Georgia Tech Vs. Vanderbilt: Our Johnson Is Bigger Than Yours

Paul Johnson and Bobby Johnson have met as head coaches eight times before this weekend.  Bobby Johnson has won just two of those meetings.

The difference this makes is that Bobby Johnson has seen this offense more than most coaches Georgia Tech faces.  But that doesn't mean that he has the answers to it.

Bobby Johnson recently said, “I have a pretty good knowledge of what he does, but for me to get that over to our players is the trick."  But even getting his defense to understand the option won't necessarily stop it.

Georgia Tech leads the country in total rushing yards, with 2333 yards, as well as time of possession, with an astounding 34:50 of possession per game.  Contrast with Vanderbilt's anemic offense with only 1398 rushing yards, and 26:42 time of possession per game, which puts them at No. 117 out of 120 teams.

But don't let those stats let you think for a moment that Paul Johnson is taking this game lightly.  He said on his radio show last night that they are treating the season as a playoff game, each game is bigger than the next and one slip-up, one loss can take you out of contention.

Look for Georgia Tech to use this game to improve their defense, specifically their pass defense.  Georgia Tech needs to make sure that the secondary is completely in sync before the go back to conference play against Wake Forest and Duke, who are tearing up the skies with their passing games.

Vanderbilt is coming off it's fifth SEC loss of the season in South Carolina, where there defense kept them in the game, again.  That will be the best chance that Vanderbilt has against Georgia Tech this weekend.  Keep the game close.

Keeping the game close could prove to be tough if Georgia Tech is able to wear down the Vanderbilt defense the same way they wore out the Virginia defense a week ago.

The last couple of things to keep an eye on for Georgia Tech fans, are the penalties and the kicking.  Georgia Tech has continually killed offensive drives with penalties, and extended drives for opponents with defensive penalties.  An astute email from a fan on the Paul Johnson Show, last night, pointed out that eight of the last nine drives that resulted in a punt for Georgia Tech were directly impacted by a penalty.

Those penalties that end drives hurt again when the kicking team isn't able to deliver.  Georgia Tech even struggled on kickoffs last week when Blair put a kickoff squarely on the 30-yard line for Virginia.  Without help from the kickers, the Georgia Tech defense will have a much harder time keeping Vanderbilt off the score board.

In his seventh win of Bobby Johnson, Paul Johnson and the Yellow Jackets beat Vanderbilt handily covering the 12-point spread.

*As a side note, it would be nice to see the backup quarterbacks take a few snaps if Tech jumps out to a big lead.