Gameday has arrived in Blacksburg for the Virginia Tech Hokies as they return home ranked 14th in the College Football Playoff rankings to face the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. This game was already important but the importance has increased as the Hokies can win the Coastal with a win today over Georgia Tech after North Carolina lost at Duke on Thursday night.
The Hokies are ready for what will be a unique challenge against Paul Johnson's triple-option offense, but know that this game can win them the Coastal and book them a ticket to Orlando for the ACC Championship. With that said, here are our picks for the Hokies and Yellow Jackets.
Dwight Lester
Hokie fans, it's Techmo Bowl week but in other words, Virginia Tech faces Georgia Tech. The Hokies have a lot to play for today as Duke gave the Hokies an early Christmas present with a victory over UNC. What that means is the Hokies can clinch the ACC Coastal with a win over the Yellow Jackets. However, don't expect Georgia Tech to roll over and give the Hokies the game. The Yellow Jackets run one of the most vexing offenses in the country. In a previous article, I went in depth about this offense, but the cliff notes version is the Hokies are going to have to tackle and play disciplined football. The defense is going to have to be the aggressors all game long in order to control this game. The Hokies defense will have to overcome the first half loss of Terrell Edmunds and the probable loss of Greg Stroman for the entire game. I think the defense will be up to the task. The Hokie offense will have to take advantage of the offensive opportunities they are given due to the way the Georgia Tech offense tries to control the clock with their rushing attack. However, the Yellow Jackets are not the best team defensively. Look for the Hokies to exploit the gap in talent and put this one away. The Hokies return to the championship game with a 31-17. LETS GO HOKIESPrediction: #14 Virginia Tech 31, Georgia Tech 17
Henry Skutt
Prediction: #14 Virginia Tech 41, Georgia Tech 24
Tim Thomas
The Hokies are now one win away from winning the ACC Coastal and booking a ticket to the ACC Championship for the first time since 2011 when they were beat by Clemson. However, the Hokies face a challenge against Paul Johnson and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets who have improved some after an awful 2015 season that ended their fairly long bowl streak. Georgia Tech's Justin Thomas is in his final season and is Georgia Tech's best quarterback in years as he seems to make plenty of correct decisions while also even being capable enough to throw a few passes to pull the surprise. However, Georgia Tech is without two of their top backs including suspended starter Dedrick Mills, which is a big loss for the Yellow Jackets. Bud Foster has faced the Georgia Tech offense plenty of times and the Hokies will be ready but their discipline will be critical. So far, they shown fairly good discipline and the Hokies should continue that today with plenty of experienced guys who have faced this Georgia Tech offense before. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech's offense faces an average Georgia Tech defense that doesn't have much of a pass rush which should open up the field for Jerod Evans and the Hokies' passing game to have plenty of time to attack. Expect Evans and the passing game to have a strong game with a quality defensive performance to push the Hokies to a victory and their first ACC Coastal title since 2011.Prediction: #14 Virginia Tech 34, Georgia Tech 17
Stay up with the Hokies via The Tech Lunch Pail on Facebook, Twitter, and by subscribing to our email updates.
You must login in order to comment on this post.
