Everything You Need To Know: Georgia Tech

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Anthony Harris and the Hoos hope for a win on the road. ~ Mike Ingalls

November. It all boils down to November. At 4-4 on the season and 2-2 in the ACC’s Coastal Division, the Virginia football team knows its hopes of bowl eligibility and maybe more rests on the regular season’s final month. November is essentially a road gauntlet with three of four games away from Charlottesville. First up: Georgia Tech.

Here’s everything you need to know for the trip to Atlanta.

Essentials

Game Nuggets

  • This is the 37th meeting between Virginia and Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series, 18-17-1. Georgia Tech is 14-7 at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, the site of this year’s contest. Tech also has won four of the last five meetings.
  • It is Homecoming at Georgia Tech, which owns a 49-15-1 record on Homecoming. That includes a 3-2 record against the Hoos.
  • Since 1982, Virginia is 9-3 vs. Georgia Tech when committing fewer turnovers. The losses were in 1991, 2010 and 2013. In last season’s game, UVa forced five turnovers but produced no points from those take-aways.
  • Georgia Tech has played 219 straight games without being shut out, the eighth-longest active streak in the nation. The Yellow Jackets haven’t been shut out at home since 1957! That’s a streak of 355 home games.
  • Kevin Parks is No. 5 in the nation among active players with 3,087 career rushing yards. With 613 yards this season, he needs 387 yards over the last four games (96.75 yards per game) to reach 1,000 yards for the second consecutive season.

Spotlight On Synjyn Days

In his first three meetings with Virginia, Georgia Tech’s Synjyn Days has not had the opportunity to put up gaudy numbers. In three games, he has posted three carries for 23 yards. That could change this season for the redshirt senior.

Days is listed as the Yellow Jackets’ starting B-Back in their triple option scheme. Plus, Zach Laskey, his teammate that shares a big piece of the load at B-Back and who has had back-to-back strong games against UVa (25 carries, 176 yards, two touchdowns), is out with an injury this week. That means Days could figure more prominently into the game plan, especially since he just posted his first career 100-yard rushing game last week against Pitt. He rolled off a career-high 110 yards on 22 carries in the Yellow Jackets’ 56-28 victory. For the season, Days has 38 carries for 199 yards, an average of 5.2 yards per carry.

“Truthfully, Synjyn is probably a more physical runner than Zach,” GT coach Paul Johnson said before last week’s game. “Zach’s got more experience and is a little more shifty, I would think.”

Days started out at quarterback early in his career at GT. In 2013, he moved to A-Back (one of the wing, motion backs in the triple option system) and recorded four touchdowns. This season, Days flipped to the B-Back role. He will share carries in that spot this weekend with Matt Connors, who emerged with 56 yards and one touchdown last week at Pitt.

When Days is in the game, don’t expect a lot of dancing around the hole. He’s a self-described steam-roller type.

“Anytime somebody’s in my way I try to deliver the pain,” Days said on the Georgia Tech official website in this article. “Running them over, letting them know, ‘If you see me coming you’re going to feel it.’”

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Greyson Lambert needs to take care of the ball against Georgia Tech. ~ Mike Ingalls

Match-Ups To Watch

Virginia’s Greyson Lambert vs. Georgia Tech’s defense. Lambert missed a month of action between an ankle injury at BYU and his start last week against North Carolina. The rust and timing showed at times against the Heels, particularly in the second half where Lambert went three-of-11 passing with two crucial interceptions. Like North Carolina’s defense, which had nine interceptions before last week’s game, Georgia Tech enters this week’s contest with nine interceptions on the season. Lambert needs take care of the ball to help the Hoos get back on the winning track.

Virginia’s interior blocking vs. Georgia Tech’s Quayshawn Nealey. The senior linebacker is the key cog in the Yellow Jackets’ defense. A three-year starter at Tech, he has 253 career tackles and seven career interceptions. He has a defensive touchdown in three of his four years on the field, including this season on an interception return against Tulane. Still, the defense around Nealey isn’t consistent and the Jackets enter this game ranked 94th in run defense (189.13 yards allowed per game) and 74th in pass defense (240.3 yards allowed per game). If Virginia’s interior line and running backs can get to the second level and beat Nealey, it should lead to solid production for the offense.

Georgia Tech’s Adam Gotsis vs. Virginia’s Eric Smith, Conner Davis, and Cody Wallace. Georgia Tech’s defensive line doesn’t create a lot of pocket pressure on its own, but one player with that ability is Gotsis, a 6’5” junior defensive lineman out of Australia. Of the Jackets’ 11 sacks this season, he has two of them. Gotsis has 18 tackles this season. If Smith and company can keep Gotsis in check, that would be a big boost for the offensive line because the other four pieces can focus on cutting GT’s blitzes off at the point of attack.

Kris’ Keys

1. Big plays. After watching North Carolina rip off three big scoring plays last week, it’s important for the defense to get back on track this week at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets methodical triple option offense also has home run potential. They have 30 plays of 25 yards or more this season, 14 of those on the ground and 16 more through the air. The biggest threats are receiver DeAndre Smelter, who has six of the big gains, and quarterback Justin Thomas, who has six runs of 25+. If the Virginia offense could get a big play or two, that would be nice but …

2. The Edge. The biggest key for Virginia’s defense will be the ability to set the edge and tackle from the interior. Georgia Tech’s triple option, toss sweeps, end-arounds, and counters all can be neutralized with disciplined play from perimeter defenders like Eli Harold, Max Valles, Maurice Canady, and Brandon Phelps. Obviously, you’ve got to do a lot more on defense – beat chop blocks, slow down the dive, handle play action, etc. – to slow down the Jackets, but controlling the edge will be a big piece of the puzzle.

3. The Second Half. Over the past three games, the Cavaliers have six – only six! – points in the second half, three of which came last week against UNC. Going into this game, Georgia Tech has outscored the opposition 147 to 107 in the second half. Another flat performance by the offense after intermission this week likely will lead to another loss.

The Pick

Can Virginia avoid the late-season doldrums that have plagued the Mike London era? London is 5-11 in the month of November with the Hoos, including a 2-6 mark the past two seasons. The November piece of the 2014 schedule begins with Georgia Tech and the Cavaliers need wins to make a bowl and, potentially, to save London’s job at Virginia.

Virginia can win if … it eliminates things that make you lose. Last week, it was two interceptions, failing to recover an onsides kick, and a too many men on the field penalty.

Virginia can lose if … it continues to struggle with passing in the second half. The data and simply the “I watched it” test show that the Cavaliers aren’t getting it done on offense, in particular with the passing game, in the second half. More of the same this week probably will mean more of the same losing results.

And the winner is … Georgia Tech. It’s going to be tough to find wins on the road this month and Atlanta is frequently unkind to the UVa football team. I see another “close but no cigar” setback this week. Georgia Tech 27, Virginia 23. Prediction record to date: 5-3.