GEORGIA WILL BEAT GEORGIA TECH AND HERE IS WHY...

Because we are Georgia and beating Tech is what we do. By now you have seen the stats showing how great the Tech defense is and how great Tashard Choice is, but also how ineffective the Tech passing game has been this season. You also know how well Georgia has run the ball with Moreno on a current 5 game streak of 100+ yard performances. You know about our balance on offense and the big play potential of Stafford to Bailey/Massaquoi/Henderson/etc. But how much do you really think any of that matters in this game that burns so white-hot on the Tech desire-meter. Tech wants this one not just a little bit, but maybe something like 100X more than we wanted to beat Florida this year - or every year for that matter. There is no doubt that Tech wants this game much more than we do, and we want it BAD. The thing is, Tech always wants this one bad, and for the past 6 years, they went home crying about how much harder it is to recruit players at Tech because of the strenuous academic standards. Curious how that works since they always recruit the same in-state players as Georgia. But, anyway...

So if you throw out the stats and acknowledge the desire factor and consider that the four years of Reggie Ball throwing and fumbling the ball to the Dawgs are now gone and there is a distinct possibility of the Bees derailing the Dawgs legitimate shot at a BCS berth. Their utter frustration of futility, congenital feelings of inferiority and seething hatred of their Canine Overlords should be a cause for concern because eventually, the Gnats will up and win one. But, not this year.

The Tech defensive blitz or die scheme is designed to disrupt our offense both running and passing. They sack opposing quarterbacks with regularity and they hold opposing tailbacks under 100 yards. So, maybe they keep Moreno from reaching six straight 100 yard games, but with Moreno and Brown combining for about 180 yards, the Dawgs will grind it out enough to open up some throwing lanes. Stafford will have to do a great job of recognizing Tech schemes even though they will try to disguise and bluff all day. Our receivers can and will beat their corners and our tight ends will find some holes in the middle seam. The key is having Stafford get us into the right quick hitting plays to beat the blitzes and for our O-line to do a good job of picking up 5 men and leaving the sixth man for a back to get. We will not go over 40 points this week, but we will surpass 30. At least one score will come by our special teams or defense.

When Tech has the ball, we will see our same defensiive gameplan that we have run since the Florida game. As long as our tackles get a push in the middle, like Geno Atkins habit of playing 3-5 yards deep in the offensive backfield, all of the other defensive pieces of the puzzle will align perfectly to hold Tech under 20 points. With the stout play in the middle, our fast, athletic ends will contain the outside while the tackling machine - Rennie Curran, Marcus Washington and Danell Ellerbe will hem up Choice more often than not. In my opinion, all we have to do is stop Choice and we can possibly turn this into a blow out. If Tech has to turn the game over to Taylor Bennett, then the our ends will have a fun day chasing him all over historic and scenic (I should add) Grant Field. Choice may reach 100 yards, but there is no way he gets to the magical 140 number which has led Tech to 5 wins and no losses.

Tech will sack Stafford 2 or 3 times. We will sack Bennett 4 or 5 times. If turnovers are even, we will score around 30 to their 20. For every turnover we get more than we give, add 3.5 points. So if the turnover battle turns out 4-2 in our favor, we will win 37-20. If we do not have a single turnover, take away seven from Tech and they score not a point more than 13. If we turn it over more than they do, break out the Mylanta and expect an ending like 2004, 2005 and 2006.

My final prediction is GEORGIA 34 - Tech 20.

GO DAWGS. GATA!!!!!