Florida State vs Georgia Tech Game Preview | College Football Game Predictions

welcome back to another episode of rock boys football deal Sunday afternoon it's officially gameweek Florida state Georgia Tech in Ireland this is a fascinating game for week zero I think a lot of college football fans are excited about this one want to get into kind of some key matchups that we're going to see play out week zero in Ireland obviously give our game predictions as well now before we get into it and as always one let it fly in the comment section this is the best part about doing game predictions hearing from you guys in the comments section whether you agree with the boys whether you disagree let it fly in the comment section we'll talk a lot of football down there and if you all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel this is certainly a game that we will recap right after we see it because d i this Georgia Tech team is gonna be fun I don't know if they're gonna be competing for an ACC Championship but when you have H King Jamal Haynes Eric Singleton all on the same offense I mean there are some explosive pieces to this Georgia Tech offense and then you look at Florida State it is it's a lot of new faces but we're pretty confident that Mike Norville has this program going in the right direction and we're kind of confident that a lot of these new faces are going to be really good football players for Florida State let's start with this Georgia Tech offense against this Florida State Defense and de I think the first kind of key matchup you got to talk about it's no secret what Georgia Techs GNA do on the offens side of football they're going to run the football obviously Hayes King a phenomenal dual threat quarterback with one of the better running backs in the ACC and Jamal Haynes Georgia Tech running the football against this Florida State Defense how we feeling about it I mean I think this will be a monster test for DJ Lundy and I think we've talked about that's kind of your one big question in my mind about this Florida State program is what is this linebacker room gonna be you lose two guys in bethon and obviously Delo who are so good so consistent and steady I think you look at what Georgia Tech likes to do attacking teams it's it's kind of like a lot of eye candy a lot of complexity a lot of you got cover the whole field and again DJ Lundy's really showed himself to be a really effective in thebox linebacker but that's just not what you can be essentially against Georgia Tech you need to be able to cover the whole field you need to be able to recognize stuff quickly deal with quarterbacks deal with tight ends deal with running backs deal with jet sweeps from the wide outs it's just a lot coming at him that's what I'm goingon to be looking at I think we'll see early whether DJ Lundy is really GNA step up to the plate and be that guy for Florida State I I was actually thinking I'm really confident that Florida state has DJ Lundy here I think he might be the most important player in this matchup because you look at DJ Lundy what do we know he can do he can stop the run now I think you make a really good point DJ Lundy really good inside The Tackle Box does he have the burners does he have the range to kind of go sideline to sideline that is certainly something that we we we'll be looking for I think there are a couple of different ways that Florida State on defense could potentially deal with this Georgia Tech rushing attack and I think it first starts with when you have what I think is an elite quarterback really just an elite secondary heading into 2024 can you start walking some safeties into the box right if you trust AZ Thomas and fentrell Cyprus to kind of hold up on Islands knowing they'll be okay and we know Georgia Texan are R the football can you walk in some of those safeties can you give seven eight man boxes and maybe stop the run that way against Georgia Tech when you have so much trust in these quarterbacks on the outside and that's another thing you kind of got to look for from Georgia Tech is I think their wide outs do some things well but that catching that deep ball and being consistent through that I kind of wonder who that real elite boundary guy is going to be for them I thought Eric Singleton had good moments for sure last year dropped a handful of footballs that I really don't think you can drop in this type of game because they got to be on obviously but do they have the wide outs to punish teams in the way that kind of allows teams to play a little less aggressive not walk everyone up because that's kind of what I'm looking for they have a lot of talent but who's going to emerge to be that one real X Factor on the edge I love Malik rutheron slot I think he's a lead at what he does but who's going to be that guy on the boundary to really yeah can you line up against AZ Thomas and be like I can I can really challeng yeah I mean Eric Singleton would be the guy I mean as a freshman last year that kid was incredible I think he was one of the kind of underrated storylines in the ACC I mean there are some legitimate weapons I think you're right can Georgia Tech find more consistency pushing the ball down the field I mean you look at Hanes King in general it's just a a quarterback that has a lot of highs and a lot of low I you take a look at 2023 he led the ACC in passing touchdowns he also led the ACC in interceptions and so can Jord I think that's kind of the storyline for this Georgia Tech Team in general in 2024 is hey we know we're gonna have a good rushing attack can we find a little bit more consistency with Hanes King as a passer that's kind of how Georgia Tech takes that step going into 2024 D I think the final storyline between this matchup is controlling haes King as a Scrambler I mean they'll use hes King on some you know designed quarterback runs if you will H King does a lot of damage ran for over 700 yards last year a lot of that production