Blue and Gold Illustrated

GAME PREVIEW: GEORGIA TECH moving to the NFL as an assistant, while Johnson accepted the Georgia Tech post in 2008. It took nine years, but Johnson will finally have his chance Sept. 19. He will be calling the plays for the Ram- blin' Wreck, while VanGorder will be calling the shots for the Fighting Irish defense. Having won 46-44 in triple-overtime at Notre Dame in 2007 during his final season at Navy, Johnson also will at- tempt to become the sixth head coach ever to record victories against the Fighting Irish at two different school. The others are Howard Jones (Iowa and USC), John Majors (Pitt and Ten- nessee), Dennis Erickson (Miami and Oregon State), Nick Saban (Michigan State and Alabama) and Todd Graham (Tulsa and Arizona State). Redshirt junior quarterback Justin Thomas is the ideal conductor for Georgia Tech's attack, which finished last year ranked No. 1 nationally in rushing offense (342.1 yards per game, just ahead of Navy's 338.1) af- ter its 452-yard effort on the ground against Mississippi State in the Or- ange Bowl. Thomas led the team in rushing with 1,086 yards (on 5.7 yards per carry) and eight touchdowns. As a passer he was efficient off play action, with his 96 completions aver- aging more than 17 yards per catch, while tossing 18 touchdowns to only six interceptions. Meanwhile, Notre Dame specifically set aside practice time during train- ing camp to concentrate on defending Georgia Tech's option. Special assis- tant to head coach Brian Kelly and Predictions Bryan Driskell: Notre Dame 37, Georgia Tech 34 Without Malik Zaire and Tarean Folston the Irish should not beat Georgia Tech, which is why they will win. This is the kind of situation Notre Dame thrives in and Kizer will do just fine in his first start. Andrew Ivins: Georgia Tech 38, Notre Dame 31 The pressure will be on DeShone Kizer in his first career start, but his arm won't be the deciding factor against the Yellow Jackets. It will instead be the defense, which will struggle with the triple option. Andrew Owens: Georgia Tech 37, Notre Dame 28 All eyes will be on DeShone Kizer in his first Notre Dame start following the season-ending injury to Malik Zaire. He won't be the reason the Irish lose. Brian VanGorder's defense will struggle against the triple option and the Yellow Jackets will pull away in the fourth quarter to hand Notre Dame its first loss of 2015. Lou Somogyi: Notre Dame 34, Georgia Tech 26 Paul Johnson is as good a tactician as you will find, and his Yellow Jackets lowest point total the past 16 games was a 31-25 loss to Duke last season. The Irish should be better all-around, though. Jordan Wells: Georgia Tech 28, Notre Dame 21 It's a big step up for Georgia Tech to vault from Alcorn State and Tulane at home to traveling to Notre Dame Stadium, but the Irish may struggle to find their offensive identity in DeShone Kizer's first start.

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