Georgia Tech vs Syracuse: Matchup Breakdown and Prediction With Special Guest Emily Leiker

welcome back to another episode of the believe in Georgia Take podcast we are your co-host that is R.J schaer I'm Jackson C coming to you on Wednesday September 4th a few days from game day and everybody knows what Wednesday means that's game preview day and we have a very special guest coming on we have Emily lyker from syracuse.com coming on to talk about the big match up between Georgia Tech and Syracuse this week Emily we thank you so much for joining us how are you today I'm doing well thanks for having me you guys RJ how are you doing man you doing good feel feeling great man college football's here NFL football's back you know it's just a great week look I gave a shout out to everybody last last week we we hit 400 subscribers and I challenged everybody let's get to 500 and you know what I looked up the first thing I did when I got up early this morning was go check the subscriber count we're at 503 so again I we really appreciate it we we've seen a lot of growth here here lately um thank you everybody who subscribed everything now we got to get to 600 like that's the next Benchmark like we we're not done yet like we got to we got to get we got to get those numbers up these are rookie numbers we got to keep going so um we we just we appreciate the support and everything so if you are watching on YouTube make sure you make sure you subscribe and hit the notification Bell so you know when new episodes are out like the video if you're listening on podcast for make sure to give us a review leave us some commentary uh if you want to we we really appreciate it we read it we try to take heat of it even even if you know the very few mean comments we've got like we we we take that to we take that to heart so but we we appreciate everything um but I guess let's get to the main topic today um Georgia Tech after beating Florida State who is I guess in a free fall is that the correct term I should say for that they are in an absolute free fall right now um beat Georgia State last week and now they have their first ACC Road game which is strange to say for a team that went like 4,000 miles to play a game um they are going on the road to Syracuse now these two teams played last year but they could not look more different than when than when they played last year um by the time Syracuse came to Atlanta they were they did not have a functional quarterback they had another head coach it was it was very different now they hired Fran Brown uh from yes that from that school in Athens that they did hire him from there um a lot of new transfers a lot of new faces that's why we wanted to bring on Emily to talk about Syracuse and I guess just kind of starting off here you know this is the first you know kind of a talking point with Georgia Tech this week was you know when we talked to Brent key and the players was this is the first time you've seen somebody on on film you know because they didn't have any film on Florida State you didn't have any film on George State and that those are two teams that also had a lot of transfers but you've at least got one game now it was a little close last week against Ohio but Syracuse did pull away won by 16 points I believe um kind of what were your first impressions of FR Brown's first game just you can take any anywhere you want to go offense defense just kind of everything and just kind of tell us what you saw last week yeah you know I think last week went about as well as you think you would think like the first time head coaches debut would go like there were hiccups not everything was perfect but there were a lot of really good moments too and especially considering the roster turnover at Syracuse I mean they've added upwards of 40 new players most of those guys being on scholarship so it's been a lot of change over the past nine months at Syracuse and to see them regain footing after a rough first quarter um lock down red zone defense that was one area where we were really impressed and then obviously Kyle McCord would have a career night like I don't think there is too much more like in a a first game that we could have asked for that fans could have asked for if there's one area that there was a little bit of concern it was the run defense which um obviously is an even bigger concern entering this game but um you know I think the big takeaway about Fran specifically that we really had questions about because this is something that we couldn't really tell just based off practice and offseason stuff was his play calling and clock management and you know we saw him call and execute a scoring drive with 49 seconds left in the first half that then put them up a whole extra touchdown going into halftime so people are really impressed by that I thought that was um a really nice moment for him to have in his first game and overall I I think it was it was a strong Deb obviously this week is a debut of its own in the conference and will be a little bit different but um yeah I thought I thought we went one went well even if maybe the scoreboard wasn't as lopsided as some people had been hoping yeah I I think that's sometimes like a and like this isn't like a criticism of fans I think that's just always when they see a a game with a big spread or something they hope well we can go out there and win this game