Week 4: Mississippi State at Georgia Tech

It’s business as usual for the Georgia Tech offense, which must play against a tough defense for the third week in a row. The Yellow Jackets, who lost at Virginia Tech last week after winning at Boston College the week before, take on a Mississippi State team that gave up just three points to Auburn. The bad news for the Bulldogs is that their defense outscored their offense in that game, a 3-2 defeat.

Mississippi State ranks among the nation’s bottom 20 teams in scoring (16.7 points per game) and total offense (288.3 yards per game), but Sylvester Croom’s team is among the nation’s top 20 in scoring defense (11.7 ppg) and total defense (244.0 ypg). The Bulldogs have allowed just three touchdowns all season, and even that number doesn’t do their defense justice. Two of the touchdowns came on drives of 9 and 13 yards in the season-opening loss to Louisiana Tech, and the other touchdown came near the end of a blowout win over Southeast Louisiana.

The Yellow Jackets have played some solid defense themselves, allowing just 255.7 yards per game, but they must bounce back this week after their first loss under Paul Johnson. Georgia Tech has a budding star in sophomore quarterback Josh Nesbitt, who set a school record for quarterbacks with 151 yards rushing against the Hokies. Nesbitt is a capable passer, but he’s at his best when scrambling on broken plays to make something out of nothing.

Above all else, Nesbitt must keep the ball off the ground in this game after losing a pair of fumbles last week. Georgia Tech already has fumbled 11 times this season, losing seven of those, and Mississippi State ranks sixth nationally with five fumble recoveries. The Bulldogs recovered all three of Auburn’s fumbles last week.

Notes/Things to Watch:

Georgia Tech leads the all-time series 2-0, but this game is the schools’ first meeting since 1929.

Mississippi State starting running back Anthony Dixon aggravated a pulled groin in the first quarter against Auburn and totaled just 5 yards on seven carries. If he can’t play against the Yellow Jackets, junior Christian Ducre (16 carries for 49 yards against Auburn) and highly touted redshirt freshman Robert Elliott will replace him.

The Bulldogs lost senior middle linebacker and Butkus Award candidate Jamar Chaney for the season when he suffered a broken ankle on the final play of the season opener. Chaney’s replacement, sophomore Karlin Brown, stands just 5-foot-9, 195 pounds. Brown will have to stand his ground against the run-oriented Yellow Jackets, who have attempted just 37 passes this season.

Third down has been a different story for these teams this season. Mississippi State has converted 27 percent of its third downs while limiting its opponents to 24 percent, and Georgia Tech has converted 44 percent of its third downs while allowing its opponents to move the chains 45 percent of the time.

Key Player (Bulldogs) — Jessie Bowman, DT

Bowman, a 6-foot-1, 305-pound senior, was named SEC defensive lineman of the week for his performance against Auburn, when he racked up eight tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He must control the point of attack to keep Georgia Tech B-back Jonathan Dwyer from busting up the middle into the secondary.

Key Player (Yellow Jackets) — Jonathan Dwyer, RB

Dwyer surpassed 100 yards rushing in each of Georgia Tech’s first two games, but Virginia Tech keyed on him last week and limited him to just 28 yards on 10 carries. Dwyer is by far his team’s most talented running back, so Johnson might need to find more ways to get him the ball.

Georgia Tech by 7