THE SETUP

Spread: VT by 3 1/2

From Hokiesports.com: “The Virginia Tech Hokies will play the University of Georgia on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga. The game will be televised live by regional sports networks.  Below is a listing of networks airing the game.

Fox Sports Net South

Comcast SportsNet Plus (Mid-Atlantic)

New England Sports Network

Fox Sports Network Florida”

On Tuesday night the Hokies will look to get their first win of the 2008-09 season against a major conference opponent when they take on the defending SEC champions, the georgia bulldogs.  This will also represent Tech’s first road game of the season, having played four home games and four neutral site contests.

Speaking of SEC champions, chew on this - the Hokies face the following opponents this year:

• The reigning Big(11)Ten Champions: wisconsin (Lost 74-72)
• The current SEC Champions: georgia
• The ACC Champions: #1 unc

That is a solid slate.  The Hokies need to win some of these games, though.  This game is very winnable.  georgia is not all that talented.  In fact, they were a pretty lousy team last year, too.  The dawgs finished the regular season at 13-16 with a 4-12 regular season record, good enough for last place in the SEC East.  But over the next four days, georgia weathered the storm, literally, and won the SEC Tournament by winning four games, including a doubleheader on Saturday.  That is not a typo, they had to win two games on the same day after a tornado damaged the Georgia Dome on Friday.  The games were moved to georgia tech’s home court and played basically in front of an empty arena as only select friends, family, and school officials were allowed to attend.

Tech started out 0-4 on the road last season, but finished the season by going 3-4, all in ACC play.  That is respectable and hopefully will give the Hokies confidence heading into their first road game. 

THE OPPONENT

Series: uga 4-1, including four wins in a row and a win over VT in the 1982 NIT.

As I said above, georgia is not very good.  They have a similar record to the Hokies at 5-3, but have beaten no one of note.  They have also lost to loyola of chicago by 21, western ky kentucky, and illinois by 34!  Ouch!

The dawgs biggest weakness is on offense.  They are averaging just 62.3 ppg.  georgia has been held under 56 points in four of their eight games and the illini allowed them just 42 points.  Terrance Woodbury, a 6’7″ wing player from VA Beach (757!), leads the team with 13.1 ppg.  Howard Thompkins is their only other serious offensive threat.  The freshman has averaged 11.8 ppg after missing their first four games.

The bulldogs are not going to beat you from the outside.  In fact, their leading three point shooter, 6’3″ senior guard Corey Butler, has just 10 makes on the season in 20 attempts.  A.D. Vassallo has more made threes (21) than Butler has shot.  Only two dawgs have more than five made threes.

uga shoots just 41.5% from the field, 31% on threes, and 62% from the line.  Like I said, they are not an offensive juggernaut.  Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has started attending their games to collect bricks to build houses for the needy.  Their offense would make mike groh sick to his stomach [too soon?  too soon?]  But I digress…

georgia will go deep into their bench, playing up to 10-11 guys, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing.  It just means they haven’t found enough guys to step up and contribute consistently, a similar thing VT was struggling with early in the year.  Only one guy, senior Woodbury, plays more than 26 minutes per game for them.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Just Win, Baby: Enough excuses.  Enough horseshoes and hand grenades (close games).  It is time to win one of these games against a name team, especially given their lack of talent level.  The Hokies need to find a way.
• Big Donut Stale?: Jeff Allen tweaked an ankle early in the game against Navy Sunday.  With a short turnaround of just 48 hours, we will have to see if there is any residual effects.  He did play 31 minutes in the game Sunday and looked very strong in the second half, including the dunk of the year to date, so hopefully he is fine.
• Tired Legs: Tech has had big gaps in their schedule since leaving Puerto Rico.  They have played just three games in the two plus weeks since leaving the island.  There is a chance Tech could be tired after having to travel to DC and then down to Athens, GA for a game just 48 hours later.  Hopefully Puerto Rico conditioned VT for this situation.
• Play 40 Minutes: Every game Tech seems to have a stretch where they struggle on offense and are lazy on defense.  Against Navy, that led to an 11-0 run in the first half.  The Hokies need to avoid these stretches.
• Bury Woodbury: Woodbury is the only georgia player that can really hurt Tech.  Take him away and force the supporting cast to beat you.  The man guarding him should not leave him to double others.
• Build on Momentum: The Hokies played their best half of the season in the second half Sunday.  They scored 51 points and used a 21-3 run to turn a halftime deficit into a sizeable lead.  Tech got out and ran more and found ways to push the ball.  The result was some easy buckets for the Hokies.
• Swagger: VT is better than this team.  Come out, play hard, and expect to win.  Take it to the dawgs.

BORING FACTS ABOUT georgia

• georgia is currently on Uga VII.  This is his first season at the English bulldog mascot of the dawgs.  Uga VI passed away earlier this season.  The georgia bulldog may be the most recognizable mascot in sports, and was rated as such by SI in 1999.  Uga V was made famous for launching at an auburn WR who ventured too close during a football game.  You can see the clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foGHh14uvKk
• The other mascot of georgia is Hairy Dawg, a bulldog costume with a person inside.
• SEC fans are by far the most annoying fans in the world (on a conference level).  They basically think no other conference has ever beaten a “SEC skoo”, as they pronounce it.
• georgia fans LOVE to wear red pants, no matter how ridiculous they look.  Although they are better than the purple camo pants Baltimore Ravens fans wear.
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