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Banned
GT -6 vs. Miami
Both of these teams are coming off performances that they would like to forget. GT was blasted by Clemson on national television and Miami was taken to the final play by Duke; in football. Miami almost lost to duke in tackle football. That being said, each team still only has one conference loss and can reach a BCS game by winning the conference.
The Miami hurricanes have been an embarrassment most of the season and this is likely to cost their coach his job. The Canes don?t have that swagger typically associated with their program and don?t seem to believe in their coach; they seem to be going through the motions at time.
Georgia Tech started off the year by hanging with media darling, Notre Dame and have since had a huge victory at Virginia tech sandwiched in between conference wins over Maryland and Virginia.
In Miami?s 5 point victory at duke they were missing a number of players due to suspension, but they were still playing one of the worst programs in the country. The typically tough hurricane defense gave up 380 yards of offense to the blue devils and allowed them to average 5.4ypp. The Canes struggled with Jomar wright, I don?t know what they plan on doing with calvin Johnson. I would guess that they will shade kenny phillips to calvins side, but that may not be enough if GT actually goes to them as often as they should. The good news for the cane defense is that Ball isn?t a great passer and the GT passing attack only ranks 95<SUP>th</SUP> in the nation. Ball is only completing 51% of his passes and really only has two targets. Outside of the Johnson boys, no other wide out has over 56 yards receiving on the year which seems ridiculous. This gt passing attack could be aided bya rather poor Miami pass defense which sits at 55<SUP>th</SUP> in the country. That ranking is not only poor statistically, but its come vs. a schedule that?s includes Houston, Duke, UNC, Florida International, and Florida A&M. Upfront Miami is normally fast, dominant, and able to get to the passer as well as anyone in the country. That?s not the case this season as the Canes rank 53<SUP>rd</SUP> in the country in sacks and will have a tough time containing the very mobile Reggie ball. GT has only given up 8 sacks all year. Last week on national television Ball struggled mightily on the road and he should be eager to bounce back on ABC this week back home.
Georgia Tech has a tough RB in Tarshad choice who will be looking to add on to his 550 yards rushing to go along with his 4.7ypc average. The GT offense also likes to feature its QB in their rushing attack where ball has put up over 320 yards and averages over 4.0 yards every time he runs with the ball. Overall the GT rushing attack ranks 29<SUP>th</SUP> in the NCAA and, as a team, they put up over four and a half yards a carry. This week will be a huge test for that 29<SUP>th</SUP> ranked rushing offense when the canes come to town. The, seemingly, lone bright spot for Miami this year has been their ability to stop the run and their front 7 ranks 3<SUP>rd</SUP> in the country in stopping the run. Teams are only finding 62.9 yards a game on the ground and a very meager 2.29ypc. But while looking at those numbers we should probably keep in mind the relative weakness of the hurricanes schedule to this point. Should the miami defense be able to stop the run on first, GT struggles a lot when they?re put in long yardage situations. Without a great passing attack the Yellow Jackets will look to spread the field and run some drawls with Ball. Tech ranks a below average 64<SUP>th</SUP> thus far in 2006 in converting on 3<SUP>rd</SUP> downs while the canes are 33<SUP>rd</SUP> nationally in 3<SUP>rd</SUP> down conversion percentage defense. Along with special teams play, the ability or inability to gain yards on first down could go a long way in determining Techs fate in this game.
On offense the canes have been far from what they had hoped. When they were able to get, former #1 HS ranked QB, Kyle Wright on campus they had some big plans for their passing attack. Through 7 games Wright only has 7TDs to go with 4ints to go with a 7.0ypa average. On the season the Miami passing attack ranks 44<SUP>th</SUP> with 5 of their 7 games having been played vs. teams most figured the canes would blow out. This week the canes wont be facing a great passing defense; the jackets are 50<SUP>th</SUP> in the country vs. the pass. Their worst performance against the pass came in their trip to VT, but those yards came on 54 passing attempts. The only high profile QB that GT has faced was Brady Quinn and they did a fairly good job on him, at home in front of a packed house. When rushing the passer GT is decent. they have some speed on the D-line but they?ve only managed 16 sacks on the year averaging a bit over 2.2 per contest. Last year the Tech d found a way to get in the backfield and has 7 sacks vs. Miami, can they do that again this year? Miami knows the zone blitz will come early and often; the Jackets could have some success getting after Wright and the canes who rank 46<SUP>th</SUP> in protecting their passer. Wright has a great arm but he can struggle with his deep ball. The cane WR core has 2 players with over 20 catches and those two receivers (Leggett and Shields) have 5 of the 10 Miami TDs threw the air. A big decision looms this week as Coker will decide whether or not Ryan Moore will be able to see the field this weekend. Moore is reportedly in good shape and is a favorite target for Kyle Wright.
