Tale Of The Tape: Georgia Tech at Virginia

It’s home, sweet home from here on out, as Virginia returns to Scott Stadium for a crucial three-game stand to wrap up the regular season, beginning with a 12:30 Homecomings matchup against Georgia Tech on Saturday.

With a win over the Ramblin’ Wreck, the 16-point favorite Cavaliers (6-3, 4-2 ACC) would be in a prime position to take another significant step toward the first Coastal Division championship in program history.

The ‘Hoos are alone in first place in the division after the 38-31 shootout victory at North Carolina last Saturday night, and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with second-place Pittsburgh.

Bryce Perkins was a man on a mission in Chapel Hill, with a little help from his receiving corps — namely Terrell Jana, who had a career-best performance — and the Cavaliers will look to build on the big win in the final road game of the regular season.

The Yellow Jackets (2-6, 1-4) are going through a tough rebuilding campaign under first-year head coach Geoff Collins, but proved they’re capable of making some noise in the conference with a gritty OT triumph at Miami a few weeks ago. That upset win ended a four-game skid that included a home loss in overtime to The Citadel of the FCS.

Tech then forced a trio of first-half turnovers and hung around with Pitt in Atlanta last week, but ultimately fell by a score of 20-10.

Redshirt freshman quarterback James Graham was replaced at halftime after a subpar opening 30 minutes against the Panthers, but eventually returned after his replacement, Lucas Johnson, was knocked out of the contest on an important fumble at the goal-line late in the third quarter that changed the face of the game.

GT running back Jordan Mason has carried much of the load for the Jackets, as referenced by his 118 total touches through eight games. The UVA defense will be trying to limit Mason’s season average of 5.7 yards per carry and make the Jackets put the ball in the air, as Tech is averaging just 141 yards in the passing game.

Virginia has sent Georgia Tech home with a loss in 11 of the last 13 meetings in Charlottesville. The ‘Hoos could also still have a bitter taste in their mouths after last year’s overtime loss in Atlanta that derailed the team’s hopes for a shot in the ACC title game.

Nothing would be more redeeming than a convincing win in Saturday’s penultimate conference tilt, one that would propel the Cavaliers into comfortable territory with a bye week and a non-conference matchup with Liberty on the horizon before wrapping up against Virginia Tech on Black Friday.

Tale Of The Tape

The Coaches

UVA — Bronco Mendenhall

4th season at Virginia (22-25); 15th season overall (121-68); Record vs. GT: 3-2

GT — Geoff Collins

1st season at GT (2-6); 3rd season overall (17-16); Record vs. UVA: 0-0

Coastal Division Standings

Broadcast Information

TV: ACC Network Extra/Regional Sports Networks (NBC Sports Washington)

Announcers: Tom Werme (play-by-play), James Bates (analyst), Kelsey Wingert (sideline)

Radio: Virginia Sports Network

Announcers: Dave Koehn (play-by-play), Tony Covington (analyst), Jay James (sideline)

Satellite Radio:

Sirius Channel — 105

XM Channel — 194

Internet Channel — 956

Kickoff Forecast

Partly Sunny, 45 degrees

Precipitation — 0%

Wind — 7 mph

Humidity — 41%
(Courtesy AccuWeather)

The Vegas Take

“6-3 UVA tries to strengthen its hold on a chance to make its first-ever ACC Championship Game, as the ‘Hoos host 2-6 Georgia Tech. Though the Yellow Jackets are only 1-7 against the spread this year, they have looked like an improved team the last two games in a win at Miami and a closely played loss to Pitt. This line opened at Virginia -17 and hasn’t gotten much action as it sits at -16 currently. The total opened at 44.5 and has taken some sharp action on the over this week, right now at 46.5.

My prediction: UVA 37-20.”

— Professional Sports Bettor Anthony Esposito from krackwins.com will give his exclusive analysis and perspective on Virginia’s matchup each week.