Georgia Tech Football: Who are the Three Biggest X-Factors vs Ole Miss?
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Georgia Tech and Ole Miss are going to be battling it out in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon and this is going to be another tough test for the Yellow Jackets.
Ole Miss comes into the matchup ranked 20th in the country and has breezed through its first two games, beating Troy 28-10 and Central Arkansas 59-3. Georgia Tech is entering the game as 16-point underdogs and will look to get the biggest win of the Geoff Collins era.
When a team is a 16-point underdog, they are going to have to have several players step up to have a chance to be in this game. Here are the guys I think will be the biggest X-factors in this game on Saturday for Georgia Tech.
3. The Wide Receivers
The Georgia Tech wide receivers will have to step up big on Saturday vs Ole Miss
This is cheating a little bit by picking a whole position, but this wide receiver group is going to have to step up in a big way on Saturday. The Georgia Tech passing game has only produced one passing play of more than 20 yards so far this season and that is going to have to change going forward.
The passing game has seen its fair share of struggles this year and while quarterback Jeff Sims has not played consistent enough this season, he should not get all of the blame. The wide receivers have not played well through two games and must find a way to get separation and make plays against an Ole Miss secondary that appears to be pretty solid.
Nate McCollum has shown he could be Sim's favorite target, especially in the game against Clemson. E.J. Jenkins has the size to be a matchup threat but is still trying to find consistency. Malachi Carter, Kalani Norris, and Malik Rutherford are also guys that are still looking to make plays this year.
While the running game was strong against Western Carolina, the Yellow Jackets have to find something in the passing game to balance it out. Let's see if they can do it this week.
2. Charlie Thomas
Georgia Tech linebacker Charlie Thomas has made a huge impact on the defense this season
It was a pretty telling difference for the Georgia Tech defense when they did and when they did not have Charlie Thomas in the game vs Western Carolina.
Thomas has shown to be the best player on the Georgia Tech defense so far this season and in just one half against Western Carolina, Thomas had eight tackles, two for loss, one sack, and an interception. He also played well in the game against Clemson until he was ejected for targeting. Ole Miss has firepower at every position on offense and Thomas will need to be able to make plays to stop the Rebel's playmakers.
Head coach Geoff Collins spoke about Thomas's impact on the defense after the half of football he played against Western Carolina:
"Charlie is a tremendous player. There were two busts early, one on the 3rd and 10, where we should have had the back but we didn't and he got out of there, and the one where they ran the jet sweep wheel, somebody should have had them. Just the cumulative reps, you know, Charlie is a heck of a player but also the guys that came in in Charlie's stead, they settled down and were able to get us through the rest of the first half without any more points. Charlie, I am just really proud of his development and he was the one after I was done talking, he spoke to the team as well and those kinds of things have not happened here in a while and it was really good just for his leadership, how he handled the week, knowing he was not going to play in the first half and still being supportive, still being a coach out there on the field for us so I can't express enough how proud I am of Charlie Thomas and not just as a great player, but his development in this program is just and he is special.
1. The Secondary
K.J. Wallace will look to make an impact in the secondary against the explosive Ole Miss offense
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is one of the best offensive minds in college football and Collins said as much this week at his press conference:
"I think he has established himself as one of the elite play-callers in college football. The scheme is very multiple, very fast and they execute at a high level and they have tremendous players all over the field so we have a challenge ahead of us and we are going to use every minute that we are allowed to get ready and prepare to try and match that challenge on Saturday."
Georgia Tech gave up two big plays in the secondary in the first quarter against Western Carolina and allowed Catamounts quarterback Carlos Davis to be really efficient and make plays through the air and with his feet. The Yellow Jackets' secondary is going to have to keep the big plays to a minimum to have a chance in this one against players like Ole Miss wide receiver Jonathan Mingo, who is averaging over 20 yards per catch, and tight end Michael Trigg, who already has three touchdowns.
It is still unclear which quarterback is going to get the start for Ole Miss, but both Luke Altmyer and Jaxson Dart are plenty capable and good quarterbacks. This is going to be the biggest test of the season so far for Georgia Tech's secondary.
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