Sunday, September 02, 2018

Predictions: Georgia Tech

Some years teams have favorable schedules. This year’s Georgia Tech schedule is very unfavorable. Tech plays poorly on the road. Teams the Jackets beat easily at home often dominate Tech at their place. This year the Jackets travel to South Florida, Pitt, Louisville, Virginia Tech, UNC, and Georgia. Three or four of those six games are winnable, but Tech could lose them all.

Tech plays their two toughest games at home: Clemson and Miami. Duke and Virginia will come to town hungry. Gaining bowl eligibility will be a formatible task this year, even if the team is markedly improved.

Paul Johnson has a few good recruits coming in who should contribute immediately. Incumbent quarterback Taquon Marshall returns for his second season as a starter (#16 below). He may be the fastest QB in Tech’s long history, if not the fastest Jacket ever. Once he breaks free he is gone. Marshall is skinny, but he’s not afraid to lower his helmet and initiate contact. Unfortunately he is rarely able to move and carry defenders with him. A passer Taquon is not. He makes Justin Thomas look like Johnny Unitas. Now that he has options, I would not be surprised if Johnson replaces Marshall sometime this season.
This may be the season Paul Johnson finally starts to feel some heat. New athletic director Todd Stansbury will have seen enough to understand that too many things have to come together perfectly for the Jackets to win the ACC, much less contend for a berth in the national playoff. Most Tech fans are complacent, uncaring that the football team continues to at best fall in the middle of the pack. These oblivious fans go into big games against the likes of Clemson and Georgia thinking Tech is the equal of these elite teams, and when they lose shake their heads and think it just wasn’t Tech’s year. They just don’t know much about football, or are not willing to accept that the Jackets waddle in mediocrity – even after season after season of bordering on the cusp of bowl eligibility.

September 1 vs. Alcorn State. WIN. We’ll get to see some of the backup QB’s, which is always educational. 1–0.

September 8 at South Florida in Tampa. Triple whammy: on the road in an unfamiliar environment, playing in a NFL stadium, on ABC/ESPN2. Does not bode well for Tech.  Maybe a hurricane will blow through, and the game gets cancelled. LOSE 1-1.

September 15 at Pittsburgh in Heinz Field. Two straight weeks in a NFL stadium. Tech struggles at Pitt, whose non-nonsense defenders stay home to defend their lanes. LOSE 1-2.

September 22 vs. Clemson. Fans from the state of Georgia will get to see Cartersville’s Trevor Lawrence riddle the Tech defense with passes. LOSE 1-3.

September 29 vs. Bowling Green. Finally a breather. Tech wins a relatively close game. Nothing to write home about. WIN 2-3.

October 5 at Louisville on Friday night. ESPN. After the big win over Bowling Green, Jacket fans hold their heads up, and tell Louisville they better watch out. Then reality hits. Fans turn on ESPN. The Cardinals come out in all black. The Jackets ditch their traditional gold britches and wear all white. The uniforms don’t help. This isn’t the best Louisville team, but their speed and athletisism is superior to Tech’s. LOSE 2-4.

October 13 vs. Duke. Tech wins a close game. Maybe. Jacket fans start talking about winning out the rest of the season. After beating Duke. WIN 3-4.

October 25 at Virginia Tech. Thursday night ESPN. More reality. Hokie fans make the Louisville fans look like church mice. The Hokie players make the Cardinals (and the Yellow Jackets) look like high school players. LOSE 3-5.November 3 at North Carolina. The Jackets come out flat, as they usually do on the road against average ACC opponents. Heels win a close one. LOSE 3-6.

November 10 vs. Miami. Tech still hopes for a bowl bid. Officials from several low level bowls committed to taking an ACC team are wined and dined in the luxury suites. They like what they see – Miami. Tech loses again. LOSE 3-7. 

November 17 vs. Virginia. Mark Bradley and Jeff Schultz call this a must win game for Paul Johnson. The Cavaliers continue to improve under head coach Bronco Mendenhall. When Taquon continues to struggle, Johnson finally replaces him in the second quarter. It’s too little too late. Tech drops to 3-8.

November 24 at Georgia. Tech fans are undeterred. UGA may be undefeated, but they point to the years Tech has won in Athens. But it won’t happen this year. Dawgs win big. Stansbury has a decision to make. Jackets finish 3-9.

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