Saturday Will Be Won And Lost In The Red Zone

There are a lot of factors that play into a team's chances at winning a football game at any level of the sport. Whether that's Pop Warner or the NFL, yards per completions or sacks per game, a lot goes into the overall result you see on the scoreboard.

Tomorrow when the Hokies and Yellow Jackets do battle on Grant Field at Bobby Dodd Stadium, nothing will be quite as important as how both teams perform in the red zone. To an extent, it will be comparable to an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.

On both sides of the ball, Virginia Tech comes into their Heroes Day matchup against the Ramblin' Wreck as one of the best red zone teams in college football. Their 97.4% red zone conversion rate ranks as the 3rd best in all of FBS, and are one of 5 teams with just 1 missed red zone opportunity. The other 4? LSU, Georgia, Iowa and Navy. Their lone miss on the season came in the first game on just their second red zone drive of the season, resulting in an interception in the end zone thrown by then starting QB Ryan Willis. Since then, they've converted on 36 straight red zone drives.

But Georgia Tech is up to the task. Defensively in the red zone, they've allowed opposing offenses to convert on just 74.4% of their red zone drives, good for 3rd in the ACC and 21st nationally. Over their last 3 games alone, they've held opposing defenses to a red zone conversion percentage of just 66.6%.

Talking about their success in that part of the field, defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker says "it's a mentality thing" more than anything. Coverages tighten up with the field becoming less vertical, allowing Tech's 31st ranked passing defense to shine.

However, the other side of the ball is what could stand out against the Hokies. While Virginia Tech is thriving with the ball in the red zone, it's no secret that Georgia Tech has struggled. Out of the 130 Division I FBS teams, the Yellow Jackets currently rank dead last in red zone offense, sporting the only conversion percentage under 60%. It also doesn't help that the Hokies are also really good defensively in the red zone. They're just a notch better than Georgia Tech, holding opposing offenses to just 72.2% in the red zone (2nd in ACC).

Fortunately for the Yellow Jackets, Bud Foster's defense has given up 12 passing touchdowns in the red zone, tied for 6th most out of the Power 5 schools. With the offense finally starting to click, James Graham could very well catch the Hokies off guard in that part of the field.

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