+16
Georgia Tech came out flat against Miami and couldn't get any offense going in the second half, eventually giving up their second straight ACC game.
The ACC is starting to resemble a one horse race as Clemson extended its conference mark to 5-0 with a 59-38 victory over North Carolina. The surprising Wake Forest Demon Deacons bounced back a week after suffering its first conference loss with a narrow 24-23 victory over Duke. Florida State rebounded from an 0-2 start in the conference to even its record with a 41-16 defeat of Maryland.
Things are less clear in the ACC Coastal division as Georgia Tech's recent two game losing streak has them sliding back to the pack. The Yellow Jackets potent offense suddenly doesn't look potent anymore as they fell to Miami 24-7 on Saturday. Virginia Tech finds itself on top of the division with a 3-1 conference mark after waking up late to defeat Boston College 30-14.
Jacory Harris was right. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets offense didn't force the Miami Hurricanes offense to score very many points in order to come away with a victory, but the Canes put together 17 anyway. A special teams touchdown made it 24-7 for Miami, giving Georgia Tech two straight losses.
Two straight conference losses, matter of fact, severely damaging Tech's chances of making a run for the ACC Championship Game. Considering the hardest part of their schedule is still upcoming, the Jackets have work to do just to avoid another lackluster bowl trip.
Good signs: a hot -as-of-late Harris was held to only 102 yards, and Lamar Miller didn't explode as many thought he would. I mean, 131 yards is a lot, but it could've been worse. Terrible sign: David Sims led the White and Gold with 39 yards rushing.
Nobody likes it when Jacory Harris is right.
For more on the Yellow Jackets, visit From The Rumble Seat. For more on the Hurricanes, visit The Seventh Floor. For more on everything college football, visit the SB Nation college football hub.
Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets entered Whatever It Is Now Stadium to take on the Miami Hurricanes, needing a win to avoid an in-conference and in-general losing streak. A halftime turnaround will be essential to that end, as the Jackets trail, 21-7 at the break.
Late in the second quarter, Tech put together a 20-play, 91-yard touchdown drive to draw within seven, but then gave up a quick strike touchdown to leave the lead just as it was. Miami's offense hasn't been able to impose itself -- one of those touchdowns game on a special teams gaffe. Jacory Harris has thrown 10 incompletions in 15 efforts, though Lamar Miller has posted 58 yards.
Two Tech turnovers have made the deficit more ghastly than it otherwise would've been.
For more on the Yellow Jackets, visit From The Rumble Seat. For more on the Hurricanes, visit The Seventh Floor. For more on everything college football, visit the SB Nation college football hub.
The Miami Hurricanes are out to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. Miami has shut down the vaunted Georgia Tech run option attack with Tech averaging only three yards per carry so far on the day. So it looks like Miami quarterback Jacory Harris is accurate by saying that the 'Canes defense will shutdown Georgia Tech's rushing attack.
Miami's first touchdown came on their second possession when JoJo Nicolas intercepted and then Miami drove 54 yards on 12 plays which ended by a 2-yard touchdown run by Mike James for the first score of the game.
The second touchdown of the game came on a fumbled punt return by Georgia Tech's Zach Laskey. The fumble was forced by Mike Jame and then scored by MiaFl JoJo Nicolas who recovered the ball in the endzone to extend Miami's lead to 14-0.
For more on the Yellow Jackets, visit From The Rumble Seat. For more on the Hurricanes, visit The Seventh Floor. For more on everything college football, visit the SB Nation college football hub.
Jacory Harris just flings a little analysis as far as he can. It's not who comes down with it that matters, but how far it sails.
"Nah, I think our defense will take care of that," quarterback Jacory Harris said. "I think they'll neutralize their offense and stop them so we won't have to score as many points."
