By Derek DeBurger and Meghanne Schrieber

The Louisville Cardinals brace for a highly anticipated ACC matchup game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, marking their first power-four opponent of the season.

Exceeding expectations

The Yellow Jackets kicked off their season strong with a 24-21 win against then No. 10 Florida State. Their unexpected victory propelled them as high as No. 23 in the AP top-25.

The Jackets stumbled against Syracuse, but bounced back in a major way against VMI, winning 59-7.

The Yellow Jackets put up an extensive 572 yards against the Keydets, with quarterback Haynes King having 275 yards in just one half of play.

The Yellow Jackets offense has been on fire all year, averaging 480 yards behind one of the best offensive lines in the country. Jamal Haynes has been the bell cow for the Jackets, but King and several other are just as impactful in the Georgia Tech running game.

While the Yellow Jackets prefer to run their opponents into submission, they are perfectly capable of throwing the ball at a high clip. King has a 76.4 completion percentage on the year with 962 passing yards, as well. Top target Malik Rutherford is second in the ACC with 285 receiving yards on the season.

Louisville has one of the better secondaries in the ACC, led by shutdown-corner Quincy Riley. Look for Riley to stick to Rutherford in an attempt to slow down the passing game of Tech.

Louisville has the 25th ranked rushing defense–a good mark, but maybe something of a concern compared to the top-10 passing and overall defensive numbers. Look to see how effective players like Ashton Gillotte and Tramel Logan are in getting to the backfield while still remaining disciplined in scramble drills.

Tech’s weak link

The Yellow Jacket’s had a solid defensive outing against VMI, only allowing 104 total yards. Outside of what was clearly their best defensive performance of the season, the Yellow Jackets are giving up 388.67 yards per game.

Against Syracuse, Tech gave up 515 yards of total offense including 381 yards and four touchdowns through the air. The Yellow Jackets have also failed to record a defensive interception this season, making them one of only nine FBS teams that have yet to do so.

Georgia Tech will absolutely be a step up in competition, but if Tyler Shough plays anything like the first two games of the season look for a big game from the seventh-year senior.

The Cardinals do have the home field advantage, but the Yellow Jackets are 5-0 against ranked teams under Brent Key. This should prove to be an exciting, high scoring game. Who wins? It could come down to whoever has the ball last.

Photo by Vinny Porco