Miami Hurricanes Football Week 6 Preview: Georgia Tech
By Harry Kroll
Before I start with the preview, here’s a bit of shameless self-promotion. I’ll be going up to Atlanta to call the game for WVUM, Miami’s student radio station. You can listen live on your dial at 90.5 FM in the Miami area or online worldwide at wvum.org. On with what you came for.
Game Details
Miami Hurricanes (3-2, 1-1 ACC) vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-0, 1-0 ACC)
Saturday, October 4, 7:30 pm, ESPN2
Bobby Dodd Statdium, Atlanta, GA
Line: Georgia Tech -1*
[*There was a lot of late movement on this line towards the Yellow Jackets. Miami was a slight favorite for most of this week.]
Passing Offense vs. Georgia Tech
Sep 27, 2014; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes quarterback Brad Kaaya (15) throws a pass against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Like last week against Duke, on paper Miami’s offense looks pretty good stacked up against the Georgia Tech defense. As we saw against the Blue Devils, that doesn’t mean imminent success. That being said, I like Miami’s chances to move the ball through the air (although not as much as I like the ‘Canes chances on the ground, but we’ll get there). Georgia Tech returns most of a decent secondary and linebacking corps from last year, but as we all know, Miami’s receivers are outstanding and the Yellow Jackets are going to need to get a pass rush on Brad Kaaya to stop this attack. With Miami losing RTs Taylor Gadbois and Kc McDermott, this is possible, but I still feel pretty good about Miami’s chances here. Jon Feliciano will kick out to RT and the ‘Canes have able bodies to fill the hole at LG between Brandon Linder, Alex Gall and Hunter Wells.
Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets return just one starter from the defensive front, DT Adam Gotsis. In 2014, the Yellow Jackets have recorded just six sacks through four games, and while one of those was Virginia Tech, their other three opponents were Tulane, Woffard and Georgia Southern. Not much of a murderer’s row right there. While Tech does rank 32nd in the country in passing defense, it’s clearly a product of their schedule and I think Miami will have a better day through the air than they had last week. One of the main reasons the ‘Canes struggles offensively for much of the game was a terrible performance on third down at GT ranks dead last in the ACC in third down defense.
Key Matchup: Whoever is playing LG vs. DT Adam Gotsis
If this spot holds up on the offensive line, Miami should have very good protection for Brad Kaaya and he’ll be able to shine.
Rushing Offense vs. Georgia Tech
Sep 6, 2014; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Hurricanes running back Duke Johnson (8) runs against Florida A&M Rattlers defense during the first half at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Again like last week, Miami can really earn its living offensively on the ground. Tech ranks 94th in the country in rushing defense, allowing nearly 200 yards per game on the ground. To be fair, they did play Georgia Southern, a triple-option rushing attack, but looking at the schedule I can’t help but be unimpressed. Miami had an outstanding day on the ground against a vulnerable Duke rushing defense last week and I expect more of the same in Atlanta.
While I may sound like a broken record, the key again here is for Miami’s ailing offensive line to pave the way. My guess is that they can do it fairly evenly against this defensive front; Georgia Tech has just 22 tackles for loss this season against a very manageable slate of teams. The guys to look for here are LB Quayshawn Nealy (Georgia Tech’s best NFL prospect) and NTs Gotsis and Shawn Green. In the instances the Yellow Jackets have been able to make noise in the backfield this year, it’s typically been spearheaded by these three.
Key Matchup: Whoever is playing LG vs. Nealy/Gotsis/Green
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what the x-factor is for Miami’s offense tomorrow night.
Passing Defense vs. Georgia Tech
Aug 30, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets quarterback Justin Thomas (5) drops back to pass against the Wofford Terriers during the second quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports
While many of you may read the phrase “Passing Defense vs. Georgia Tech” and have a good laugh, Georgia Tech’s passing attack is actually kind of a thing this year. Really. Stop laughing. Okay fine, I’ll give you a minute.
…
Alright, anyway Justin Thomas is your QB for the Yellow Jackets and with 65 attempts under his belt, he’s averaging 9.4 (!!!!) yards per attempt. 9.4! That lands him 17th in the entire nation, tied with some guy named Jameis Winston. Take a moment for those last few sentences to sink in. I promise I’m not making this stuff up. Here’s the catch: Thomas has only completed 32 of his 65 throws; the passing game is entirely boom or bust. From what I saw while watching the Yellow Jackets against Virginia Tech is that Thomas has decent arm strength but wildly erratic accuracy. He had two wide open deep throws for easy touchdowns that he missed (similar to Anthony Boone last week against Miami).