came off getting outside the pocket and scrambling couple of different ways you could handle it one spies with the linebackers right someone like DJ Lundy or Cam riy I think more importantly you know past rush Integrity from guys like Patrick pton and Marvin Jones Jr who we know want to attack the outside shoulder and really run that Loop maybe you have to say hey we're not going to pin our ears back completely and try to keep Hanes King in in the pocket because that's when Hanes King struggles a little bit right when you let him get outside the pocket start playing a little bit of backyard football that's when he's at its best I think you got to be really disciplined with how you're getting after Hayes King to kind of keep him in the pocket because that's really when he doesn't play his best football and that's another thing I think from Florida state is you have super athletic edges so not only dealing with Haynes King and being able to chase him down and deal with him but also in that rushing attack where again a lot of it is going to the perimeter in trying to catch defensive ends kind of sleeping when you're a little bit more athletic have a little bit more of that ability to play in space and again I think you look at Marvin Jones Jor obviously we haven't seen a ton of him yet but you see the athletic trades Patrick Peyton obviously super athletic and then even if he can work a guy like son Lea inside and let him again just add some athleticism into that room because I just don't really see Georgia Tech just pounding this Florida State team like just physically beating him up I think that kind of plays into what Florida State Frank wants to do just given the like probably Talent differential at the end of the day but I do think that that gives Florida State the opportunity to put their guys in better positions athletically at least to kind of handle this Georgia Tech Team two things that I would kind of wrap up on with the Florida State Defense going up against this Georgia Tech offense one I'm G to be really interested to see the depth on the inside of the defensive line for for Georgia or for Florida State excuse me where I I know darl Jackson and Joshua farmer are dudes we haven't seen a ton of a guy like Daniel who I know you're a really big fan of getting a lot of positive feedback in Fall Camp Grady Kelly coming from Colorado State a guy like KJ Samson all these guys haven't played a ton of football at the power five level how do they look in that to deep when you know Georgia Texans are on the football that's one of those question marks I want to see get answered and I think secondly can Flor State turn the football over a little bit more that was one I mean Flor state was a lead on defense in 2023 there's no question about that they were outside the top 100 in turnovers forced and this is Georgia Tech team that Str struggles turning the football over can Florida State find the football a couple of times and create some of those game-changing turnovers probably the last question mark I'll be looking at with that matchup now let's flip sides here talk this Florida State offense against the Georgia Tech defense that was not good last year to put it kind of kindly 31 points per game allowed and I think the the frustrating thing about Georgia Tekken my big concern heading into this matchup is I'm not sure how much better they got on defense in the transfer portal and so I love this offense I I think this geord attack offense is going to be one of the better units in the ACC but I have some serious question marks about this defense specifically stopping the Run giving up five and a half yards per carry last year that was 127th in the country then I look at this Florida State offense and say all right it's week zero you have a transfer quarterback you got a lot of new faces in the wide receiver room we've been kind of saying this all offseason I think the identity of this Florida State team is going to be running the football I think the offensive line is markably improved from 2023 they're a heck of a lot healthier you got a ton of good running backs that can do different things along with dju who's kind of a wreck and ball attack in the line of scrimmage can this Georgia Tech defense hold up against this floate rushing attack which I think we see a lot on Saturday afternoon and that'll be the fundamental issue you kind of look at George attack it felt like they were so relying on Zeke Biggers who is great I think he's good they relying on D as well who obviously left in the portal and I just don't think you got enough consistency from everyone else I don't think Thomas Gore really brings in that type of guy that I think they frankly needed so I'm kind of with you that's the one main main concern I think for Georgia Tech is do they have a good enough defensive line to just play with those big teams that they really didn't have it last year and again Biggers really really good but everyone else kind of undersized not Elite in the ways that you need to be elite if you're going to play at that like sub 300 kind of level Florida State I think you kind of said it they now have the running backs I think they have the quarterback I think they have the offensive line potentially to play a little bit more more physically than they played last year and I think that's kind of the answer when you want to go move the ball against Georgia Tech it's try to beat him up and wear them out in the inside yeah I'm happy you shout out Z beggar though because I think he's doc like Z begar is kind of sick and I what I think about timeas score is all right we saw some good things out of him from Miami in 2023 he's 6 foot 290 you look at the interior offense offensive line for Florida State I mean Richie Leonard goes 62 330 you look at TJ Ferguson he goes 64330 I mean it's there's some big bodies up front against a Georgia Tech defensive line that you kind of Set It Best a guy like Thomas Gore's