GT vs. Boston College Preview

It turns out that doing three seperate previews for Special Teams, Offense, and Defense is a lot of work and I just don’t have time to do that. However, I will still give you a soul-satisfying, delicious preview of this weekend’s game against the Eagles from Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Georgia Tech vs. Boston College (GT leads all-time 4-2)
Location: Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Time: 12:00 pm
Channel: Raycom (CW 69 in Atlanta)

Special Teams

Well, Georgia Tech certainly has some work to do. Granted, Jacksonville State never truly kicked it off to us in standard fashion, but we still fumbled two of the kickoffs and lost one. That can’t happen against an ACC opponent. The FG unit has got to improve this week as well. Whether it was just a dud off of Blair’s foot or a bad snap, we may need a FG or two in a close game. Hopefully, the kinks have been worked out this week. The one punt that we did have was pretty good, so let’s hope it stays that way (both not punting very much and punting good when we need to). It appears that Tyler Melton and Tony Clark will be taking the returners spots. Hopefully we can see what they can do this weekend.

Boston College is replacing it’s punter and it appears to be freshman Ryan Quigley taking the reigns, although Doug Flutie’s nephew Billy Flutie may see spot duty. Quigley averaged 40.5 yards on four punts last week at Kent State. The field goal unit was not tested beyond extra points in the 21-0 win. Steve Aponavicious is still doing place kicking duties after coming down from the student section a couple of years ago. He’s pretty solid so I wouldn’t want it to come down to his leg. Brandon Robinson and Jeff Smith will be returning kicks for the Eagles, both are pretty average in my book.

GT Defense vs. BC Offense

Hmmm…not really sure what to expect. I thought the defense played OK against Jacksonville State. The line is a beast as expected. Michael Johnson should have a better game since he is no longer on special teams. Derrick Morgan proved that he could give headaches to opposing offenses if they plan to put a single blocker on him all year. There is not a weakness in our front four. Both Brad Jefferson and AT Barnes are probably out for this weekend. This is not good. I thought the LBs only played average against JSU and are really going to need to step it up against BC. The secondary played better than I expected. Morgan Burnett is a ball hawk and Dominique Reese played pretty well at the other safety position. We did give up some yards, but they were pretty much all short yardage plays. We are going to need them to do the same against Chris Crane and frustrate him early. Hopefully, Burnett can continue his INT tear.

BC’s offensive line is fairly new as far as starters, but they are big and physical. Our D is going to need to man up to get past them. Hopefully, they won’t get away with the atrocius holding they did last year. Chris Crane is absolutely a step down from Matt Ryan, but he is still very dangerous and more mobile as well. Not only will we have to penetrate the line, but also contain Crane so he doesn’t keep getting first downs with his feet. We need to make him show us he can get it done through the air. Their offense did well enough, but didn’t blow me away in their win over Kent State. Hopefully this new Defensive scheme will confuse them enough to make some mistakes and cause some turnovers. We knew Tenuta could cause confusion against green quarterbacks. Wommack needs to prove that he can do the same.

Dwyer (credit AJC)

GT Offense vs. BC Defense

Intriguing, to say the least. The offense played pretty well against Jacksonville State. There’s certainly things to work on, but it was encouraging. Josh Nesbitt looked poised and will need to polish his passing a little before Saturday’s game. However, if our receivers/A-backs are as open as they were against JSU then his passes won’t need to be perfect to gain yards. Dwyer was a beast rushing for over 100 yards on only 11 carries. He needs to show that he can perform similarly against a FBS-level defense. He is certainly hard to bring down and has burst to get to the second level. Roddy Jones played well, but the other A-backs need to step up their game against the Eagles to help provide some more offensive firepower. Perhaps the biggest weakness in Week 1 was the O-line. They are going to need to play better against a ginormous BC D-line. We’ve also got to get better at adjusting blocking schemes during the game. If the O-line can play well, then I see our offense really surprising some people this game.

BC returns 9 starters on defense. Their front 4 are massive and they have very good linebackers. Their secondary is fairly green and will miss Dejaun Tribble, but are still pretty good. This defense blew us up last year. Let’s hope Coach Johnson knows how to handle them and confuse them better. Spaziani always has his defenses prepared and they have been extremely good against the run. However, Navy only lost by one point two years ago in the Car Care Bowl. I believe Coach Johnson will know how to play to their weaknesses and get us to move the ball. Let’s hope. *fingers crossed*

Coaching

I will not focus on Coach Johnsons since we all know all we need to know about him and it’s not really going to change week to week.

Coach Jags is a great coach though, probably one of the better ones in the ACC. He went 11-2 in his first year last year. He is an admirable guy and his players love to play for him. He has his team ready, prepared, and disciplined (0 penalties last week). He will rarely get outcoached.

Who to Watch

Jonathon Dwyer – Can he run against a stout defense?
Ron Brace – Massive run-stopping DT
Chris Crane – What can he do against an ACC defense?
Travis Chambers – Can he step up in the LB spot after given a second chance?

Prediction

*I will rarely pick against Tech unless we are enormous underdogs*

Sorry Hive, but I’m not following the noon of the day before rule here. I think our offense will struggle a little early, but begin to move the ball right before the half. Chris Crane will keep some drives alive with his feet. Their lack of offensive weapons will hurt though and the Coach Johnson factor will be just enough to pull a shocking upset in Chestnut Hill when Scott Blair redeems himself.

Line: BC +7

Prediction: GT 24 – BC 21