Virginia Tech vs Georgia Tech: Preview, Players and Picks

By: Rich Douglas

The battle for the Coastal division of the ACC gets started on Thursday night this week, and for the preseason favorite Hokies it might be their one chance to stay ahead of the surprisingly efficient Georgia Tech team

When the Jackets have the ball:

Everyone knows GT is one of the last remaining true triple option teams.  They’ve used that attack to roll up 1036 yards so fr, good for 5.76 yards per attempt.  Senior David Sims  leads the crowded backfield (at least 5 players have 10+ carries) with 211 yards.  Sims has been bruising in the redzone, averaging 3.8 yards per attempt, and likely could see more with his 225 pound frame.  QB Vad Lee has more carries than pass attempts (58 to 39), but has been much more efficient through the air.  Hes averaging just 3.8 yards per carry, but is hitting the long plays in the passing game, averaging 10.2 yards per attempt.  More importantly, he’s only tossed a single interception.  The most explosive player on the field is likely RB Robert Godhigh, a player that shows good explosion in the run and pass game.  He has 6 runs of 10 yards or more in just 14 carries, and is the second leading receiver on the team with 5 catches, 3 of them for more than 15 yards. 

Luckily for the Hokies, stopping the run has been their specialty this season.  No team (including ‘Bama) has averaged better than 2.9 yards per attempt against the VT front.  The defense has been amazing at swarming to the football, with 164 assisted tackles being recorded (opposed to 117 solo).  OLB Jack Tyler has 4.5 tackles for loss to go with 9 solo and 24 assisted tackles.  Leading the charge up front are a pair of Senior linemen, JR Collins and Derrick Hopkins.  Collins has 4.5 sacks so far, while Hopkins has added 4.5 tackles for loss.  The team has harassed opposing QBs to the tune of 34 QB hurries already.  In the secondary, Kyle Fuller has 6 passes defended already, while Freshman CB Brandon Facsyon likely wont get targeted too often after he’s already picked off 3 passes. 

When the Hokies have the ball:

One of the biggest disappointments of this season has got to be the performance of Logan Thomas.  The once highly touted QB is completing just 48.5% of his passes for only 5.2 yards per attempt with 6 Ints already.  His third down numbers are just downright awful, with just a 39.6% completion rate, and just 1 in 3 of his passes convert the drive.   This hasn't helped Demitri Knowles, a Sophomore that last year showed explosive capability but is now averaging just 9.5 yards per catch.   Luckily for VT, Freshman backs Trey Edmunds and Chris Mangus have provided offense.  The pair have run for 469 yards with 4 TDs between them and a better than 5 yards per carry mark.  The run game though has only converted 29%  of its third down attempts. 

The Jackets defense has been stellar so far allowing just 4.5 yards per play to opposing offenses, and allowing just a 32% conversion rate on third downs.  Tech is also amongst the leaders in limiting big plays, with just 11 pass plays over 15 yards allowed and only 9 runs of 10 yards or more.  Its good, since they've only tallied 12 tackles for loss.  Adam Gotsis has 3 of those, amongst his 11 total tackles.  Senior backer Brandon Watts has 19 tackles to lead the team.  Tech also hasn’t been able to pressure opposing QBs very much, with Jeremiah Attaochu leading the team with just 1 sack and 1 QB hurry.  Louis Young is the leader in the secondary, with 3 passes defended, 1 int and 9 tackles. 

Whats Our take:

The Hokies are going to be desperate.  Their offense has been miserable and wont be able to generate many big plays against a fundamentally sound GT defense.  It should be a low scoring affair, with GT running the ball as much as they do, and VT defending the run as well as they do.  VT has a shambles of a kicking game, converting just 50% of their field goals.  The GT special teams haven’t been much either, so field position will be at a premium as well.  VT starts the week as 7.5 underdogs,  which could happen just because this is the kind of game where low scores mean bad things happen to favorites.  But the Under 41.5 is the smart play.