Yellow Jacket Magic: Georgia Tech vs Tennesee Game Preview

The public is currently giving Tennesee an 80% chance to beat Georgia Tech this Saturday, but that number is way too high. The Volunteers are trotting out a true freshman QB in Brandon Faizon, against a Georgia Tech defense that returns a whopping seven starters from a season ago. If new Yellow Jackets DC Jason Semore can create a good game plan, this Georgia Tech defense has the ability to pull off a massive upset and put a true freshman QB in absolute hell.

Gameplan:

Tennessee:

With a true freshman QB going on the road at night, I would not expect HC Josh Heupel to throw the ball more than a maximum of 25 times on Saturday. To make up for this, expect the Vols' new RB duo of Tulane transfer RB Javin Gordon and returning RB Desean Bishop to carry an extremely heavy workload against the Yellow Jackets. Gordon tallied 47 yards in limited opportunities against Furman in Week One. Tennessee will rely heavily on the Tulane transfer to take pressure off of Faizon in his first night road game against a power four opponent.

Helping out the Volunteers' rushing attack is the fact that this Tennessee o-line returns a whopping four starters from a year ago. Led by David Sanders and Sam Peddleton, The experienced veterans on this offensive line are absolutely ecstatic that they are matched up against a Georgia Tech defensive line that let up a whopping 181 yards against a middling Colorado rushing attack in week one. Expect the Volunteers to pound the rock in an attempt to make a physical statement.

Georgia Tech:

Florida transfer QB Aaron Philo played decently for the Yellow Jackets in Boulder, to the tune of 275 yards for 3 touchdowns and an interception, but the team's offense only scored just 13 points. 

The reason for the poor offensive output is a lack of production from prized offseason portal acquisition and former Michigan and Alabama RB Justice Haynes. Haynes transferred to Atlanta this offseason in the hopes of benefiting from HC Brent Key’s extremely running-back-friendly offense, and has his first opportunity to do so against Tennessee this weekend. If Haynes, who holds the highest ceiling of any offensive weapon on the Yellow Jackets roster, can get going on the ground against Tennessee, there is no reason for Philo to throw more than 15 times unless the team finds itself down. Key and the Georgia Tech offense need to use Haynes to shorten the game and control the clock. If they can do so down the stretch and force a true freshman QB to win the game in the second half with limited possessions due to proper ball control, Georgia Tech has the perfect recipe to pull off an upset against the Volunteers.

Key Players:

Tennessee LB’s Edwin Spillman & Arion Carter: The veteran LB duo in Knoxville combined for a whopping 149 tackles a year ago, and will need to keep pace with that output against a Georgia Tech team that loves to run the ball up the middle. Carter, who missed the Volunteers' season opener with a suspension, returns for his first game of the season against the Yellow Jackets. If Carter and Spillman can man the middle of the field properly and stop the run, they will prevent the Yellow Jackets from doing the one thing they need to do in order to compete in this game. The importance of stopping the run against a back like Haynes cannot be understated. Whether or not the Yellow Jackets can simply run the ball and waste the clock is solely up to Spillman & Carter, who need to cash in a big game for a rushing defense that ranked #62 in the FBS last season. The Yellow Jackets will try to exploit this

Georgia Tech WR Jordan Allen & RB Malachi Hosley: With how experienced this group's defense is, I am not worried about the Yellow Jackets on defense. I would be extremely surprised if the group allowed more than 3 touchdowns to the Volunteers. This game will come down to the Yellow Jackets' offense ability to get points on the board and control the ball on third down. 

Allen has clearly emerged as the group's WR1. Allen hauled in a whopping 113 yards in week one, and emerged as transfer QB Alberto Mendoza’s most heavily targeted third down target. If Allen can take the top off of a Tennessee secondary that greatly struggled a season ago, he will prevent new Vols DC Jim Knowles from stacking the box to stop Haynes. The Yellow Jackets need a big game from Allen to keep this talented volunteers defense honest. 

Even if Haynes runs the ball well, Brent Key knows he cannot properly control the clock with only one running back producing. He knows the importance of a running-back-by-committee system, and this game is the biggest test of the year for the Yellow Jackets RB duo of Haynes and RB Malachi Hosley. Hosley tallied 98 carries for 700 yards a year ago and would be the RB1 at many schools. If Hosley can rotate in when Haynes needs a breather and provide the same production, the Yellow Jackets ensure they dont need to vary from their run-first game plan. The three new starters on the Yellow Jackets offensive line compared to a year ago have their work cut out to make this possible as well.

Tennessee Safety TJ Metcalf: Metcalf, an offseason transfer from Michigan, is one of the country’s best tacklers. However, as a leader in the back end in Ann Arbor a year ago, Metcalf was responsible for a plethora of communication mishaps that allowed for chunk plays from opponents. In just his second game in Knoxville playing with a completely new defensive system, Metcalf is going to need to fix the communication mishaps; Philo is an experienced enough quarterback to make the Volunteers pay if Metcalf does not.

What to Expect:

This game is a sleeper. A true freshman QB going on the road to face a veteran, run-first team with boatloads of experience on defense that is now fighting for their season in each and every game following an upsetting loss a week ago in the game's final seconds against Colorado. Georgia Tech will be hungry to save their season, and Tennessee will have to respond in what marks their first true test of the season. 

If youv'e read this far, you can officially put this game fully on upset watch. This is a matchup of Georgia Tech's strength (the running game) and Tennesee's weakness (rushing defense) from a year ago. On top of that, the Yellow Jackets have the defensive experience to rattle a true a freshman QB playing at night on the road. Watch out for an upset in Atlanta. 

Writer’s Prediction: Georgia Tech will cover the current spread of 12.5....