#14 Georgia Tech (2-0, 1-0 ACC) at #20 Miami (1-0, 1-0 ACC)
7:30 PM ESPN
Landshark Stadium (Natural Grass)
Sports.com Line: Miami -4.5, O/U 54

It’s always curious to me how one play can sway the oddsmakers opinion of a team. Case in point: What if FSU QB Christian Ponder's pass to sophomore Jarmon Fortson had been caught instead of dropped, resulting in a Seminole win over Miami in Week 1 of the season? Now granted, that’s one pretty big play, but I do wonder if Fortson had caught the ball would Miami still be a 4.5 point favorite over Georgia Tech this Thursday night?

Something in my gut tells me a 0-1 Hurricanes team would be favored by 3 instead of 4.5. I guess we’ll never know but it is good food for thought as we start to size up this Thursday night’s game. For the second straight week we are in ACC land and once again get the opportunity to check out the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Jacory Harris had a breakout game against Florida State on Labor Day. (AP Images)

Last week Tech sprinted to a 21-0 lead over Clemson, thanks largely to a couple special teams plays, only to watch the Tigers come all the way back to tie the game and even take the lead. In the end however, QB Josh Nesbitt made a couple of timely throws to get Tech into field goal range and the Ramblin’ Wreck won 30-27. As always with Paul Johnson teams, the ground game was a big part of the win, evidenced by their 300 yards rushing against Clemson, which was the fifth straight regular-season game they eclipsed that mark.

A win is always great but head coach Paul Johnson will surely be looking at plenty of tape to try and patch up some holes that Clemson found in the Georgia Tech defense. Clemson redshirt freshman QB Kyle Parker, making only his second college start, threw for 261 yards and three touchdowns last Thursday. You can be sure that somewhere in South Florida, Hurricanes quarterback Jacory Harris was watching. Watching and smiling I would guess.

Miami is buzzing again about the ‘Canes and Harris is a big reason why. The sophomore signal caller was making only his third career start, and he shredded Florida State for 386 yards and two TDs and showed great ability to escape pressure (one sack). Harris spread the ball around to eight different receivers with WRs Travis Benjamin and Leonard Hankerson leading the way.

Of course, while Johnson and his staff will be busy getting his defense ready, you can bet that Miami coach Randy Shannon will be doing plenty of the same. Miami certainly remembers the 2008 meeting between these two programs when the Yellow Jackets ran for 472 yards en route to a 41-23 victory.

And that likely tells the whole story of this game. As everyone knows by now, Georgia Tech has a powerful ground game with quarterback Josh Nesbitt and running backs Jonathan Dwyer and Anthony Allen, a transfer from Louisville who flashed some serious speed with an 82-yard scoring run against Clemson. If Miami can make adjustments to stop the Yellow Jackets on the ground, the Hurricanes will likely win this game and head into next week’s monster showdown against Virginia Tech riding high.

On the other side, Miami has now proven they have a multi-faceted passing attack that must be respected. If the Georgia Tech defense can get effective pressure on Harris and cause the Hurricanes passing attack to falter, the Jackets could escape South Florida with a win.

So in a game that is seemingly all about offense, it will really be up to the defenses to decide the outcome.

Two key players for Georgia Tech will be:

DE Derrick Morgan: The junior has five sacks in two games so far in 2009. Miami will likely double team Morgan but he will have to find a way to put pressure on Harris in order to get the QB out of rhythm.

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QB Josh Nesbitt: Everyone knows Nesbit can run the triple option. But everyone is also finding out that Nesbitt has a hard time burning defenses with his arm. The junior was just 3-of-14 for 83 yards with two interceptions against Clemson. If Miami loads the box to take away the run – and wouldn’t that make sense? – Nesbitt will have to prove capable of throwing the ball down the field or it will be a long night for Tech.

Two key players for Miami will be:

RB Graig Cooper: Miami RB Javarris James gets more pub – mainly because he is Edgerrin’s cousin – but make no mistake, Cooper is the most valuable back for Miami. The junior doesn’t always put up huge rushing totals – he only had 31 yards on the ground against FSU – but he catches a lot of balls out of the backfield and is a special teams terror – returning five kickoffs for 177 yards against the Noles.

LBs Colin McCarthy, Sean Spence & Darryl Sharpton: This group was burned in 2008 by the Georgia Tech rushing attack and all eyes will be on them this time around to see if they have learned how to defend the triple option attack. It’s no exaggeration that these three players will have more to do with the outcome of this game than anyone wearing a “U” on their helmet.

Georgia Tech vs. Miami Thursday Night Factoids