In its rushing game the Hurricanes have gotten a big lift from freshmen Javarris James. James is averaging 5.8ypc, but as a team Miami ranks only 74<SUP>th</SUP> in the country and produces 3.91ypc. The Miami O-line will be looking to give James room to run vs. the nations #32 rush defense who is giving up about 107ypg on the ground. Its hard to project what the Miami run game will do considering they havent played many tough games and were only able to post 30 rushing yards at Duke. A lot of blocking is physical and a lot is emotional, being willing to fight play in and play out and the canes have lacked heart at times this season and that will get them killed this weekend should they not play with an attitude. To make things worse, Miami ranks 86<SUP>th</SUP> in the country in converting on 3<SUP>rd</SUP> downs conversions.
While it doesn?t seem that either team could have a ton of confidence after last weeks games, emotion should be on the side of the home team this week in Atlanta. Last year the jackets held Miami to 10 points and they returned most of those starters. GT will have to find a way to get Calvin Johnson in the game after being blanked at Clemson. If they can just give Johnson some chances to make plays the offense should open up in the running game GT should be able to move the ball with some success. If Moore returns this week if gives the canes a huge target at wide out but they will have to protect Wright much better than they were able to a year ago. Miami has faced a lot of soft teams so far this season and they could be in for a rude awakening when they return to facing a team with very good speed who is hungry for their chance at an ACC title.
Lean to GT -6 (-101)
Pinny
Both of these teams are coming off performances that they would like to forget. GT was blasted by Clemson on national television and Miami was taken to the final play by Duke; in football. Miami almost lost to duke in tackle football. That being said, each team still only has one conference loss and can reach a BCS game by winning the conference.
The Miami hurricanes have been an embarrassment most of the season and this is likely to cost their coach his job. The Canes don?t have that swagger typically associated with their program and don?t seem to believe in their coach; they seem to be going through the motions at time.
Georgia Tech started off the year by hanging with media darling, Notre Dame and have since had a huge victory at Virginia tech sandwiched in between conference wins over Maryland and Virginia.
In Miami?s 5 point victory at duke they were missing a number of players due to suspension, but they were still playing one of the worst programs in the country. The typically tough hurricane defense gave up 380 yards of offense to the blue devils and allowed them to average 5.4ypp. The Canes struggled with Jomar wright, I don?t know what they plan on doing with calvin Johnson. I would guess that they will shade kenny phillips to calvins side, but that may not be enough if GT actually goes to them as often as they should. The good news for the cane defense is that Ball isn?t a great passer and the GT passing attack only ranks 95<SUP>th</SUP> in the nation. Ball is only completing 51% of his passes and really only has two targets. Outside of the Johnson boys, no other wide out has over 56 yards receiving on the year which seems ridiculous. This gt passing attack could be aided bya rather poor Miami pass defense which sits at 55<SUP>th</SUP> in the country. That ranking is not only poor statistically, but its come vs. a schedule that?s includes Houston, Duke, UNC, Florida International, and Florida A&M. Upfront Miami is normally fast, dominant, and able to get to the passer as well as anyone in the country. That?s not the case this season as the Canes rank 53<SUP>rd</SUP> in the country in sacks and will have a tough time containing the very mobile Reggie ball. GT has only given up 8 sacks all year. Last week on national television Ball struggled mightily on the road and he should be eager to bounce back on ABC this week back home.
