Georgia Tech Football

As if the USC Trojans haven't had enough troubles lately, they'll now be without senior quarterback and captain Matt Barkley when they take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the 79^th edition of the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve in El Paso, Texas (2 pm ET, CBS).

The early Sun Bowl odds listed Southern Cal as a 10-point favorite, but with word that Barkley will miss the game with a sore shoulder, most sports books tracked by OddsShark.com have dropped the Trojans to -7.5 points.

USC was supposed to win the Pac-12 this season and play in the BCS national championship game. Instead, the Trojans turned into one of the biggest disappointments of the season. Southern Cal started 2-0, but lost its conference opener at Stanford 21-14.

The Trojans then won four games in a row to get to 6-1, but lost back-to-back at the hands of Arizona and Oregon, giving up 101 total points in the process. USC then beat Arizona State, but completed its regular season with losses to UCLA and Notre Dame.

In the end, the Trojans sit at 7-5 overall and 5-4 in Pac-12 play.

In Barkley's place redshirt-freshman Max Wittek, who went 14-for-23 passing for 186 yards with two interceptions against Notre Dame, will get his second collegiate start.

On the other side of this match-up Georgia Tech hoped to contend in the ACC's Coastal Division this season, and while they eventually “earned” the right to represent the Coastal in the conference championship game, they probably didn't deserve it.

The Jackets opened the season at 2-1 but then lost three in a row, including an upset at the hands of Middle Tennessee. Tech then won four of its next five, putting up 110 points in beating North Carolina and Duke back-to-back.

That was enough to give them the Coastal Division's berth in the ACC championship game, with both North Carolina and Miami on probation.

The Ramblin' Wreck then lost their rivalry game against Georgia 42-10, then put up a decent fight but fell to Florida State in the conference title game 21-15.

The Yellow Jackets then had to get an exemption from the NCAA to play in a bowl game with a losing record, at 6-7.

On the season Southern Cal out-gained opponents by a 452-396 yards per gain (YPG) margin, but was out-rushed 156-155, thanks in part to giving up 426 yards on the ground in that loss to Oregon.

Georgia Tech out-gained opponents this season 447-387, and out-rushed foes 313-148. 

Playing well below expectations, USC is 3-9 against the spread (ATS) this season. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, has somehow been able to go 8-5 against the numbers.

Because of probation, this will be USC's first bowl game in three seasons, and first under Head Coach Lane Kiffin.

Georgia Tech, playing in a bowl for the 16^th straight season, and is 0-4 in bowls under Head Coach Paul Johnson. Last year the Wreck lost to Utah in this same Sun Bowl 30-27.

Sun Bowl Pick: USC, after a 1-4 finish to the regular season, must be disappointed, playing in a minor bowl against a team with a losing record. There is a feeling the Trojans might be happier staying in Los Angeles for New Year's Eve than playing football in El Paso. Georgia Tech should beat the spread against USC (courtesy of PickShark.com).

All odds, stats and trends mentioned courtesy of OddsShark.com. Mike Pickett is an Analyst to Bleacher Report and contributes to the Twitter feed.

According to KLAQ’s Duke Keith, Lane Kiffin and company were over an hour late to the Sun Bowl dinner —officially known as the Sheriffs Posse Dinner. Understandably upset by the slight, Georgia Tech players and coaches walked out. 

According to Jason Kirk of SBNation.com, the Trojans were not delayed for any good reason either, as the official USC Athletics Twitter account tweeted a picture of Kiffin in a sombrero and announced that USC had officially arrived in San Antonio. Since the tweet was posted at 11:34 a.m. on December 26th and the Sun Bowl shindig was scheduled later that day, it seems there were no travel issues involved in the dinner diss. Perhaps a broken team bus? 

Whatever the case, it seems no official excuse was relayed to Georgia Tech, as they walked out after waiting an hour. 

Next time you're going to be late to dinner, Lane, call ahead. 

This is not the first, second or third snafu for the embattled USC head coach, who has found himself at the center of several scandals this season. 

If Kiffin does indeed return to helm the Trojans next season, he better clean up his act. 

Ramblinwreck.com is reporting that the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, under Paul Johnson, have accepted an invitation to the Hyundai Sun Bowl for the second straight season.  

The game will be played on New Year's Eve at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas against the Trojans of Southern California.

The 1973 regular season was the last time these two programs faced one another. The Trojans won that game in Atlanta 23-6.

Georgia Tech, at 6-7 after losing the ACC Championship Game to the Florida State Seminoles by less than a touchdown on Saturday, lost the Sun Bowl last year versus Utah. 

Southern California's last game was a tough loss to the Fighting Irish, which came without quarterback Matt Barkley. The Trojans are 7-5.  

It is unclear yet whether Barkley will be available to play by the bowl, but if he is able this would be the senior's finale at USC.

