Georgia Football: Tech Week Means Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate

It’s that time of year again. Families are getting together, celebrating the holidays, feasting and enjoying each other’s company. The end of the college football season is upon us and that means it's Rivalry Week.

Notable games this weekend--Auburn at Alabama, Michigan at Ohio State, Florida at Florida State, Oklahoma at Oklahoma State and most importantly around these parts, Georgia Tech at Georgia.  If your house is divided, that should make for an interesting holiday.

Georgia has won the last nine of ten and owns the series record 60-39. Neither team has had quite the season they hoped for and each will battle for mediocre supremacy on Saturday.

The Bulldogs must beat Tech in order to obtain Bowl eligibility while the Yellow Jackets achieved just that with a win over Duke last week. Georgia is listed as a double digit favorite but that doesn’t necessarily mean a given victory.

Georgia Tech leads the nation in rushing. Their ground attack averages 319 yards per game. And without Joshua Nesbitt under center the Jackets will need their ground and pound to be top notch.

Anthony Allen leads Tech with 1,059 rushing yards on the season. He averages 5.6 yards a carry. That is impressive for any back, but expected in an option attack offense.  With an option team, the run game is practically all you’ve got.

While he may lead the team in rushing, Allen only has five touchdowns on the year. Who leads the Jackets in touchdowns? Nesbitt, and he’s done for the season. Needless to say, Georgia Tech needs its other players to step up to end Georgia’s post season football hopes.

Tech's defense is just atrocious. They were manhandled by Miami two weeks ago, and last Saturday they had to come from behind to beat Duke. The Jackets will need to score early and often if they want to beat Georgia. The key to a Georgia Tech victory? Controlling the clock and keeping the fire power of Aaron Murray and A.J. Green off the field.

As for the Bulldogs, they’re looking to bounce back from a devastating loss to Auburn. Coming off a bye week, Georgia hopes to win and finish the season at a measly 6-6. If you’re keeping score at home, Mark Richt is 13 and 11 in the past two seasons. Not a good record for a perennial program such as Georgia. Bulldog Nation will tell you they deserve better than that.

Georgia’s keys to victory are stopping the run and finding A.J. Green. If Georgia can somehow hold the Jackets' rushing attack under 300 yards they should win. It’s only happened three times this year and Georgia Tech lost in each of those games (See Kansas, NC State and Clemson).

Getting A.J. Green the ball is the number one goal on offense. In what is likely his last game in Sanford Stadium, Green might just have a career day. The ground game has struggled this season and for the Bulldogs to have success they’ll need to air it out. That is something Aaron Murray has done pretty well this season.

Murray used all of last week to get healthy. He finally returned to practice on Monday, and according to Richt on his radio show, Murray “did pretty well”. He’s a tough guy and a great athlete that should be playing on Saturday.  

If they beat Tech and advance to a Bowl game Murray should throw for over 3,000 yards for the year. Currently he sits at 2,580 yards. Georgia has to like where it stands at the quarterback position for the next few years.

As for the Jackets, Tevin Washington is no Nesbitt but he’s had successful drives with the option so far. And while it is a letdown that Nesbitt’s career at Georgia Tech is over, there is a positive outlook to the situation. Washington is getting great game experience for next year.  

This game has potential to be a shootout or a blow out. Both teams have had their fair share of disappointments this season. It all depends on who shows up to play and which team executes more. I give the nod to the Bulldogs.

Georgia 34 – Georgia Tech 24

Happy Thanksgiving!