What will happen when Tech, Clemson meet again?

By Doug Roberson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It almost seems as if Saturday's ACC championship game between Georgia Tech and Clemson will be their third meeting this season.

Though the Yellow Jackets defeated the Tigers 30-27 in a thrilling Thursday night affair, that game was almost two games within a game. Tech owned the first half 24-7. The Tigers took the second 20-6.

That's the difficulty in figuring out what could happen in a rematch. While so much would seem the same in terms of schemes and personnel, so much can change as hours of film are analyzed and tendencies are dissected. Paul Johnson will switch this. Dabo Swinney will swap that. The first game bore that out.

So, what should fans expect when the Tech and Clemson tangle at 8 p.m. in Tampa?

If history is any guide, a rematch in a conference's title game usually goes to the regular-season winner. Of course, the exception is the ACC. Twice the conference's two participants met during the regular season and both times the loser bounced back to win the big prize.

"There's probably some advantage that you lost the game and you want to come back and prove that you can win," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said. His Hokies lost to Boston College in 2007 and 2008 but rebounded to defeat the Eagles for the title both seasons. "But if you won the game, you want to come back and win again."

Winning again. It seems as easy to say as to do. The Big 12 has featured a rematch six times in its championship history. The regular-season winner took the title four times. It's happened five times in the SEC, with the regular-season winner going 4-1 in the second meeting.

But those teams weren't facing the "red gumball," the colorful nickname Swinney gave to Tech's offense earlier this week. It was so called because it stands out compared to other systems. Is there an advantage to seeing it again?

Twice last season Wake Forest played Navy, which is still running the spread-option offense Johnson installed when he coached there from 2002-07.

The Middies defeated the Deacons 24-17 during the regular season, but Wake bounced back to win their bowl matchup 29-19. Navy rushed for 343 yards in their first game and 253 in the second.

But Deacons coach Jim Grobe cautions against reading too much into their success against Navy's running game.

"The biggest problem facing a wishbone is you only get four practices," Grobe said. "When you face them twice, there's some recall. The disadvantage is they've seen how you've defended it."

Tech did win the first meeting against Clemson, but its offense scored only one touchdown (on their second play) and two field goals on 301 rushing yards. Special teams scored the other 14 points.

So, it would seem that the Tigers would have an advantage, based upon the fact that they actually defended the "red gumball" fairly well in their first meeting.

Assuming Tech hasn't changed anything, that would be true. As Clemson lineman Kevin Austin says, "For us it'll just be a matter of not trying to hide things but just doing what we do a little bit better. From an execution standpoint, we're going to have to be on our ‘A' game in that regard, and then just playing a complete game for 60 minutes."

That's true for both teams, and it's what makes Saturday's game so interesting. As Virginia Tech learned this season, Johnson will not stubbornly stick to the game plan. He tweaked blocking assignments at halftime, and the Jackets ran away from the Hokies. So, if the Tigers are having success defending the option, he might make a few changes. The question is how quickly will Swinney spot those changes and how will he respond? Will those adjustments be based upon what he is seeing in this game, or will he try to anticipate what happened based upon the previous game?

Both coaches have some experience from which to draw. Swinney said he has only once played the same opponent twice. When he was an assistant at Alabama they played Florida during the 1999 regular season and then again in the SEC championship game. Alabama won both times. Johnson was 1-1 in rematch games in 2001 at Georgia Southern.

In the end, the game will come down to a few simple things.

"The team that plays the best is probably going to win the game," Johnson said. "I can't fathom that either team would show up in Tampa with a chance to win the championship and go to the Orange Bowl and not be fired up."