like 45 to three and then when it doesn't happens even though your team played reasonably well um you know they're a little disappointed but yeah I agree with you like first games can be a challenge um RJ anything anything you wanted to add there yeah I just wanted to say it was it was a solid debut especially for somebody like we haven't really seen his coaching stripes in the past so you know I I thought he went out there and I thought he handled the pressure that that was the one part I was worried about I feel like he handled the pressure pretty well yeah and I strange fact I don't know if either of y'all knew this and I didn't know it till literally two days ago so Brent key I I I don't know if he was a ga or he was an ual coach at Western Carolina when Fran played there um there is like a relationship there we asked him about that he was like I was there for four months he was a good player and that's basically what us so I don't know if they really have like a huge prior relationship but that's just kind of a strange fun fact and it's also the second straight game that Georgia Tech's playing a former Georgia assistant so um obviously I think the big talking point at non defense or injuries or anything like that was obviously K mord in the passing game I was very interested to see because I think the at least when you listen to people associated with Ohio State or anything like they they like pushed him out like that he he and I think unfairly I think he called the brunt of like hey we had a really good team last year if you were better we could have gone farther and so they kind of pushed him aside to you know that whole deal um but obviously a really strong debut I think four touchdowns if I'm correct and O over 300 nearly 350 yards or over 350 yards just a really strong debut um I know Brent key was really complimentary of the offense and how he operated it and the receivers he had around him did that like I I would assume that maybe surpassed expectations for just his first game and you know is this maybe just the beginning of what could be a really good offense this year yeah I would I would say Kyle met and was probably a little bit above the bar of what we were expecting uh His official stat line was 27 for 39 so that was about 69% um completion for percentage 354 yards four touchdowns and an interception I will say that very first drive of the game he came out and nearly threw two picks on the opening drive and we were all kind of like oh well that's not good but then he settled in and he looked a lot better throughout the game um you know I mean we've obviously seen a lot of Kyle in practice and he's always looked great he throws a really crisp ball he's super accurate he obviously has a very high IQ of the game too which I think is really important and so there are very high expectations for him and I think he is going to surprise some people outside of Syracuse and in the conference um I don't think everyone is as down on him as Syracuse fans like to believe they are like Syracuse like syi FS like to paint Kyle as like this Underdog who's been completely disrespected in the past nine months and I'm like okay you guys like we're playing that up a little bit but I do think he will end like will end the season and think wow like Kyle actually did end up being one of the top three four quarterbacks in the ACC um so yeah I mean it's hard to compare passing games just because last year was such a weird year for and even 2022 like Garrett Shader wasn't fully healthy in 2022 either and so um it's just been weird to compare passing games the past two seasons to now but certainly rand's return from that list rank injury he suffered early last season um was a big deal as well you know him and Trevor Peña who also had a really big game they're just really Dependable guys like they have high IQs they know how to read defenses really well they know where quarterback is going to want them and when they're going to want them there and so I think those two guys are ones that will really help Kyle early in this season he already has strong connections with them but as he Contin having connections with them allows him to grow connections with a lot of the other talented wide receivers that Syracuse did bring in and we maybe didn't see as much of in week one um because obviously right teams are going to catch on to OG and penya that's what we saw happen back in 2022 when OG had his breakout year so certainly going to be a better year than last year for Syracuse in terms of passing but um again that's a little hard to compare against RJ anything on that yeah I would just say he is absolutely crucial for Syracuse success this year because they probably have you know you know really a really good schedule in front of them I think they have a a very big amount of winnable games and we've seen Kyle mcord in the past at Ohio State you know for the past three years really before he was at Syracuse like he he had significant minutes or I guess Downs in all those games thinking basketball in my head um but I think I I think he'll be very crucial to the team's success and I think he was pretty solid at Ohio State and I think now he's looking to take it to the next level and I think that's what we saw against Ohio that was that was the Kyle McCord I guess people wanted to see I know you I know I think most people even if they