Georgia Tech Vs. Kansas: Offense Broke Records, But Defense Stepped Up Too

Georgia Tech Vs. Kansas Final Score: Jackets Break School Records, Avenge Loss

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets produced 768 yards of total offense against the Kansas Jayhawks, a new school record. That includes 604 yards of rushing, also a new school record. Tech won, 66-24, which is 180 points shy of being a school record margin of victory. You take what you can get.

Six different Jackets scored touchdowns, with Orwin Smith and Roddy Jones scoring by both land and air and David Sims scoring a pair of ground touchdowns. Smith's 157 yards rushing and 108 yards receiving both led the way in their respective stat columns, with Jones adding 124 yards worth of total offense.

Though Kansas added a garbage time score to make it look (barely) more respectable and Tech's third-down defense struggled in the first half, the Jackets ended up right around 50 percent for the game on third downs.

The best stat of all? Zero fumbles. This is what happens, y'all.

For more, check out Georgia Tech blog From The Rumble Seat and Kansas Jayhawks blog Rock Chalk Talk.

Georgia Tech Vs. Kansas Halftime Score: Shootout On, Jackets Lead

You'd expected some significant points to be scored in the rematch between the Kansas Jayhawks and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and so far we're on pace. Tech leads KU 24-17 at the break and has put up 337 of the game's 583 total yards.

Orwin Smith kicked off festivities with a 95-yard touchdown run, one of the two longest scores from scrimmage in Georgia Tech history, early in the first. Kansas back Darrian Miller traded touchdowns with Roddy Jones and David Sims, with a Justin Moore field goal right before halftime breaking up the rhythm. But then Kansas scored a field goal after getting the ball with 39 seconds left. Here's to new rhythms.

Tech is averaging 14 yards per play, almost 10 more than Kansas' offense is producing, but has allowed seven third-down conversions. That's 41 offensive plays for the Jayhawks so far, with quarterback Jordan Webb completing nine of his 13 efforts.

For more, check out Georgia Tech blog From The Rumble Seat and Kansas Jayhawks blog Rock Chalk Talk.

Georgia Tech Vs. Kansas TV Schedule, Game Time And More

Georgia Tech is looking for its third consecutive win to start the 2011 season when they host Kansas on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Yellow Jackets will also be looking to avenge last season's upset loss in Lawrence where the Jayhawks shocked Tech 28-25. 

This years version of the Jackets has beaten down to lesser opponents in back to back weeks and has unveiled a quality passing attack behind quarterback Tevin Washington and wideout Stephen Hill. However, Tech's bread and butter remains the run and it should be in line for a big day against a Kansas defense that has surrendered over 60 points during its 2-0 start to the season. 

However, a team doesn't allow 30 plus points a game and start 2-0 without a pretty good offense. It is hard to gauge the Yellow Jackets' defense due to the amount of garbage time football they have played in the first two games. Stopping the run and Kansas tailback James Sims will be key or this game could turn into a shootout in a hurry. 

Game date, time: 12:30 pm ET, Saturday Sept. 17 

Location: Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta

TV: FSN, ESPN3

For more on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Kansas Jayhawks, be sure and check out From The Rumble Seat and Rock Chalk Talk. 

Georgia Tech Vs. Kansas: Will Tevin Washington's Arm Make The Difference?

In 2010, the Kansas Jayhawks played disciplined defense, let the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets make mistakes and eventually forced quarterback Joshua Nesbitt to make short throws. You know how that went. This time around, Kansas fans are worried Tevin Washington's capable passing might be enough to carry the Jackets out of upset reach.

Here's Kansas blog Rock Chalk Talk, sharing concerns with Georgia Tech blog From The Rumble Seat:

Aqib Talib is not walking through that door and the potential Tech passing game is the biggest concern. Kansas seemed to gameplan fairly well against the run last year and Tech just couldn't execute in the passing game so it played right into what Kansas does well.

Kansas has struggled early this year in pass coverage and their isn't much to indicate that a change is on the way. Honestly we're all hoping that the Tech passing game was somehow a result of the level of competition in the first two games, but that's just wishful thinking. If Kansas can find a way to slow the passing game down they will be in trouble.    

Meanwhile, FTRS cautions against expecting too much from Tech's sudden passing game, via small sample sizes and overwhelmed competition:

I don't think it's necessarily Tevin's abilities as much as Paul Johnson feels like he needs to build confidence in his receivers. So often in 2010, we would drop passes in clutch situations because we were only calling receivers' numbers during end game hail mary situations. We turned our passing game into a display of last ditch futility rather than being a part of our normal offense. We also need to consider our opponents.  Western Carolina is a BAD I-AA team.  Middle Tennessee was skunked by Tech last year with an arguably better team  so passing game's game stock may be a little overvalued (Groupon).