Georgia Tech's Tevin Washington, a fifth-year senior, would also be playing in his last college game.

Yellow Jackets fans can purchase tickets to the 2012 Sun Bowl here.  

With a combination of its triple-option offense, a nothing-to-lose mentality after already securing a bowl bid and a better red-zone performance, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets can in fact upset the 13th-ranked Florida State Seminoles in Saturday night's ACC championship game.

The fact that the Yellow Jackets are 0-3 against Top 25 teams and just 6-6 overall makes this look like a severe mismatch on paper. But considering both are coming off of blowout losses to their archrivals and the game is being played on the neutral Bank of America Field, anything can happen.

Here are the keys for Paul Johnson's bunch to pull an incredible upset over the heavily favored Seminoles.

Capitalize on unique offensive schematics

Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher himself has admitted to not only being worried to bouncing back from a 37-26 home loss to No. 4 Florida, but also preparing for the Yellow Jackets' offense.

According to a report by David Scott of The Charlotte Observer, Fisher is concerned with the quick turnaround:

Oh, it's a huge challenge...We have to have a lot of discipline. We have to have a lot of confidence in what we're doing. One of the advantages that Georgia Tech does have is that when you don't play them after an off week or a long period of time, that one week turnaround is extremely tough."

Without projected first-round NFL pick DE Tank Carradine, the Seminoles may have more trouble than usual stuffing the run without their leading tackler.

Against the Gators, Florida State yielded 244 yards to their opponent's run-heavy attack. The Yellow Jackets essentially do nothing but run the ball, and rolled up 306 yards on the ground against Georgia.

That was even without senior RB and leading rusher Orwin Smith, who will unfortunately miss the Seminoles' game as well (h/t Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

Whichever quarterback is in between Tevin Washington and Vad Lee will also have the opportunity to surprise the Seminoles with the occasional pass. If Georgia Tech can control the clock but doing their typical ground-and-pound routine, that should give way to the potential for a few big pass plays.

All of those factors should combine to make this game closer than anyone other than Yellow Jacket fans may expect.

Shut down Devonta Freeman

The FSU running back leads the 'Noles with 10 rushing touchdowns and has managed to shoulder the majority of the load despite a season-ending injury to the explosive Chris Thompson in the game against Miami (FL).

If the Seminoles establish the run early, the pressure will be off of EJ Manuel. He is the most efficient passer in school history, and is used to having a solid running game to back him up. Manuel himself even has the capability to make plays with his feet.

But as the Gators showed last week, Manuel will press and make some of the wrong reads when teams stuff the box and force him into obvious passing situations.

There is massive pressure on Manuel to win this game after being unable to prove himself against Florida, and getting into his head early will serve the Yellow Jackets well. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech is only in this game because the Hurricanes imposed a postseason ban upon themselves, so there has to be a certain chip on their shoulder to prove themselves in that context.

As porous as the Yellow Jackets' defense looked against Georgia, it's difficult to blame them. After all, the Bulldogs may be headed for the national championship game as it is.

A bounce back performance is a must for this Georgia Tech defense, but any success they have will be rooted in how effective they are in stuffing Freeman.

Convert in the red zone

It's going to take touchdowns and not field goals to beat the Seminoles. While that sounds rather obvious, it was glaringly so in the Yellow Jackets' last game. Despite racking up 426 total yards on the ground, Georgia Tech was unable to find the end zone until the game was already well in hand for the Bulldogs. 

There can't be a repeat of that performance on Saturday night, but the matchup at least somewhat plays into the Yellow Jackets' favor.

Florida State ranks just 86th in the nation in red zone defense (h/t NCAA.com), and of the 22 scores the Seminoles have allowed, 14 have been touchdowns.

That's not exactly the stonewall effort they're used to between the 20s—the area of the field that Georgia Tech had no problems with against their in-state rival. If they can move on the Bulldogs, chances are the Yellow Jackets can move on the Seminoles at least equally as well.

Short passes are typically effective in the red zone off of play-action, but they should be especially so in the Yellow Jackets' case.

Georgia Tech and Florida State square off Saturday night in the ACC Championship game. While everyone has the Seminoles as the favorite, Georgia Tech hopes for an upset. 

The Yellow Jackets will have to play efficient football to defeat the Seminoles. They will have to stuff a high-powered offense and move the ball effectively on the ground to keep it away from FSU. They will also have to try to throw against a top-notch pass defense and create turnovers with their defense.

Control the Clock and Run the Ball Well

In Georgia Tech's six losses, the Yellow Jackets only rushed for 300 yards or more twice. In their six wins, they didn't have fewer than 330 yards rushing. They won those games by controlling the clock. When Georgia Tech wins the time-of-possession battle, it has a much better chance of winning. The Yellow Jackets must keep Florida State's offense off the field.