don't really know much about Syracuse know who rande Gadson is is there anybody any pass catchers or or anybody else maybe flying under the radar that you think maybe can have a big year maybe not be as good but like is is going to be a big part of the offense yeah well just mentioned Trevor Peña he was also injured last year but he's been around for a few years um he he had three touchdowns this past weekend so he actually had like the stronger game um him and OG were really close but he scored three touchdowns the two other big ones I'll mention um are the pair of Georgia transfers that brown brought with him up here and yazid Haynes and Jackson Meeks neither of those guys played a bunch of receiver at Georgia but um we have seen them be really consistent presences and targets for mcord in Fall camp and back in spring camp as well and both of them had a couple good catches solid catches in the ging us Ohio okay well I I know the passing game is going to get a lot of attention but I Syracuse has is a really talented running back um kind of how how did that look in comparison and truthfully I don't know a ton about the Syracuse offensive line even even watching some of the games so is there anything that anybody should know about that yeah well the the offensive line they really revamped when Brown came in um just went out and got bigger guys guys that are just like crazy big you have Savon Washington at um right tackle who's a Colorado transfer he is six9 um and obviously over like 300 pounds and huge and then you have Demetrius Weatherspoon who is a Howard transfer over at left tackle and then they have returners on the interior but they really sought out to make that oh line bigger stronger and we did see them look I think a little bit more consistent in this first game of the season than what we had seen from previous um Syracuse offensive lines recently but yeah I mean l quin's the real deal I think he's going to have a really strong year uh we didn't see as much of him against Ohio as I think people thought we were going to you know Jeff Nixon um the offensive coordinator here now he's a running backmed guy trained a lot of running backs at the college in the Pro level and so we I think we will see a little bit more of him moving forward and then also yine Willis and will Nixon Jeff Nixon's son who are the backups in that room behind L Quint um but yeah I mean l Quint had let's see I just had the stats pulled up 15 carries for 98 yards that's that was an average of 6.5 yards per carry um over the weekend he didn't have a rushing TD but he did have a pretty sick one-handed t or one-handed catch in the front right corner of the end zone so he's a he's a dual threat guy he can do both and they do use him in both capacities so um definitely definitely a threat to watch out for anything else RJ on offense or should we switch should we s switch sides yeah I I'm just going to say I think Georgia Tech is going to have a lot to handle offensively in Syracuse because you brought up the point of the offensive line getting bigger I think Syracuse got bigger everywhere else they got very strong physical guys even at wide receiver to guys that are 6'2 63 and you know there's just there's a lot to game playing against I mean I I think I in our early look kind of episode on Monday I said like this is gonna be the best offense they played this year like and I know I'm not not not saying a lot we've all watched Florida State on offense no disrespect to Georgia State but I I don't think they're going to be very good on offense issue I do think they got a couple of talented guys but like this they have dudes everywhere like Syracuse has Playmakers everywhere so this is going to be a big test for the defense now conversely I I will will say um the other side of the ball for for Syracuse that that is where Georgia Tech might have the biggest Advantage um Ohio had a a big day on the ground and then Syracuse has had a couple of injuries espec especially the linebacker Marlo wax is I'm assuming that's how you pronounce his name okay just want to be sure um kind of I guess walk us through what those injuries are going to mean and kind of the the big is it like a is this a big worry was it just a one-off game where they weren't prepared you know what what was what were the defensive issues especially on Saturday yeah you know the main thing I think was just I me the run defense I think it was just them needing to click in a new system and get some game reps under their belt to a degree they really rotated their defensive line which I think was a choice and one that we kind of knew they were going to make going into game one you know their depth chart there's like three guys listed at three of the four defensive line spots and that's not because those guys aren't the guys they have on there like aren't talented enough to hold their own but I think Fran Brown's like really a Fran Brown and Elijah Robinson the defensive coordinator and D line coach are both proponents of cycling those guys through to make sure everyone stays healthy and stays energized throughout an entire game but I am curious to see if they dial that back a little bit and just stick with a more consistent um four guys just to build a little bit more chemistry there um that was kind of the one thing that we had questions about in terms of the Run game they they didn't