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The game between South Carolina State and Georgia Tech should be a non-event by all conventional thinking, but neither of these teams is conventional and both have big chunks of offense gone from last season.

South Carolina State returns, coming off a very successful 10-2 season in which they won the Sports Business News Black College National Championship. They were conference champions and undefeated in the Mid-East Athletic Conference (MEAC), and they racked up 2502 passing yards, mostly on the arm of Malcolm Long (64.5%), whom they lost at the end of the 2009 season, and the receiving of OliverTre Young, who is also gone now.  In their rushing attack, SC State amassed 1776 yards, thanks primarily to William Ford, who delivered 1032 of those yards at 5.3 yds/carry.  But now Ford has gone down the highway as well. 

Georgia Tech comes into 2010 as the reigning ACC champion, having amassed an 11-3 record (7-1 ACC, 2-1 SEC). They are led by the most underappreciated superstar in the country, quarterback Joshua Nesbitt, who enters his final season of eligibility with a résumé of 1701 yards passing, (10.5 yds/att, 46.3%) and 1037 yards rushing (3.7 yds/carry). Gone are gamemakers Jonathon Dwyer and Demaryius Thomas on offense. Perhaps worse, NFL draftees Morgan Burnett and Derrick Morgan have left a defense that already had more holes in it than a pair of pantyhose after a walk through a blackberry patch.

The only real way to look at the possible outcome of a game like this is to note that South Carolina State’s only losses came from FBS opponent South Carolina and FCS Southern Conference champion Appalachian State last year.  The South Carolina game actually appeared to be close for a short time, and it wasn’t until the end of the second half that the Gamecocks went 10 up on the feisty little sandlapper puppies.

In that sense, one has to realize that Spurrier has a hefty aerial orientation, but the SC State defense will be dealing in the 2010 opening game with a team that is much more down to earth. In fact, the ground game defines the spread option offense of Georgia Tech.

What to look for – Georgia Tech:

Look for the 3-4. Last year the offense alone kept Georgia Tech in some very critical games. They simply overwhelmed Florida State, Clemson (twice), a very stubborn Wake Forest team, and the #5 Virginia Tech Hokies. The defense almost gave up these games several times. In fact, the defense allowed the two winning touchdowns that gave Iowa their Orange Bowl margin of victory in January on non-existent pass defense in the first quarter. Iowa got a third touchdown from the Tech defense’s patented 2009 “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” coverage scheme at the end of the fourth quarter.  With Dave Wommack gone, Tech turns to former UVA coach and former Bill Parcells assistant Al Groh for defensive salvation. The Jackets’ practices see passes less often than the Iranian Navy has women serving bacon on submarines, and this has been a huge weakness. If SC State can make hay with the pass against this team, it will be a losing season for the Jackets.

On offense, look for Nesbitt. He has had ankle injury problems and is returning from off-season surgery. If he is healthy, expect 4 – 5 infantry touchdowns in this game. If he goes down in this game, it’s pretty much over for the Jackets this year. 

Also look for the introduction of Anthony “Ant” Allen (618 yards, 9.7 yds/carry; 112 receiving yards, 22.4 yds/reception) at B-back to replace Jonathon Dwyer.  The University of Louisville transfer showed flashes of brilliance as a corner pitch taker at A back last year, but his size and strength look good for the B back position, at least on paper. Finally, look for which receiver, if any, can step out of the huge shadow left by Demaryius Thomas. Bebe made the Georgia Tech passing game one of the deadliest in the country last year, and it is not at all clear that any such level of talent exists on this year’s team.

What to look for – South Carolina State:

Is anyone home on offense? The Bulldogs start inexperienced at both the quarterback and running back positions, and the key receiver is gone as well.

The most experience they have at quarterback is redshirt sophomore Derrick Wiley (55%, 106 yards; 224 yards rushing, 4.5 yds/carry).  Neither redshirt freshman Richard Cue nor true freshman TeDarrius Wiley (brother of Derrick) has taken an NCAA snap yet.

The only experienced running back on this team is senior Chris Massey (16 yards, 5.3 yds/carry). The other four running backs have a total of 21 total NCAA yards among them.   

The SC State receiving corps includes redshirt freshman TE Dewain Clark (83 yds., 10.3 yds/recpt) and redshirt senior WR Richard Christie (241 yards, 10 yds/recpt).

Of the other receivers / running backs used as receivers on the SC State team, there is a combined 42 yards of offense among them.

Obviously, the scoring potential of this team should be questionable against most upper level FBS teams, but they are facing Georgia Tech. Who knows what could happen?

On defense, this is a team that last year allowed 1179 yards on rushing and 1880 on passing. They are facing a Georgia Tech team that got 3993 rushing yards and 1762 passing yards. Recall that over 1000 of those rush yards were from Nesbitt alone, and almost all of the passing yards were his. 

On paper this should get ugly. In real life, it’s a new season with lots of changes on both teams.  Expect some frustration, but if you’re looking for jubilation at the end, it’s all golden.

Final score: Georgia Tech 37  SC State 13