Georgia Tech Football: Over/Under Accountability vs Pittsburgh

Over/Under 0.5 Vad Lee Passing Touchdowns

Actual Number: 0 (5.9% accuracy)

Turns out that a lot of us were surprised by the continued lack of scoring through the air. (The only exception being dhbartlett, who was literally the only one to get this right.) Vad went 5/10 for 84 yards, including a huge bomb to DeAndre Smelter on a third down late in the fourth quarter that might have single-handedly been the last nail in the coffin. However, at the end of the day, this leaves Vad Lee with 8 passing TDs on the season, but only one in his past six games -- not that I could really explain why that is.

Laskey (+15) vs David Sims Rushing Yards

Actual: Sims 18 carries & 94 yards, Laskey 8 carries & 33 yards (23.5% accuracy)

I'll be the first to tell you that this was a bit of a weird line, and that I didn't word it very well. That said, the correct choice was "under" or "Sims", with the question being how Laskey's rushing yards total (with a 15-yard bonus) would compare to that of Sims's. In any case, Sims finished with 94 yards, which trumped Laskey's 48 when including the extra 15 yards. Sims had a really solid performance, rushing for over 5 yards per carry for the second straight game and fourth time this season.

I'll make sure future lines are a little more clear on how they're supposed to be answered.

Over/Under 21.5 Points Allowed by Georgia Tech's Defense

Actual Number: 10 (82.4% accuracy)

The Georgia Tech defense continues to impress, holding Pittsburgh to -5 yards rushing and 10 points total. Honestly, they might have been held to even less if not for a poorly-called 15-yard roughing the passer penalty in the second quarter against Jeremiah Attaochu. Tech has now allowed a combined 35 points in its last 3 games, and is 14th nationally with 18.8 points allowed per game -- a huge turnaround from a year ago.

Over/Under 3.5 Combined Turnovers

Actual Number: 3 (41.2% accuracy)

For some reason, the turnover bug has been hanging around Georgia Tech's offense all year, biting again this week in the form of 2 fumbles lost, and a third recovered on a huge heads-up play by the one and only Robert Godhigh. Luckily, they complimented those two fumbles with an interception by Jemea Thomas that sealed the game, bringing the turnover margin back to -4. The Jackets are now 97th nationally in turnover margin, which may have something to do with their struggles against the best teams on their schedule.

Over/Under 31:30 Time of Possession for Georgia Tech

Actual Number: 31:48 (94.1% accuracy)

I was actually a bit impressed with myself for how close this line was to the actual outcome -- coincidentally, it was the highest percentage of accurate picks of all of the lines, with only one contestant being incorrect. Indeed, Georgia Tech's offense did a fairly good job of milking the clock, but left a lot to be desired when a lot of drives were cut short. Even still, they reeled off drives of 7:23, 4:38, 3:50, 3:29, and 3:06 -- a total of right around 22.5 minutes, only counting 5 of 11 drives. One last note is that this line was actually determined entirely by the timing of Jemea Thomas's interception with 0:32 left to play in the game. Another 2-3 offensive plays for Pittsburgh would have had this line at a 94.1% incorrect percentage.

Over/Under 10.5-Point Margin of Victory for Georgia Tech

Actual Number: 11-Point Margin of Victory

I realize that this probably wasn't the type of victory that we were looking for as we head to Clemson -- we're all a bit bloodthirsty and wanting to re-prove ourselves in any way possible after the three straight losses. That said, while finishing with 21 points wasn't really our ideal score to finish with, holding Pittsburgh to 10 points is very comforting and confidence-inspiring in our revamped defense. Again, it's incredible how far this unit has come in less than a full year under new management. We've known for a while that this was a really talented unit, but it's finally coming to fruition under the leadership of Ted Roof.

Weekly Shout-Outs

Our first shout-out this week has to go to our least valuable picker (LVP), who went 1-5 and lost his "Overall Leader" status in the process. That's right, it was a really rough pick for the previously infallible pulindian. His performance brings him to 38-16 overall, which is one pick behind...

We have a new leader! Dive Keep and Pitch went 4-2 this week, taking advantage of pulindian's struggles to assume control with 3 regular season games to go. (You didn't think we were stopping before bowl season, did you?) He sits with a one-pick lead, with richman0610 and packerman each five picks back.

Weekly MVPs were JacksonJacket and JohnHeisman, who each went 5-1. If either had just picked Vad Lee to go TD-less, they would have had a flawless victory. Congratulations to those guys, who have officially bested yours truly this week!

Finally, this week's "Impeccable Avoidance of Poor Choices" award goes to ClavinCliff, who dodged a real bullet.

Can I just make mine whatever pulindian picks?

-ClavinCliff

This Week's Results

Weekly Entrant Success Rate: 54.9% (56-46)

Week 9 Leaderboard

Season Entrant Success Rate: 56.2% (559-435)

Week 9 has concluded. Should we start taking bets on who wins?

Find the spreadsheet that I use to track these picks, as well as my Weekend Selections, here: link.