establish the edge very well either um you know they have fidil Diggs on one side but I do think they're a little weaker on on whatever side he's not on um just with the guys they have there injury-wise I mean Marlo's really the only huge one there are a couple defensive guys who were out with um fall Camp injuries but Marlo is is the only one to really be concerned about and he is a big concern you know I mean he's been the heart of their defense for two three years now um knows that defense really well he was the guy on the headset for them um listening in on that in helmet conss on the defensive side so you know that's going to be tough and they're they're looking at not having him for about six weeks so not only Georgia Tech but later down the road they'll miss a couple other ACC games without him as well and he had the best PFF grades of anyone on the defense even missing a full quarter so that kind of that kind of gives you the numbers to know how much of an absence he's going to be um they'll definitely be looking for Derek McDonald that other starting linebacker to step up a little bit you know he's a really intelligent guy I think he does have some room to improve on the field um Justin Baron had an uncharacteristically bad game against Ohio um he's been a starter for three years now very similar guy to Marlo the heart of this defense but we just he seemed a little off and you know he did transition his role a little bit um from what he was playing in the 335 to the 425 now but not so much that we would have thought he would struggle that much in the game so I'm curious to see if he's a little bit more locked in and and how that affects the run defense on Saturday RJ anything on the on that yeah my my big thing for Syracuse Moving Forward defensively is is I think you need to see McDonald step up first but I I think you need to see Diggs play in a superstar level role and I think he did play that against Ohio cuz you look strictly at the stat line like he had eight tackles two sacks and four tackles for loss so any way you can game plan in him any way you can you know find a way to get him oneon-one like he is going to work especially against like big guys I think he's very very strong moves very very well off the edge so I think moving forward Diggs needs to be a problem I I think I think that's the the storyline for the Syracuse defense going forward so I one thing we didn't really get to touch on how how does the secondary look I know that maybe wasn't obviously the primary concern on Saturday but you know is that what what are the expectations for that group this season yeah you know the secondary does return um quite a few starters I mentioned Baron Elijah Clark's also back he was one of their highest performing guys last year juice Chestnut transferred back from LSU um and then they brought in a couple transfers and a really good true freshman marcelus Barnes um for those outside cornerback jobs and you know I I think they're pretty solid I again I think they just were having to do a little bit of clicking and understanding about roles in this new scheme in that first game tackling tackling was a problem across the board so like that's something that they're working to clean up this week in in practice um but there's still a solid a solid unit um and I would say especially now considering wax's absence in the linebacker room that that secondary room at least the start of the starting group is is probably the strongest okay well I guess let's I just wanted to kind of ask you maybe a a big picture question you know I know they brought in it's a first year head coach a lot of new pieces and everything you know I have heard you know Syracuse has a more favorable schedule amongst ACC teams you know I guess maybe you have to look at that a little bit differently now I guess but what what what maybe should be the expectations for this group would you consider maybe a bowl game successful do you think maybe if things click right is there you know potential to take advantage of the schedule and and reach a higher level kind of like what what would be what do you think the expectations are for this this program in year one well the fan expectations are all over the place um in in inh house with like the university we just talked with the athletic director last week and you know like he's kind of given Fran like free reign like this is year one like I'm not holding you to anything like let's just see what we can do and in one year I think media wise a lot of us are kind of in the eight and four range especially given the schedule um which is interesting because like at the end of last year we're like oh next year's schedule looks really easy and then we got to like summer and then we were like wait maybe this schedule isn't easy like NC State Virginia tler on there and Miami and like those are all kind of Darkhorse teams and now we're a week into the season kind of like well our Virginia Tech Etc State Dark Horse team I don't know so all of that's a little up in the air but I still feel like pretty confident that like it's looking it's trending towards like a eight eight win season um they have to make make a bowl game I don't think this team can finish below six and six and and get people like and make people happy like they have to make a bowl game otherwise like I would say even like for most people they have to