However, this attack is pretty effective because of Georgia Tech’s vaunted running game, which we’ll get to in a second. Tech uses the run to lull defensive backs to sleep before striking deep down the field. Here are the yards per catch averages for GT’s top three receivers: 24.2, 23.3, 33.5. Those numbers are not typos. It’s going to be critically important for Miami’s secondary to not fall asleep. At receiver, DeAndre Smelter is the guy for GT with 14 catches for an absurd 339 yards (24.2 yards per catch). There is no one else on the roster with more than three catches.
Key matchup: Miami’s secondary vs. Falling asleep
This is easier said that done because the ‘Canes will have to be so focused on the run game. I bet Miami gets burned deep at least once in this game.
Rushing Defense vs. Georgia Tech
Aug 31, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets running back Zach Laskey (37) runs the ball for a touchdown against the Elon Phoenix in the first quarter at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
It’s that time again! Everybody’s favorite week of the year when Miami gets to face Georgia Tech’s annoyingly unique and devastatingly effective triple-option rushing attack. This year, it’s as good as ever: Tech ranks 11th in the country with 292 (!!) rushing yards per game. Obviously, some of that is a product of the Tech schedule, but the Yellow Jackets racked up 250 yards on the ground against a very good Virginia Tech defense in Blacksburg two weeks ago. Like always, this is going to be a handful for Miami’s defense. You will hear the phrase “assignment football” repeated over and over this week.
For as effective as it is, the triple option is actually pretty simple. On each play, the quarterback has three options (Captain Obvious over here, I know) and up to two reads to make. The first is a zone read with the fullback; if the DT comes for the QB, he hands if off and if the DT stays home, the QB sprints to the edge for an option pitch play with the running back. The results are always impressive: Thomas is the leading rusher with 65 carries 443 yards (6.8 ypc). RB Zach Laskey is next with 5.8 ypc on 63 touches. Overall, 11 (!!) guys have picked up at least one carry for Tech.
Key matchup: ASSIGNMENT FOOTBALL
We love to mock this oft-repeated phrase, but it will be critically important for the ‘Canes defense this week.
Special Teams
Harrison Butker is the kicker for GT and he’s quite shaky—4-for-7 this year with all three misses coming on kicks shorter than 40 yards. Ryan Rodwell handles the punting duties and is a run-of-the-mill good not great punter, averaging 44 yards per punt on 12 boots. Defensive back Jamal Golden returns punts and kickoffs and he’s yet to break one this year but has a solid average of 25 yards per kickoff return and 12 per punt return.
For Miami, Goudis is out again so Badgley will handle the kicking duties. As we saw last week, his range does not extend that deep, but Goudis wasn’t exactly stellar from deep either. Everything else remains the same.
Key matchup: Stacy Coley, wake up!
Coley has been pretty much invisible and many ‘Canes fanes wonder where the dynamic player who wowed the country as a freshman last year has gone. Maybe that injury is still holding him down?
Three Offensive Keys To Victory
1. Give Tech a steady diet of Duke Johnson and Joe Yearby. I can almost guarantee the GT defensive front will not be able to hold up against Miami’s rushing attack.
2. Pray to whatever deity you believe in that the rotation at LG holds up tomorrow night. You don’t need me to tell you how critical this is.
3. Might as well pray again about the LG rotation.
Three Defensive Keys To Victory
1. Don’t fall asleep in the secondary. GT lives to burn teams deep after lulling them to sleep with the run.
2. Assignment football.
3. ASSIGNMENT. FOOTBALL.
Prediction Time
The more I think about this game, the more optimistic I become. Georgia Tech is likely going to break a couple long touchdowns either on the ground or through the air, but I don’t think GT is going to be able to hold down Miami’s offense, even in the relatively chilly weather that awaits the ‘Canes in Atlanta. I expect a shootout (but then again, I also did last week) and Miami just has more firepower offensively. Here’s your caveat, which I pulled from my part of the weekly picks column I do with a couple good friends:
"As a Miami guy, I’m pretty nervous for this one. I definitely agree with Bob that Miami has rounded into a good team this year, even if the record doesn’t quite show it. That said, the ‘Canes do have glaring holes, notably on the offensive line, where the situation actually got worse this week with RTs Taylor Gadbois and Kc McDermott declared out. The defense is certainly improved but we’re still not entirely sure how much and Georgia Tech’s unique ground attack always presents an annoying challenge to any opponent. On the other hand, in recent memory Miami has always played well against Georgia Tech, even going back to the Randy Shannon days. This is a game Miami should win, so I’m going to pick the ‘Canes. That said, Miami has looked good for stretches and faltered under Al Golden before. While I think this is the best team he’s had here by a fair margin, I doubt it’s completely immune to the letdowns that have plagued this program really since 2002. This is far from a guaranteed victory."