Colorado heads back to Bobby Dodd looking for revenge and a signature win for its new coordinators; Georgia Tech just wants its rushing attack to pick up right where it left off.
Georgia Tech hands the offense to Alberto Mendoza, the Indiana transfer who backed up his brother Fernando last season and posted a 99.4 Total QBR in a small sample of snaps. Colorado counters with sophomore Julian Lewis, the five-star recruit who started twice as a freshman and threw four touchdowns without an interception. Neither team really knows what it has yet, which is the whole point of an opener — but Georgia Tech gets to find out at home, behind a rushing attack that gouged this same Colorado defense a year ago.
+RB Justice Haynes ran 7.1 ypc, 10 TDs at Michigan
+ran for a big rushing day on Colorado's defense last meeting
+OC George Godsey returns, staff continuity under Brent Key
−lost record-setting QB Haynes King to the NFL
−new starter Mendoza has limited live-game snaps
−returns well under half of last year's production
Colorado spent the offseason overhauling nearly two-thirds of its roster and its coaching staff — Brennan Marion is in from Sacramento State to install his 'Go-Go' offense, and Chris Marve steps up to run the defense after Robert Livingston left for Denver. Georgia Tech is leaning on continuity instead: George Godsey is back calling plays, and Brent Key's staff hasn't turned over the way Boulder's has, even if the roster itself returns under half of last year's production. The oddsmakers noticed the gap early — Georgia Tech opened as a healthy home favorite and has stayed there.
None of that will matter much once the pads come on. Colorado dropped last year's meeting 27-20, and revenge is a nice storyline, but it means little if the Buffaloes can't fix the same run-defense problem that got them beat the first time. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, has to answer whether its offense travels at all without the school's record-setting passer, who's now throwing for an NFL roster instead of a Yellow Jackets one.
Justice Haynes is the name to know on the Tech side — the Michigan transfer ran for 857 yards at 7.1 yards a carry with 10 touchdowns last season, and he's stepping into an offense that already put up a big rushing day against this exact Colorado front. Colorado's counter is more scattershot by design: 66 new players and a fresh coordinator pairing means nobody outside Boulder has much film on how the pieces fit, for better or worse.
It's a Thursday-night opener in front of a national audience, with a legitimate SEC-to-ACC-to-Big-12 crossover feel to the matchup and both fan bases wanting proof their offseason bets were the right ones. Georgia Tech wants to show the run game survives Haynes King's exit; Colorado wants to show last year's 3-9 finish was rock bottom and not a preview. Only one of those stories gets validated by Thursday night.
