2006 Georgia Tech Football Picks & Predictions

For our college football predictions we see this 2006 Georgia Tech football team has plenty of experience on offense with Senior QB Reggie Ball, 4 returning offensive lineman and All-American wide receiver Calvin Johnson. They also return most of their defensive front 7 and they get their top NFL prospect, tackle Daryl Richard, back from an ACL injury this season. Wheeler and Hall will be solid linebackers, but the secondary appears to be the big question mark as the Jackets only return cornerback Kenny Scott out of last season’s 5 defensive backs. To make matters worse, their most likely candidate to start at strong safety went down with a season ending knee injury this past spring. Tech is hurting so bad in the secondary that they asked their number 2 receiver from last season, Pat Clark, to shift over to the defensive side of the ball to play nickel back or he could possibly end up starting at one of the corners.

Last season, when the Jackets’ defense came to play, they were as good as anybody in the nation as evidenced by their dominating performances against the Hurricanes and the Auburn Tigers, but in the Emerald Bowl, Tech gave up 38 points and nearly 400 passing yards. That could be a bad sign of things to come considering that the secondary will be the Yellow Jackets weak spot in 2006.

Georgia Tech did lead the ACC in turnover margin last season, largely because they picked off 21 passes (5 of those were in 1 game against Auburn) and because QB Reggie Ball took better care of the football. As a sophomore he averaged an interception once every 18 passes and last season he improved to throwing a pick just once every 32 passes. It will be important for Ball to continue to improve his pass efficiency and for the defense to continue to make big plays as Georgia Tech will depend on it to have the type of season they are planning on having this year.

Ultimately, the Jackets do have some holes in the secondary but a strong front 7 will make up for some of them. Expect Georgia Tech to be bowling for the 10th consecutive season. It won’t be an easy ride, but this team has the capabilities of pulling off some upsets. They’ll fall to Notre Dame in the opener as Quinn should have his way through the air, but they’ll have a shot at VA Tech, Clemson, and Georgia in the season closer.

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