Three things to know about Notre Dame’s Week 12 opponent, Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech has two shots at taking down top-10 teams as it plays out the final two weeks of a difficult season.
The Yellow Jackets are 3-7, have lost four straight and keep finding themselves on the wrong end of tense outcomes. Four of those seven losses are one-score games. Last week’s 41-30 loss to Boston College ended as a two-score margin, but Georgia Tech started a possession on its own 33-yard line, down 38-30 with 2:43 left and a chance to tie. The drive went backward and lost 15 yards.
No. 8 Notre Dame (9-1) hosts Georgia Tech in South Bend on Saturday (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC) for the first time since 2015. Here are three things to know about the Yellow Jackets.
1. A dual-threat running back
Running back Jahmyr Gibbs remains the highest-ranked recruit to choose Georgia Tech since head coach Geoff Collins took over in December 2018.
His impact has matched the billing.
Gibbs, Rivals’ No. 70 overall player in the 2020 class, was Georgia Tech’s second-leading rusher as a freshman last year. Now in his second year, he’s arguably the ACC’s best all-around back and one of college football’s most dangerous big-play threats. He ranks second nationally with 1,680 all-purpose yards. He and Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams are the only Football Bowl Subdivision players with three plays of 70 yards or more.
“I think they have the player of the year in the ACC in Jahmyr Gibbs,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. “He has 200 yards of total offense in a number of games. He’s a weapon.”
Gibbs has rushed 129 times for 687 yards (5.3 yards per carry), caught 35 passes for 474 yards (both team highs) and returned 20 kicks for 519 yards (26.0 yards per return). His 13.5 yards per catch leads all FBS running backs with at least 20 receptions. He returned a kick 98 yards for a touchdown last week.
Notre Dame has seen Gibbs before. He was one of the Yellow Jackets’ bright spots in a 31‑13 home loss to the Irish last season, with 61 yards on 14 rushing attempts and 49 yards on five receptions.
2. Another struggling defense
Another week, another porous defense on Notre Dame’s second-half schedule.
Georgia Tech ranks 111th nationally in yards per play allowed (6.26) and 93rd in scoring (30.2 points per game). It is allowing opponents to convert 45.7 percent of their third downs, which ranks 118th. It has surrendered five plays of at least 60 yards, tied for the fifth-most nationally.
Pass defense has been the consistent sore spot. Opposing quarterbacks are averaging 9.4 yards per attempt versus the Yellow Jackets defense (125th nationally) and completing 64.7 percent of their passes (104th), with 22 touchdowns (110th) and three interceptions (tied for third fewest). Georgia Tech ranks 126th in opponent passer rating (166.78) and has allowed 45 completions of 20 or more yards (tied for 125th).
The Yellow Jackets have faced three of the country’s best passers and offered minimal resistance against two of them.
Virginia’s Brennan Armstrong and Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett combined for 785 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions, with a 65.8 completion percentage, in their respective teams’ victories over Georgia Tech. Even though the Yellow Jackets held North Carolina to 22 points in a 45-22 win Sept. 25, Tar Heels quarterback Sam Howell threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns in defeat. Eight sacks were his undoing.
3. An old friend
Notre Dame faced a former player in three of its first four games this year — Florida State guard Dillan Gibbons, Toledo linebacker Jonathan Jones and Cincinnati wide receiver Michael Young Jr. All are starters for their respective teams and were active when they played against their old squad.
Georgia Tech has the last ex-Irish player on the schedule, safety Derrik Allen. Of the four former Golden Domers on Notre Dame’s 2021 slate, he was the highest-profile recruit and the only one to depart as an undergraduate transfer. Allen, an Atlanta-area native, was the No. 135 overall player in the 2018 class and the fifth-highest ranked recruit in Notre Dame’s 2018 haul.
He left the program in August 2019, though, after a freshman season in which he did not see the field. He transferred to Georgia Tech a few days later and sat out the 2019 season. Two years later, he’s still waiting for a breakthrough. Allen has played 118 defensive snaps in nine games, with one start. He has four tackles this year.
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