Georgia Tech was unable to ride out the absence of Jeremiah Attaochu, its best defensive player, without taking a loss. But the Yellow Jackets will return Attaochu in the lineup today at Miami. Even missing two games, Attacochu leads the team in sacks (four) and tackles for a loss (five). Here's a look at all the injured Yellow Jackets:
The Hurricanes have been beset with with suspensions and a variety of injuries, most notably across their defensive line, and this week only got worse with the suspension of lineman Micanor Regis. There's never a good time to lose a starter to the old 'nut punching suspension' bug, but this is especially inopportune for the 'Canes:
For more on the Yellow Jackets, visit From The Rumble Seat. For more on the Hurricanes, visit The Seventh Floor. For more on everything college football, visit the SB Nation college football hub.
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets come into this game at 6-1, ranked No. 19 in the USA Today coaches poll, but according to Odds Shark they are a field goal underdog to the Miami Hurricane who are 3-3. Georgia Tech was just knocked from the unbeaten ranks after losing to Virginia 24-21 and Miami just defeated North Carolina 24-21.
The oddsmakers must know something the public does not, because Georgia Tech is tops in the ACC in total offense while Miami is ninth and the two defenses are ranked fifth for Georgia Tech and eighth for Miami, so it seems odd that Miami would be favored where they have a worse record and frankly do not have a home field advantage.
For more on Boise State head over to From the Rumble Seat. Visit The 7th Floor for more on the Miami Hurricanes, and head over to SB Nation College Football for more Week 8 action.
Georgia Tech will have rebound from their first loss of the season on the road this Saturday against Miami. Yellow Jackets head coach Paul Johnson acknowledged the mid-season grind of playing seven consecutive games without a bye and the defense's inability to contain long running plays in the loss at Virginia. Johnson expressed disappointment at the Jacket's floundering of late - the loss to the Wahoos was preceded by a closer-than-expected win at Maryland - but declined to write his 2011 team off.
"We're disappointed that we lost, but the sky isn't falling. The team is 6-1. Before you bury us let us play two more games. It seems like everyone wants to end the season and bury the team. Maybe they're right, but let's at least go play and see what happens."
Game date, time: Saturday, October 22, 3:30pm ET
Location: Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
TV: ESPN
Radio: 106.7 FM / 790 AM, Sirius 93 / XM 197, complete list here.
Streaming: ESPN3
For more information on the Yellow Jackets, check out From The Rumble Seat. For Miami coverage, check out The Seventh Floor.
Via FSU blog Tomahawk Nation, which is more than happy to sic the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on a Sunshine State rival:
'Nother update: Here's Regis punching a Tar Heels player right in the unsportsmanlikes.
Miami Hurricanes senior defensive lineman Micanor Regis was suspended for the team's Saturday game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets due to a notorious violation of team rules. Regis is sixth on the team in tackles, leading all defensive linemen -- usually an impressive feat for a tackle. He's also posted three tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
As always, there's no telling what the suspension is for, but some are saying he was caught on film delivering some non-football violence during last week's game against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Regis was found to have accepted minor benefits from Nevin Shapiro despite not appearing in Charles Robinson's blockbuster report on the Canes. He avoided suspensions earlier in the year when those were being handed out. This suspension doesn't appear to have anything to do with those, of course.
Update: Yep.
For more, check out Miami blog The 7th Floor and Georgia Tech blog From The Rumble Seat.
Based on personal experience, here's every Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets fan:
We should throw out of the shotgun more. We should run to the left more. Here's what you do: put Tevin Washington in at C-back and slide Orwin Smith under center and let Tevin run the option from wherever the C is. My calculations show we need more slants. Just imagine: all of the A- and B-backs on one side of the ball -- we'll call it the single option. The only thing missing from this offense that has evolved over the past 25 years is a particular kind of screen pass that worked on Monday Night Football. We should never throw out of the shotgun.
And here's Paul Johnson:
(He sort of went off topic in answering this question and was sharing a pet peeve about how some fans will e-mail him and make suggestions or ask him if he's thought about a certain strategy. "Yeah, we know that. We watched the tapes," he said, mimicking his answer. "We're here, like, 14 hours. ‘Did you think about this?' I thought about everything that you can think of, I think." I've heard or read North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams say something similar, something to the effect that he feels like someone giving him coaching advice is sort of like him giving a doctor medical advice.)
