Georgia Tech vs Syracuse Game Preview | College Football Game Predictions

welcome back to another episode of rock boys football week two fascinating matchup in the ACC George Tech heading on the road to play Syracuse and I don't think nearly enough people are talking about this matchup in the landscape of the ACC where you kind of look at the preseason projections a lot of people had Florida State Miami and Clemson you look at Florida State and say that's a disaster right now you look at Clemson and say they certainly don't scare you like they did five years ago I think hurricanes are pretty damnn good but then you take a look at some of the other dark courses some of those tier 2 teams in the ACC at least two of the preseason expectations Virginia Tech they lost outright to Vanderbilt on the road last week NC State played with their food for three quarters against an FCS program I look at Georgia Tech and Syracuse and say these are two teams that are kind of just being sneaky in this conference and I would even go and start this episode with a little bit of a hotter take and that is H King and K might be some of the better quarterbacks that you see in this conference you know Kyle McCord is a guy that I just thought was criminally underrated heading into 2024 where he played very good football in 2023 and quite frankly I think there's a lot of power for programs that would want Kyle McCord starting for them at quarterback and then you look at H King say look H king led the ACC in passing touchdowns last year H King is an extremely Dynamic quarterback that can do a lot of different things the Bugaboo with h King was turning the football over take a look at Hans King throughout the first two weeks only one turnover worthy play in the first two games of the season if Hans King cleans up some of the turnovers this is another really fun quarterback in the ACC so not only these teams but I think these quarterbacks kind of getting slept on heading into 2024 this game is going to teach us and kind of let us learn a lot about both of these programs really excited to get into some key match ups and key players to look at now before we doing as always number one and most importantly let it fly in the comments section there are a lot of different ways you can go about seeing this football game would love to hear from you guys in the comments section of course if you all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel I think two teams that are fascinating two teams that we're going to talk a lot about over the next couple weeks and without further Ado let's get into this one I want to start with the matchup that I think has me most intrigued and that is this Georgia Tech rushing attack versus Syracuse defense that really struggled to stop the run against Ohio in week one and you look at Georgia Tech and I think more importantly offensive coordinator Buster fauler he's one of the best in the business you talk about a future head coach I think boster fauler is gonna be one and I think most importantly he is for lack of better terms kind of brilliant at scheming up a rushing attack and he has the pieces to do so and I think it starts with the offensive line just in experience group that you kind of saw go out there in Ireland and kind of push around a Florida State defensive line that we thought was going to be really good now I think one of the more fascinating conversations is how do we evaluate Georgia Tech with Florida State just not even looking good against Boston College so that kind of throws a wrench in terms of how we evaluate Georgia Tech but regardless this was one of the better rushing attacks we saw in the country last year it's still one of the better rushing attacks this year and Buster fauler so good at running the football in so many different ways right you have a dynamic quarterback in Haynes King who can certainly get it done on the ground you got one of the better running backs in the ACC in Jamal Haynes and then you got a bunch of different like like X Factor Playmakers guys like Eric Singleton Jr Malik Rutherford I look at this matchup and say how does Syracuse stop this Georgia Tech rushing attack on top of that I think Syracuse best defender Marlo wax he's going to miss the football game and so I got some big question marks about Syracuse stopping the run and if they do want to allocate a lot of bodies into the box walk down their safeties I think Haynes King has the ability to make Syracuse pay working vertically in the passing attack and so I look at that matchup and say that's the probably the most important matchup that you're looking at in this football game now you transition to the Syracuse offense Kyle McCord look great you talk about a quarterback that is not always going to be the most flashy but just makes the girl right decisions he is very quick to get the football out of his hands he's an extremely accurate passer that's what KY mord is and there's not really a throw that he can make K mcord balances hey I'm gonna take what's there from the defense but also make some of those draw dropping throws he has that ability and he certainly looked aart against Ohio and on top of Ky mord Syracuse has another very experienced offensive line that has a ton of seniors and reter juniors and then on the outside legitimate difference makers L Quinn Allen phenomenal running back Ronda Gaston one of the better pass catchers in all of the country you're bringing Zed hannes through the transfer for a guy like Peña looks very very good KY mord I think's a very good quarterback that has a solid offensive line in front of him and some legitimate difference makers on the outside now I think the real question mark is how good and how much improved is this Georgia Tech defense where we were sitting two weeks ago after that Florida State game and said Tyler santui had has completely revolutionized this Georgia Tech defense after week zero against Florida State now Florida State's offense doesn't look nearly as good as we thought it was going to be in the preseason that being said I think this Georgia Tech defense is still much improved from last year I think the question is how much improved are they and I think we're g to find out against Syracuse one of the uh I think underrated aspects about a defensive coordinator is that defensive coordinators can really change defenses in one offseason we've seen it done multiple different times like Michigan had a defensive coordinator change in 2021 went from being a middle tier defense to one of the best defenses in the country you look at what USC just did with Dan Lynn what they did against LSU completely transitioned this defense there's a real especially in this transfer portal era where not only can you change your defensive coordinator and scheme but also get the players necessary to get this defense better you can overhaul and change a defense to think a lot more than people give credit for in one offseason now the question is did Tyler santui do that for this Georgia Tech defense we're going to find that out against Syracuse romelo height I I think is a legitimate differen maker in the pass rushan you know Kyle McCord is not a quarterback that deals with pressure all that well because he ain't a great athlete and so if rello height can be a Difference Maker coming off the edge for Georgia Tech I think that's a key factor and you got guys in the back I think the secondary is much improved they tackle in space well they're very sticky L's Brooks in the back end can turn the football over I think this Georgia Tech defense is better I think the question is how much better are they and so you get into the pick here and again I don't feel great about either of these sides but I'm gonna go Georgia Tech because I do think Georgia Tech will be able to there's something that I think Georgia Tech can do that I think can really change this game and that is run the football like when you have the ability to run the football keep your offense on the field keep Kyle mcord on the bench and kind of control this game on the ground I think that's really going to help Georgia Tech and because they're two-dimensional and I think Hayes King can push the ball down the field he has difference makers on the outside I'm going to lean with Georgia Tech especially with the absence of Marlo wax who I think is one of the better linebackers that we see in the ACC so give me Georgia Tech as a road favorite in the JMA Wireless I'm just as a western New York guy I'm just going to call it the Carrier Dome still watched a lot of games of there when I was a kid I'm going to go Georgia Tech I don't feel great about betting against the Syracuse team that I think's improved has a lot of juice I expect it to be very Rowdy in the dome this weekend but I'm going to go Georgia Tech again would love to hear from you guys in the comment section if yall do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel we'll talk to y'all later