Georgia Tech Preview

The Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech has ruined nearly every season Miami has been in the ACC. It's time to change that.

Everyone remembers in 2005 when we wore our Nike REVO jerseys (the all greens with the orange shoulder patch) and we laid an egg and lost to the Fighting Calvin Johnsons. We were #3 in the nation, coming off a huge VT win and in the thick of things for the national title. USC and Texas never ended up losing, but if they did, Miami was in a position to play for their 6th national title.

This team is quite different from the Georgia Tech teams of the past. Former Navy coach Paul Johnson has installed his triple option offense at GT and while there's been some bumps in the road, GT has played well this year.

This is gonna be another ugly game, folks. One huge play will probably be the difference in the game. A fumble return for a touchdown, a long run, a deep pass. I wouldn't expect more than 30-35 points total out of these teams.

Georgia Tech's main quarterback, Josh Nesbitt, has a bad ankle and is a game-time decision tomorrow. The Yellow Jackets backup, Shaw, also is banged up and could miss tomorrow's game. I would expect Nesbitt to play, albeit limited. This is a huge bonus for Miami. They can cheat a little bit towards the pitch on the option.

I honestly don't know how we're going to respond against the option. I think we'll be fine, but if people start missing assignments, it's gonna be a long night. I wouldn't expect GT to light the world on fire, but they'll have some nice drives and holding them to field goals instead of touchdowns is going to be absolutely huge. Our offense needs the D to save as many points as possible because Miami is just not an offensive team right now.

Offensively, Graig Cooper and Javarris James are going to need to be stellar. No fumbles, no missed blocks, no soft runs. Georgia Tech has a tremendous defensive line, led by freak on the edge Michael Johnson who appears to be one of the most physically gifted players in the country. He disappears at times, and Fox is good enough to handle him, but he could get loose at any moment and cause havoc. Marve and Harris are going to need clean pockets to have success through the air -- if Cooper and JJ can block like they're capable of, it's going to do wonders for the offense.

Running the football is going to be tough. The big thing here is vision. GT loves to stunt their defensive line towards one side of the ball and if Cooper and James can read the cutback lanes, we could have some real success running the football.

Like I said last week, short passes are going to be a key to the offense. I expect Nix to come out throwing downfield and test the Georgia Tech secondary. Then, he'll get into his shell and start playcalling conservatively again. I just hope we make enough plays early in the game and that we play smart football.

GT is NOT a come-from-behind team. They struggle throwing the ball and really only have one receiver, Deynarius Thomas who accounts for an unusually large amount of their offense. Like I said earlier in the week, we should have bracket coverage on obvious passing downs on Thomas. If we can keep GT to 3rd and 7 and longer, we'll win the game.

If we get out to a 2-score lead, I think we're going to win the game. They just don't have the firepower on offense to come back and our D-Line has been great at getting pressure on the QB.

An ugly game, but we're hot right now and extremely confident. The seniors and juniors on this team know what Georgia Tech has done to Miami in the past and it's time for revenge.

PREDICTION : Miami 19, Georgia Tech 13

Last year, there's no way we even have a chance in this game.