2011 Virginia Tech Hokies Football: Va. Tech @ Georgia Tech

The Thursday night games that have populated this season’s college football schedule have been hard if not impossible to watch. A distinct exception will emerge this week, as a division championship will be determined in the South’s center of commerce and communications.

Yes, Atlanta is the focus of Thursday night football, as Bobby Dodd Stadium plays host to the game that has amounted to the unofficial ACC Coastal Division title bout since 2005. It’s true – as long as the ACC has used divisional play, either the Virginia Tech Hokies or the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have won and worn the Coastal crown. They’ll meet to decide yet another division title on the Jackets’ home field, lending a double meaning to the word “buzz.”

Those who recall the Atlantic Coast Conference’s previous round of expansion – in 2004 and 2005, not the current transition involving Syracuse and Pittsburgh – know that ever since the ACC added Virginia Tech and Miami in 2004, only the Hokies have soared. Miami, who joined Virginia Tech as a new ACC school after being plucked from the Big East, was expected to dominate the league in tandem with old rival Florida State, who joined the ACC in 1991. However, Virginia Tech became the new king of the Atlantic Coast, winning an 11-team league in 2004 and then remaining the big dog when the ACC expanded to 12 teams (by adding Boston College) in 2005. Ever since the ACC adopted two six-team divisions, Virginia Tech has won four Coastal Division titles in six seasons and has claimed three ACC crowns. The Hokies have become the top program in the conference and have shown others how to finish seasons in the November spotlight. This Virginia Tech team is young at key positions, especially at quarterback with Logan Thomas, but it is a program that expects to win, and that mentality should come in handy when it plays a road game at night under difficult circumstances. One very big advantage for Virginia Tech is that it had a bye week to prepare for Georgia Tech’s triple-option offense. Teams that get an extra week to prepare for this assignment-based challenge generally fare better if they have the defensive horses.

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Georgia Tech’s hopes are bolstered by the fact that Virginia Tech’s defense has been battered by injuries this year. Several Hokies have missed extended playing time, and one of their key performers, inside linebacker Bruce Taylor, is out for the season due to injury. It’s true that Virginia Tech has had a bye week to re-gather its strength for this game, but with so many bodies shuttling through the lineup, one wonders if the Hokies will have the well-oiled seamlessness they need to play assignment football against Georgia Tech’s triple option, an offense that overwhelmed the Clemson Tigers on Oct. 29 in the game that turned around the Jackets’ season. Georgia Tech had been playing without a bye week until this past weekend, and after suffering road losses to Virginia and Miami, the Rambling Wreck was careening toward disaster. The Clemson game allowed this game to become the Coastal championship game, and now the Yellow Jackets will be energized – psychologically more than anything else – as they take to the field.

This game is a 50-50 proposition – it’s very hard to see which team has an edge because both sides have been so inconsistent through 10 weeks, and it’s hard to gauge how the bye week will affect each team. The key to the game is Virginia Tech’s offense. The Hokies can control the ball just as much as Georgia Tech, due to their smashmouth running game with featured back David Wilson. Logan Thomas is an imposing physical specimen who is being asked to play quarterback. If Thomas plays extremely well, Georgia Tech’s defense can and will be carved up. The fact that Thomas has had an extra week of preparation will put him in a good position to succeed, but one wonders if Thomas possesses the poise and composure to deliver the goods in crunch time.

Virginia Tech Hokies @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Football Preview