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SALT LAKE CITY - What will the Sun Bowl bring? Georgia Tech is a big name in college football, but probably isn't very well known around Utah. As bowl season begins everyone will look ahead to the possibilities. What is going to happen and what will need to happen for this team to beat that team. The talk around the Utes is the same. The game will be played on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas.
Right now the Utes are a 3.5 point underdog against the Yellow Jackets. Sportsnation Atlanta talks about the different look Georgia Tech will bring to the table, "The Yellow Jackets averaged 34.9 points a game, 19th best in the country, and defending a run-first attack should be fairly unfamiliar to a Ute team used to playing in the more pass-happy Pac-12." They also point out that the triple-option Paul Johnson uses is significantly worse when teams get to prepare as they don't have a bowl game victory during his tenure.
There will be an immovable object against the irresistible force fell to this game, ESPN's Heather Dinich, the ACC beat-writer, points out, "Georgia Tech, which has the nation's No. 3 rushing offense, will face the No. 7 rushing defense when it plays Utah." Another interesting difference between these two teams is the starts and stops of each team's schedule. The Georgia Tech SBnation blog "From the Rumble Seat" looks at the Yellow Jackets fast start and slow finish and the Utes opposite looking win-loss schedule.
A tale of two teams prevails throughout the country. While the Tech offense has been prolific the defense has struggled. Running offenses generally chew up the clock, so giving up 25.75 points per game on defense is a bigger number than what it seems. The Washington Post looked at the weakness of the Yellow Jackets.
The Utes are playing opposite, their defense has been in the top-20 against high-flying Pac-12 offenses, but their offense hasn't put up the numbers needed to be great. ["The Atlanta- Journal Constitution" looked at the Utes weakness,](<http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-tech/georgia-tech- to-play-1251161.html >) "Utah has been known for running a spread offense, but moved to a West Coast offense this year with new offensive coordinator Norm Chow. The Utes put up 54 points on BYU in September but averaged a modest 24.6 points per game."
The Utes and the Yellow Jackets both want to control the ground game and let their defense control the game. The Utes offense isn't perfect and Georgia Tech's defense is in the same boat. The group that comes up with a big play for either of those groups could very well be the shift in a game that is expected to be very close.
