Georgia Tech running back Nathan Cottrell stiff-arms Louisville safety Khane Pass during Georgia Tech’s win at Louisville on Oct. 5.ATLANTA – An explosive offense has helped jump-start Georgia Tech’s football season.
Duke coach David Cutcliffe would like to see his offense enjoy a similar resurgence after his team’s first loss of the season. The Blue Devils visit Georgia Tech today in a key game for each team’s effort to contend in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division.
Duke (4-1, 0-1), off last week after its 31-14 loss to Virginia Tech on Sept. 29, will be looking for big plays against the Yellow Jackets.
“You’ve got to produce explosive plays this day and time to get your points per game up,” Cutcliffe said. “We didn’t do that against Virginia Tech. It was the first time this year we didn’t produce it. We had chances, and we missed them.”
Georgia Tech (3-3, 1-2) hasn’t missed much on offense during runaway wins the past two weeks, scoring 63 points against Bowling Green and 66 against Louisville.
“We have an opportunity to turn the season around, and I think we’re just taking advantage of the opportunity,” Jackets running back Clinton Lynch said.
At Louisville, Tech scored eight touchdowns and made a field goal in its first nine drives. The defense added yet another touchdown on a 95-yard interception return by Juanyeh Thomas.
A win over Duke, which ranks third in the ACC in scoring defense, would add credibility to Tech’s resurgence. The revived hopes are especially important for coach Paul Johnson coming off a 5-7 finish in 2017, when the Jackets did not play in a bowl for the second time in three years.
Duke took a dominant 43-20 win over the Jackets last season and has three wins in the past four games in the series.
“We haven’t slowed them down,” Johnson said, adding his team’s offensive prowess the past two weeks looks familiar because “that’s about what they’ve done to us.”
The Jackets are looking forward to their first chance to wear navy blue pants as part of their uniform. The team’s official colors are gold and white, but blue is a secondary color normally reserved for trim. Players will wear white jerseys and blue-and-gold cleats.
The school couldn’t find a record of players previously wearing blue pants.
“We’re excited,” said running back Qua Searcy, who acknowledged he would have picked a different color for the jerseys.
“I would love all blue,” he explained.
Duke ranks third on Tech’s list of most common opponents. The teams have met 85 times, with the Jackets leading 51-33-1. Tech has played 112 games against Georgia and 92 against Auburn.
Duke was 0-4 in October last season. It has six straight losses in the month, including its last two October games in 2016. Overall, Duke is 9-8 in the month under Cutcliffe.