By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Georgia Tech is coming off another subpar season after 2017. They finished the year under .500 and missed a bowl game for the second time in three years.

For whatever reason Tech gave Paul Johnson a two-year contract extension in January. Maybe the program has accepted mediocrity or they may really feel CPJ is a genius.

Georgia Tech athletic director Todd Stansbury noted that, despite the strength of Tech’s schedule – Tech played two of the four teams in the College Football Playoff (Clemson and Georgia) as well as 10-win Miami and nine-win Virginia Tech – “you could look at it and say we’re three plays away from playing for another ACC championship,” he said.

Stansbury referenced Tech’s last-minute losses to Tennessee, Miami and Virginia. Had the outcomes against Miami and Virginia been reversed, the Jackets would have played Clemson for the ACC title. Instead, along with the heartbreaking loss to Tennessee, the Jackets finished 5-6.

One of the lone bright spots for the Yellow Jackets in 2017 was quarterback TaQuan Marshall. He led the team in rushing with 1,218 yards and 18 touchdowns. He passed for 936 yards, 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He only completed 37.6% of his passes. He needs to work on his accuracy but Paul Johnson also needs to develop an intermediate passing game.

Tech ranked 33^rd in total defense, allowing 354.3 yards per game. That ranking is misleading because they had one game cancelled. If they played a full 12 game schedule, they would have been ranked lower.

Ted Roof was finally let go as defensive coordinator and replaced by Nate Woody. Woody is a 27-year coaching veteran and he turned Appalachian State into one of the best units in college football.

After installing an attacking 3-4 scheme, Woody oversaw the transformation of an App State defense that ranked eighth in the nine-team NCAA Division I FCS Southern Conference in total defense the season prior to his arrival (2012) into a unit that led the Sun Belt Conference in total defense three times and ranked among the top 30 in NCAA Division I FBS each of the past four campaigns (2014-17).

Hopefully the defense will drastically improve in 2018. They have been the weak link of the team for most of Johnson’s tenure.

The schedule for the upcoming season seems favorable. The first game is September 1^st against FCS Alcorn State. That will be an easy win.

The next game is at USF. The Bulls were 10-2 last year so I expect them to still be pretty good in 2018. I’m going to give the edge to Georgia Tech but this should be a tough game.

Week 3 is on the road at Pitt. The Yellow Jackets beat the Panthers 35-17 last season. I expect the same results this season.

The schedule gets significantly harder when Clemson comes to town. The Tigers will win by 20-plus points.

GT plays at home against Bowling Green the following week. This will be the last tune up game before the schedule gets more difficult.

They travel to Louisville for a Friday night game. Since Lamar Jackson departed, the Cardinals will have a new starting QB. For that reason, I give the edge to Tech.

The next three games are Duke, at Virginia Tech and at UNC. The only win should be against Carolina.

They close out the season against Miami, Virginia and at Georgia. The Hurricanes and Bulldogs will beat Georgia Tech. The UVA game should be a win for the Yellow Jackets.

They should be able to rebound and win 6-7 games and appear in a bowl.