mix up between their mint front and their four down front, they are going to keep you honest by the way they stem the front and move presnap so they are going to keep you honest by the schemed four down runs or mint runs. At the end of the day, they are going to play sound football on that side of the ball."
Staying in manageable situations is just one of many things that this Yellow Jackets offense must do tomorrow against Georgia, but it is the most important thing to me.
Georgia Tech vs Georgia will kick off tomorrow in Athens at noon and the game will be televised on ESPN.
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