Great House of Picks: ACC Championship

Florida State and Georgia Tech are scheduled to play in the ACC championship Game.

Are we ready to play a game ?

Once again, it seems like there is more conversation centering around Jameis Winston‘s continued legal problems or how the Seminoles keep falling in the rankings, the playoff rankings and now the AP rankings. Those conversations will come to a stop and for three and a half hours the nation will watch and see if the Seminoles can squeak by once again.

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson has the right words down though. In a recent interview, he stated: “I see a really good football team that knows how to win,” Johnson said. “Winning is hard. They’ve won 28 consecutive games. That’s really hard to believe in this day and age. however, he also knows that his team is on a roll. Georgia Tech has won five in a row, including a 28-6 victory against then-No. 18 Clemson and a 30-24 overtime win against then-No. 8 Georgia in the regular-season finale.

Let us take a look at the stars of the game.

Florida State

QB – Jameis Winston. His numbers this year are not as impressive as they were last year. However, he brings name recognition and excitement to the field. He has completed 65% of his passes and he has thrown for 3,250 yards, but he has thrown 17 INT’s while only throwing 21 TD’s. those numbers are no where near the best in college football.

Photo Location: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis-dodd/24559814/jimbo-no-football-suspension-for-jameis-from-crab-legs-incident

RB’s: Dalvin Cook and Karlos Williams. Williams has carried the ball more, 138 carries to Cook’s 124. However, Cook has put up more yards (728-609). In recent games, Cook has really stepped up, including a 144 yard performance on 24 carries against Florida last week.

photo location: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2189888-citadel-vs-florida-state-game-grades-analysis-for-the-seminoles

WR: Rashad Greene is by far Winston’s go to guy. Greene has 86 receptions for 1,183 yards. He has the big play potential that can turn the game around in a heart beat. Some argue that he is the best WR to ever put on a Seminole uniform.

Photo Link: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2179359-florida-state-football-rashad-greene-could-be-noles-best-wr-of-all-time

Georgia Tech

GT (10-2) may be the most silent #11 team of all time. There seems to be very little conversation surrounding them. They had back to back loses in October to Duke (by 6 points) and north Carolina (5 points). However, since then, they have won five games in a row and they are averaging 41 points a game on offense.

If you ask the casual sports fan to name their key players; you would probably get a blank stare. In simple terms, they are a three headed monster. The three headed monster is not uncommon at GT. They love to run the ball. They use their QB and two running backs to do the damage. They spread it out fairly evenly. Here are the numbers. Keep in mind that Zack Laskey only played in nine games, not twelve.

QB – Justin Thomas – 165 carries for 861 yards and 5 TD’s

RB – Zach Laskey – 150 carries for 748 yards and 8 TD’s

RB – Synjyn Days – 117 carries for 686 yards and 3 TD’s

Thomas does not throw the ball many times. He has only thrown the ball 161 times. When he throws the ball, he is not very accurate either. He has only completed 50% of his passes. However, he does not make costly mistakes. He has only thrown 4 INT’s while throwing for 16 TD’s, so when it comes to the TD/INT ratio, he does a great job. When he does throw the ball, the ball goes to DeAndre Smelter. Smelter has 35 receptions for 715 yards and 7 TD’s. Thomas will be the deciding factor in GT’s success. If he continues to not make bad decisions resulting in INT’s and he correctly reads the defense – when to run and when to hand/pitch off – they will make the game very interesting. We can call Thomas, the most unknown quarterback playing in the championship games this weekend.

Photo Location: http://theatlantavoice.com/news/2014/aug/29/justin-thomas-takes-over-qb-georgia-tech/

The Prediction: GT defense shows up like it did against Clemson. It held Clemson to 190 yards. They rattle Winston “just enough”. The GT three headed monster racks up big yards and eats up the clock. The Seminoles streak comes to an end and GT walks away ACC champs with a 23-21 win.

Feature picture link: http://www.ticketmaster.com/ACC-Football-Championship-tickets/artist/1760761

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