Florida State Favored At Home By 3 Over No. 22 Georgia Tech

NFL News - October 9th, 2009 - Written by Scott

How Florida State responds to all of the turmoil surrounding head coach Bobby Bowden's future will be interesting to see as the Seminoles host No. 22 Georgia Tech on Saturday night. The chairman for the board of trustees for FSU has stated that this should be Bowden's last year and this has caught national attention, along with rumors surrounding a coaching staff in disarray. The Seminoles will look to snap their two game losing streak and 0-2 start in ACC play against the Yellow Jackets. After mounting a great comeback against Boston College last week, the Seminoles came up short and lost 28-21. Georgia Tech (4-1, 2-1) is coming off their 42-31 win over Mississippi State. The Yellow Jackets defeated the Seminoles 31-28 last year.

The Florida State Seminoles have shown the ability to move the ball all season and are averaging 405 yards per game. The problem for the Seminoles has been dropped passes and turnovers. Quarterback Christian Ponder has been the most consistent player on offense and has thrown for 1,423 yards and 4 touchdowns with only 1 pick. They have not produced on the ground and rank 90th in the nation in rushing yards per game. Ty Jones is their leading rusher with 228 yards and 4 touchdowns. They have a talented group of receivers with 6 having over 100 yards receiving. Richard Goodman and Bert Reed lead this group with 650 combined receiving yards.

The defense for Florida State is not living up to their performances in years past. They are ranked last nationally in past defense. Fortunately for the Seminoles, the Yellow Jackets are a run-oriented team. FSU must be able to stop their triple option attack in order to win this game.

Georgia Tech's offense lives and breathes by their ground game. They are ranked 6th in the nation in rushing yards per game. Jonathan Dwyer, quarterback Josh Nesbitt, and Anthony Allen have combined for 999 yards and 9 touchdowns. Nesbitt has also thrown for 712 yards and 3 touchdowns. His favorite receiver has been Demaryius Thomas. Thomas has 536 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns this year.

The Yellow Jackets are coming off of a poor defensive performance last week where they allowed 487 yards of offense against Mississippi State. Inexperience on the line and at linebacker have hurt them this year. They have not defended the pass particularly well this season and will need to improve, as Florida State has shown they can move the ball through the air.

Florida State will be favored at home by 3 over Georgia Tech. The over/under is set at 53 1/2 accordin to BoDog Sportsbook.

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