Written by Darrell Wilkinson
Finally after seeing which teams secured spots in the first-ever College Football playoff, after the smoke settled from all the chaos there were plenty of other big games left for quality teams to play.
Georgia Tech was almost secured a spot in the Capital One Orange Bowl with the way they ended their season with big wins, winning the coastal division and almost dethroning Florida State Saturday night in the ACC Championship game, the Yellow Jackets were too good to pass up for the bowl bid.
On the opposite side Mississippi State, a team a few weeks ago was apart of the playoff picture and that all fell apart with loses to Alabama and Ole Miss, but the Bulldogs still had an outstanding season and are no pushover.
Physicality, pure smash-mouth football will be played, both teams better strap up their helmets extra tight and bite down hard on those mouthpieces because they're sure to go flying. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, representing the ACC run a triple-option attack under Paul Johnson.
The focus of the offense is Justin Thomas under center and the reads he makes on linebackers and defensive ends that are the keys to the option. Thomas is dynamic, speedy and extremely smart, leading defensive ends before pitching the ball outside, handing the ball up the middle or tucking it away himself for big yards. Thomas has almost 1,600 yards through the air and leads the team in rushing with 965 yards.
The attack is all based on the ground, Zach Laskey is the B-back up the middle who is the other threat to watch for in the backfield and outside is 6' 5" wide receiver Darren Waller who could score on any given play and has "NFL ability" praises from his head coach.
Defensively Georgia Tech is a little undersized up front, the Yellow Jackets like to put extra men in the box and play a zone defense to keep teams in front of them, no big plays behind or over the top and as long as Tech holds a lead they expect to chew up clock with the triple-option. The Rambling Wreck will collide with a good SEC defense and see how efficient they can be against a team that can push back.
Mississippi State hailing from the stacked SEC West, surely is riding a low point after remaining undefeated most of the season but finally succumbing to the intense competition with two late losses to division rivals.
The Bulldogs are coached by Dan Mullen and feature Dak Prescott at quarterback, who was thick in the Heisman conversation only a few weeks ago. It's an option, run first offense but not the run heavy set that the Georgia Tech triple-option features.
Prescott behind center with one back sets usually will either hand the ball off to the back or tuck the ball himself on run plays depending on the read. With almost 3,000 yards through the air, pass plays are much more common and look the same as run plays, Prescott has the ability to read a defense and make a good decision on run or pass, and even on pass plays is a bludgeoning force himself and can generate tough yards.
The Bulldogs have running back Josh Robinson who is extremely powerful with a low center of gravity, tough to bring down. When Robinson gets going is when this offense is at its best. The Bulldogs’ defense is 79th in the country in total defense but it's still quite a physical SEC defense and shouldn't be seen as easy to rack up yards on.
On New Year's Eve these two teams will collide in Miami Gardens. Georgia Tech will need to play their game, try and take an early lead and then bleed the clock. If the Yellow Jackets can at least get a head start they can really control the tempo of the game and limit how many chances Prescott and the Bulldogs offense have to even attempt to score.
For Mississippi State, the keys are going to be getting Josh Robinson running early and effective to open up the rest of the offense. If Prescott can get on the board before Tech, then it'll force the Yellow Jackets to do things they're not comfortable with. The defense will have to be disciplined and make solid tackles to slow down Georgia Tech’s running game and if they make Thomas throw then they will be in command of the game. Huge factor is which team scores first. That will dictate a lot of the tempo of the game.
With almost an entire month before the game, preparation is key, if this game was next week, I'd say the edge would go to Georgia Tech and how difficult it is for opponents to prepare on short notice for their offense, but Mississippi State will be prepared and I'm expecting a close game.
The Capital One Orange Bowl will be on Wednesday, Dec 31st, New Year's Eve at Sun Life Stadium on ESPN with an 8 p.m. EST kickoff.
- Darrell Wilkinson TheSkyBoat.com
-Twitter: @Darrell_Canes
Georgia Tech was almost secured a spot in the Capital One Orange Bowl with the way they ended their season with big wins, winning the coastal division and almost dethroning Florida State Saturday night in the ACC Championship game, the Yellow Jackets were too good to pass up for the bowl bid.
On the opposite side Mississippi State, a team a few weeks ago was apart of the playoff picture and that all fell apart with loses to Alabama and Ole Miss, but the Bulldogs still had an outstanding season and are no pushover.
Physicality, pure smash-mouth football will be played, both teams better strap up their helmets extra tight and bite down hard on those mouthpieces because they're sure to go flying. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, representing the ACC run a triple-option attack under Paul Johnson.
The focus of the offense is Justin Thomas under center and the reads he makes on linebackers and defensive ends that are the keys to the option. Thomas is dynamic, speedy and extremely smart, leading defensive ends before pitching the ball outside, handing the ball up the middle or tucking it away himself for big yards. Thomas has almost 1,600 yards through the air and leads the team in rushing with 965 yards.
The attack is all based on the ground, Zach Laskey is the B-back up the middle who is the other threat to watch for in the backfield and outside is 6' 5" wide receiver Darren Waller who could score on any given play and has "NFL ability" praises from his head coach.
Defensively Georgia Tech is a little undersized up front, the Yellow Jackets like to put extra men in the box and play a zone defense to keep teams in front of them, no big plays behind or over the top and as long as Tech holds a lead they expect to chew up clock with the triple-option. The Rambling Wreck will collide with a good SEC defense and see how efficient they can be against a team that can push back.
Mississippi State hailing from the stacked SEC West, surely is riding a low point after remaining undefeated most of the season but finally succumbing to the intense competition with two late losses to division rivals.
The Bulldogs are coached by Dan Mullen and feature Dak Prescott at quarterback, who was thick in the Heisman conversation only a few weeks ago. It's an option, run first offense but not the run heavy set that the Georgia Tech triple-option features.
Prescott behind center with one back sets usually will either hand the ball off to the back or tuck the ball himself on run plays depending on the read. With almost 3,000 yards through the air, pass plays are much more common and look the same as run plays, Prescott has the ability to read a defense and make a good decision on run or pass, and even on pass plays is a bludgeoning force himself and can generate tough yards.
The Bulldogs have running back Josh Robinson who is extremely powerful with a low center of gravity, tough to bring down. When Robinson gets going is when this offense is at its best. The Bulldogs’ defense is 79th in the country in total defense but it's still quite a physical SEC defense and shouldn't be seen as easy to rack up yards on.
On New Year's Eve these two teams will collide in Miami Gardens. Georgia Tech will need to play their game, try and take an early lead and then bleed the clock. If the Yellow Jackets can at least get a head start they can really control the tempo of the game and limit how many chances Prescott and the Bulldogs offense have to even attempt to score.
For Mississippi State, the keys are going to be getting Josh Robinson running early and effective to open up the rest of the offense. If Prescott can get on the board before Tech, then it'll force the Yellow Jackets to do things they're not comfortable with. The defense will have to be disciplined and make solid tackles to slow down Georgia Tech’s running game and if they make Thomas throw then they will be in command of the game. Huge factor is which team scores first. That will dictate a lot of the tempo of the game.
With almost an entire month before the game, preparation is key, if this game was next week, I'd say the edge would go to Georgia Tech and how difficult it is for opponents to prepare on short notice for their offense, but Mississippi State will be prepared and I'm expecting a close game.
The Capital One Orange Bowl will be on Wednesday, Dec 31st, New Year's Eve at Sun Life Stadium on ESPN with an 8 p.m. EST kickoff.
- Darrell Wilkinson TheSkyBoat.com
-Twitter: @Darrell_Canes