Blue and Gold Illustrated

GAME PREVIEW: GEORGIA TECH in the Associated Press poll released Sept. 8. "There's definitely some optimism among fans," said Kelly Quinlan, publisher of JacketsOnline.com, a web site covering Georgia Tech. "It's going to be a huge leap from playing Al- corn State or Tulane to playing Notre Dame, though. They really probably could use a regular ACC team, like a Pittsburgh, to play in between there — it's just a big leap forward in talent. "I think people are curious to see how that will turn out." The Yellow Jackets decimated Foot- ball Championship Subdivision foe Alcorn State of the Southwest Athletic Conference in their season opener, cruising to a 69-6 win while outgain- ing the Braves 553-272 in total yard- age. The Jackets return eight defensive starters from last year's squad, while the offense had some holes to fill. Tech had big departures at wide receiver in NFL Draft selections DeAndre Smelter and Darren Waller, and there wasn't a definitive decision on who would take over at the crucial B-back position. "Offensively, they looked much sharper than I thought they would out of the gate," Quinlan said. "I thought it would take much longer to find blocking on the edge, but they looked much better than that. "Justin Thomas has showed an im- proved ability to go through his pro- gressions with his receivers in the passing game, which is a big thing I've been keeping an eye on. He looks like he just finished the Mississippi State [2014 Orange Bowl] game and moved into game 15. "He's healthy and his arm looks good, and he's making better deci- sions for the most part. You can see the maturity continuing with him. "It's not really all on his shoulders like we thought it would be. They have three B-backs who are all pretty good; it seems like they maybe haven't missed much of a step. The receivers have looked good blocking, although we don't really have a big enough sample size yet to know how they look catching the ball." Stanford graduate transfer Patrick Skov started in the B-back slot against Alcorn State and distinguished him- Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME VS. GEORGIA TECH Game Info Date: Sept. 19, 2015. Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795). Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. ET. Television: NBC. Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129). Series Facts: This is the 35th meeting between Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. The Irish lead the all-time series 27-6-1. Coaches: Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (47-20, sixth season); Georgia Tech — Paul Johnson (60-35, eighth season). Noting Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets have led the nation in rushing yards per game two of the last five seasons … Georgia Tech set a school record for total rushing yards (4,789), yards per game (342.1), and rushing yards per attempt (6.06) in 2014 … The Yellow Jackets have not been shutout in 227 consecutive games dating back to Oct. 18, 1997 — the nation's seventh- longest active streak.

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