Game Preview: Tech at UCF
Georgia Tech heads to Central Florida for a critical road game during the toughest stretch of the Jackets' 2022 football schedule. The team has struggled in two early P5 games and the program could be on the verge of major changes if things do not turn around quickly.
Georgia Tech (1-2, 0-1 ACC) at UCF (2-1, 0-0 AAC)
FBC Mortgage Stadium
Date and Time: Saturday, 4 p.m.
TV: ESPNU, ESPN Mobile App, WatchESPN.com
Radio: Xtra 106.3 FM/1230 AM/SiriusXM 135 or 194
Last Week: Georgia Tech lost 42-0 at home vs. Ole Miss; UCF won 40-14 at Florida Atlantic
Series History: Georgia Tech leads 3-1
Last Meeting: UCF won 49-21 at Georgia Tech on Sept. 19, 2020
GEORGIA TECH Key Offensive Players: Jeff Sims (QB, Soph.), EJ Jenkins (WR, RS-Sr.), Weston Franklin (C, Soph.)
UCF Key Offensive Players: John Rhys Plumlee (QB, Sr.), Javon Baker (WR, Jr.), Lokahi Pauole (RG, Sr.)
GEORGIA TECH Key Defensive Players: Keion White (DL, RS-Sr.), Ayinde Eley (LB, RS-Sr.), Jaylon King (S, RS-Jr.)
UCF Key Defensive Players: Jason Johnson (LB, RS-Jr.), Tre’Mon Morris-Bash (DE, Sr.), Quadric Bullard (S, Jr.)
Game Preview Analysis: It’s hard to remember a time when the outlook during a Georgia Tech football season was so grim. There were definitely some tough times during the final years of the Paul Johnson era, but there was never total despair and hopelessness like the Jackets’ fan base is currently experiencing. But while mostly everyone has decided what Geoff Collins’ (and Todd Stansbury’s) fate should be, there are still games on the schedule.
While everyone on the outside is looking at what is best for the Tech program down the road, the current players, especially the upperclassmen, are not wanting to punt on this season just yet. While there has been little positive in the 1-2 start, it still is just three games into the season and several winnable games remaining on the schedule. (Hold on while I duck from the items being thrown at my head from Tech fans.)
This UCF team isn’t one of the stronger teams they have had in the last few years since the program has been on the upswing. Still, they are double-digit favorites (some oddsmakers have them as high as 20.5) against the Jackets.
It really just depends on what kind of Tech team shows up. If they come to Orlando motivated and ready to turn things around not for Collins but for themselves, they certainly have the talent and depth on paper to beat this UCF team. But lackluster performances and especially lackluster starts have plagued the Jackets during Collins’ tenure. If they start the game like they did last week against Ole Miss, it could get ugly once again.
UCF’s offense has the ability to toss it around, and as Tech fans have seen many times over the last couple years, the assignments in the secondary leave a lot to be desired. Plumlee can also hurt a defense with his feet as a true dual-threat.
The Knights’ defense doesn’t have the top-end playmakers it has had in the past either. It really all comes down to Jeff Sims for the Jackets. He has to be better, plain and simple, and part of that is showing a bit of fire after some questionable effort in the past couple weeks. If not, it might be time to give Zach Gibson a couple series.
It’s really hard to predict what a team in a situation like Georgia Tech’s will do, but nothing from last week and the track record of this coaching staff over the last few years leads me to believe they are going to be drastically improved in one week’s time coming off the beatdown vs. Ole Miss.
Prediction: UCF wins, 38-14.