We've touched on what Georgia Tech has been doing to prepare for week one versus Boston College, but an equally telling sign of how the game may turn out can be found in how the Eagles are preparing for the Jackets. My assumption is that every single person who is reading this knows exactly what Boston College will be spending most of its time preparing for: Paul Johnson's option offense; that's just a given at this point when you consider how unique the system is and how rarely most teams get to see it in motion. The part that really piqued my interest is what Boston College head coach Steve Addazio said about the team's preparation, largely because it mirrors Paul Johnson's comments from yesterday almost word for word. He, like Johnson, remarked on his team "hitting a wall", in reference to the extent of their preparation. Whether or not that means his team is ready remains to be seen, but Addazio's defense has always been phenomenal in Chestnut Hill. Tech will have its hands full, particularly if the Eagles' offensive unit improves as well.
Georgia Tech defensive line coach Mike Pelton turned to an interesting source over the summer while searching for ways to improve his unit's pass-rushing productivity, picking the brain of Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and various NFL players during a week-long internship with Atlanta's NFL franchise. I understand the idea and quite honestly love the creativity of reaching out to a local professional team for help (it's a luxury that few schools have, after all), but it's quite unfortunate that the Falcons were the closest option. For those who are blissfully unfamiliar, the Falcons finished dead last in the NFL in sacks a season ago with 19 across 16 regular season games, only a handful more than Tech's 14-sack total across 12 games. The article also yields this quote...
[Pelton] was reminded that an effective pass rush doesn’t have to be complicated, and a lot has to do with desire.
That seems like sound advice, but I'm not sure what it says about the Falcons if it's true considering that Atlanta's pass-rush, much like Tech's, is quite literally the furthest thing from "effective". Perhaps the knowledge will do well in the hands of Pelton and defensive coordinator Ted Roof, but they may want to head further north for some more reliable tips on getting to the opposing quarterback.
Arbitrary predictions are fun and all, but there's only one way to know who will ultimately win the ACC: by playing the timeless classic "Oregon Trail" video game and naming the characters after ACC schools. The results of this highly scientific experiment prove that Louisville will pull off the upset over North Carolina, thus ending the streak of domination by Clemson and Florida State. In fact, Clemson was killed off by some infectious disease. I'm not sure how exactly that happened considering that Baylor is still in the Big 12, but it's unfortunate for Tiger fans nonetheless. Maybe next year will be a bit kinder.
If you feel compelled to do the Oregon Trail experiment, post your results below. Please.