For those planning to watch the Georgia Tech-Georgia game from the comforts of home, make sure all requisite snacks and libations are within arm’s reach. If both coaches have their way, this game will move quickly from start to finish.
Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson and Georgia’s Mark Richt are going to run the football, eat up clock and shorten the game. The result could be one of the quickest games this season, and the Yellow Jackets (second quickest) and Bulldogs (16th) average some of the shortest games in the country among Power 5 schools.
“That’s going to be a big part of the game -- who can hold onto the ball and who can intercept it or disrupt it through making a good, physical tackle,” Richt told reporters.
The No. 18 Yellow Jackets rank fourth in the country in average rushes per game with 54.6 attempts. The 10th-ranked Bulldogs average 42.1 attempts per game, which is the most a Georgia team has averaged since the turn of the century.
Georgia Tech has been predicated on the run since Johnson took over as coach, but the Bulldogs are not as balanced as they have been in previous seasons with first-year starter Hutson Mason, who is more limited as a passer than recent predecessors Aaron Murray and Matthew Stafford. The Bulldogs have thrown 270 passes compared to 463 rushing attempts this season.
Defense has been an issue much of the season in Atlanta, but it seems as if defensive coordinator Ted Roof has at least partially shored up Georgia Tech’s unit. Through the team’s first eight games, it allowed opponents to rush for 189 yards or more five times. In the last three games, opponents are averaging a little more than 100 rushing yards.
The rush defense will face one of its biggest tests of the season Saturday despite the Bulldogs losing Todd Gurley to a torn ACL. True freshman Nick Chubb has filled in admirably for Gurley, averaging 155 rushing yards per game over his last six games.
“Chubb’s a fantastic back,” Roof told reporters. “They’ve got a lot of fantastic backs. We know they’re going to be extremely talented and extremely explosive.”
Stopping Chubb is only half of the equation for the Yellow Jackets. They also need to be able to run the ball effectively, win on third down and control time of possession. Georgia Tech has been able to do that much of the season, and Georgia is middle of the pack in rush defense (and so is Georgia Tech). Quarterback Justin Thomas is a capable passer, but an ideal game plan would look similar to the one used against Miami: 65 rushes, 9 of 14 on third downs, and nearly 41 minutes of possession.
A stat line such as that would almost certainly give Georgia Tech its 10th win of the season, a plateau few saw the Yellow Jackets reaching. However, beating Georgia will mean more than getting to double-digit wins.
Although Johnson has silenced several local critics and is a coach of the year candidate, the naysayers will return if he loses to Georgia. Johnson has not defeated the Bulldogs since 2008, his inaugural season in Atlanta.
“It’s a big game,” Johnson told reporters. “Our fans definitely want to win the game. I think everybody involved wants to win. It’s a rival game. I tend to try to stay away from saying one game defines a program in a season. To this point we’ve had a really nice season. Probably better than most of you guys expected or thought we were going to have. And it would be the icing on the cake if we could find a way to go to Athens and win a game.”