After its sojourn to Durham, N.C., Georgia Tech will return to Bobby Dodd Stadium for consecutive ACC home dates against North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
After its thorough 38-14 drubbing of Duke, the possibility that the Yellow Jackets could win both and set up a tantalizing matchup of undefeated teams on Oct. 5 against Miami seems more likely. Saturday, not only did Tech win convincingly, but the Jackets did so despite not playing at maximum efficiency offensively.
“I was frustrated at halftime offensively that we didn’t have more points and I looked at the stats and we’d only punted once,” coach Paul Johnson said. “But it still didn’t seem like we were in sync like we needed to be. But if you can play like that and win 38-14, that’s a good thing.”
A 4-0 Tech team would almost certainly be ranked against the Hurricanes, who are now No. 16 in the AP poll and could close in on the top 10 if they can beat Savannah State and South Florida in the next two weeks prior to their Tech matchup at Sun Life Stadium.
LVH sportsbook director Jay Hilton said that Tech will be about a five-point favorite against North Carolina and would be a two-point favorite over Virginia Tech if the game were played this week.
Should Tech and Miami reach Oct. 5 undefeated, the Jackets likely would have a national spotlight to demonstrate their fitness as an ACC title contender.
In polls released Sunday, the Jackets were 30th in the AP poll, up from 33rd a week ago, and 29th in the USA Today coaches poll, improving from 34th.
With their no-huddle spread offense, the Tar Heels will likely offer a more rigorous offensive test than did Duke on Saturday. But Tech’s ability to wrest away control of the game from Duke’s no-huddle offense — the Jackets forced the Blue Devils to punt on nine of 12 possessions and stopped them on downs on another — suggests that the touted improvement in the Jackets’ defense has basis.
Further, North Carolina will be fighting some history Saturday; the Tar Heels have lost the past four and seven of the past eight to the Jackets. UNC hasn’t won at Bobby Dodd since 1997, a seven-game losing streak.
As for the Virginia Tech, the Hokies rebounded from the season-opening loss at the Georgia Dome to Alabama by defeating Western Carolina and East Carolina. However, the road win over the Pirates Saturday again showed the inconsistency of quarterback Logan Thomas and the Hokies offense. Virginia Tech ran for just 53 yards, while Thomas completed 25 of 43 passes for 258 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
“Like I told you last week, maybe we will get more attractive as the year goes on,” Hokies coach Frank Beamer said following the game. “We are not pretty yet.”
The Hokies defense is formidable. The Hokies have held their past five opponents to 217 yards of total offense or less. The matchup of Georgia Tech’s option offense, which has accounted for 94 points in two games, and the Hokies’ defense is intriguing.
The Hokies have defeated the Jackets in four of five meetings since Johnson’s hire, but the four losses have been by a combined 24 points, including last year’s 20-17 overtime loss in the Labor Day season opener in Blacksburg, Va.
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