The answer is somewhere in between, of course. Washington is already a far better passer than Nesbitt ever was, but Tech isn't going to rank in the top 10 in passing for very much longer.

For more, visit Georgia Tech blog From The Rumble Seat and Kansas blog Rock Chalk Talk.

Georgia Tech Vs. Kansas Spread, Odds Update: Yellow Jackets Solid Two Touchdown Favorite

Georgia Tech is a two touchdown favorite to avenge last season's embarrassing loss to Kansas. The Yellow Jackets figure to test a Kansas defense that has surrendered 66 points in its two victories. Both teams come into the game 2-0 overall and against the spread. Kansas however, is just 1-8 against the spread in it's last nine road contests. 

The fact that Kansas can put points on the board could bring the 60.5 over/under number into play. Over 75 percent at Odds Shark are taking the over and predicting a shootout. However, that goes against another recent trend with the Yellow Jackets going under in six of its last nine games. Kansas has also gone under in four of its last five games on the road which would seem to make that play a little dangerous. 

For more, visit Georgia Tech blog From The Rumble Seat and Kansas blog Rock Chalk Talk.

Georgia Tech Vs. Kansas Could Be A Shootout

There's way more on the line for the 2-0 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets against the 2-0 Kansas Jayhawks than there should be. If that makes any sense. On the one hand, this is Tech's first game against a BCS-conference opponent. On the other hand, it's Kansas, which finished 3-9 and among the worst 20 teams in the nation on both sides of the ball last year.

On the third hand spawned by engineering experiments gone horribly wrong, Tech was one of the three teams Kansas beat.

Kansas Jayhawks blog Rock Chalk Talk foresees a different game than the 28-25 grinder that featured two critical Jackets fumbles. Both offenses have looked sharp so far, with both Tech's passing game and Kansas' running game turning a head or two:

One key stat going into this one has to be the 5.1 yards per rush given up by the Tech defense a week ago.  Obviously a lot can go into that, including mop-up-minute inflation, among other things. That said, Kansas is averaging 4.8 per carry, James Sims has rushed for 100 yards in consecutive starts and the Kansas offense is predicated on establishing the run.    

I expect the Jackets to mostly avenge last year's game -- because how could you completely avenge a loss like that in just one game? -- but Kansas will score some points. They've posted 87 of them in two games, one of them against a possibly superior Northern Illinois team.

For more, visit Georgia Tech blog From The Rumble Seat and Kansas blog Rock Chalk Talk.

Georgia Tech Football Schedule 2011: Yellow Jackets Looking For Revenge Against The Jayhawks

If you take a quick look at the 2010 Kansas Jayhawks, their 3-9 record jumps off the page at you. However, for Georgia Tech the numbers 28-25 hold special meaning as it was these same Jayhawks that upset the Yellow Jackets by that same score in Lawrence. Tech entered that game 1-0 and ranked No. 15 in the country only to be shocked by Kansas. There should be no shortage of motivation as you can rest assured that coach Paul Johnson and his staff won't let this year's football team forget last season's loss.  

A Closer Look At The Jayhawks
Coach: Turner Gill 3-9 in 2nd season at KU, 23-39 overall
Last Season: 3-9, 1-7 Big 12 North
Returning Starters: 15 (seven offense, eight defense)
Key Players: QB Jordan Webb, RB James Sims, LB Steven Johnson

All eyes will be on sophomore quarterback Jordan Webb as he was recently named as the team's starter after a battle in fall camp for the job. Webb through for 1195 and seven touchdowns last season as a freshman and figures to be the best option for the Jayhawks at this point. Webb's case as starter could be helped if he can get a solid contribution from running back James Sims and the Kansas running game. Sims ran for over 700 yards and nine touchdowns as a freshman last season. 

The good news is that the Kansas defense can't get much worse than it was in 2010. The Jayhawks surrendered 206.4 yards a game on the ground and gave up 291 in the win over Georgia Tech. That has to improve this season if they are going to have any chance of success in the Big 12. 

After what should be a couple of warm up wins for the Yellow Jackets, Tech will be looking for revenge when Kansas comes to Atlanta. Sims and company may provide a little bit of a challenge for the Tech defense, but the Yellow Jackets' offense should be able to control the line of scrimmage and roll up big numbers on the ground once again. 

For more on the Kansas Jayhawks be sure and check out Rock Chalk Talk. For more on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, join the conversation at From The Rumble Seat.