As a BYU fan on your board visiting I want to wish all you Georgia Tech fans the best in your upcoming season and hope your football team does wonderfully after the game on Thursday. There is a lot to be hopeful for with a great coaching staff and great young talent.
There is something special about the start of the new season for us here at BYU since we had a disastrous season last year. So many things went wrong from key injuries on the line to QB's with all kinds of potential that faded into nothing. Playing against Georgia Tech is a real honor since you all have such a storied program and I really wish this could be an ongoing thing. Perhaps not every year but one that happens periodically.
As far as the area goes I think you won’t find a nicer place to play an away game. For the most part the BYU fans will treat you well (and we wish many of you could come and visit). The stadium is immaculate and the prices very reasonable to enjoy a night at watching some good football. There is actually a lot to see and do around Provo this time of year. We have great hiking and plenty of natural beauty to enjoy. Without trying to sound like a member of the chamber of commerce (I am not by the way! LOL!) we have great fly fishing up Provo River.
As far as the two teams go I think there are several reasons why BYU will win this game and why I think the official Las Vegas spread of 3.5 points is correct. These reasons are 1. a better offensive line at this stage of the season in relation to your defensive line 2. a confusing defensive scheme that returns good talent at every position and 3. running backs that are healthy and consistently solid players.
1. While there are at least two red shirt freshmen that will start on the O-line it is not like they are greenhorns. They are strong and athletic and highly recruited by teams such as Nebraska and Washington. The 0-line is massive averaging over 300 pounds and very quick for their size. It is my understanding that Ga Tech's defensive line is thin at the moment and very young.
2. Bronco Mendenhall is the new defensive coordinator and installs a system of defense known as the 3-3-5. In the pros it is the "zone blitz" scheme in rough terms. Strictly going to the numbers, New Mexico (which Coach Mendenhall ran last year which by many observations had inferior talent to this year's BYU squad) lead the conference in the following categories: rush defense, first down conversion percentage, average yards per run defense, and 3rd down conversion defense. What seemed to be the thing that beat New Mexico last year were teams with a great passing attack. New Mexico, while really good at stopping the run (surprisingly in my opinion considering the fact that they had so many players off the ball and out of the 'box'), was porous at pass defense. I think the reason is in the O-line's inability to key off who they are blocking until a moment before the play starts. With the most talented cornerbacks in Gilford and Heany your receivers and freshman QB will have to lock-in early and often to make yardage and points. On BYU we have four legitimate play makers in Brady Poppinga (DE who lead the conference in sacks), Jenaro Gilford (injured last season by was all conference the year before as a soph), Aaron Francisco (a huge hitting free safety), and Colby Buckwoldt (who seems to just have that nose for the ball and for a linebacker has 4.5 speed).
3. Marcus Whalen healthy is a superior running back that can dominate a game. He has the north-south running style that will take advantage of a huge o-line that will go right-at-you at times. He is not a flashy runner but more of a 'mudder' that gets tremendous leg movement through holes and tough to bring down with arm tackles. There is a quorum of highly talent 'scat back' types that will kill you with speed and moves behind Whalen. Basically, Whalen will have to be stopped by your safeties and linebackers stacking the box and hoping that Berry wont be able to 'hook-up' with receivers like Toby Christensen, Wilkerson, Kukahiko, and TE Coats.
Keys to your victory and conversely to BYU's victory are:
Georgia Tech wins if:
-Whalen is contained to less than 100 yards
-Ball can pass consistently (not talking about big plays but more like drive sustaining passing. The stat to look for is third down conversions and completion percentage.
-Rushing yards over 200 for the game.
-Score early and often. Dont expect to win a game late in the altitude and against a kicker like Matt Payne.
-turnover, turnovers, turnovers! (LOL)
BYU wins if:
-Whalen has a great game (150+ rushing yards)
-Berry gets over 300 yards.
-is leading at the start of the fourth quarter.
