Week Six: Bad Advice, Bold Prediction, and Something Else

(It's time to get Roddy Jones doing more of that)

If you're Georgia Tech, this is it.

You're where you want to be heading into the two-game sprint that everyone said would decide if you were a conference contender or not—a trip to Tallahassee followed by a home date with Virginia Tech that essentially makes or breaks the Jackets in the ACC Coastal race.

Tech beat the Seminoles in Atlanta last year on a last-gasp fumble recovery, breaking the Jackets' 0-for-12 duck against Bobby Bowden's troops. That game, as much as any, helped define a season in which Georgia Tech announced its triple option would be heard, as the home squad rolled for 288 rushing yards.

This year, however, it's a night game in Doak Campbell Stadium, one of college football's toughest venues. So let's get started, shall we?

Bad advice

Execution is the name of the game for Georgia Tech on Saturday night. Florida State's defense is a paltry 57th nationally against the run, and a downright putrid 98th overall.

The faithful will be in a frenzy at the Doak, after everything that's happened this week concerning Bobby Bowden's job status and the shortest "coach vs. trustee" battle in recent memory.

Execute the offense to perfection early, and even the most bloodthirsty and loyal among the Garnett and Gold will probably shut up. The prospect of starting 2-4 for the first time in forever will do that.

The option is a great offense for shutting opposing fans up. It's slow and methodical, converts in lots of short yardage situations when executed properly and then blows games open with big plays.

If Tech runs it right from the get-go, methinks it will be a long night for Chief Osceola and his steed.

But the Jackets have to come busting out of the gate, full-bore. The odds of a Tech victory plummet with each minute the score is close, or worse, in Florida State's favor.

Bold prediction

It's time to complete the circle, Roddy Jones.

Seriously, Anthony Allen, Josh Nesbitt and Jonathan Dwyer have all had big days for the Jackets this year, yet the little man from Chamblee has a total of 57 yards on 18 carries.

Granted, he missed significant time in the preseason with a wrist injury, but Jones is as capable of busting big plays as any member of that backfield, and he's got easily the best breakaway speed on the team.

The triple option isn't a good offense just because it runs the ball well. It's a good offense because it finds ways to give playmakers the opportunities to make plays.

It's time for Tech's little man to bust some big ones.

Something else

Given that there was a time Tech and FSU were among the "power teams" in the ACC, it's surprising that this is Tech's first trip to Doak Campbell since 2003.

That night, Reggie Ball (scores of Jackets fans just cringed or threw up) and P.J. Daniels had the bees up 13-0 with 12 minutes to play, but Chris Rix (scores of Florida State fans just cringed or threw up, then remembered they haven't had a better QB since) led the 'Noles back with a touchdown each through the air and on the ground in the game's last seven-and-a-half minutes.

My, but what a long, strange trip it's been since...

Finally, a prediction

At first blush, this is a tough one to call. Do the Seminoles come out angry, hungry and ready to fight for their embattled—but still legendary—coach? Or are they flat and in a surrendering mood?

There are several factors that would appear to work in the Jackets' favor.

First, they have more playmakers on offense, and probably just about as many on defense.

Second, as mentioned above, they run the kind of offense that can take the wind out of anybody's sails—and Florida State's sails really ain't what they used to be.

Third, predictions around the college football world have Tech as a favorite, but they are still an underdog in Vegas's eyes. And just enough people are picking the Jackets for them to be safe from the Osterman Theory of Jinxing by Multiplication (if too much of the populous thinks you're an obvious choice, you're doomed—see: 2007 New England Patriots).

But what it came down to for me is this: I don't think Florida State's got the strength left for this game.

This isn't Michigan players rallying around a crying Rich Rodriguez, or Jimmy Clausen standing up for Charlie Weis.

This tug of war about Bowden's age and diminishing success has been going on for five years now. Florida State's entire roster was, metaphorically speaking, born into this world of controversy, speculation and strife.

Bowden hasn't won 10 games since 2003, and his one conference title since the split-division format began came in a season where FSU finished 7-5 in the regular season and practically snuck into the title game with a 5-3 ACC record, only to win the thing against an overrated Virginia Tech team.

That season, which ended with an overtime loss to Penn State in the Orange Bowl, was the beginning of this whole ordeal, during which time Bowden has managed to win just 25 games in three-plus years. The program's most memorable moment during that period came in the form of a cheating scandal that rocked the team in 2007.

Essentially, my question is this: How many times can a team seriously be expected to win a game based heavily, if not totally, on an emotional defense of their coach?

I don't doubt that the 'Noles want to go out and tell the world to shut up and leave Bowden alone. I'm sure they love him, and he them.

But at a certain point, emotion runs out. It's a non-renewable resource in competitive sports, and Florida State is in desperately short supply right now.

Two years ago, my gut would be saying take the 'Noles in a runaway, much like Miami against the Jackets this year. But I just don't think they have it in them, at least not anymore.

Take the Jackets by a couple of touchdowns, 28-14.