Two teams heading in decidedly opposite directions meet Saturday night at Vanderbilt Stadium in No. 11 Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. While the Yellow Jackets (7-1, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won five games in a row and sit on top of the Coastal division of the ACC, the Commodores (2-6, 0-5 Southeastern Conference) are stuck in the SEC East basement, still searching for a conference win.
Georgia Tech's triple option offense has been the key to their success, piling up an average of nearly 292 rushing yards a game this season and scoring over 35 points a game during the winning streak.
Vanderbilt has not put up more than 10 points in a conference game this season and has scored just 40 points total during its four-game losing streak.
The game will begin at 6:30 CDT and will be televised on College Sports South.
It's been awhile: The Commodores and Yellow Jackets have not battled on the field since Sept. 27, 2003, when Georgia Tech won 24-17 in overtime in Nashville to hand Vanderbilt the third of what would be eight consecutive losses that year.
Overall, the Yellow Jackets lead the all-time series just 18-15-3, but they've gone 10-0-1 against the Commodores in their last 11 match-ups.
Bobby and Paul: The head coaches of Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt have more in common than last names. Paul Johnson and Bobby Johnson have coached against each other eight times.
Both coached in the Southern Conference before moving into Division I, Paul with Navy and Bobby with Vanderbilt, beginning in 2002.
Paul owns a 6-2 record in the series.
2008 was a breakout season for both coaches. While Bobby Johnson took the Commodores to their first bowl victory in 53 years, Paul Johnson led the Yellow Jackets to a win over arch-rival Georgia for the first time in eight tries in his first year in Atlanta.
Click here to read a story detailing the relationship between Paul and Bobby.
Welch returns: Redshirt senior offensive tackle Thomas Welch will return to action this week after missing the game against South Carolina with a sprained ankle suffered on Oct. 17.
He practiced Wednesday and Thursday and feels ready to go. Welch has played at right tackle since the second game of the year after James Williams was lost for the season with a broken ankle.
"It's feeling really good," Welch said of his ankle. "I was out there all day (Thursday), mostly Wednesday, so it's feeling pretty good."
Welch also gave a vote of confidence to embattled quarterback Larry Smith, who had a solid game against the Gamecocks but is still searching for his first SEC win.
"He's a young player, it's his first year starting," Welch said. "He's going to have some mistakes and he's going to make some great plays. He's growing, he's still young. But you see glimmers of what he can be and he's going to have a great game this week."
