In their preview of the Miami at Georgia Tech Pro Football Focus laid out a few reasons why the Yellow Jackets will have trouble defending the Hurricanes passing game. Florida State is the only team to slow down Cam Ward this season. Ward had 215 passing yards and was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in 2024.
In every other 2024 game, Ward has thrown for at least 300 yards and two TDs. Georgia Tech is fifth in the ACC allowing 213.0 passing yards per game. When digging deeper into the numbers Georgia Tech is vulnerable against the pass. Ward should have a lot of time to throw versus Georgia Tech.
Georgia Tech is 122nd nationally with 11 sacks. That is 1.22 sacks per game. The Yellow Jackets are eighth-worst nationally with a 60.2 PFF pass-rush grade and the 78th-highest blitz rate at 33.6 percent. PFF stated Georgia Tech generates pressure on 28.3 percent of opponents dropbacks which is 99th nationally.
Georgia Tech plays a 3-3-5 system and is 94th in coverage grade. Against an excellent Miami offensive line Georgia Tech does not have good numbers to expect them to be able to pressure Ward. Defensive lineman Sylvain Yondjouen leads Georgia Tech with 2.5 sacks.
Although its overall numbers versus the pass are good, the two best passing offenses Georgia Tech played this season had a lot of success through the air. Kyle McCord completed 32 passes in 46 attempts for 381 yards and four TDs with no interceptions as Syracuse beat Georgia Tech 31-28 in September.
Tyler Shough of Louisville completed 13 passes in 19 attempts for 269 yards an astronomical 14.2 yards per attempt and two TDs without an interception 31-19 Louisville win in September. Georgia Tech is 11th in the ACC allowing 7.2 yards per attempt, a 63.4 completion percentage which is 14th and a 138.04 passer rating which is 12th.
Expect Ward to have numbers close to McCord or Shough. Without a pass rush and a poor coverage grade, Ward should have a lot of time to throw. The over/under on Ward's passing yards is 313.5 per FanDuel. He seems likely to go over. Expect Miami to use the pass to set up the run with Georgia Tech having a good pass defense.