Anyway, take care and as I said earlier I wish you all the best and I am so happy that the two schools can play and make the College Football season that much special.
There is something special about the start of the new season for us here at BYU since we had a disastrous season last year. So many things went wrong from key injuries on the line to QB's with all kinds of potential that faded into nothing. Playing against Georgia Tech is a real honor since you all have such a storied program and I really wish this could be an ongoing thing. Perhaps not every year but one that happens periodically.
As far as the area goes I think you won’t find a nicer place to play an away game. For the most part the BYU fans will treat you well (and we wish many of you could come and visit). The stadium is immaculate and the prices very reasonable to enjoy a night at watching some good football. There is actually a lot to see and do around Provo this time of year. We have great hiking and plenty of natural beauty to enjoy. Without trying to sound like a member of the chamber of commerce (I am not by the way! LOL!) we have great fly fishing up Provo River.
As far as the two teams go I think there are several reasons why BYU will win this game and why I think the official Las Vegas spread of 3.5 points is correct. These reasons are 1. a better offensive line at this stage of the season in relation to your defensive line 2. a confusing defensive scheme that returns good talent at every position and 3. running backs that are healthy and consistently solid players.
1. While there are at least two red shirt freshmen that will start on the O-line it is not like they are greenhorns. They are strong and athletic and highly recruited by teams such as Nebraska and Washington. The 0-line is massive averaging over 300 pounds and very quick for their size. It is my understanding that Ga Tech's defensive line is thin at the moment and very young.
2. Bronco Mendenhall is the new defensive coordinator and installs a system of defense known as the 3-3-5. In the pros it is the "zone blitz" scheme in rough terms. Strictly going to the numbers, New Mexico (which Coach Mendenhall ran last year which by many observations had inferior talent to this year's BYU squad) lead the conference in the following categories: rush defense, first down conversion percentage, average yards per run defense, and 3rd down conversion defense. What seemed to be the thing that beat New Mexico last year were teams with a great passing attack. New Mexico, while really good at stopping the run (surprisingly in my opinion considering the fact that they had so many players off the ball and out of the 'box'), was porous at pass defense. I think the reason is in the O-line's inability to key off who they are blocking until a moment before the play starts. With the most talented cornerbacks in Gilford and Heany your receivers and freshman QB will have to lock-in early and often to make yardage and points. On BYU we have four legitimate play makers in Brady Poppinga (DE who lead the conference in sacks), Jenaro Gilford (injured last season by was all conference the year before as a soph), Aaron Francisco (a huge hitting free safety), and Colby Buckwoldt (who seems to just have that nose for the ball and for a linebacker has 4.5 speed).
3. Marcus Whalen healthy is a superior running back that can dominate a game. He has the north-south running style that will take advantage of a huge o-line that will go right-at-you at times. He is not a flashy runner but more of a 'mudder' that gets tremendous leg movement through holes and tough to bring down with arm tackles. There is a quorum of highly talent 'scat back' types that will kill you with speed and moves behind Whalen. Basically, Whalen will have to be stopped by your safeties and linebackers stacking the box and hoping that Berry wont be able to 'hook-up' with receivers like Toby Christensen, Wilkerson, Kukahiko, and TE Coats.
Keys to your victory and conversely to BYU's victory are:
Georgia Tech wins if:
-Whalen is contained to less than 100 yards
-Ball can pass consistently (not talking about big plays but more like drive sustaining passing. The stat to look for is third down conversions and completion percentage.
-Rushing yards over 200 for the game.
-Score early and often. Dont expect to win a game late in the altitude and against a kicker like Matt Payne.
-turnover, turnovers, turnovers! (LOL)
BYU wins if:
-Whalen has a great game (150+ rushing yards)
-Berry gets over 300 yards.
-is leading at the start of the fourth quarter.
Anyway, take care and as I said earlier I wish you all the best and I am so happy that the two schools can play and make the College Football season that much special.
