Defending ACC champion Georgia Tech has had an up-and-down year.  By Coach Paul Johnson’s lofty standards, it has been a down year. Johnson had turned the engineering school in Atlanta into an option running juggernaut, but needless to say, at 3-2 coming into the Virginia game, this year has been a big disappointment for Johnson and the Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech.  Most disappointing of all was the loss at Kansas, which had just come off a 6-3 loss to North Dakota State of the FCS (the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division 1-AA.)  The Yellow Jackets had also given up 45 points to Russell Wilson and North Carolina State in a conference loss.  However, since the loss was to a team from the opposite division, and all other Coastal Division competitors except Virginia Tech have sustained a conference loss, Georgia Tech is still in the conference race.  To put it simply, if Georgia Tech wins out, the Jackets will go to the ACC Championship Game.

Virginia, on the other hand, is most likely already out of contention in a tough Coastal Division, where Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Miami all compete.  The Cavaliers came into the game 2-2 and 0-1 in ACC play, after a close loss to Southern California out of conference and, last week, a disappointing outing in which they were dominated by Florida State.  Now at 0-2 in the ACC, the Cavs face a difficult road ahead, with North Carolina, Miami, and Virginia Tech still looming on the schedule.

The Yellow Jackets’ rushing attack is supplemented by an underrated big-play passing game.  Johnson’s bread and butter is the triple option, of course, but when Johnson calls a pass play, it often goes for big yardage.  In that vein, Georgia Tech’s first play from scrimmage on Saturday was a Joshua Nesbitt pass to Stephen Hill for 31 yards, which quickly put the Jackets into Cavalier territory.  This ability to hit the big pass keeps the opposing secondary honest and prevents safeties from creeping in to stop the run.  Thus, the second play of the day for Georgia Tech was an Embry Peeples 14-yard rush.  A few rushes later, the Jackets faced a third-and-five at the Virginia 11-yard line.  Nesbitt fumbled, as he seems to do on a fairly regular basis, but teammate Roddy Jones was on the spot to recover the ball. Tech suffered a 13-yard loss, however, forcing a field goal.  Scott Blair hit a 40-yarder for a quick 3-0 Georgia Tech lead.

That drive serves to illustrate Georgia Tech’s offense in a nutshell.  Nesbitt reads the defense and either hands off to the fullback on a dive, or he keeps the ball and runs left or right.  He then has to decide whether to keep the ball himself or to pitch to the tailback.  The offense is complex in its simplicity, but it has sputtered at some points this year.  Against Virginia, the offense hummed, as Georgia Tech rumbled for 536 yards. 

Of course, Georgia Tech wasn’t the only team running an offense.  Virginia was occasionally able to take advantage of Georgia Tech’s struggling defense.  After a three-and-out on their first drive, the Cavs drove to the Georgia Tech 33-yard line, where the drive stalled, and Chris Hinkebein missed the opportunity to tie the game by missing the field goal attempt.  The Cavs managed to take a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter when Max Milien ran into the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown run. 

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Georgia Tech answered with a field goal on the next possession, and on the following possession, Nesbitt took the ball into the end zone himself with a one-yard TD run after a workmanlike drive.  Georgia Tech led 13-7 at the end of a slow-paced first half.  However, the offenses exploded in the second half.

Virginia opened the second half with the ball, but quickly turned it over when receiver Dontrelle Inman fumbled after a 19-yard reception.  Mario Butler forced the fumble and made the recovery for the Yellow Jackets.  Nesbitt and his teammate, outstanding running back Anthony Allen, led Georgia Tech on an 11-play drive that featured two different fourth-down conversions.  Johnson may be the most punt-averse coach in the nation; he rarely passes on the opportunity to go for it on fourth and short.  This drive, it paid off.  On the first fourth-down conversion, Nesbitt kept the ball and ran for the first down, but he once again fumbled. However, Omoregie Uzzi recovered to keep the drive alive.  Nesbitt also converted the second fourth down of the drive on a keeper, and Allen finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run to extend the Tech lead to 20-7.

Virginia answered with a 4-play touchdown drive, featuring a 42-yard rush by Perry Jones on the first play.  Keith Payne finished the drive with three consecutive rushes including the touchdown that brought the Wahoos within six.  The Cavs' one-score deficit would be short-lived, though, as Georgia Tech’s Allen scored his second touchdown on the next possession on an 18-yard scamper, in addition to a 44-yard run that put the Jackets in scoring position. A subsequent touchdown put Tech back up by 13, at 27-14.

After the teams’ traded punts, Virginia quarterback Marc Verica hit Dontrelle Inman on a 52-yard bomb, giving the Cavaliers a first-and-goal from the 9-yard line.  An incomplete pass and two Keith Payne rushes later, Virginia faced fourth-and-goal from the three.  Verica was not able to hit Matt Snyder in the end zone, a key turning point in the Georgia Tech victory.  Instead of being down six, the Cavaliers were down 13, and Tech sealed the game with a 97-yard TD drive on its subsequent possession.  Nesbitt provided the biggest play with a 67-yard keeper, and Allen added his third touchdown on an 8-yard run to put Georgia Tech up 33-14 late in the fourth quarter.  Payne added a touchdown on Virginia's last possession to provide the 33-21 final score.

Virginia dropped to 2-3 overall, 0-2 in the ACC with a home game against North Carolina next week at 6 p.m. Eastern.  Georgia Tech moved to 4-2 overall, and 3-1 in ACC play, with the win.  The Yellow Jackets host Middle Tennessee State at 3:30 and remain very much alive in the ACC Coastal Division despite their defensive struggles and offensive inconsistency.