The 11th-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets step out of conference this weekend, as they travel to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Paul Johnson's Yellow Jackets took a big step towards an ACC Coastal Division crown with last week's 34-9 whipping of Virginia in Charlottesville. It was the team's fifth straight win and moved Tech to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in league play. As long as the Yellow Jackets take care of their remaining two ACC foes (Wake Forest and Duke), they will earn a spot in the ACC Title game.
Vanderbilt has no such SEC aspirations, as the Commodores have struggled in 2009, en route to a dismal 2-6 mark thus far. Bobby Johnson's troops come into this contest with a four-game losing streak in tow, including a 14-10 heartbreaker to nationally-ranked South Carolina last weekend in Columbia. A respite from the SEC might be exactly what is needed, considering Vanderbilt is 0-5 in league play.
Georgia Tech leads the all-time series with Vanderbilt, 18-15-3, but these two teams haven't met since 2003. Tech has won each of the last four meetings and is 10-0-1 in the last 11 matchups, overall.
There is no secret as to how Georgia Tech plans on attacking any defense. The Yellow Jackets live and die by the run and have lived to the fullest in that area more often than not this season, ranking second in the nation at 291.6 yards per game on the ground (5.2 ypc). The rush game starts with last year's ACC Player of the Year Jonathan Dwyer (718 yards, five TDs in 2009), but certainly doesn't end there, as QB Josh Nesbitt (707 yards, 11 TDs) and tailback Anthony Allen (470 yards, five TDs) are more than capable of getting the job done as well.
The Tech rush attack is certainly something Bobby Johnson is worried about.
"What they do a great job of is letting you decide who is going to run the football. If we are going to try to take somebody away the quarterback will keep it or they will pitch it. If you get too many up there to do that, they will throw it. They do a great job of reading the defense and deciding who is going to get the ball on a particular play. Because it is a balanced set, they have an opportunity to spread the defense out and make you play the entire field. They do a great job with their scheme and they execute it extremely well."
The passing game is an afterthought in Atlanta, with Nesbitt throwing for just 979 yards and four TDs on the season, but that doesn't mean the team is void of talent on the outside. On the contrary, the team possesses the ACC's top receiving threat in sophomore Demaryius Thomas. A huge target (6-2, 230), Thomas leads the team with 30 catches, for 747 yards (leads the ACC) and four TDs.
The Tech defense has had its ups and downs this season, but with such a potent ground game that chews up time off the clock (leads the nation in time of possession at 34:50), the unit is usually a lot fresher than its opponent at the end of games and therefore, has the ability to make an abundance of plays. The team is limiting the opposition to just over 355 yards of total offense and has recorded 17 takeaways.
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