Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech: Hokies Look to Dominate Yellow Jackets

(Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

The Virginia Tech Hokies will go into Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech ranked as the fourth-best team in the nation and the best team in the ACC. The Hokies are far and away the best team in the ACC, but as we know, any team can beat the other on any given day.

Therefore, the Hokies will not be taking the Yellow Jackets lightly.

However, the Hokies have an advantage in almost every category and even last year’s game can help Virginia Tech.

The Hokies beat Georgia Tech 20-17 in Blacksburg last year, but that was with an ineffective offense: no Ryan Williams and Tyrod Taylor throwing for only 48 yards.

Three of Georgia Tech’s defensive lineman from that game have graduated to the NFL, and the Yellow Jackets have injuries all over their defense right now, most notably in the secondary. All of this has caused major problems for the Georgia Tech defense.

Coming into to this week’s game against Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech ranks 82nd nationally in total defense, allowing 385 yards per game, while the Yellow Jackets rank 77th in the nation and allowing 26.5 points per game. 

Of the 385 yards per game the Yellow Jackets are allowing, 135 are coming on the ground, and when you have the nation’s fifth-leading rusher coming to town and an offense that’s averaging over 200 yards on the ground per game, good things can’t be on the horizon.

The Hokies are also averaging 34 points per game so far this season, and they haven’t exactly been playing cupcake opponents.

Georgia Tech gave up over 500 yards of total offense to Florida State this past weekend, but won the game, 49-44.

The main difference between Florida State and Virginia Tech is defense. The Hokies' defense hasn’t been as good as past seasons, as it ranks 54th nationally, but is coming off a dominating performance against Boston College.

The Eagles didn’t get above zero total yards in the first half against the Hokies and only managed to move the ball in the second half against Virginia Tech’s second and third defensive squads.

By the way, Boston College beat Florida State by seven points the week prior to playing Virginia Tech.

Frank Beamer said Tuesday in the Hokies’ weekly press conference that they work on defending the option every day in practice.

Freshman Antone Exum, who is being redshirted this season and ran a spread-like offense in high school, plays quarterback for the scout team and is acting as Josh Nesbitt in practice.

Beamer knows that this game is incredibly important for his team, and stopping Nesbitt will be key to the Hokies' success.

Here are the three keys to the game for the Hokies as they travel to Atlanta to take on the Yellow Jackets, with Georgia Tech featured columnist Zach Osterman weighing in (also be sure to check out his take on the game )as well:

1. No Big (Passing) Plays

I put passing in parentheses for a very simple reason: Teams can get carried away in trying to stop the spread option rushing attack of Georgia Tech and get hurt through the air on a big play.

Nesbitt has thrown the ball much better in his last two weeks of play, passing for 397 yards and two touchdowns combined against Mississippi State and Florida State.

Obviously, the primary concern for the Hokies' defense will be stopping the run, but the defense’s main problem so far this year has been giving up the big play.

They did it against Alabama, Nebraska, and Duke, and if they give up big plays through the air, that may open up bigger holes on the ground for Georgia Tech.

Zach:

I would agree with part of the premise of this argument. The Jackets are an offense that loves big plays —one reason they have the conference's best offense. But the fallacy, I think, behind stopping the option is the idea that it's just a rushing offense. The only difference between the spread option Tech runs and the spread option that say, Texas runs, is that most of the action happens beyond the line of scrimmage for Texas, whereas in Tech's offense, it's behind it. That fact alone makes the option a rushing offense, yes, but at its base, the spread option is just an incredibly innovative way of getting the ball into the hands of playmakers, then setting them up to make plays. So I would say that Virginia Tech moreso just needs to limit big plays in general, whether they be through the air or on the ground.

2. Keep the Offense on the Field

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?