thursday night

[Lynn_Rollings]

lovin miami in this game!!! just wish i would've gotten the opening line. GT qb is terrible. Miami 's D should produce a few turnovers and cover easily. Its my 1st post but been keepin up with college football for a while. Anybody else got other thoughts on the game??

[FlyersFan]

no but i snuck into GTECH's stadium last night and walked around down on the field.....



actually i would have to side with over in this game

[joepa66]

GL Lynn.....and then FF went over to the Varsity for some take-out and then got thrown out of Cheetah 3!

[Jackets_Fan]

Football, Varsity, and the Cheetah? Sounds like my usual Saturday back when I was in school.

Like bookie, I'm typically a pretty big homer. That being said, Nesbitt is not a terrible QB. Ask Miami and UGA about that (last year). You'll most likely never be impressed when you look at his stat line (passing), but much of that is due to our offense. I have no stats to back this up, but I'd speculate Nesbitt throws the ball down field more than most QB's as a percentage of total attempts. Our option style offense really tries to stetch the filed when it passes by punishing the safeties for creeping up against the run. With Miami missing a couple of it's CB's tonight, I think we'll be more successful throwing the ball.

Alternatively, from Miami's perspective, I can't get last year's game out of my head. Those players were completely lost defending the option. I'm hoping Miami's D comes out jacked up and overly aggrressive (due to Thursday night) b/c that plays into our offensive scheme. Smart, assignment-oriented football is needed to defend against the option, and I refuse to put money on Miami playing smart football.

Now, a few things that worry me:

1. Miami now has UNC's old DC. Last year, UNC shut down GT.
2. Big DT's have given Tech trouble in the past when they breakdown the play before it develops. Clemson exsposed this again last week. Hopefully Coach Johnson can adjust, but UM has some pretty good D linemen.
3. Derrick Morgan, GT DE, has been the only player so far for GT to put pressure on the opposing QB (w/o blitzing). If GT lets Harris sit back in the pocket all day, he could pick us apart.
4. GT had trouble defending Spiller and Ford when they came out of the backfield last week. I doubt anyone in the ACC is as fast as Spiller, but Miami has some speedy backs, and I'm sure they'll be looking to isolate Cooper Taylor (GT S/Rover) like Clemson did. Morgan Burnett (GT S) should be able to hold his own.

Bottom line this game is huge for both programs. Miami has better athletes, but we have a better coach. I'm hopeful CPJ has made the necessary adjusts to get our offense running on all cylinders like it did at the end of the regular season last year. I could honestly see this game playing out in a number of ways, but given the uncertainty, I'll take the points.