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Georgia Tech has won 15 out of 17 homecomings, putting on a good show for all the alumni that have come home. It's a good time of the year to celebrate what with all the ridiculous contraptions running around campus (I never went to a Reck Parade my time in school, so you can bet that I'll be going on Saturday), and I think Pittsburgh could give us good reason to continue that trend.
Over at Matt's statistical preview, we see that Pitt is better than their 4-3 record implies. They match up very well with Tech, so this shouldn't be another Syracuse game by any means. While the advanced stats may paint a pretty offensive picture of the matchup, the traditional ones don't. Pitt ranks outside the top 50 in every major offensive category save for passing efficiency. They're not doing much better rushing the ball, averaging a paltry 4 yds/attempt. Pitt fans have been eager to point out their offensive woes all season, but despite this perception the team is still making it work...somehow. I can't really explain it, but the Panthers seem to be doing wonderful and terrible on offense at the same time.
Defensively, the Panthers come in 18 spots lower than the Jackets in total defense at 34 (I never thought I'd say THAT in a million years). Pitt is allowing almost 28 points per game, however, 9 more than the Jackets. This is largely due to Tech's ability to give up a lot of plays, but not a lot of points.
One thing that is going to hinder Pitt and help Tech take it is that they're dealing with two injured starters. This is clearly a gesture by the two injured young men to make us feel better about the fact that our entire team is injured. Senior LB Shane Gordon will be the most heavily missed, but OG Cory King has also been bitten by the injury bug. If the DL plays anywhere near as well as they have the past two games on the inside, Cory's replacement's spot could be a significant point of attack for the Jackets.
Overall I think this is one Tech can pull out and should pull out, but may not if for no other reason than bad luck. All other factors equal I think GT beats Pitt 8 out of 10 times, so I like our odds. What do y'all think? Are you ready for homecoming? I know I am!