giving up 40 50 pounds on some of these guys and it's just not deep enough I mean Zeke Biggers again he's really really good but I just don't know that you have a ton of faith in the guys coming behind them and I also think I'm very curious what this linebacker room for Georgia Tech's gonna be because they lose a lot of guys and obviously they do return some decent players I think you saw decent things from Kyle efford but he's not Elite athlete and that's kind of what you wonder again with the way Florida State can attack you a little bit with some guys like a Jaylen Lucas even I think he got to be a little bit more you got to be able to play the perimeter a little bit more effectively I thought you saw some some them give that up a little bit against UCF even in that bowl game so again that's kind of the question I think Florida state will probably have a little bit of trouble throwing the ball easily not to say that they'll get stalemated I just really wonder if this Georgia te team can stop the run that's my question and I kind of second question I don't know if it's a massive storyline in this game but just for Florida State going into 2024 is all right if Georgia Tech wants to walk in their safeties can we win vertically down the field with you know dju who we're pretty confident in him heading into 2024 but a lot of new faces guys like Malik Benson guys like Kem Williams guys that we haven't seen a ton of production from but are really really talented I think that's going to be the recipe for Florida state is hey we're going to run the football a lot and lean on this rushing attack and then we're going to try to push the ball down the field vertically using stuff like play action can you see Florida State get to some of those Concepts on Saturday that's kind of something I'm looking for not only inally having replacing your two cornerbacks from last year who were really good for Dr yeah yeah but even in the scope of Florida state in the 2024 year like I'm just kind of interested to see if they can find that blend before we get into the game predictions though players of the game most important player for Florida State most important player for Georgia Tech who you got I'm just going to say the second linebacker whether it's Cam Riley whether it's NJ CER I don't necessarily know who Florida State's going be trotting out there at that spot but I think they're going to need to be huge because again I think we're pretty comfortable with what Lund is going to be you probably want to see what he's going to do against a Georgia Tech team that doesn't necessarily play in his strength with the amount of attacking the perimeter they're going to do but I'm looking I think you need to have really good linebacker play whether that's dealing with Hayes king or really anyone else on this team because they all run the ball pretty effectively I think the second linebacker needs to be great and I think that's probably my not only in this game but that's going forward I think it's going be a huge one for Florida State yeah Florida State for me m was DJ Lundy so I guess I'll just take DJ Lundy the linebackers are gonna be massive in this Georgia Tech game because again you said it best to kind of start this one off a lot of misdirection a lot of eye candy a lot of stuff outside the tackles if you're a step late like they have the athletes to really punish you I think again like everyone tries to do misdirection but if you don't have an elite running quarterback you don't have Elite running backs and Elite wide receivers who really carry the ball effectively it doesn't exasperate itself as much I think when teams are out of positioning in storage attack they can really hurt you 100% And I think for Georgia Tech it's z bers z bers is the Florida State's gonna run run the football and can Georgia Tech have the bodies on the inside to somewhat stop Florida State that's the biggest question D let's get into the game prediction here Florida state Georgia Tech in Ireland 11 and a half points who you taking I lean Florida State because I think that I I almost think this should be a 14o spread frankly I mean again Florida State like they're not acting or I guess Vegas isn't treating them like anything near what Florida state was Florida Vegas is treating Florida State like hey we want to see it from you guys they're saying they're back to like early norval Florida State I think norville's got this I think he's got it cooking I think he's got the culture in place I think they kind of believe in themselves in the way that you need to to go pound teams that are kind of have a talent Gap if you will not to say like Georgia Tech's Talent Gap is huge but I think there still exists that I think again Brank key does feel like he's kind of changing that a bit but right now I think the talent Cap's big enough where a confident Florida State team that I think they are at this point under Mike norval I think should be should be fine yeah and I I look at it it might be Vegas that being said I think they're just giving a lot of respect to Georgia Tech which I I kind of agree with I think this Georgia Tech team is extremely dangerous and it's week zero in Ireland like I I wouldn't be comfortable taking Florida State to cover two touchdowns either quite frankly I'm going to take Florida State as well if it's inside of two touchdowns it's actually moved from 12 and a half and some 13s out there to 11 and a half I'll take Florida State as well this isn't a game that I'm rushing over to bet because again it's week zero in another continent that being said I think the matchups for Florida State I Le Florida State I think this Georgia Tech team is extremely dangerous it's going to be an extremely fun game to watch as a college football fan we cut a there appreciate you guys rocking with the fellas again if youall do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel appreciate you guys and we'll talk to youall later