2010 Miami Hurricanes Football: Miami @ Georgia Tech

If the Miami Hurricanes want to make something of their disappointing 2010 season, they'll have their chance this Saturday against an opponent that's just been brought down to their level.

Two weeks ago, when the pain of reality was just beginning to set in for Miami, this weekend's game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets looked like a hopeless situation for coach Randy Shannon's club. Miami had just lost quarterback Jacory Harris for an extended period of time due to a concussion suffered in a 24-19 loss at Virginia. The Canes had to burn a redshirt for freshman quarterback Stephen Morris, the player with the best chance of leading the UM offense. Up against the Yellow Jackets and veteran quarterback Josh Nesbitt, the Canes figured to be at a considerable disadvantage. They just barely scraped by Maryland and looked horrible in the process. Why does this team still have a window of opportunity in its attempt to catch Virginia Tech for the ACC Coastal Division crown?

Very simply, Georgia Tech got struck by the same problem that befell Miami. The most important player on the Jackets' offense got knocked out due to an injury.

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Indeed, while Harris will sit out this game against Georgia Tech, Nesbitt will also be on the sidelines for the Jackets. On Nov. 4 at Virginia Tech, Nesbitt fractured his wrist in the second quarter and will be out for the remainder of the season. Nesbitt had led Georgia Tech to a 14-0 first-quarter lead against the current ACC Coastal leader, so his absence cancels out the Harris injury on the Miami side of the ledger. This is now a battle of backup quarterbacks, with Morris facing Georgia Tech's Tevin Washington, who was unable to guide the Rambling Wreck past Virginia Tech in the second half of last Thursday's throwdown. The playing field is level, and since Miami plays Virginia Tech one week after this game, the Hurricanes know that they still have a path to the Coastal Division flag. If they can escape Atlanta with a win and Virginia Tech loses at North Carolina this weekend, Miami will host the Hokies for the Coastal championship. The Virginia Tech-North Carolina game is a 3:30 p.m. Eastern time kickoff on Saturday, so with this game slated for a noon kickoff, it's not as though Miami has to be tempted to look at the scoreboard. If the Hurricanes can just tend to their own bit of business and prove that their own second-string signal caller is better than Georgia Tech's fill-in field general, they'll at least give themselves a shot to compete for their division. North Carolina must help them, but at least Miami would prolong the drama for three and a half more hours.

Since this is a game in which both quarterbacks are young, unproven and untested, the keys really aren't all that hard to determine. Turnovers will tell the tale of this noonday headknocker. The ability of each defense to catch interceptions and recover loose balls when they emerge will be paramount at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson will still employ his triple-option offense with Washington as his on-field pilot, but the very fact that the Jackets are a triple-option team means that Washington has to be prudent when he pitches the ball. Nesbitt's replacement probably won't be able to take the same kinds of risks. The Jackets have to be more controlled in the way they approach this game on the offensive side of the ball.

Miami. Georgia Tech. It's the battle of the backups. Miami might have had excuses when Jacory Harris was the only injured starting quarterback in this matchup. That's not the case anymore. It's time for both of these teams to man up and persevere without their respective offensive leaders.

Miami Hurricanes @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Football Preview