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.