meet seven wins and meet that kind of threshold that the 2022 team got to in in Dino's last year and what was supposed to be the threshold for him last year I I just can't see people being very thrilled with anything less than that anything else RJ yeah the the one thing I'd like to see because I I feel like eight and four would be a successful season I want to see them compete and we haven't seen them against you know the ranked teams I guess you could say in their schedule that would be Georgia Tech NC State Miami late in the year I just want to see them even if they don't go out and win those games there's a lot of talent a lot of older Talent upper classman on this team I just want to see them compete maybe against Miami that might be a game where it could get out of hand cuz I think they're looking to be one of the best teams in the ACC but against Georgia Tech this weekend obviously and against NC State later in the year we we don't know how they'll look then but I I I really want to see them you know play play up to the level of their opponents and I think I think that's very possible so we'll get you out of here on this again we really appreciate you taking your time to to come on and talk this gamas I don't know if you're in the predictions business and you don't have to make one if you don't want to but if you don't want to make a prediction about the game I guess you can what what if Syracuse wins this game what would be the biggest key and if they lose this game like why do you think that is well you guys are lucky you caught me right after I just sent in my official prediction for our staff and and I went I went Georgia Tech 34 Syracuse 31 though I did say that I could see that being flipped um I think this is gonna very much be like an offensive kind of shootout and where I see Georgia Tech having the advance like isn't just the Run game itself but it's like the control of the clock that comes with having a really good run game right like Georgia Tech could run out 10 minutes of the first quarter and leave Syracuse with five and while we while we saw a snippet of what Fran Brown and his new staff can do in kind of those crunchtime scenarios like it's hard to do a bunch of those in a game with an offense um and have your defense on the field for that long and all of that so I think control of the clock is really going to be a key thing and I I see Georgia Tech probably being stronger there just because of the Run game and so I think that'll be um a tipping factor I mean the the only way I think Syracuse could can flip this is if they shut down that red game and that's going to be really hard with Haynes King and Jamal Haynes like those are just two really talented dudes everyone here knows that um so yeah I think it'll be close I think there will be a lot of back and forth there will be a lot of action um offensively but um it's going to come down to that clock and and who can control the time I think you just became every Georgia Tech fan favorite Syracuse Rider like I I think I think you just you hit it out of the park with that one but um we really appreciate you coming on to to talk about this game Emily and I I'll just say if if they meet in the ACC Championship somehow in Charlotte you more than welcome to come back on here and pre a college football playoff bid could be on the line between these two teams December and you were more than welcome to come back on and talk about it thanks for having me you guys absolutely see you later all right well we really appreciate Emily coming on to give us the Syracuse side of things and now we're going to do what we always do and kind of give it from a Georgia Tech perspective um so I I think we we covered it I think from the the strengths and the the weaknesses I guess let's start I actually want let's start defense this week you know I I know we usually kind of start with offense but I think you know when I wrote about it kind of an early look at this match up a couple of weeks or not a couple weeks ago a couple days ago I wrote that I think the how they match up against the passing game is just going to be crucial um because I think for the the strides the defense has shown this year especially in run defense and tackling this is going to be by far I think the best passing offense uh and I I mentioned that earlier it's just the amount of weapons they use and everything like Gad gadston is an all ACC caliber of offensive player L Quin Allen is an all ACC caliber of running back like the ACC I know a lot of gets like they're the conference of quarterbacks say they're the conference of running backs to me like L Quinn Allen and Jamal hannes like this is a running back matchup right here and I I do favor Jamal and and that one but L Quinn Allen's a really good player I think it's going to come down to I want to see how Tyler sanui tries to match up them and if he tries to you know one of the things he did against Florida state was he did not respect the downfield passing attack and you saw L miles Brooks coming on blitzes you saw a lot of defensive backs coming from all over the field trying to to pressure dju into making some bad throws you didn't see that quite as much last week and I I wonder if that's going to be the case this week because you know again for for the strides they have made on defense they only have one sack through two games you know that's