Sons of Game Picks: Week 9 - Vah Tech vs. Gah Tech

Mike Young has Hokie fans on the precipice of joy and hope for the first time in a few months... however the football season is still existing and the Hokies have a game tomorrow. Yet another glorious noon kickoff down in the A.

I usually try to write something witty while also taking shots at either coaching staff if possible, but there isn't really anything new I can think of that gets the creative juices pumping, as nothing has changed and nothing will change until the season ends for the Hokies especially.

The Hokies are very bad, with some analysts ranking them just above Duke in their ACC rankings... that's a big yikes. Justin Fuente is at nearly the end of his reign, so all Tech football fans can do now is cheer for the players and hope Whit Babcock is working behind the scenes to bring the best possible new coach to Blacksburg for the 2022 season.

Meanwhile, unlike Fuente, Georgia Tech Head Coach Geoff Collins is fully immersed in a complete program rebuild. Collins is in year three of attempting to take Paul Johnson's triple-option offense into the modern world by implementing a real college offense, that isn't used by the service academies and some Mountain West teams.

This rebuild is a complete restructuring of the program, especially on offense and recruiting wise. When Collins arrived on campus he had no tight ends on the roster, as Johnson left him with a plethora of running backs, so he had to go searching to simply fill that position on his roster.

However, this Yellow Jackets team is now filled with athletes and playmakers all over the field. They have a surprisingly explosive offense, having scored 40+ points in three games this season. One of those said games was a win over #21 UNC.

The Hokies defense will have their work cut out for them trying to stop mobile QB Jeff Sims who has been terrorizing opposing defenses this year.

One final note - Georgia Tech was won 3 out of the last 4 meetings, but this is the first time the Hokies are underdogs (-4) against Georgia Tech since 2015...

Here's how we see the game going:

I'm over it all. Fire Fuente and this staff. Burn it down and rebuild from the ashes with a new coach.

Both teams are not good, but with a rediscovered run game and a defense that just got embarrassed last week, I think the Hokies at least have a formula to beat an opponent near their level: run the ball, control the clock, and let the defense play angry. It is not a lot to ask for two touchdowns from Malachi Thomas, should he look as superb as he did against Syracuse, while the Yellow Jackets' offense is too reckless to light up the scoreboard— theoretically. It is time for a change in regime in my estimation, but the bleeding should stop for one merciful week starting on Saturday.

The Battle of the Techs is seeming more like the Battle of Mediocrity this year. Both teams don't seem to have any real identity as of now. The Hokies have dropped their last three games and Georgia Tech their last two of their last three. These two teams are looking to stack up the win column before late season for their bowl hopes to stay alive. I see the Hokies getting back on track with this one. Last week showed us that the offense can show up and give some different looks to score some points. I think the defense will be revived after a bad performance last week. And I have the offense scoring enough to put the Yellow Jackets on ice.

All my optimism is officially gone. It doesn't help that after getting carved up on the ground against Syracuse, we now face another team that runs the ball quite well. I'm not going to say we've hit rock bottom after a loss to Syracuse, because with the already lost season barely halfway over, things could get even worse. An ugly showing on the road against a mediocre Georgia Tech squad would count as rock bottom getting even lower.