Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Betting – G.Tech Have Questions To Answer At Quarterback And On Defense
Sports betting players watched Georgia Tech take a big step backwards in 2010, falling from 11-3 to 6-7, and there were a lot of questions on both sides of the ball pertaining to commitment, leadership and a defense that was learning how to play under a new scheme. The Yellow Jackets should be a little more settled in 2011 now that some dysfunctional players are gone, but they still don’t have enough to get back to the top of the ACC.
Coach Paul Johnson continues to run his flexbone-option attack that doesn’t lend itself to a balanced attack: Georgia Tech led the nation in rushing, but they were also 119th in passing. There are six starters back, but the Yellow Jackets have to replace quarterback Josh Nesbitt and running back Anthony Allen. Tevin Washington will likely start for Nesbitt and he has some experience from last season, so he’s not coming into the season cold, but he wasn’t that great in the spring and will be pushed by Synjyn Days. There are plenty of options to replace Allen, led by Orwin Smith and Roddy Jones, so the Yellow Jackets should have no problems at running back. No.1 receiver Stephen Hill is back, but passing in Johnson’s offense is something that you do on third-and-long, and even then, a running play is still a possibility. The line has to improve from the spring game if the Yellow Jackets are going to stay in the NCAA football betting hunt, especially until Washington gets completely comfortable.
Defensively, the Yellow Jackets switched to a 3-4 scheme under new coordinator Al Groh, and they finished 64th in the country on that side of the ball. Up front, Georgia Tech should be better as all three linemen return, and linebacker Julian Burnett leads a group that should be improved. The most work will come back in the secondary, where three starters are gone, including safety Jarrard Tarrant, who probably should have stayed in school one more year instead of jumping to the NFL. But the secondary would be in much better shape if the front seven could get a pass rush going; Georgia Tech finished 101st in the country in sacks, and that is always going to put your defensive backs in a tough position, forcing them to cover for longer than they have to.
Georgia Tech should be the NCAA football betting favorites for their first games against Western Carolina and a trip to Middle Tennessee before they welcome Kansas to town, and then the schedule starts to pick up with North Carolina and a trip to North Carolina State. Then the Yellow Jackets begin a four-game stretch that will make our break their season as they have back-to-back road games at Virginia and Miami before Clemson and Virginia Tech find their way to Atlanta. If the Yellow Jackets can manage to make it through that with a 3-1 mark, they should be in good shape for the final two games of the season, a trip to Duke and the annual edition of “Clean Old Fashioned Hate” against Georgia.
NCAA football odds have the Yellow Jackets at +1200 to win the ACC Coastal, which is good value, but they’re also behind perennial power Virginia Tech, as well as North Carolina and Miami, and they’re only tied with Virginia. The Yellow Jackets still have to iron out their quarterback issues, but if Washington can get out to a good start, they will be in good shape. However, they have some good defenses in their division, and their early game with North Carolina will be a good measuring stick of where the offense has to improve.
On defense, Georgia Tech just has to continue to get better and they have some good players, but unless they can generate a pass rush, the secondary could be in big trouble. The Yellow Jackets are probably still a year away from being a factor when it comes to the ACC football online betting odds.
