Chik-fil-A Bowl: LSU vs. Georgia Tech Football Picks

Written December 30, 2008 by Jason Lowry

Georgia Tech LSU Football

One of the more interesting bowl games scheduled to take place this Wednesday is the Chik-fil-A Bowl that has the LSU Tigers of the SEC taking on the No.14 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets of the ACC. The Tigers were unable to defend their National Championship this season, as they got out to a 4-0 record, but then lost 7 of their next 9 games to finish the season at 7-5 and just 3-5 in the SEC. The Yellow Jackets are one of many ACC teams that are playing in a bowl game this postseason, and had the Yellow Jackets beat Virginia Tech earlier in the season, they could be playing in the Orange Bowl, but under new coach Paul Johnson the Yellow Jackets come into this one fresh off a 45-42 win over rival Georgia in the final game of the season to finish up at 9-3. For those of you looking to do some college football betting this week, the oddsmakers have Georgia Tech 4 point favorites over LSU at Bookmaker.com.

Looking at what the Tigers will bring to this one offensively they will ride the arm of freshman Jordan Jefferson, who wasn’t expected to see action at all this season, but thanks to the dismissal for Ryan Perrilloux and the terrible play of Jarrett Lee, Jefferson was able to display his talents at the end of this season, and LSU has liked what they have seen so far. While Jefferson has the ability to beat teams with both his arm and his legs, it’s likely he will be spending most of the game handing it off to tailback Charles Scott, who ran for 1,109 yards and an impressive 15 touchdowns this season. When Jackson does let it loose look for him to target Brandon LaFel, who led the Tigers with 61 catches for 903 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Over the last few seasons it has been the LSU defense that has led this team to 2 National Championships in the last 5 seasons, but this season it was not the case, as the Tigers are giving up 25.9 points and 326.5 yards a game on this side of the ball. This unit is still solid against the run, as they are only allowing opponents to run for a little over 3 yards per carry, but where this team struggles is against the pass, which shouldn’t be too big of problem considering how much the Yellow Jackets like to run the ball. The guy that could make some noise in this one is Rahim Alem and his team high 8 sacks. Bet LSU Tigers +4 at Bookmaker.com.

The Yellow Jackets brought in a new offensive system along with head coach Paul Johnson, as he implemented the Navy rushing attack. While many wondered if that kind of offense would work in a big conference like the ACC, the Yellow Jackets proved it would running for 282 yards a game this season with an outstanding 5.6 yards per carry. There were 3 guys that did damage for this offense, but none was better than Jonathan Dwyer, who not onl led the way with 1,328 yards and 12 scores, but was named the ACC Player of the Year as well. Roddy Jones rushed for 656 yards and Josh Nesbitt added another 631yards, as the two combined to run for 11 more scores. Nesbitt is also the teams starting quarterback, but he completed just 46.5% of his passes for just 658 yards with only 2 touchdowns to 4 interceptions.

While the offense of the Yellow Jackets has really turned some heads this season with the way they have been able to run the football, the defense for Georgia Tech has been just as good allowing opposing teams just 19 points a game and a big reason for that is the success this unit is having against the run allowing just 117 yards a game. Now that doesn’t mean this unit is bad against the pass, as 18 of the teams 29 takeaways this season are from an interception, and this team can also get at the opposing quarterback, as they have 32 sacks this season. The players to watch for the Yellow Jackets on this side of the ball are Morgan Burnett and his 7 interceptions, and Derrick Morgan and Michael Johnson and their combined 14 sacks this season. Bet Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets -4 at Bookmaker.com.

Lowry’s Lean on the Game: LSU +4
I know that everything is looking like it favors the Yellow Jackets in this one, but I really like what LSU can do to stop the Yellow Jackets rushing attack, and I believe that Les Miles and the Tigers will put together a solid offensive game plan that really lets everyone see just how good Jefferson is going to be for this team.

Predicted Score: LSU 24 Georgia Tech 21

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