It could be the biggest game for either team this season.
Georgia Tech, fresh off a 37-17 victory over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks of the FCS, stays at home to face the Clemson Tigers for a huge early ACC matchup on Thursday night at 7:30.
Georgia Tech cannot lose this Thursday versus the Tigers. Well, they can lose, but if they do—the season is going down the tubes. Think back to last season’s Chick-Fil-A Bowl, Georgia Tech came in riding high with a strong ACC performance and facing off with a solid LSU team. They lose 38-3. The whole off-season has been predicated on shaking off their bowl loss. Clemson is the first true test of this year’s Yellow Jackets. In game one of the 2009 slate, the Ramblin Reck blew through Jacksonville State with ease. They racked up 335 yards rushing and were an impressive 8 of 12 on 3rd down conversions.
Yet, this game is just a bit different(and by a bit, I mean huge). The first ACC test for the 2009 Jackets could be the difference between a BCS or mid-tier bowl. It is a “White-Out” on campus at Georgia Tech and the Tech fans are looking for a signature early ACC win. A loss to a squad in Clemson that still has so many unknowns—at home—would be disastrous for a Tech team that many are starting to believe will take the ACC. As Georgia Tech embarks on a tough stretch of conference games in a row, they simply cannot lose this game.
But what about Clemson? Can you imagine the momentum that an ACC road upset at a rival would be? Clemson goes from off the radar to national TV darlings—like 2006 perhaps? Who knows how they would handle the hype this time around, but the excitement would be off the charts with a strong defense and rushing game led by Heisman candidate C.J. Spiller.
The Tigers are coming off a 37-14 domination of Middle Tennessee State—defensively at least. The Clemson defense only allowed one TD as one of the Blue Raiders’ scores was a funky fumble return for a touchdown off from Clemson QB Willy Korn. At the half, the Tigers had given up negative rushing yards—yeah that’s right—negative yards (which is kind of important going into facing a run-centered offense like GT). In that half, they did not give up a score and forced 2 INTs from a relentless pass rush on MTSU.
The offense, by recent ACC standards, wasn’t too shabby either. An injury to Clemson star RB C.J. Spiller would affect the game a little, but underclassmen RBs Jamie Harper and Andre Ellington would each reach the 70 rushing yard mark. The great aspect of this analysis for Clemson is that redshirt freshman QB Kyle Parker has not appeared yet. He was a solid 9/20 for 159 yards and 2 TDs. He would have had a better day if it were not for some early and often drops by Clemson wide receivers.
The Clemson skill players did perform, but the absolute key to any chance of taking down 15th ranked Georgia Tech is the offensive line—and it was not quite as encouraging as a Clemson fan would like. Clemson offensive coordinator Billy Napier had to repeatedly pound the ball in short yardage situations and was not highly successful. There were no injuries which were the apocalypse of the Tigers’ season last year, but they will have to improve quickly in the short turnaround to the Georgia Tech game.
Who wins? My picks will up at my site on Thursday at On The B. Rink, but would love to see your picks!
-Brandon Rink
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[...] not further bury my answer, I will just go ahead and tell you it is Georgia Tech. A few weeks ago, I said GT-Clemson was the biggest game of their season–well, the loss to Miami raised the stakes and they simply cannot drop this one and expect to [...]