Three things to watch when Georgia Tech (3-1, 1-1 ACC) hosts Miami (3-0, 0-0) at noon on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium:
Defending the deep ball. Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya is very skilled at throwing deep passes. Kaaya is averaging 231.3 yards per game and completing 65.8 percent of his passes. The Yellow Jackets have been solid at defending deep passes. The longest pass play against them this season is 32 yards.
Playing with poise. Johnson has grown frustrated with the missed assignments and other types of errors that led to last week's 26-7 loss to Clemson. Tech's linemen were guilty of missing assignments or blocking the wrong player. Tech's defense has started slowly, giving up touchdown on the first three drives of the past three games. Johnson wants controlled focus so that execution – and not emotion – is the goal. Offensive lineman Will Bryan said Tech is going to play much better against the Hurricanes than it did the Tigers.
Getting the receivers involved. Tech's wide receivers – seldom deemed integral to the run-heavy offense – did next to nothing in the loss to the Tigers. It wouldn't be surprising to see Johnson try a deep pass early to get either Ricky Jeune or Brad Stewart involved and give the Hurricanes' secondary something to think about other than Tech's sold running game.
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