1) The only thing worse than your line play is your passing game. Given that State's defense has essentially shut down the run against every opponent this year (except for that one time, on the plains, against auburn), how do you think your triple-spread-option-with-nuts-and-a-cherry-on-top offense will do against a Mississippi State D that is playing very well right now.
We don't wanna crap too hard on your Bulldogs but last year we put up 438 rushing yards on Croom's vaunted D. Your defense in the other 11 games gave up an average of only 124 yards rushing. This year, leading up to our game, your defense is giving up a comparable 128 rushing yards per game. Your defense shouldn't pose an issue. CPJ's offense disposed of the #1 rush defense in the nation (UNC) this past weekend and everyone else we've played thus far. Miami contained us through our own poor execution. When the blocking lands home we run successfully, but you already knew that.
2) Obviously the Ramblin' Reck couldn't cut it in the SEC. How does it feel to play in a cut-rate conference that garners little-to-no national respect?
First, GT won 5 SEC titles from 1933-1963. MSU has won only one conference title since 1933. We spotted you 46 years and you're still light years behind us. At MSU's current rate of capturing SEC titles, you'll catch Tech in 2313! Good luck.
Second, GT didn't leave the SEC because we couldn't handle it. Tech had a respectable conference record of 97-67-9 during Tech's SEC run. Tech left because of SEC members' poor player treatment and issues between Bobby Dodd and the Bear.
Finally, seeing as we won as many SEC games last year as MSU despite playing only 3 SEC games, I think we'd be alright if our programs switched places (just for a season to teach the SEC a thing or two about running the football). Need we remind you the ACC won 6 out of 10 regular season games last year against the SEC? The ACC should be favored in 4 out of the next 5 ACC-SEC match-ups thanks largely in part to the coaching prowess of CPJ, as well. We're not going to sit here and defend the bottom of the ACC. Every team in the conference needs to man up, start winning big in their OOC games and during bowl season. That is the bottom line.
This is when we would post a funny picture of a Mississippi State fan as a retort, but apparently photography has yet to reach the state of Mississippi, along with condoms, dentists, and the fact that the Civil War has been over for at least a century.
4. Give us a run-down of the strong points of your team (aside from the running game).
The return of Jerrard Tarrant has finally given us a weapon for punt returns. Jerrard is fast and has the vision needed to be an all-ACC caliber punt returner. Our secondary, while still somewhat shaky, is led by Morgan Burnett who is currently 3 interceptions short of the Georgia Tech career record. Throw against #1 if you dare.
5. Georgia Tech is sitting at 3-1 right now with games against Florida State, Virginia Tech, and the season closer against Georgia. What were the expectations of the team coming in to this season and does it look like the team will meet or exceed them?
Expectations were all across the board leading up to the season. Winfield in preseason said he expected an 8 win season but even he got caught up with the GT Kool-Aid and predicted closer to 10 wins before our Miami debacle (Dane predicted a respectable 9 or 10 win season in a podcast with Team Speed Kills). The biggest problem with Tech fans is that we let our hopes dry up way too easily. Realistic expectations should be set at somewhere between 7 and 8 games simply because the personnel isn't quite there yet and the schedule is relatively tough with three top 25 worthy teams and eight 2008 bowl teams on the schedule.
6. Tell me how many points you are going to lose by this weekend.
Negative 17. To those who didn't attend Tech or have taken advanced engineering coursework at Mississippi State, that means we predict a GT win.