The Miami Hurricanes have been shuffling their offensive line all season, but they may be close to returning to full strength this week against Georgia Tech.
Seantrel Henderson, a massive 6'8 345 LT who was one of the top high school recruits in the country two years ago, could reclaim his starting job after missing most of the early part of the season recovering from back surgery.
Miami moved RG Brandon Washington over to Henderson's slot, but head coach Al Golden has been unhappy with the production he's gotten in Henderson's absence:
"We’re not getting enough out of the left tackle,’’ he said. "It’s just as simple as that. We’ve tried multiple guys over there. I don’t like the way it looks and it’s going to get fixed. … I can’t look at it anymore.’’
Henderson was a freshmen All-American last season, and his return could set up an intriguing match-up on the edge with Yellow Jackets LB Jeremiah Attaochu, also returning from injury and widely regarded as one of the top defensive prospects in the nation.
Miami defensive end Oliver Vernon is returning for the Hurricanes game against Georgia Tech after a six-week suspension. He missed the first six games for accepting improper benefits from former Miami booster Nevin Shapiro, which were revealed in a controversial Yahoo! story over the summer.
Coming into the season, Vernon, a 6'4 265 junior, was expected to a key contributor for first-year coach Al Golden. As a sophomore, he was one of the Hurricanes defensive standouts, getting six sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.
Miami has struggled to a 3-3 start to the season, partially the result of the chaos surrounding the program in the wake of Shapiro's allegations and partially the result of a tough non-conference schedule that featured only one non-BCS team (Bethune-Cookman).
They will be at full strength for the first time this year against Georgia Tech, as Vernon is the last player returning from suspension this season.
For more information on Miami, check out the SBNation blog The 7th Floor, and for the latest on Georgia Tech, check out the SBNation blog From The Rumble Seat.
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson expects two of his key defensive players -- outside linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu and inside linebacker Daniel Drummond -- to play in the Yellow Jackets game against Miami on Saturday after missing the last two weeks with leg injuries.
Attaochu, a 6'3 235 sophomore, was emerging as a star before going down with a leg injury in Georgia Tech's game against NC State. The week before, he was named the national defensive player of the week by the Football Writers Association of America for a dominant performance against North Carolina, where he had nine tackles, a forced fumble and three sacks, including one on the last play of the game.
Drummond, a 6'3 240 redshirt sophomore, had won a starting job after missing most of last season with academic difficulties.
Drummond was dressed for the Virginia game, while Johnson had previously said that Attaochu would be ready as well. However, neither ended up playing, and the Yellow Jackets ended up dropping their first game of the season in a huge upset loss to the Cavaliers, giving up 272 yards rushing in the process.
The bloom is off the rose at Georgia Tech after the Yellow Jackets stunning 24-21 loss to Virginia. The formerly undefeated Yellow Jackets opened the week as +2 underdogs in an ACC road game against Miami.
After averaging 51.6 points a game in their first five contests, Paul Johnson's triple-option offense scored only 21 points in their last two games against Maryland and Virginia.
The Hurricanes will present an interesting challenge under first-year head coach Al Golden, as they have struggled with consistency in the aftermath of a devastating series of allegations against the football program this summer. Their 3-3 record is deceptive: they've played only one cupcake (Bethune-Cookman) through their first six games, while beating Ohio State in non-conference play and losing to a Kansas State team that is now 6-0.
For more information on this week's college football lines check out the section at SBNation. For the latest news and notes on Georgia Tech, check out the SBNation blog From The Rumble Seat. For further information on Miami, check out the SBNation blog The 7th Floor.
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Georgia Tech's Stats Turning Into One Big Bummer
by Jason Kirk
SBNation.com's Bill Connelly reassesses the seaworthiness of each conference's vessels, finding the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to be taking on entirely too much water:
Oct 24 4:15p