and look you know you can't always judge a pass rush just strictly by the sa you know there's pressure numbers there's win rates there's all things I think the pass rust has still been a little lackluster and that's where you could get hurt this week um especially you know if Syracuse was able to bottle up the Run game a little bit better that then you might think if they can't get pressure on mcord he has plenty of receivers to attack you downfield yeah and I we we really touched on this earlier like this Syracuse receiving room especially gadston like those are a ton of very strong very big very physical guys like gadston is 6' five and we've kind of seen game plan we we've never seen game plan from Tyler santui but looking back the last year we've seen the game plan against bigger wide receivers and maybe it's time for a change I think s Tyler santui you know he's going to have his hands full I I really think he is I think there's a lot that Syracuse can bring I think they're kind of similar to Georgia Tech offensively maybe last year where towards the end of the year you kind of saw this downfield attack and hannes King really unloading Eric Singleton you know being in there I I just I'm gonna be I'm gonna be completely honest like this Syracuse offense could succeed very very easily I think their offensive line is very solid it's just going to be a matter of okay how do you match up against their wide receivers I think that's the strong point of this offense and you know where I can really see it tipping from one side to another man you know who is excited to play in this game uh Warren Burell talked to the media today and he's like I'm I'm happy to play Passing first offense this this is what you do and look I think I think the secondary has been pretty good like I think Warren Burell has been really good if you've been listening since what April I think me and AR have been telling you Warren Burell is a good player and him and and Amari Harvey have formed a really good tandem but yeah I agree I think the defensive line specifically the pass rush is just going to be the key to the defense this week and that's again while I'm that's what I'm in I and again this is not meant to be disrespect towards Georgia State I do wonder you know some of their success last week I do wonder if Tyler sanui was not you know showing his full hand I know he he did a little bit against Florida state but I wonder if there were some things hey I don't want to put on film for for Syracuse you know because I I think you'll you'll attack them very differently than what you did against Florida state but I mean I I think you hit the nail in the head like you know pass rush is just going to be super important if you can't get it with four that means you got to start blitzing that just planed simply you have to start blitzing and you know that could that could leave some guys in one-on-one situations and now they've passed that test for the first couple weeks I do think this is again going to be the best passing attack they've seen so I don't rate the Syracuse offensive line super high I I don't I know Florida State's was very disappointing but I don't think in terms of raw talent they can match that do obviously I think they're better than Georgia States but uh again pressure pressure pressure that's what it's going to come down to on defense this week um and forcing some turnovers I think would be good you know outside of the Georgia state fumble last week they haven't really had a ton of turnover opportunities so um anything else you wanted to add on defense uh yeah you you kind of talked about how pass rush is very imminent for this game like if you are not getting to Kyle McCord he he really is going to take advantage um I I just think we kind of need to see more out of the front seven in general I think the Run fits have been good at times there the the only question that arose for me last week was Georgia state was kind of able to have these explosive plays is get the ball down the field in the Red Zone Georgia Tech absolutely turned it to another level like I will say that if when Georgia state was in the Red Zone like there were plenty of times they did not score or scored a field goal or this or that um I I just want to see less explosive plays from the Syracuse offense I know that's a lot to ask especially when you have a guy like Quin Allen who has broken away a ton of big plays um I I just I I want to see them limit explosive plays I think that's another key to the game yep and you know I I'll go and say I think the key player this week is romelo height you got a key player defense Romo is it is or is it somebody else I I want to say romela height but I'll put um I I'll say Zeke Biggers because I think he's kind of got to be the leader of this defense going forward my honorable mention is the two quarterbacks just you're going to be matched up with some really good player so you're going to probably be in some one-on ones too so obviously everybody on defense is important but I think those two are going to be the they can win more often than not I I think that'll be um because I do think now even at Ohio State and you know Emily mentioned you know a couple times last week like Kord can be a little reckless with the ball sometimes like he's not super super turnover prone but there are times when I've watched him is is he