Florida State's offense is averaging 41.5 points and 29:45 in time of possession. If Georgia Tech can hold onto the ball for 35-to-38 minutes, it will be difficult for Florida State to win this game.

Use Play-Action and Hit a Couple of Deep Bombs

Georgia Tech is a triple-option team. However, unlike your historic triple options that passed it fewer than  50 times a season, Paul Johnson's offense takes a bunch of deep shots. Despite throwing just 168 passes,  the Yellow Jackets have gained 1,625 yards through the air.

Georgia Tech throws just enough to keep defenses from concentrating completely on stopping the run. Florida State does the opposite, running just enough to keep defenses from concentrating completely on stopping the pass.

If Tech can use its play-action passing to complete some deep bombs and force Florida State to have just  eight players in the box instead of nine, it would have done its job in the passing game.

Play Great Defense and Force Turnovers

The Yellow Jackets have to somehow stop a Seminole offense that has amassed 5,729 yards of total offense and has scored 57 touchdowns. The only way to beat the Seminoles this season has been to beat them in the turnover battle. 

In Florida State's 10 wins, they have a minus-1 turnover differential. But in their two losses, they have a minus-4 turnover differential. Get the Noles off the field by forcing turnovers and three-and-outs, and the Yellow Jackets could go ahead and punch a ticket to Miami for the Orange Bowl.

In the end, Georgia Tech has to make sure Florida State doesn't have the ball. The Seminoles will be scoring points on their drives. So if Georgia Tech can rush effectively and play keep away, they will end up shocking the world by winning the ACC Championship game.

All stats used are either from Pro Football Focus's Premium Stats, ESPN.com, CFBStats.com or NFL.com. 

Scott Carasik is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He covers the Atlanta Falcons, the NFL and the NFL Draft. He is also the Falcons analyst at Drafttek, runs the NFL Draft Website ScarDraft.com and hosts Kvetching Draftniks Radio.

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The Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate Rivalry between Georgia and Georgia Tech will kickoff for the 107th time this Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN.

This game is filled with rich tradition, but what was once a game that decided champions has lost its luster with time. 

In the past 30 years the Bulldogs have owned this game pushing the rivalry from the national stage. Since 1978 the Bulldogs have gone 26-8 against the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech has only had one winning streak in the past two decades. It came from 1998-2000 when the Yellow Jackets won three in a row.

Since then the Yellow Jackets have only won one game in this matchup. 

The Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets first played in 1893 and were conference foes until 1963 when Georgia Tech left the SEC.

The game has carried some great matchups since then, but the rivalry began to fall away from the national stage when the Yellow Jackets left the SEC. In the early years of the rivalry the bitterness was widespread between the two teams. 

In 1919 things got nasty. Georgia frequently used Grant Field—Georgia Tech’s homefield in Atlanta—to play home games in the early 1900’s. 

During World War I most athletic males had gone to help with the war effort making it impossible for Georgia to field a football team. The Bulldogs had to cancel their program during the war years.

Georgia Tech was a military training ground during the war so there were plenty of bodies to field a football team. The Yellow Jackets continued their program throughout the war. 

Georgia was able to rebuild its program after the war and in 1919 Georgia students staged a parade mocking the Yellow Jackets for continuing their football program during the war years. 

Tech immediately canceled the rivalry and forbid the Bulldogs from playing future home games at Grant Field. It was not until 1925 that the rivalry was renewed. 

That is just one instance where the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets made this rivalry famous. Add in the fact that both teams fight songs mention the destruction of the other, and there is no doubting that these schools are bitter rivals.

Georgia fans sing “To Hell with Georgia Tech” and the Yellow Jackets can be heard singing “To Hell with Georgia” when their fight songs are played. 

This could be a year that the rivalry sees national interest renewed as the game carries national title and conference title implications. 

With a 10-1 record and SEC title game looming, a win for the Bulldogs would help push them closer to a national title appearance. 

The Yellow Jackets are 6-5 on the season and have a shot at finishing in the ACC title game, but that relies on them finishing with a win over Florida State to finish the year. Florida State has an outside shot at the national title, and could face the Yellow Jackets two weeks in a row if Georgia Tech can beat the Seminoles in the season finale on December 1. 

While this isn’t a battle between Top 25 teams, it is a matchup that has intrigued the college football world down through the years. Although the shine appears to have fallen away from this rivalry it appears to be clawing back into the national discussion.

This year could mark the turnaround. Despite the lack of national implications, this is one of the best rivalry games that falls on Thanksgiving weekend.

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The BYU Cougars showed they could play with just about any team in the country last Saturday, as they pushed No. 5 Notre Dame to the brink in South Bend. Now, Bronco Mendenhall's bunch will stay on the road in Week 9 to face the powerful triple-option attack of Georgia Tech.

