Sep 12, 2007, 14:48 GMT
Atlanta, GA - The 15th-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets kick off their ACC schedule this Saturday, as they host the 21st-ranked Boston College Eagles under the lights at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
The Yellow Jackets come into the game with a good deal of confidence following a 33-3 triumph over Notre Dame to begin the season and a 69-14 pounding of Samford last weekend. The 69 points scored last weekend was the most at home by a Georgia Tech team since it defeated Furman 69-0 all the way back in 1921. The Yellow Jackets now turn their attention to ACC play and that is good news considering they won the Coastal Division last season and haven't lost a league opener since 2003.
As for Boston College, it has taken the early lead in the Atlantic Division thanks to wins over defending ACC champion Wake Forest (38-28) and most recently NC State (37-17) this past weekend. With the victories, the Eagles stretched their home winning streak to 13 games and in the process started off conference play 2-0 for the first time since 2001. Boston College now takes to the road, where it has gone 18-8 dating back to the beginning of the 2003 season.
The Eagles and Yellow Jackets have met five times previously on the gridiron, but never as ACC members. Georgia Tech leads the all-time series with Boston College, 4-1, but the Eagles won the most recent meeting 41-31 in Atlanta in 1998.
Through the first two games, the Eagles have displayed the ability to beat their opponents on the ground or through the air, as they used 408 passing yards to defeat Wake Forest in their opener and 231 rushing yards to outlast NC State last weekend. Andre Callender paced the team in last weekend's victory, rushing for 158 yards and a pair of scores on 18 totes. It was a nice rebound for Callender, who was held to just 49 yards on 14 carries in the team's opener. Fellow tailback L.V. Whitworth missed the first game with an injury, but he returned to the lineup last weekend and rushed for 59 yards and a score on 15 carries. Whitworth, the team's leading rusher last season, gives the Eagles one of the top backfield tandems in the ACC. Quarterback Matt Ryan didn't fare as well last weekend as he did in the opener, completing just 15- of-34 pass attempts for 142 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. This effort came one week after an impressive season-opening performance in which Ryan threw for 408 yards and five touchdowns on 32-of-52 pass attempts. He is one of the premier quarterbacks in the conference and he will surely have a say in this game's outcome.
The Eagles have allowed 775 total yards of offense through two games, but they have more than made up for that by forcing 11 turnovers, including nine interceptions. The team's ability to pick off passes has been crucial to its success, as Boston College has allowed a whopping 717 passing yards thus far. The defense, however, has been outstanding against the run, surrendering just 58 yards on 48 attempts in two games. Last weekend, the Eagles limited NC State to just 56 rushing yards in a victory. The unit surrendered 351 yards through the air to NC State, but that was countered with five interceptions. The defense also recorded a pair of forced fumbles. Jolon Dunbar led the Eagles with six tackles and he also returned an interception 14 yards for a score. Jamie Silva, who paced the team with nine tackles against Wake Forest, recorded two interceptions last weekend.
The Yellow Jackets scored 28 unanswered points in the first quarter last weekend and they never looked back in a rout of Samford. Despite playing its reserves most of the way, Georgia Tech rolled up 498 total yards of offense, including an impressive 389 on the ground. The Yellow Jackets, who ran for 259 yards in their opener versus Notre Dame, scored a school record nine rushing touchdowns last weekend. After rushing for a career-high 196 yards and two scores in the team's opener, Tashard Choice went for 110 yards and two touchdowns last weekend. Choice, who broke loose for a career-high 73 yard touchdown run, did all his damage in the first quarter against Samford. With the tremendous amount of success on the ground, quarterback Taylor Bennett hasn't had to shoulder much of the work load. Bennett has converted on 19-of-32 pass attempts for 206 yards through two games, but he has yet to throw a touchdown. With the Eagles' solid run defense, Bennett may have to come up with a few big plays in order to free some room for Choice to run effectively this weekend.
Defensively, the Yellow Jackets didn't need to go all out last weekend, but they still did a god job in holding Samford to just 240 total yards. The defense, which limited Notre Dame to a mere 122 total yards, including -8 yards on the ground, gave up just 84 rushing yards to Samford last weekend. Through two games, Georgia Tech has yet to record an interception, but it has forced and recovered five fumbles. Getting to opposing quarterbacks has also been an strength of this unit, which has 11 sacks in two games. Darrell Robertson has been a force early on and he leads the team in TFLs (four) and sacks (1.5), while ranking second in tackles (eight).
© 2007 The Sports Network
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