Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets QB Joshua Nesbitt suffered a broken arm against the Virginia Tech Hokies and will miss the rest of the team's regular season. He's made it clear he intends to play one more game as a Jacket, leading Tech in its bowl game. But can Tech even make it to a bowl game without their three-year leader?
Yes. Tech needs only one more win to become bowl eligible. If the Jackets beat either the Miami Hurricanes, Duke Blue Devils, or Georgia Bulldogs, their 13-season bowl streak should remain intact. Did you see the key trio of words in there? Duke Blue Devils! The two ACC games will be home games as well.
Except for their astounding win over the Navy Midshipmen, Duke is Duke. They gave up 54 points to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Wake's highest single-game total since 1990, and have yet to win an ACC game. The one cause for worry is, again, that they beat Navy. The Middies run Paul Johnson's offense, and Navy QB Ricky Dobbs is a far more accomplished option quarterback than Tech sophomore Tevin Washington. The Devils held Navy to 148 yards rushing on 37 attempts.
Washington showed some decent passing touch last night, and is a much more elusive runner than Nesbitt is. Though he made a few distribution mistakes, he was inches short of tying the game at the end and leading the offense to two second-half touchdowns, which would match Nesbitt's first-half points total. This isn't to say the loss of Nesbitt doesn't hurt Tech, just that it gives the flexbone a very different look.
If Tech's defense plays as well as it did last night, the Jackets have a shot at winning each of these games. But as long as Duke is on the schedule, getting one win for Nesbitt and the school's bowl streak shouldn't be a problem.