UM Needs To Win Shootout With GT

The minute you start screaming “shootout” you’ve all but jinxed it and ensured a defensive struggle. Maybe not in this case, though.

Miami and Georgia Tech are set to go at it at 3:30pm ET at Sun Life Stadium – live on ESPN in HD for the at-home folk – and on paper this one is setting up to be won by whoever has the ball last.

The Canes enter 3-3 while the Yellow Jackets sit at 6-1. Miami upended North Carolina in Chapel Hill last weekend while Georgia Tech lost on the road to Virginia. UM has won two straight against GT, making the Canes the only team to go back-to-back against the Ramblin’ Wreck since Paul Johnson took the reigns.

Georgia Tech’s six wins came against Western Carolina, Middle Tennessee, Kansas, North Carolina, NC State and Maryland. In each case the Yellow Jackets offense moved the ball, but defensively there have been struggles.

In last week’s upset, Virginia laid the blueprint for how to go at a Georgia Tech defense that struggles to stop the run. The Cavaliers matched the Yellow Jackets as each squad rushed for 272 yards. UVA did it on 47 carries to GT’s 53 while passing for 135 yards to Tech’s 24.

On paper, Georgia Tech remains a gimmicky team – but one that finds ways to get the job done. They can’t pass for squat, they stay on the ground all day long and even when you know the run is coming, you don’t know where it’s coming from.

Also on paper, Miami’s Jacory Harris sitting at number two in ACC passing efficiency while running back Lamar Miller is the league second-ranked rusher, with five 100-yard games in six attempts. Impressive stats, but can both bring their best game in another must-win ACC showdown?

Harris was stellar against North Carolina (20-of-30 for 267 yards, 3 touchdowns ) and hasn’t lobbed up an interception since game three against Kansas State, while Miller was stifled for the first time all season, carrying 16 times for 29 yards.

Defensively the Hurricanes started strong against the Tar Heels and marched into the locker room with a 27-10 lead. Twenty-nine minutes later it was a 30-24 lead with North Carolina driving, in search of a game-winning touchdown, snuffed out by a timely Sean Spence sack.

The age old question is again posed; which Miami shows up this weekend? Do the Canes benefit from a quick-start offense, like the one that surfaced against Ohio State and North Carolina? Or is it the team that dug an early hole against the likes of Kansas State and Virginia Tech, needing a furious second half rally to get back in the game?

Georgia Tech has scored eighty first quarter points the first five games of this season, but struggled the past few weeks, providing only seven points the past two opening quarters. Last Saturday at Virginia, the Yellow Jackets found themselves in a 14-0 first quarter hole and never recovered.

When playing a run-happy offense with a quarterback who can pitch and run better than he can set and throw, Miami coaches know what kind of game this needs to be. Score first, score often and don’t let up.

Get that early lead and put this game on the arm of Tevin Washington, not his legs. Washington has completed 39 passes this season, going 2-of-8 for 24 yards last week against the Cavaliers. His strongest outing against a formidable opponent was a 10-of-14, 184-yard passing day against North Carolina.

On the ground Washington ran for 115 at Virginia and 120 the previous week against Maryland.

Miami jumped out to a 14-0 start in last year’s 35-10 win in Atlanta and in 2009 the Canes led 17-3 after two before blowing the door off in the second half en route to a 33-17 victory.

You can talk match ups, missing defensive linemen for the Canes or the return of a few Yellow Jackets linebackers, but the formula for victory against a one-dimensional offense is pretty simple; get up a few scores before they know what’s hit them.

Al Golden knows his defense is the weakest link, though coordinator Mark D’Onofrio was quoted this week as saying that his guys are finally starting to get it. Regardless, this is a week where offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch needs to channel whatever mojo he had in Chapel Hill last week, where the Canes were up 17-0 before the Heels had time to blink.

Slow, smart, sustained drives. Pound the ball with Miller, Mike James and Eduardo Clements. Bring in fullback Maurice Hagens where they’re least expecting him, too – but not just on the dive. Passes out of the backfield and things that utilize Miami’s overall speed and veteran defensive line.

Much has been made this week about the battle at left tackle, with Brandon Washington getting called out, Seantrel Henderson making a run at winning back the job and Washington keeping it. That heated competition should have this line fired up and opening holes for a ground game that should move the ball against Georgia Tech.

If UM’s offensive line plays smart and with both pride and purpose, the Canes should control the clock, score often and have a good shot at winning a game comparable to the back-and-forth 38-35 loss at Virginia Tech weeks back.

That would also mean another near-flawless performance from Harris under center. No interceptions in fourteen quarters of football have resulted in a 2-2 record, three of which were nailbiters. (Bethune-Cookman was the only ‘gimmie’ win.) Harris must remain a field general, getting Miami on the board whenever an opportunity arises. Turnovers are detrimental every week, but even more so when going up against a Georgia Tech offense that oft times seems to move the ball at will.

The Yellow Jackets will have their way offensively. That much is known. Olivier Vernon returns to Miami’s defensive line, but Micanor Regis earned himself a one-game suspension for dirty play at North Carolina. When you combine that with injuries to veterans like Marcus Forston and Curtis Porter, the Canes will be relying on a lot of green linemen who aren’t familiar with the triple option offense.

Former head coach Randy Shannon always preached “assignment football” in games like this and cliche as that statement eventually became, it proved true the past two years when Miami’s defense stayed disciplined and held the Yellow Jackets in check.

Can Golden and D’Onofrio get that same message across – and can they pull it off with a depleted defense? If not, can Fisch’s offense pick up the slack?

Doable in theory. Let’s see if that’s the case in reality. Tune in Saturday afternoon to find out. – C.B.

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