Georgia Tech Football: Things I Think I Know – Virginia Tech

Georgia Tech faced its toughest test of the season so far and was far from overcoming the challenge. Yes, Notre Dame is undeniably a talented team, and many key players are injured. However, there are still many issues to address as we prepare for the most challenging part of our schedule yet. This weekend we enter Sandman and play in a familiar location: Blacksburg, Virginia. Many (I am many) are still thinking about what happened the last time we visited the Hokies when Zach Pyron stormed into the end zone and scored the game-winning touchdown in dramatic fashion. Pyron could have a similar chance this week if King still hasn't recovered. He is listed as a starter on the depth chart, but his status is still normal at this time. Regardless of who starts at quarterback, I am confident they will be ready.

The Tech Bowl is always an exciting matchup and this year it promises to be the same. Be sure to steal a T when you go to the game and scream extra loud for the jackets. Here's what I think I know as we begin the ninth college football season as we take on Virginia Tech.

Game management needs to be improved

Yes, this is Brent Keys' first head coaching job and I think he's doing a great job at it. However, it seems like he has trouble keeping track of the clock during crunch time. Going into halftime against Notre Dame, we had the ball and were pushing down the field, only to run out of time and be forced to kick a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown…then the snap was in Staggered and the kick was not attempted evenly.

To set the mood, this drive started with 1:53 left and we started at our 20 yard line. There was no sense of urgency throughout the ride, with long jostling at 1st, 2nd and 3rd and 1st, leaving 35 seconds on the clock. We completed a long pass to reach the Notre Dame area and suddenly the urgency became greater. However, at this point we had to get the ball up front with just 27 seconds left and lost a down. This wasn't the first time the two-minute drill had been mishandled, and it didn't exactly look like we knew what could have happened.

Special teams regress as the season progresses

Special teams made some special plays, but they quickly regressed as the season came to a close. Even Coach Key himself said in a press conference that the difference between our first four games and our last four games was night and day… in a bad way. The kicking game is the worst of all. After the 44-yard kick to win the FSU game, Aidan Birr is now ranked 130th nationally in field goal percentage. He was 0/2 in the Notre Dame game (which wasn't his fault), but we can't just have a reliable kicker 50% of the time. I saw Aidan Birr doing great and I know the potential is there for him. Our special teams were subpar overall, especially after allowing an easy punt return TD against UNC. The two positives are that David Shanahan has been pretty reliable and we blocked some kicks early in the year.

Here is a breakdown of our special teams national rankings after week eight.

Blocked kicks allowed – 107. (net 6)

Punt Return Defense – 103rd (10.77 yards allowed)

Kick return defense – 121st (24.9 yards allowed)

Punt Return – 68th (8 yards)

Kickoff Return – 68th (20 yards)

Net Punting – 110th (36.75 yards)

Blocked Kicks – 2nd (4)

Field Goal Percentage – 130. (50%)

Virginia Tech is getting better and their offense is getting hotter

Many predicted Virginia Tech to be a playoff team at the beginning of the year, but then they lost their first game to Vanderbilt. A few games later they lost to Rutgers. Now we know that Vandy is good, Rutgers isn't bad either, and Virginia Tech is quietly making its way back onto the scene. They threatened Miami until the end and clearly beat Boston College and Stanford. I'm not saying Virginia Tech is good by any means, but they certainly won't be a walk in the park. They will be ready and excited for this game, especially considering how the last game turned out. They have a very talented running back in Bhaysul Tuten, who has 871 yards, seven yards per carry and 12 touchdowns this season. He rushed for 266 yards against Boston College and has explosive skills. Quarterback Kyron Drones is talented but has definitely made some crucial mistakes and is still fresh at the position. He has thrown for 1,319 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions this year. He can also run the ball with 318 yards this season, making him Tech's second-leading rusher. Virginia Tech has scored 34, 31 and 42 points against its last three conference opponents. That's not good news for us as we still don't know the status of Efford or Shelley… and the fact that last Saturday's tackles were abysmal. Things are starting to click for Virginia Tech, and this game could very well be a loss if it didn't work out for us. Anything can happen in Blacksburg, so let’s see if Coach Key has this team ready to play.

This could be a must-win for bowl eligibility

Given the challenging final stretch of our schedule and the growing injury list, this game could be one of our final opportunities to secure bowl eligibility. We still have Virginia Tech, Miami, NC State and uga left. We are one win away from reaching a bowl game for the second year in a row. We win one of the four remaining games and achieve our sixth win. It is doable, but also difficult. Due to injuries and an unsatisfactory performance against Notre Dame, we may not be favored in any of our remaining games. Beating either Virginia Tech or NC State is crucial to our season, and winning that game this weekend would be a sweet sigh of relief. Let's get it done.

Go jackets!