Kembali
Georgia Tech is heading back out on the road this weekend to face Clemson, and the Yellow Jackets are looking to break a four-game losing streak and earn not only their first win in Death Valley since 2008, but also defeat Clemson in consecutive games for the first time since 2009.
There is not a lot of confidence that is going to happen though. Since a suprise upset against Duke last month, the Yellow Jackets have lost four in a row and most of the results have been ugly. There were coaching staff changes earlier this week in hopes of boosting them on both sides of the ball, but they are going to be playing a Clemson team that still has hopes of getting to Charlotte to play for the ACC Championship game.
Here are three bold predictions for tomorrow's game.
Georgia Tech has not had to face many dual threat quarterbacks this season, but when they have, it has not gone well. Against Boston College, Eagles QB Mason McKenzie threw for 101 yards and ran for 170. Last week, Louisville QB Lincoln Keinholz threw for 182 yards and ran for 81 yards.
Clemson QB Tait Reynolds has only had two games where he has thrown for 200 yards (against North Carolina and Miami) and he has not ran for 100 yards in a game, but I think this Georgia Tech defense is the defense that can give a QB some notable stats and career highs. A change at defensive coordinator was necessary, but that does not mean everything is fixed.
Yesterday, Brent Key announced that both Alberto Mendoza and Grady Adamson are going to play against Clemson, but also seemed to acknowledge that continuity is important and Georgia Tech could ride the hot hand.
Neither quarterback has played well in the last two weeks, but I think Adamson will give them some mobility against an agressive Clemson defense and he will play most of the snaps.
I do think Reynolds is in line to have a nice day against the Georgia Tech defense, but he is one of the most sacked quarterbacks in the ACC (27) and the Clemson offensive line has been right there with Georgia Tech in terms of poor play.
Can new defensive play-caller Vinnie Sunseri dial things up and get after Reynolds? I think Georgia Tech will fall into some quarterback pressures and take down Reynolds at least three times in this game, though I don't think it is going to change the result. Georgia Tech racked up five sacks against Virginia Tech and still lost by double-digits and I think a similar result is likely going to play out on Saturday afternoon.