After finally snapping a three-game slide with a win over Boston College, the 3-4 Yellow Jackets will continue to fight for their bowl lives.

With a 4-4 record of its own, BYU could really use a win to grab some momentum, since four of the Cougars' final five regular season games are away from home.

Here is more information and predictions for this key Saturday afternoon matchup between two teams scrapping for bowl bids.

When: Saturday, October 27 at 3:00 p.m. ET

Where: Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta

TV: ROOT SPORTS (Utah)

Listen: Georgia Tech IMG Radio Network

Live Stream: ESPN 3

Betting Line (via OddsShark.com): Georgia Tech -2

The oddsmakers must love the fact that the Yellow Jackets are at home. This seems like a very generous line in light of the Cougars' recent performance against a physical, run-based team.

Although Notre Dame managed 270 yards on the ground, the Irish also only scored 17 points. That bend-but-don't-break mentality could serve the team well against the Yellow Jackets, but this Georgia Tech running game also may be even more devastating. The current line projects the game to be as close as it should be.

BYU Injury Report

Zac Stout, LB (Achilles) QUESTIONABLE; Ian Dulan, DL (back) QUESTIONABLE.

Georgia Tech Injury Report

Fred Holton, S (foot) QUESTIONABLE; Broderick Snoddy, RB (undisclosed) QUESTIONABLE.

(Note: all injury information courtesy of USA TODAY)

BCS/Top-25 Poll Implications

After failing to capitalize on two chances to pull massive upsets, there isn't much hope for the Cougars to get into the Top 25 or the BCS picture at all. There never was a chance for the Yellow Jackets, either.

As mentioned, the most that both of these teams can hope for from here on out is to win the rest of their games and a bowl game to possibly sneak into the Top 25 at season's end. However, even that seems extremely far-fetched.

Georgia Tech still has an outside shot at winning the Coastal division in the ACC. From there, the Yellow Jackets could win the conference championship game and still make a BCS bowl. That's about all they have to go on, though, and it would require running the table in the remaining three conference games.

What They're Saying

Ken Sugiura of the Atlanta Journal Constitution points out the success that the Yellow Jackets have had against top-ranked rush defenses. Despite the relative explosion by Notre Dame on the Cougars, BYU still ranks eighth in the nation against the run, giving up just 2.9 yards per carry. 

Against top-25-caliber rush defenses in the past four seasons, Georgia Tech has just a 3-6 record but tends to double the yards per game that opponents give up in most cases.

This valuable data provided by Sugiura highlights the key matchup of the game: the BYU rush defense against the No. 2-ranked rushing attack in the nation.

BYU Player to Watch: QB Riley Nelson

After being outplayed by freshman Taysom Hill—who is now out for the season—Nelson has looked shaky in his past two outings, albeit against difficult defenses. Nelson must be more judicious with the football, as he has thrown two and three interceptions, respectively, in his last two starts.

A steady diet of handoffs to Jamaal Williams should help the cause. Williams had seven catches against Notre Dame and also averaged 4.6 yards per carry. That should help alleviate some of the pressure on Nelson.

The Yellow Jackets have a pretty leaky defense, allowing just over 28 points per game. There should be plenty of yardage to come by for Nelson and Co., but he must first stop turning it over so much. Any miscue could lead to an 11-minute drive by the Georgia Tech offense, condense the game and force Nelson to win the game with his arm.

Headier play will lead to a hard-earned road victory for BYU. That is, if Nelson can live up to that ideal.

Georgia Tech Player to Watch: QB Tevin Washington

A massive improvement in accuracy from a season ago has the senior signal-caller playing at an extremely high level. His enhanced passing has also allowed for more production in the running game, as he has already eclipsed last year's total of 14 rushing touchdowns by one.

Washington needed the bye week as much as anyone. He was being asked to throw too much when his team fell behind Clemson and Middle Tennessee. Once the Yellow Jackets got back to the ground game this past weekend, they put a drubbing on BC.

The dual-threat capabilities of Washington are especially dangerous when he is looking to run first—hence the 10-plus yards per pass attempt.

The Cougars are sure to have their hands full with the Georgia Tech quarterback and must hold him in check, especially in the red zone, where he has a nose for pay dirt.

Key Storyline

BGB: Bowl Game Bid. It sounds like a catchy acronym, and it will be the focal point of the narrative in this game. Making matters more interesting are the ramifications for Georgia Tech in the ACC race and the desperation for both teams to salvage respectable seasons as they edge toward possible sub-.500 records.

Prediction

Nelson's lack of discretion throwing the football and the clock-chewing Yellow Jacket offense will be enough for the home team to squeak by. BYU will remain winless on the road and hope that a home game against Idaho can get the team back on track.

Final score: Georgia Tech 20, BYU 17