FSU football: Top 3 reasons Noles will defeat Georgia Tech in 2020 opener

Field Position

The advantage the Noles will have in this game will be with its defensive line. The Georgia Tech offensive line allowed sack a sack or QB hurry on 22 percent of its passing attempts in 2019.

The Georgia Tech defense was able to force a tackle for loss on just seven percent of its total plays last season and only had a sack or QB hurry on 10.5 percent of its opponents passes.

Georgia Tech’s defense allowed 4.79 yards per carry and 5.83 ypp overall compared to FSU, allowing 3.58 yards per carry and 5.31 ypp overall.

In a nutshell, FSU should be able to move the ball on offense better than Georgia Tech will be able to against FSU’s defense.

Ultimately, that will result in more opportunities for the FSU offense to start their possessions with better field position, which means a higher probability of scoring points.

I should also mention this FSU defense from last year was not coordinated well at all, while still being stout in the red zone.

This year’s defense should feature the latter while being better coordinated. I wouldn’t expect FSU to set the world on fire even though Georgia Tech defense isn’t going to be great.

The missed practice time will likely show, but ultimately, I think Mike Norvell will have them prepared enough to make things happen on offense with the opportunities they’ll have.