The Clemson Tigers and Georgia Tech are both back in the national picture ranked in the Top 25 and vying for a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. The matchup between the two teams on Saturday will play a major factor in who gets to continue as the top in their conference and who risks falling again unranked. The afternoon game features a top run game against a top run defense which could make for a win in the trenches.
Georgia Tech has the second-best rushing attack in the nation while Clemson has the second best defensive unit, ranking No. 4 against the rush. The Yellow Jackets average 335.6 yards on the ground per game. The Tigers are only giving up 90.9 yards per game. Tech will get back Zach Laskey who has been out three games with a shoulder injury while Synjyn Days will split the carries. Days has been dominating in place of Laskey. Last week he put up 157 yards and a touchdown against North Carolina State. It was his third-straight 100-yard game. The two running backs are key in third-down situations. Georgia Tech has converted 70 of their 118 third-down players. However, Clemson's defense is only allowing first downs on 23.2 percent of third-down plays.
Georgia Tech is also getting help from their quarterbacks in the ground game. Justin Thomas leads the team with 781 rushing yards with 14 touchdown passes. Backup Tim Byerly has seven rushing touchdowns. Thomas will get the nod at quarterback with his 50.0 completion percentage and just four interceptions on the year.
Clemson will get back a healthy Deshaun Watson who has missed three games with a broken hand. The Tigers have been succeeding with Cole Stoudt under center as Clemson is putting up 22 points per game, but Watson had the team averaging 40 points per game with 15 touchdowns. The defense will be the big key for Clemson in this game as they have to stop the Georgia Tech rushing attack or else it will be a long game.