Virginia meets Georgia Tech for the second straight time at home in 2021. The two teams did not meet last year. In 2019, UVa won a close game in Charlottesville. In fact, the past three games between these two schools have been decided by single digits. And they've played in a bunch of other classics as well -- two of which I've been to in 1999 and 2001, and 2011 was pretty fun as well. There was also a 1990 game that a lot of 'Hoos fans would rather just forget.
When: Oct. 23, Time TBA Where: Charlottesville
Series record: Georgia Tech leads, 21-20-1
Last meeting: Nov. 9, 2019; UVa won, 33-28 Streak: One for UVa
Last year's record: 3-7, 3-6 ACC
Best win: vs. Louisville, 46-27
Worst loss: at Syracuse, 37-20; this was Syracuse’s only victory in 2020
Coach: Geoff Collins (third year, 6-16, 21-26 career)
Starters returning: 13 (6 offense, 6 defense, 1 specialist)
Offensive player to watch: QB Jeff Sims. As a four-star true freshman, Sims completed 55% of his passes for 1,881 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He also led the team in rushing (barely) with 492 yards and six scores. Another true freshman, Jahmyr Gibbs, had 460 yards and four TDs.
Defensive player to watch: DE Jordan Domineck. Only a sophomore going into this season, as a freshman in 2020, Domineck started four games and appeared in nine, racking up 35 tackles, 8.5 for losses, a team-leading four sacks, and also one breakup, two QB hurries, and three forced fumbles.
Special teams player to watch: KR Jahmyr Gibbs. Gibbs averaged 25.6 yards per kick return last season on eight attempts, which looks like would have placed him second in the conference behind Virginia Tech's Khalil Herbert, had Gibbs had enough returns to qualify.
Fun fact: Does any team in the nation have a rougher two-game stretch to close its regular season than Georgia Tech? The Yellow Jackets travel to Notre Dame and then host Georgia. Goodness. If Collins is going to get Tech back to its first bowl game since 2018, he may want to make sure the Jackets are 6-4 before those final two contests.
Fun fact: Does any team in the nation have a rougher two-game stretch to close its regular season than Georgia Tech? The Yellow Jackets travel to Notre Dame and then host Georgia. Goodness. If Collins is going to get Tech back to its first bowl game since 2018, he may want to make sure the Jackets are 6-4 before those final two contests.
Season prediction: Georgia Tech has been picked to finish sixth in the Coastal Division.
Early game thoughts: Georgia Tech is a pretty tough team to figure out this season. Collins is still a pretty new head coach. He went 7-6 and then 8-4 in two seasons at Temple before coming to Atlanta. He's a defense-first guy but has had to help remake the Georgia Tech offense, which previously ran the triple option under Paul Johnson. This is not an easy feat to pull off. It's even harder when your first full offseason and second regular season is turned upside down by COVID. So Collins needs to be given more time to rebuild the Yellow Jackets. They could make strides this season, but it'll probably still be pretty tough, with Clemson, North Carolina, Miami, Notre Dame, and Georgia all on the schedule, not to mention Boston College, Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Virginia Tech, which could all be varying levels of pretty good. Yikes. Tech could be a much better team but still not make a bowl game. This is a game in Charlottesville that Virginia needs to have. But the 'Hoos have to be ready for a scrappy bunch -- Georgia Tech will be circling this game as one of the more winnable contests on its schedule. And in Collins' first season in 2019, Georgia Tech gave UVa all it wanted in a 33-28 Virginia win.
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