Georgia Tech put up, gulp, 635 yards of total offense in its 46-42 upset win over North Carolina last week. Virginia coach Tony Elliott found out from a tap on the shoulder from his offensive coordinator, Des Kitchings, on the flight home from Miami.
“He was looking at some of the scores and just kind of didn’t say much, just tapped my shoulder and showed me his phone and was like, OK, alright,” Elliott told reporters at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.
Elliott said he wasn’t surprised to see the final stats “because Tech has been putting up a lot of yards and scoring a lot of points all season versus everybody that they’ve played.”
Georgia Tech (4-4, 3-2 ACC) is fifth in the ACC in scoring (31.8 points per game), second in total offense (459.3 yards per game) and second in rushing offense (191.5 yards per game).
The Yellow Jackets walloped Carolina for 348 yards on the ground, 246 (!) of that in the fourth quarter.
Virginia, on its side, is coming off its best defensive effort of the season, holding Miami to 276 yards in the 29-26 OT loss to the ‘Canes.
The loss wasn’t on the defense, which harassed the ACC’s leader in pass efficiency, Tyler Van Dyke, who was 20-for-30 through the air, but for just 163 yards, with two INTs.
Tech’s QB, Haynes King, is fourth in the conference in pass efficiency, completing 61.7 percent of his pass attempts, with an ACC-high 21 TD passes, and King is averaging 265.3 yards per game through the air.
In the upset of UNC, King was 23-for-30 for 287 yards and four TDs, and also gained 90 yards on the ground.
King can move the chains with his feet; his 462 yards on the ground rank second on the team, and he averages 6.7 yards per attempt, with a long of 71 yards.
Where Georgia Tech, a surprise two-point underdog coming into Saturday’s matchup, is vulnerable: on the defensive end.
The Yellow Jackets are dead last in the ACC in total defense (468.3 yards per game), rushing defense (232.6 yards per game) and scoring defense (31.8 points per game).
Virginia, on its end, has been at its best on offense the past three weeks, averaging 422.0 yards per game in total offense, and 195.7 yards per game on the ground.
Not coincidentally, the Cavaliers are 2-1 in that stretch, after an 0-5 start.
Virginia is going to need a big game from its offense to get its first ACC home win since the 2021 season, a wild 48-40 win over Georgia Tech, the last ACC win for Elliott’s predecessor, Bronco Mendenhall.
“For us, we talk about the windshield mentality, and I know a lot of different people talk about it, but it’s focusing on what’s ahead, and what’s ahead for us is a time where it’s an opportunity,” Elliott said on Tuesday. “It’s been our theme since the bye week, and I also put up on that windshield, because we have a graphic, first ACC home win. In two years, we haven’t won an ACC game at home, and it’s time.
“If we’re going to take the next step as a program, then you’ve got to start with defending your home turf, especially when you have your fans, your crowd, you’re used to the environment, you know the routine inside and out in terms of the preparation process. You’ve got to defend your home turf,” Elliott said.
Share
Chris Graham
