North Carolina Tar Heels at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Preview
The North Carolina Tar Heels enter conference play this week with old nemesis Georgia Tech down in Atlanta. The Tar Heels are coming off three weeks of big scoring wins, but the last two weeks have seen some success by opposing runners against the Tar Heel defense. That would be a concern against Georgia Tech where most of what the Tar Heels will see is opposing runners. This is because Georgia Tech runs the triple option offense.
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There was also a little drama in last week’s win against Delaware regarding the play of Marquise Williams. The senior quarterback was benched at the half for poor play. He is back again as the starter this week, but it seems likely that he is on a short leash. Williams’ troubles may be coming from trying to do things that aren’t quite there, but he has also done things like overthrow flat routes all season.
Opponent: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-2)
Date: October 3
Time: 3:30 PM
TV: ESPNU
Venue: Bobby Dodd Stadium
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X – Stop the B-back
The triple option is stopped by playing assignment football. Adjusting to the option is basically playing into its hands. Therefore you have to stop the first part of the option to prevent the other parts from opening up. That would mean tackling Patrick Skov. That responsibility will fall on the interior line and middle linebacker Jeff Schoettmer. Stop Skov and the rest becomes a lot easier. Don’t and well you saw what Navy did to East Carolina.
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Y – Don’t Bury the Lead
Option teams rely on having and holding a lead, because they do not have the passing attacks to make up big deficits. The Tar Heels need to score every time they have the ball just in case the defense cannot stop the option. In fact North Carolina only beat Georgia Tech last year because of a late score by Tech that gave the Tar Heels the ball last in that game.
Z – Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
North Carolina runs a quick strike offense. However two teams had success last weekend who also prefer to score quickly. One of those teams was Duke, who turned to their ground attack to control the ball against the same Jackets and rest their defense. The Tar Heels could do this too with tailbacks Elijah Hood and TJ Logan, but can Coach Larry Fedora lay off the gas for one moment? The other team was East Carolina, who also turned off some of the Air Raid in favor of James Summers running the ball. An effective ground attack keeps the Jackets off the field and keep the Tar Heel defense fresh for key drives. Again, does North Carolina have the flexibility to pull that off?
Prediction: 28-27 Georgia Tech