Georgia Tech has a tough RB in Tarshad choice who will be looking to add on to his 550 yards rushing to go along with his 4.7ypc average. The GT offense also likes to feature its QB in their rushing attack where ball has put up over 320 yards and averages over 4.0 yards every time he runs with the ball. Overall the GT rushing attack ranks 29<SUP>th</SUP> in the NCAA and, as a team, they put up over four and a half yards a carry. This week will be a huge test for that 29<SUP>th</SUP> ranked rushing offense when the canes come to town. The, seemingly, lone bright spot for Miami this year has been their ability to stop the run and their front 7 ranks 3<SUP>rd</SUP> in the country in stopping the run. Teams are only finding 62.9 yards a game on the ground and a very meager 2.29ypc. But while looking at those numbers we should probably keep in mind the relative weakness of the hurricanes schedule to this point. Should the miami defense be able to stop the run on first, GT struggles a lot when they?re put in long yardage situations. Without a great passing attack the Yellow Jackets will look to spread the field and run some drawls with Ball. Tech ranks a below average 64<SUP>th</SUP> thus far in 2006 in converting on 3<SUP>rd</SUP> downs while the canes are 33<SUP>rd</SUP> nationally in 3<SUP>rd</SUP> down conversion percentage defense. Along with special teams play, the ability or inability to gain yards on first down could go a long way in determining Techs fate in this game.
On offense the canes have been far from what they had hoped. When they were able to get, former #1 HS ranked QB, Kyle Wright on campus they had some big plans for their passing attack. Through 7 games Wright only has 7TDs to go with 4ints to go with a 7.0ypa average. On the season the Miami passing attack ranks 44<SUP>th</SUP> with 5 of their 7 games having been played vs. teams most figured the canes would blow out. This week the canes wont be facing a great passing defense; the jackets are 50<SUP>th</SUP> in the country vs. the pass. Their worst performance against the pass came in their trip to VT, but those yards came on 54 passing attempts. The only high profile QB that GT has faced was Brady Quinn and they did a fairly good job on him, at home in front of a packed house. When rushing the passer GT is decent. they have some speed on the D-line but they?ve only managed 16 sacks on the year averaging a bit over 2.2 per contest. Last year the Tech d found a way to get in the backfield and has 7 sacks vs. Miami, can they do that again this year? Miami knows the zone blitz will come early and often; the Jackets could have some success getting after Wright and the canes who rank 46<SUP>th</SUP> in protecting their passer. Wright has a great arm but he can struggle with his deep ball. The cane WR core has 2 players with over 20 catches and those two receivers (Leggett and Shields) have 5 of the 10 Miami TDs threw the air. A big decision looms this week as Coker will decide whether or not Ryan Moore will be able to see the field this weekend. Moore is reportedly in good shape and is a favorite target for Kyle Wright.
In its rushing game the Hurricanes have gotten a big lift from freshmen Javarris James. James is averaging 5.8ypc, but as a team Miami ranks only 74<SUP>th</SUP> in the country and produces 3.91ypc. The Miami O-line will be looking to give James room to run vs. the nations #32 rush defense who is giving up about 107ypg on the ground. Its hard to project what the Miami run game will do considering they havent played many tough games and were only able to post 30 rushing yards at Duke. A lot of blocking is physical and a lot is emotional, being willing to fight play in and play out and the canes have lacked heart at times this season and that will get them killed this weekend should they not play with an attitude. To make things worse, Miami ranks 86<SUP>th</SUP> in the country in converting on 3<SUP>rd</SUP> downs conversions.
While it doesn?t seem that either team could have a ton of confidence after last weeks games, emotion should be on the side of the home team this week in Atlanta. Last year the jackets held Miami to 10 points and they returned most of those starters. GT will have to find a way to get Calvin Johnson in the game after being blanked at Clemson. If they can just give Johnson some chances to make plays the offense should open up in the running game GT should be able to move the ball with some success. If Moore returns this week if gives the canes a huge target at wide out but they will have to protect Wright much better than they were able to a year ago. Miami has faced a lot of soft teams so far this season and they could be in for a rude awakening when they return to facing a team with very good speed who is hungry for their chance at an ACC title.
Lean to GT -6 (-101)
Pinny
ance
