Virginia plays three of its final five games at Scott Stadium, starting with Georgia Tech on Halloween. The Cavaliers hope the visit from the Yellow Jackets doesn’t end in the same nightmare fashion as Notre Dame and Boise State, but is more like the thriller against Syracuse.
GT coach Paul Johnson expects a tough test in Charlottesville where his team usually gets the Hoos’ best shot. UVa defeated Tech in 2011, 24-21, and lost a close one, 35-25, in 2013 (that game was close the whole way before the Jackets put it away with a touchdown in the final two minutes).
“I think they got good players,” Johnson said. “They do a lot of stuff offensively, a lot of eye candy, a lot of different stuff. I think overall, it’s like I was telling our team yesterday, they’re 2-5 just like we’re 3-5, and we’ve lost to three of the same teams. The other two teams they lost to are UCLA and Boise, which aren’t bad. I don’t think their record is very indicative of the kind of football team they have. We know we’ll have to be ready to go play a good game if we’re going to come out on the right end.”
The Wahoos must finish 4-1 in the final five games in order to reach 6-6 and bowl eligibility so this home game is crucial to those hopes. Here’s Everything You Need To Know …
Essentials
- Game Time: Saturday, Oct. 31, 3 p.m.
- T.V. Info: RSN
- Radio Info: WINA 1070AM | Other affiliates | Satellite Radio – Sirius 119, XM 194
- Live Game Tracker Stats
- Park and Ride Shuttles
- Maps and Parking Information
- Scott Stadium Information
- Tailgating Info and Policies
- UVa Official Notes and Stats – printable pdf
- Georgia Tech Notes and Stats – printable pdf
- Projected UVa Depth Chart – printable pdf
- UVa vs. Georgia Tech Roster Card – printable pdf
- Exclusive Weather Updates
Game Nuggets
- Virginia and Georgia Tech have played 37 times and the Yellow Jackets lead the series, 19-17-1. The home team holds a strong edge overall in the series, though. UVa owns a 10-4-1 record at home, while Tech is 15-7 in Atlanta. The home team has won 7 of the last 10 matchups.
- GT has won five of the last six meetings.
- Virginia is 6-9 all-time on Halloween. Georgia Tech is 10-7, including three straight Halloween wins.
- Since 1982, UVa is 9-3 against Georgia Tech when committing fewer turnovers.
- Georgia Tech and Virginia have faced tough competition so far this season. GT’s schedule is currently ranked No. 6 nationally by teamrankings.com, while UVa is 37th.
Spotlight On Georgia Tech’s Option
Normally, this section features a solo player from the week’s opponent but with Georgia Tech’s unique offense coming to town, the whole offense gets the spotlight. The Yellow Jackets blend old school triple option with modern spread option plus some standard power running elements to cause headaches for opponents.
The triple option gets the most attention – fullback up the middle, quarterback keeper, or a lateral toss to the pitch man. The Yellow Jackets can show this concept in various ways from power runs to a spin series where the quarterback shows one way then pivots back to run the option to the opposite field. Throw in the chop blocking toward your legs and it is a lot to deal with if you’re a defense.
“You break it down,” Virginia coach Mike London said. “You try to be as elementary as you can. Tackle the dive. Make sure you have the quarterback. Everybody rally to the pitch, then run. This is a style of offense that they try to get you on the ground with, trying to get you off your feet so you have to use your hands, your eyes, just everything about what they do.”
Beyond that base, the Yellow Jackets have some counters off the triple option action as well. They also can run more of a spread option look with a quarterback read or draw that’s a nice change of pace. Plus, there are the standard pieces from many playbooks – toss sweeps mainly – that can be troublesome.
GT adds in play-action passing after the defense grows numb to run after run for big gains down the field. The Jackets have 14 passes of 25+ yards this season.
“What they’re doing more of is Justin Thomas is also throwing the ball,” London said. “He’s got almost a thousand yards passing with 10 touchdowns. … What they’ve shown is they also will offer that option look, throw it. They’ve done some things you have to be alert and aware of your assignments. As I said, they will also throw the ball and cause you to have to defend the whole field.”
The offense also forces you to defend everybody. Georgia Tech’s 34 touchdowns this season have been scored by 15 different players. Patrick Skov leads the team with 8 TDs, while QB Justin Thomas has 6.
