Closing out the regular season, NC State’s offense will face a Georgia Tech defense that has given up more than 30 points in all but two games so far this season. The regular-season finale is Saturday, Dec. 5 at 4 p.m. inside Carter-Finley Stadium.
The Wolfpack (7-3, 6-3 ACC) is trying to win its seventh conference game, something that has never been done in the history of the program. It’s also fighting for a chance to match its win total from the 2018 season if it also wins the bowl game.
The Yellow Jackets (3-5, 3-4 ACC) are coming off a 56-33 win at home against Duke, but had their two games before that, versus Pittsburgh and Miami, canceled. Georgia Tech also has wins against Florida State to open the year and hosting Louisville on Oct. 9.
Defensive line
As a team, the Yellow Jackets rank third to last in the ACC with 17 sacks on the season, just over a two-per-game average. While NC State gives up 2.7 sacks per game and the offense is coming off a disappointing performance against Syracuse, the Georgia Tech D-line should be relatively containable in Saturday’s matchup.
Leading this group with 31 total tackles, 7.5 TFLs and four sacks is redshirt sophomore Jordan Domineck. He’s also coming off his best game of the season against the Blue Devils, where he tallied a season-high in both TFLs with 2.5 and sacks with two. Considering how poor the Pack O-line was last week, Domineck should be its No. 1 priority.
Linebackers
Heading into the Duke game last week, Georgia Tech linebacker Quez Jackson had recorded at least half a TFL in five consecutive games, and in four of those, he recorded exactly one. His best game of the season, in terms of those stats, came against ACC powerhouse Clemson, where he recorded one TFL and one sack to go along with four tackles.
Jackson’s 65 tackles on the season is followed closely by linebacker David Curry’s 58, so with both sitting around eight tackles per game, they compare closely to the performance of a player like NC State redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Moore, who has similar numbers through 10 games.
However, this group struggles against the run, ranking 11 of 15 in the ACC in rushing yards allowed per game. Notre Dame ran for 227 yards against the Yellow Jackets, while Duke only managed 68 this past Saturday.
Secondary
With Wolfpack redshirt junior quarterback Bailey Hockman coming off a four-touchdown game against the Orange, he could be poised for another breakout game. Georgia Tech also ranks third to last in passing defense, allowing 274.5 yards per game through the air.
Junior Juanyeh Thomas and redshirt freshman Wesley Walker lead the defensive backs with 47 and 35 total tackles, respectively. As a team, GT only has five interceptions on the year, ranking 12th in the ACC and compared to NC State’s 10. Overall, NC State should be able to put up a lot of points in this one, and it’s just up to the defense to keep the Yellow Jackets’ new offense at bay.
