As you likely know, the ACC has started to place a much bigger emphasis on scheduling quality opponents to boost strength of schedule among its member schools. On huge step in the right direction was when the conference and Notre Dame decided that it would be mutually beneficial for the Irish to face off with a handful of ACC opponents each season -- this season they have taken on or will soon take on the likes of Florida State, Syracuse, North Carolina, and Louisville. Georgia Tech is obviously no exception to this agreement -- the Jackets and Irish are set to meet four times between 2015 and 2025 with the soonest game coming next season. The SOS boost from scheduling a team like Notre Dame will be huge for Tech while simultaneously filling an out-of-conference spot, which have been notoriously hard fill for Paul Johnson during his tenure in Atlanta.
Following Tech's latest depressing ACC loss, the Jackets will look to shake up their defensive rotation by beginning to integrate the likes of Lynn Griffin and Anthony Harrell. Both Lynn and Harrell are very talented players, but neither has lived up to the hype so far this season -- Harrell is coming off of an unfortunate injury and Griffin was suspended for the first two games. Given that both Paul Davis and Quayshawn Nealy have played very well so far this season, I'd be shocked to see Harrell take over a starting job at linebacker, though Griffin could absolutely have a shot at upending a guy like Chris Milton for a starting gig in the backfield.
With this being the first season with the new playoff format in college football, there are many questions which have been raised about how exactly the system will work the first time around. While I'd bet some serious #dollabills that it will soon become a total fiasco, I guess that there is a pretty good chance that all could go pretty well. In fact, the only problem that I really have with the whole thing is that they chose current athletic directors from contending schools to be on the committee. That, if you ask me, is going to make for bad business very soon.
For today's final link, just take a look at the nightlight video from Tech's loss to UNC below.
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I didn't notice it during the game, but it really looked to me like Tech defenders had some good angles on a few of the UNC touchdowns which could have saved some points. I may just be crazy, but give it a look and see for yourself. The effort just seemed to be lacking.
Is it time for a change on the Georgia Tech defense? Which players are on the hot seat and who can step up and replace them?
Have a great Wednesday!