Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Match Up Preview

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Notre Dame Fighting Irish open their 2006 football seasons in a battle between the two schools in front of a nationally televised audience, {ESPN on ABC} Saturday Sept. 2, at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta. Kick-off is set for 8 pm Eastern.

The Yellow Jackets are coming off a school record ninth consecutive bowl game and its ninth straight winning season, including wins over No. 15 Auburn and No.3 Miami in 2005.Coach Chan Gailey’s Yellow Jackets return 15 starters including three-year starting quarterback Reggie Ball and All-America wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

The Fighting Irish finished 2005 with a 9-3 record and a berth in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Head Coach Charlie Weis begins his second year in South Bend, leading a potent offense featuring Quarterback and Heisman Trophy hopeful Brady Quinn and wide receiver Jeff Samardzua and running back Darius Walker. Walker rushed for 1,196 yards and scored nine touchdowns with seven 100-yard games for the Irish in 2005.

Bet on Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech here.

The key to the Yellow Jackets having success will probably be to counter the powerful Irish offense from the defensive side of the ball. The GT defense, under coordinator Jon Tenuta, ended last season ranked No.13 in the nation against the run and in the top 25 nationally in total defense. Returning seniors linebacker KaMichael Hall, cornerback Kenny Scott and defensive tackle Joe Anoai headline this year’s defense.

This is the most hyped game coming into the new 2006 season. Commenting on the hype and how his players will deal with it Coach Gaily said,” Things that you can’t control you don’t spend a lot of time worrying about. We’ve got enough guys that have played in big ball game and understand what is going on. I am going to address it with some of the younger guys but I won’t do that until we get closer to the game. All the lead up is nothing, the game is what is important so you want to make sure that they try to control the emotions at game time.”

One thing is for sure and that is the Yellow Jackets have Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weiss full attention. During his Tuesday press conference coach Weiss expounded on the Yellow Jackets upset potential. “ You know, their return of 15 starters from last years team that went to their ninth straight bowl appearance. As a matter of fact, there are only six teams in the country that have played in nine straight bowl games. They happen to be one of them. One thing they do as we prepare for an opener, they’ve won six of their last seven opening games, including going into Auburn last year that was highly ranked, going in a beating them pretty good.” Weiss said.

Charlie Weiss should have room for concern but Notre Dame will win this game however  it will be close. Georgia Tech has a reputation for starting fast and fading later but Notre Dame has the weapons to come into Bobby Dodd stadium and pull out the win. After all, they are Notre Dame.

Predicted Score: Notre Dame 24 Georgia Tech 21