When we played GT last, it was last year at Sun Life Stadium, when GT was #23 in the country and we manhandled the Jackets 24-7 and held them to 134 yards rushing on the day. This year, GT looks pretty good. They manhandled a very good UVa team last week racking up 461 yards rushing and almost 600 yards in total offense (594 to be exact). Make no mistake, our D will have their work cut out for them today. However, I really feel this D is going to step up and make plays. Injury wise, Denzel Perryman, Curtis Porter, Raphael Kirby, and Andrew Swasey are out for the game today. Allen Hurns and Vaughn Telemaque will play today, and its a big boost to get them back healthy and on the field, especially the latter. We must get off the field on third downs and make GT have to convert in long yardage situations (i.e., 7 yards or more). We can't have GT be in short yardage situations on 3rd down. Johnson isn't afraid to take a shot on 4th down, so the D needs to be aware of that. GT doesn't throw the ball that often, but when they do, we have to be aware of that. However, their M.O. is the running game, and that MUST be the focus of the D, stay in their lanes, and finish tackles. Simply put Assignment Football.
Offensively, we need a solid game out of Stephen Morris. He was 20-35 for 211 last week (1 TD, 1 INT). Also, big games are needed from Duke and Mike James, but also I need to see a solid game out of Eduardo Clements. Protecting Morris will be critical because of the fact that last week, GT had 2 sacks on UVa's QB (Rocco). In the receiving area, need the TEs to come up big today, and also, I need to see Thompkins and DJ (Davon Johnson) finally step up and produce in key situations.
In the end, I think we'll stop the Triple Option, and I think we'll make enough key plays to win the ball game today.
My prediction: CANES 27 GT 10
No comments:
Post a Comment