Blue and Gold Illustrated

GAME PREVIEW: GEORGIA TECH longtime college assistant Bob Elliott also has had studying the triple option as one of his tasks this year. Look for personnel alignments on defense to be altered quite a bit. This still has the makings of a shootout where 30 points might not be enough for a victory. THE "OTHER" UNIT Every time Notre Dame faces Navy, the central theme is whether the Irish can slow down the triple-option scheme employed by the Midship- men. That's understandable given that Navy has tallied 73 points against Notre Dame the past two seasons. What is overlooked is that gener- ally the Midshipmen just don't have enough on defense to slow down the Irish. Over the past four seasons, Notre Dame has scored 56, 50, 38 and 49 points against the Mids, for an average of 48.3 points per contest. This is not expected to be the case as much against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets have been com- monly referred to on offense as "Navy on steroids" because they are a big- ger, faster and stronger version of the Midshipmen. Maybe even more crucial is Georgia Tech returns eight starters from a unit that made some appreciable strides last year. This was especially the case in November with victories against Virginia (35-10) and North Carolina State (56-23), and then ranked teams Clemson (28-6) and at Georgia (30-24 in overtime) before the five-game win- ning streak was snapped by a 37-35 loss to Florida State in the ACC Cham- pionship Game. Combining that defense with a vet- eran offensive line and quarterback Justin Thomas is what made the Yel- low Jackets the favorite to report as the Coastal Division champs in the ACC. The eight starters returning on de- fense include third-team All-ACC picks Adam Gotsis, a senior tackle, and Jamal Golden, a fifth-year senior safety, plus leading tackler P.J. Davis (119 stops), a junior linebacker. Sopho- more end KeShun Freeman made 9.5 tackles for loss and earned Freshman All-America notice. Gotsis was ranked by Lindy's as the ACC's sixth-best NFL prospect, and complementing him this season will be fifth-year senior Jabari Hunt, who was academically ineligible last season but is expected to make impact this year. TALE OF THE TURNOVER In quarterback Malik Zaire's first two starts — the Music City Bowl last De- cember against LSU and this year ver- sus Texas — the Irish offense did not commit a turnover. The same happened in Everett Golson's first two starts last season. Now it's about not having that three- or four-turnover outing that can occur with any team on any given Saturday. Last year, Georgia Tech finished 14th nationally in turnover margin with a plus-0.79 average per contest — high- lighted by forcing 29 turnovers. Winning the turnover battle is al- ways a goal, but especially so in tight matchups where every possession is prized. ✦

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