can get a little careless so I think if you can make things difficult for him you know you might get a turnover out of it but one of the ways that you can keep an off off the field and especially an explosive one which Syracuse does look to be is you control the clock which I again I think Emily nailed it I I think you know I think Georgia Tech is going to play keep away in this game I think they're going to look at those rushing numbers and that rushing defense last week and they they're going to pound it and just keep going and going and going and running the ball like I I I think this could be like a a career game for Jamal Haynes potentially um I I don't I I don't think Syracuse is going to be able to stop them very much to be honest with you I I just what I saw last week and then on top of that you're missing your best player and I mean the fact that Ohio got all those rushing yards with him on the field or with him on the field for for some of that in the first place like that was that would be very concerning and I think Georgia Tech is easily one of the best rushing teams in the entire country um so look run heavy hitting your explosive plays through the air I you know very similar last week but yeah I I definitely think Georgia Tech's offense has just a massive advantage over syracus defense yeah and I will say I I think the offensive line has a great advantage and they have been amazing like they have shown their stripes really throughout the first two games like we went into Florida State we thought honestly the defensive line for Florida state was going to be really good like that was one of the biggest question marks heading into the game and they really showed up and they showed up again in week two I think that's again going to be one of the keys but we we know what this Georgia Tech offense can do we know especially running like they had 5.3 yards per carry against Florida State they had 6.5 or 6.6 against Georgia State I think you have a ton of guys and I I I'm not sure what we're going to see backup running back wise not sure if it's going to be Trey coie Anthony krey haven't really heard much on that but I I think any guy you put in there is is really going to do well I think the offensive line has just put Georgia Tech in such a good standpoint offense-- wise and especially running the ball well you know she mentioned you know Ohio being able to get to the edges I wouldn't be surprised if you saw you know look you had the Eric Singleton revers last week um I you know Buster loves getting Malik ruford to the edges and getting him the ball and getting him in space I think you're going to see some of that and then I think you're obviously you're going to see hannes Haynes King keep the ball um and run it too I again I just think Georgia Tech has a big Advantage here um anything else we need to touch on on offense I think you know we've covered it a pretty decent but I think the most important player you know I'll I'll just I'll be the the take the easy way out and just say Jamal Haynes like I I could say the offensive line just you know because they're gonna pave the way for him but I look this the Syracuse run defense is putrid and I think Jamal H can have a big day as a result I'm going to go a little bit different direction like you said Buster faul likes to get Malik Rutherford open on open on the sides of the field he is leading the ACC in receiving yards right now he's fifth in the country I I think mil carford is going to be crucial I think he's one of the best blockers on the team wide receiver wise and I think we're going to see him get open in a lot of ways kind of like you said with Eric Singleton like maybe we see a Malik arur for Jet Sweep or you know end round play just just just get tricky against Syracuse that's kind of one thing I want to see yep so we we are in the prediction business we give ours every week and we have not LED you astray so far we we are two and 0 um so far this season I I I do think there is a chance if I do think this has a good chance of being a little bit of a shootout again I think the defense is better I think it's improved I also think that Syracuse can present a lot of challenges like if if Syracuse puts up 25 30 points this week my first reaction walking away wouldn't be well oh man we just gave all those points up to Syracuse like no Syracuse is going to score points this year I think um just based on the talent they have and watching them last week they like they look really crisp especially after the first quarter so like I do think they're going to be able to put up some points especially if they can't if Georgia Tech can't get pressure on KY mcor but at the end of the day I think the bigger Advantage lies with Georgia Tech's Run game um I I do trust Tyler sanui to be able to to come up with a scheme that can limit Syracuse's passing attack a lot more than I trust Syracuse to be able to stop Georgia Tech on the ground um I I just think losing Marlo wax is just a really big deal and I I just don't see how they're going to be able to hold up against the physicality that Georgia Tech's going to bring up front so I'll I'll go she already said 34 31 I'll go 30 to 27 I think it'll be in that range and that's right about where the total is I think the total wind up being at 60 I think it's at 61 now so it's right around the total yeah see you're in the exact