GT (-6) vs. Duke

[CuseJacket]

College Football is an amazingly emotional game, and the emotional set up for each game matters a great deal. As a player I have been on teams on both ends of the equation and experienced firsthand what I describe below.

Duke just lost a game to Army and is mired in a disappointing season. IMO it's very likely we are going to get Duke's absolute best shot. They got an option team and failed to stop it. Now they get another one against which to redeem themselves. Further, they have a division rival in us, and they will be looking with great urgency, focus, and emotion to salvage their season. Beating GT is going to mean A LOT to them. Will beating Duke mean as much to us? Unless the game goes badly early for them IMO it's likely they are going to be a bad team that plays out of their mind. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Meanwhile, we just had an emotional release during a frustrating season in upsetting #17 VT at home. All that focus and drive culminated in a reward of a big victory. Will we let down in the low energy environs of Wallace Wade against a team we may not take seriously, yet likely will be fighting to salvage some good feeling to their season? Don't underestimate the work a P5 D-1 team puts in! Duke will be very hungry and we should expect a wounded animal backed into a corner fighting against a larger, stronger foe.

Fortunately for us we have a bowl birth to play for, and one would think that would be very motivating. But we need urgency, energy, and focus this week in practice. Although we beat VT we are still quite inconsistent, and I feel we have not yet played our best football. Turn it over a time or two and have some special teams gaffes and we can lose a "shocker" at Duke very easily.

I really hope we come out with a lot of urgency, focus, and a desire to be our best and put the hammer to Duke. We'll need to be playing our best to beat the Dwags and it's time to mash on the gas and take this game very seriously.

I think this is a reasonable post but should clarify one thing. Duke's defense held Army to 268 yards and 14 points. Army scored 7 more points off of a punt block return TD.

 

[JorgeJonas]

God bless Army for attempting one pass all game and hitting it for 42. I actually think Marshall is an acceptable passer, but he struggles in the rain. That’s a big worry going into this one.

 

[GTJake]

GT line looks about right to me ... concern = looks like another rainy day
I would take the underdog with the points on all those listed.
I think UGAG bounces back, but in a competitive game vs. UK.

 

[first&ten]

Bowls o not take teams based on their standing in conference.......they pick their best option. So we could easily be passed over by VT, WF etc that the particular bowl committee feels would bring a better fan base and provide a better viewership for their bowl

You are correct sir!

 

[g0lftime]

Weather up here is predicting rain late Saturday. Of course we know how good those predictions are.

 

[first&ten]

All that matters to me is GT being 6-4 going into the UGAG game

I'm sure TVwould like that too. I hate to predict , but I think Smart will score as many td's as possible to enhance their ranking.

 

[buzz_wiser©]

Awesome! Would be cool to meet up with some Swarm folks at an away game. My tailgating time is being cut into by the Raleigh Christmas parade with kids, but we're heading from DT Raleigh to Durham around noon.

Is the parade really before Thanksgiving?
wow....I guess im old school or something, but that just seems wrong.

 

[JDjacket]

I think this is a reasonable post but should clarify one thing. Duke's defense held Army to 268 yards and 14 points. Army scored 7 more points off of a punt block return TD.

View attachment 3110

Army only had 6 meaningful possessions (they had a possession at the end of each half where they just ran the clock out; 50 seconds at the end of first half and 2 minutes at the end of the 2nd half).
That's about 45 yards/drive and if you include their kickoff return yards its about ~60 yards/drive.
Their possessions went as follows.
1. TO on downs
2. TD
3. TD
4. Punt
5. End of Half
6. Fumble
7. Missed FG
8. End of Half

Part of being held to few yards includes losing a possession by scoring on a punt return (of only 25 yards). They Also only had 2 real possessions in the 2nd half with a fumble prematurely ending the first and their second 10.5 minute drive ending in a missed FG.

So yes they held them to low total yardage but it doesn't tell the whole story. It was 21-10 at half and they didn't score on either of their 2 possessions thanks to that fumble and missed FG. Their defense held them to fewer yards on 2 more possessions. Hopefully we come out ready to play and don't give up any TOs and we should win this.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

I think this is a reasonable post but should clarify one thing. Duke's defense held Army to 268 yards and 14 points. Army scored 7 more points off of a punt block return TD.

