PLAYERS TO WATCH
–RB DeeJay Dallas showed his explosiveness in the loss to Duke with an 83-yard run that was the sixth longest in program history. He finished the rainy night rushing for 124 yards, giving him 547 for the season, No. 2 behind Trevor Homer’s 702.
–WR Jeff Thomas has been bottled up recently after displaying big-play capability early in the season. He has only 51 yards on 9 receptions over the last three games, all losses. Earlier this year he had 132 yards on five receptions against LSU and 105 on five catches against Toledo.
–DEs Joe Jackson and Jonathan Garvin will have key roles against Georgia Tech’s triple-option offense. Jackson 36 tackles with 9.5 for losses and Garvin 44 with 14.5 for losses. Both were in reserve roles last year against Georgia Tech with Jackson credited with two tackles and Garvin none.
–S Jaquan Johnson tied LB Shaq Quarterback for the team high in tackles with eight in last year’s win over Georgia Tech. Johnson is the team leader again this season with 61 stops despite missing two games to injury. Though he is needed on run support, he can’t complete ignore the threat the Yellow Jackets pose with the occasional deep pass.
SERIES HISTORY: Miami leads the series with Georgia Tech 12-11. Miami won the last meeting 25-24 in 2017.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “You’ve got to have super, great eye discipline in the back end, too, because it’s going to be run, run run, run, run run, run, run, run, then fake run and launch it.” — Coach Mark Richt, on the need for the defensive backs to be aware of the deep threat while also providing run support against Georgia Tech’s ground-oriented triple-option offense.