same place as I wanted to be and that Emily was um so you know I I guess I'll pick Georgia tack IFI touchdown to be different I'll say I I'll say Jord Tech 34 Syracuse 27 although I could see this game scoring a lot higher for both teams like I I just think there's a lot of rest peace for success but one big thing that we forgot to talk about one big news probably the biggest in Georgia Tech uh for for a minute Georgia Tech is ranked for the first time since 2015 and we I forgot to talk about well yeah well no I was going to save it till the end but yeah just go ahead um so yeah like that's it's obviously huge news it's first time since 2015 that Georgia Tech has been ranked um that they absolutely deserve it they theyve worked their butts off and look I know some people like you I I agree with the sentiment of hey rankings don't matter right now just keep plugging ahead and look again I agree with you um but I do think that these kids in this coaching staff do deserve some recognition for the hard work that they've put in like it's not just this year it's just what they were able to do last year and carry and you know be able to keep having success this year um I I I think it it's they definitely deserve it I was a little worried I'll be honest with you you know just 100% just after the way Florida State played the other night I didn't know if voters were gonna be like okay Florida State sucks we're not going to rank Georgia Tech because I felt comfortable about it before that game and then just how badly Florida State played I was like man this this could be interesting but they did come in rank number 23 they are ranked ahead of NC State and Clemson yeah so that's hang your hat on that if if if nothing else they are for the time being ranked ahead of NC State and Clemson um and look you win this game you win VMI next week you will have a ranked on ranked matchup versus Louisville because I expect Louisville to just pulverize Jacksonville State this weekend so and then they have a byee so that they should stay ranked they they jumped up as well um so yeah just just great great for the program but again we're still were very early in the season just got to keep moving forward like it's it's a nice thing but just they got to keep moving forward yeah but you we can celebrate a little bit you know sure sure I I just you know it's just so early on right now and it's you know rankings it's just there's a lot of challenges ahead you gota now once you're ranked you gotta stay ranked you know you don't want to be the team that was ranked for one week and then lost to Syracuse so yeah I I think I I saw a stat earlier like if they beat Sarah use this will be their first win um as a as a ranked team since the two lane game in 2015 just going to put this out there I was eight the last time Georgia Tech was ranked it's been it's really been a minute man and I that was my freshman year of college yeah so for anybody that doesn't know yes I'm a little bit older than RJ um so yeah it's just big accomplishment for the program now let's see you know it's just another you know building block that that you can go off of but yeah Georgia Tech will be number 23 heading to this game they are favored on the road um versus Syracuse and me and RJ are both thinking they're going to get a win but I I do think this is going to be a close game it it's going to be a challenge I'm I I do think Syracuse can be a tricky place to play look I would never rank it as like a top five place in college football to try to win a game this isn't going to LSU or going to Penn State or going to Texas A&M I guess but this like there have been a lot of times where even a more heavily favored team than Georgia teas Saturday's going there I think we all remember Clemson going in there as the number one team in the country they number one or two like 2017 I think that was and they lost there have been teams to go up there being favored and even Syracuse isn't very good and they lose like it's a tricky place to play up there in the the old Carrier Dome so um that that that'll be a challenge but you know brick K has played pretty well on the road to be honest you know he beat Miami on the road last year you know he beat Pitt North Carolina when he was an interim coach on the road beat Virginia Tech on the road as well um when he was an interim coach so they they have had success doing that so we'll we'll see if he can continue doing that but um we really appreciate you guys tuning in like I said hey we we have surpassed 500 I we we cannot thank you enough for that we we want to keep climbing you know we want to be spreading the good Georgia Tech content everywhere and and just keep on doing it and we really appreciate appreciate you guys for following along and showing support it means a lot to us so be sure to subscribe hit that like button hit the notification Bell so you know when um whenever a new episode is out if you listening and foll on podcast do the same over there just give us a follow give us a rating we really appreciate you guys and you know we hope to hope this is going to be a great season it's off to a great start Big Challenge ahead on Saturday but um anything else RJ that's all I got all right well we will be back on Saturday afternoon right after the game concludes for an instant reaction and we will see you guys then thank you for tuning in just