After a tumultuous but highly successful season, Vanderbilt Football is gearing up for its first postseason appearance since 2018 in the Birmingham Bowl. The Commodores’ opponent — Georgia Tech — is a similarly built program that has also had a chaotic year. The Yellow Jackets had a wild ride this season featuring a shocking 21-6 loss to Virginia Tech, a thrilling 28-23 upset win against then-No.4 Miami and a 44-42 loss in eight overtimes against the No. 2 SEC champion Georgia.
Georgia Tech’s defense, much like Vanderbilt’s, has taken fans on a roller-coaster ride of emotions this year. The Yellow Jackets’ defense yields an average of 24.33 points per game, which ranks just 65th nationally. They have looked both dominant and hapless at times, and there is no better example of this than in their two most impressive team performances this season — against Miami and at Georgia.
Georgia Tech impressively raced out to a double-digit lead in the first half of both games. Then, in the second frame, the Yellow Jackets’ defense suddenly collapsed, allowing both Georgia and Miami back into the game. This peculiar pattern can be directly tied to one trend — a defense that’s stout against the run but has no answers for opposing teams’ passing attacks. Learn more about Georgia Tech’s imposing rushing defense (led by a unique star) and often-toothless passing defense that struggles to create big plays.
A stingy run defense led by a throwback linebacker
Georgia Tech’s defense is built around stopping the running game, which it is very adept at — it ranks top-30 nationally in rush yards allowed per game. This is largely due to star linebacker Kyle Efford, a physical force to be reckoned with who leads the team with 64 tackles. Efford wears an old-school neck roll akin to linebackers in the 1980s, completing his physical style with a throwback look.
No. 44 Efford and the rest of the Yellow Jackets’ run defense have been at the forefront of all defensive success in Atlanta. Miami averaged merely 3.7 yards per carry for 88 yards while Georgia fared barely better with an average of 4.2 yards per carry and 108 rushing yards. On the season, defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci’s defense held opponents to 120 rushing yards per game, which ranked 5th in the ACC.
The Yellow Jackets especially thrived in short-yardage situations on third and fourth down, as Efford’s physicality and pure grit generated momentum-shifting stops. They produced six stops on third and fourth downs against Georgia and Miami alone. Enjoy some old-fashioned football and keep an eye out for No. 44.
A leaky pass defense
Teams tend to throw the ball more against the Yellow Jackets, which is to be expected given their elite rushing defense. Unfortunately for them, this is not a good thing — their pass defense is highly suspect and rarely creates big plays. Georgia Tech ranks 82nd in passing yards allowed per game in the FBS while allowing numerous explosive plays. It ranks a measly 117th in turnovers and 118th in sacks. Tennessee transfer Warren Burrell leads the team’s defensive backs with four pass deflections, but besides him, the Yellow Jackets’ secondary has sorely lacked consistent playmakers. Ever-present Efford leads the team in sacks but has registered merely three, a minuscule total for a team’s leader.
While the Yellow Jackets’ rushing defense allowed them to open up sizable leads against Miami and Georgia, their subpar passing defense gave Miami and Georgia lifelines back into the game. Against Miami, the Yellow Jackets attempted to run man coverage consistently and got burned badly. Heisman finalist Cam Ward threw for 348 yards and 3 touchdowns despite minimal production in the first half. Georgia Tech’s defensive backs do not have top-end speed, so Miami’s wide receivers created consistent separation. Against Georgia, the Yellow Jackets mixed in more zone coverage with similarly poor results. Their defensive line was unable to put any pressure on quarterback Carson Beck, giving him time to pick apart zones with ease. He finished the game with 297 yards and five touchdowns while throwing for four touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone.
How does Vanderbilt match up?
Vanderbilt’s offense is a direct clash with Georgia Tech’s defense, as the Commodores are at their best when they can consistently churn out solid gains on the ground. The Commodores only average 180 passing yards per game, which is a lowly 116th nationally — and second-to-last in the SEC. Even in Vanderbilt’s high-scoring 40-35 upset win over then-No. 1 Alabama, the Commodores ran the ball 53 times while only throwing it 20 times. When running back Sedrick Alexander and quarterback Diego Pavia keep Vanderbilt’s offense ahead of the chains, offensive coordinator Tim Beck can dig deep into his bag of offensive tricks. However, when Vanderbilt is constantly faced with 2nd-and-long and 3rd-and-long, its offense falters significantly. The Commodores simply are not built around a traditional drop-back passing attack.
As tempting as it might be for Vanderbilt to go pass-heavy against Georgia Tech’s suspect secondary, it likely wouldn’t yield the same results as it did for the Hurricanes and Bulldogs. The Commodores lack the personnel and scheme for an Air Raid-style offense, a reality they’ve demonstrated repeatedly this season.
Similarly, continuously running the ball straight into the tooth of Efford and the Yellow Jackets’ formidable front seven will likely not yield the success necessary to win. Instead, Vanderbilt needs to get creative with motions and misdirections to create unexpected gaps in the running game. Pavia is always a threat to run the ball, and by incorporating concepts such as jet sweeps and bootlegs, Beck will force the Yellow Jackets to account for the outer edges of their defense. This will spread them out and create holes accordingly for Alexander and Pavia up the middle. If the Commodores establish their running game, their passing attack will open up. This formula has worked for Vanderbilt all season and will once again be the winning mixture against Georgia Tech.
Vanderbilt is seeking its first bowl win since 2013 as it faces Georgia Tech at 3:30 p.m. CST on Dec. 27 at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama.
