Notre Dame Football: 3 Georgia Tech defenders to watch in Week 9

The Notre Dame football team faces Georgia Tech at Bobby Dodd Stadium for the first time since 2006.

The Notre Dame football team enters their final tune-up prior to their clash with ACC leader Clemson. The Georgia Tech squad is perhaps the least talented in the ACC this season. The transition from Paul Johnson’s option attack to Geoff Collins’ more modern approach has been as difficult as expected.

The Georgia Tech defense has taken a thumping this year. Currently, the Yellow Jackets rank 92nd out of 101 FBS teams that have played a game this season in scoring defense. They are allowing 41.2 points per contest. Against winning teams, they are giving up an even worse 56.7 points per contest. The Irish should expect to put up excellent offensive numbers for the second week in a row.

Despite their struggles on defense, the Yellow Jackets do have some standout defensive players that could make a difference if not properly contained by the Irish.

David Curry

Linebacker David Curry, son of former All-Pro NFL linebacker Buddy Curry, will be one of the oldest players on the field at the age of 25 years old, significantly surpassing Notre Dame’s Shaun Crawford. He ranks as the second leading tackler and has the third most tackles for loss for the Yellow Jackets

Prior to the season, Athlon named Curry to their 2nd team All-ACC squad. He was the highest-ranked player among Georgia Tech players on that list. This was largely due to the fact that Curry finished with the most tackles on the team in 2019. He certainly had the output and the experience to make plays against a high-quality opponent.

Quez Jackson

Another quality linebacker who didn’t receive the same preseason fanfare as some of his teammates, Quez Jackson has produced at a high rate in 2020. He’s only made 12 starts in his young career but he leads the team in tackles with 46 and ranks fourth in tackles for loss with 3.5. He also added an interception and two passes broken up. Given the opportunity, he will blow up a play in a hurry.

Juanyeh Thomas

Defensive back Juanyeh Thomas currently ranks as the third leading tackler for Georgia Tech with 34 total stops. He added an interception against UCF. Athlon named him to their preseason 4th All-ACC team.

In 2019, Thomas collected 60 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and one interception. Early in his career, Georgia Tech utilized Thomas as a kick returner which he received Freshman All-American praise. However, Thomas is not being utilized in this role. If he gets his hands on an Ian Book pass, he could make Notre Dame pay.