Matchups To Watch
Georgia Tech B back Marcus Marshall vs. Virginia defensive tackle David Dean. Dean said this week that his experience against the Georgia Tech’s offense should help as he tries to help stop the dive part of the defense in particular. Dean, who has 24 tackles with 3 sacks this season, posted 9 tackles in UVa’s most recent home game, a win against Syracuse. He’ll have his hands full with Marshall, who has 508 yards and 4 TDs on 57 carries, an average of 8.9 yards per attempt. Of note, Marshall hasn’t lost any yards all season long and if he gets to the second level against UVa (and its tackling issues), that could be a big problem.
Virginia receiver Canaan Severin vs. Georgia Tech safety Jamal Golden. Severin is one of the top producers for Virginia’s offense with 33 catches on the season. He has 458 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns – that includes a touchdown catch in each of UVa’s wins so he’s an impact player and the Hoos want to get him the ball. Sometimes, QB Matt Johns will put a ball in the air just to let Severin make a play. That could be tricky on Halloween with GT safety Jamal Golden on the other side. He’s tied for the ACC active lead with 8 interceptions. He had 9 tackles and 1 INT in his team’s upset of Florida State last week.
Georgia Tech quarterback Justin Thomas vs. Virginia linebacker Micah Kiser. Thomas engineers the option attack where he is a running and passing threat. When it come to running the football, he is just 39 yards away from overtaking Joe Hamilton for GT’s No. 3 all-time spot in rushing yards by a quarterback. He currently has 1,720 yards in his career with 400 yards and 6 TDs this season. Kiser, meanwhile, leads Virginia and the ACC with 71 tackles. That includes 42 solo stops. Thomas and Kiser will be matched up at times with Kiser tasked to make the stop on Thomas keepers – whoever wins the most of those battles could have a big say in the outcome.
Virginia quarterback Matt Johns vs. Georgia Tech cornerback D.J. White. Johns enters this week’s game off of an awful second half performance at UNC that saw him throw 4 interceptions and lose 1 fumble. It’s the second time this season, he’s thrown at least 3 INTs in a game (Boise State). He now must face one of the league’s most opportunistic defenses – GT had 18 interceptions in 2014 with 5 pick-6’s and the D has 14 takeaways so far this season. GT has scored 194 points off of turnovers since the start of last season. Keep an eye on White against favorite targets like Severin and T.J. Thorpe – White had 4 INTs a year ago, including one he returned for a touchdown.
Kris’ Keys
1. Red zone battle. Georgia Tech has scored a touchdown on 78.6% of its red zone possessions this season (22 TDs in 28 trips), good enough to be tied for second in the nation. Simply put, if the Yellow Jackets get close, they’re really good at finishing off the drive. UVa’s defense ranks 31st nationally by allowing TDs just 48.4% of the time in the red zone (15 TDs in 31 trips for opponents). This could be a big factor in this contest.
2. Don’t get blocked from a win. The Cavaliers finally produced a clean special teams effort last week at North Carolina, but they’ve had a punt and extra point blocked this season. Enter Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets tied for the national lead last season with 6 blocked kicks (2 punts, 2 field goals, 2 extra points) and since 2013, no one at the FBS level has more blocked kicks (14). Chris Milton is the star here with 7 blocked kicks since 2013.
3. Make Matt Johns comfortable. A few weeks ago, Mike London talked about simplifying the defense so players could play faster with more confidence. It’s time to do the same for quarterback Matt Johns. Give him some easy throws early, move the pocket often to cut the field in half on his reads, and use him on designed running plays (the injury risk is worth the rhythm trade-off).
The Pick
Virginia can win if … the penalty battle isn’t too lopsided. The Cavaliers are tied for 11th in the ACC at 57.4 penalty yards per game, but when they get penalties it often comes at momentum-killing times. The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, lead the ACC with just 30.4 penalty yards per game. If UVa helps Georgia Tech with short drives and field position, it’s going to be an uphill climb to the winner’s circle.
Virginia can lose if … it falls asleep expecting clock-eating drives from Georgia Tech. Year after year, week after week, you hear about Georgia Tech’s grind-you-up offense. There’s truth to it: Florida State got just three possessions after halftime last week and it lost. Still, if you lose concentration, the Yellow Jackets will score on you quickly too – 14 of 35 offensive touchdowns this season have come in 2 minutes or less (and 33 of 97 since the start of 2014/34%).
And the winner is … Georgia Tech. Yes, this feels like a home game that Virginia could win – there’s usually one of those per year even in down years – but this is a bad matchup on paper. An opportunistic GT defense takes advantage of turnovers, while the offense eats up teams that have assignment breakdowns. UVa has struggled in both of those areas. Yellow Jackets 34, Hoos 24. 2015 record to date: 6-1.