View attachment 3110

Do we run the option better than Army?

 

[Chas_Jacket]

Latest forecast has pushed the rain back to Sat night. Cloudy with 10-20 mph wind during the day, 20% chance of rain.

 

[MacJacket]

Is the parade really before Thanksgiving?
wow....I guess im old school or something, but that just seems wrong.

Yup, very odd but true. Hoping we can bail early and grab some BBQ in Durham for lunch. This NC BBQ is growing on me


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FightWinDrink]

Latest forecast has pushed the rain back to Sat night. Cloudy with 10-20 mph wind during the day, 20% chance of rain.

so what you're saying is 100% chance of torrential downpour turning into sleet and later hail

 

[tsrich]

Awesome! Would be cool to meet up with some Swarm folks at an away game. My tailgating time is being cut into by the Raleigh Christmas parade with kids, but we're heading from DT Raleigh to Durham around noon.

We'll be doing the same thing. Spending the morning with 90k others at the parade and the afternoon with 9k at the game

 

[CuseJacket]

Army only had 6 meaningful possessions (they had a possession at the end of each half where they just ran the clock out; 50 seconds at the end of first half and 2 minutes at the end of the 2nd half).
That's about 45 yards/drive and if you include their kickoff return yards its about ~60 yards/drive.
Their possessions went as follows.
1. TO on downs
2. TD
3. TD
4. Punt
5. End of Half
6. Fumble
7. Missed FG
8. End of Half

Part of being held to few yards includes losing a possession by scoring on a punt return (of only 25 yards). They Also only had 2 real possessions in the 2nd half with a fumble prematurely ending the first and their second 10.5 minute drive ending in a missed FG.

So yes they held them to low total yardage but it doesn't tell the whole story. It was 21-10 at half and they didn't score on either of their 2 possessions thanks to that fumble and missed FG. Their defense held them to fewer yards on 2 more possessions. Hopefully we come out ready to play and don't give up any TOs and we should win this.

Thanks for the info. Didn't know those details.

 

[GTFLETCH]

I just realized that if we beat Duke, we'll finish behind Miami, Clemson, and NC State. We would have the tiebreakers against anybody else left like Virginia Tech or Wake - meaning - beat Duke and we'll finish 4th in the entire ACC. That is not bad considering the angst we went through this year. That should get us a decent bowl game.

Bowl games look like CFP for either Clemson or Miami.
Then Orange Bowl for the other?
Then Camping World Bowl for NC State?

Then the first tier of:
Belk Bowl
Sun Bowl
Pinstripe
Taxslayer/Music City

Do I have all this correct? If I'm reading this right, if we beat Duke, we should have a great chance to play in the Belk Bowl against someone like South Carolina?

I already mentioned the Belk Bowl in the Bowl Thread... I think we are a shoe in the Camping World if we beat the mutts, but if we go 1-1 in the next two week our 6-5 record will get us Belk/Sun/Music City..

 

[MikeJackets1967]

Latest forecast has pushed the rain back to Sat night. Cloudy with 10-20 mph wind during the day, 20% chance of rain.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Looks like we are going to kick Flukies *** this weekend on a dry field. Love that the weather system coming through is consistently being projected later. Temps about 60F, looks like a great day for football. I'll be in MN where the high is 32F........ at least we won't play in the cold for the first time this year till our bowl ........

0% chance of rain now till 8PM. https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/nc/durham/27701?cm_ven=localwx_10day

And no rain in the UGAg forecast ..... or fronts coming through on a couple days either side of the game. https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/atlanta-ga/30303/november-weather/348181

 

[MikeJackets1967]

Looks like we are going to kick Flukies *** this weekend on a dry field. Love that the weather system coming through is consistently being projected later. Temps about 60F, looks like a great day for football. I'll be in MN where the high is 32F........ at least we won't play in the cold for the first time this year till our bowl ........

0% chance of rain now till 8PM. https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/nc/durham/27701?cm_ven=localwx_10day

And no rain in the UGAg forecast ..... or fronts coming through on a couple days either side of the game. https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/atlanta-ga/30303/november-weather/348181