Syracuse Football: Potent Georgia Tech offense makes first-ever trip to Hill

Syracuse football has never defeated Georgia Tech, and the Orange will look to get in the win column in this series, and in the 2020 term, on Saturday.

When the Atlantic Coast Conference released its pre-season media poll for the 2020 campaign at the beginning of September, Syracuse football checked in No. 14, with Georgia Tech in the basement at No. 15.

Fast-forward to the present, and two games into the fall stanza, the Orange is the worst team in the league, according to our ACC power rankings, while the Yellow Jackets are placed at No. 11, one of the pleasant surprises of the young season.

All-time, Georgia Tech (1-1) is a perfect 3-0 versus the ‘Cuse, including a 56-0 demolition of Syracuse football on Oct. 19, 2013, in Atlanta.

Interestingly enough, the Yellow Jackets have never played at the Orange (0-2), so this coming Saturday at noon will mark Georgia Tech’s inaugural instance suiting up against Syracuse football in Central New York.

In the Yellow Jackets’ 2020 term opener, they pulled off the most-stunning result in the ACC during that particular weekend of clashes, as Georgia Tech conquered Florida State, 16-13, on the road. This past weekend, the Yellow Jackets suffered their first setback, 49-21, to a top-15 UCF crew.

While the ‘Cuse 3-3-5 defensive scheme has performed fairly well in the Orange’s two losses to nationally ranked North Carolina and Pittsburgh, both away from the Carrier Dome, it will absolutely have its hands full with a prolific Georgia Tech offense.

According to a press release from the Yellow Jackets’ athletics department, Georgia Tech averaged 286.3 yards per affair in 2019 and didn’t collect a 400-yard game.

So far in 2020, the Yellow Jackets are producing a stellar 454.5 yards of total offense per encounter, which is good for sixth in the ACC and 22nd nationwide.

If there’s one Georgia Tech player that Syracuse football will have to remain laser-focused on, it’s freshman running back Jahmyr Gibbs. In his college debut versus UCF, Gibbs generated an impressive 219 all-purpose yards, including 126 yards from scrimmage, and scored two touchdowns.

For his efforts, the ACC named him its Rookie of the Week. When the ‘Cuse takes the field this Saturday afternoon inside the newly renovated Dome, with no fans in the stands, Syracuse football defenders must contain Gibbs as much as possible.