Credit: Mark Bradley
Credit: Mark Bradley
The only good team Georgia Tech beat last season was Duke, and that game carried an asterisk: Blue Devils quarterback Anthony Boone didn't play. The Jackets won 38-14 in Durham behind Durham's own Vad Lee, who won't play quarterback for Tech today, seeing as how he transferred to James Madison over the winter.
Tech is 5-0; Duke is 4-1. This is a big game regarding the ACC Coastal, a division that has been flipped on its head. Georgia Tech and Virginia -- which were picked to finish fifth and last, respectively, in the seven-team division by the ACC media -- are tied for the lead. Duke, which improbably won last season and was picked second this time, is 0-1. Miami, which was picked first, is 1-2. North Carolina, picked third, is 0-2. Virginia Tech, picked fourth, is 1-1.
Georgia Tech has already beaten Virginia Tech and Miami, and if the Jackets defeat Duke today -- and Tech hasn't lost to Duke since 2003, when the Devils were working under interim coach Ted Roof, now Tech's defensive coordinator -- they'll have picked off three of the four teams slotted above them and can run the table in Chapel Hill next Saturday.
Fun with comparative scores. Duke beat Tulane 47-13 in Durham; Tech beat Tulane 38-21 in New Orleans. Tech beat Miami 28-17 here; Duke lost to Miami 22-10 in whatever-that-stadium-down-there-is-named-this-year. Obviously, this tells us nothing, but I supply it at no extra charge to you, the reader.
And with that, the figurative floor is again open. I'll be here until someone wins and the Coastal picture has become clearer, if not clear. I'd appreciate your company, and I thank you, as ever, in advance.
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