Miami’s passing game is a poor game for Georgia Tech

In their Miami at Georgia Tech Pro preview, Football Focus laid out a few reasons why the Yellow Jackets will have difficulty defending the Hurricanes’ passing game. Florida State is the only team that has been able to slow down Cam Ward this season. Ward had 215 passing yards and was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in 2024.

Ward has thrown for at least 300 yards and two touchdowns in every other game in 2024. Georgia Tech ranks fifth in the ACC with 213.0 passing yards per game. When you look deeper into the numbers, Georgia Tech is vulnerable to the pass. Ward should have plenty of time to throw against Georgia Tech.

Georgia Tech ranks 122nd nationally with 11 sacks. That’s 1.22 sacks per game. The Yellow Jackets are eighth-worst nationally with a PFF pass-rush grade of 60.2 and the 78th-best blitz rate at 33.6 percent. PFF reported Georgia Tech applying pressure on 28.3 percent of opponent dropbacks, which ranks 99th nationally.

Georgia Tech plays a 3-3-5 system and is ranked 94th in coverage grade. Against an excellent Miami offense, Georgia Tech doesn’t have good numbers to expect to be able to pressure Ward. Defensive lineman Sylvain Yondjouen leads Georgia Tech with 2.5 sacks.

Although the overall numbers compare favorably to the passing, the two best passing attacks Georgia Tech has played this season have had great success through the air. Kyle McCord completed 32 passes on 46 attempts for 381 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions as Syracuse beat Georgia Tech 31-28 in September.

Louisville’s Tyler Shough completed 13 passes in 19 attempts for 269 yards, an astronomical 14.2 yards per attempt and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Louisville’s 31-19 win in September. Georgia Tech ranks 11th in the ACC with 7.2 yards per attempt, a completion percentage of 63.4, which is 14th, and a passer rating of 138.04, which is 12th.

Expect Ward to have numbers close to McCord or Shough. Without a pass rush and poor coverage grade, Ward should have plenty of time to throw. The over/under on Ward’s passing yards is 313.5 per FanDuel. It’s likely he’ll go over. Expect Miami to use the pass to set up the run as Georgia Tech has a good pass defense.