In preparation for the Orange Bowl, SDS reached out to Kelly Quinlan of JacketsOnline.com to get his thoughts on Georgia Tech’s chances against Mississippi State and on how the Yellow Jackets plan on containing MSU’s defensive line.

A huge thank you to Kelly Qunilan for participating. You can follow him on Twitter at @jacketsonline or @Kelly_Quinlan

Drew Laing: In my opinion Justin Thomas is a budding star in the ACC. Was this kind of production expected out of him coming into the season?

Kelly Quinlan: I think Paul Johnson had a good idea of what Justin was capable of if he was healthy. He had two full years in the offense prior to the season and it made a huge difference for him once he got live game reps under his belt. Talent wise, he may be the most talented quarterback physically Johnson has ever had so I think there were some high expectations, but he has exceeded them in my opinion.

Laing: Where do you think GT’s biggest liability will be in this bowl game?

Quinlan: Stopping the run has been an issue especially in the first half of games. Mississippi State has a ton of rushing yards this season and the tempo they play at does not work well with a thin Jackets defensive line. One other area to watch closely is the Bulldogs defensive line versus Georgia Tech. Mississippi State can go almost nine deep on the defensive line without much falloff and that could cause problems for Tech’s spread option.

Laing: When GT beat UGA, the Jackets certainly caught a few lucky breaks toward the end of that game in order to complete the comeback. Was that a fluke performance or is GT more than capable of competing with Mississippi State for a full 60 minutes?

Quinlan: I think if you watch the second half of that game closely, Tech pretty much dominated Georgia in every fashion possible with the exception of the last UGA drive of regulation. If you takeaway the bogus fumble recovery and touchdown by Damian Swann, 17-10 and if Thomas’ second fumble was rule per the letter of the rule, GT could have outscored Georgia 17-3. It doesn’t really matter, what matters is Tech has played a great defensive Clemson team and beat them soundly, a good Georgia team on the road and beat them and nearly knocked off Florida State. I think the expectation should be that Tech will give Mississippi State a good game.

Laing: Paul Johnson’s fate was shaky at the beginning of the season, but his success in 2014 led to a contract extension. What’s GT fans’ attitude towards him and the job he’s done so far? Are they happy with the triple option?

Quinlan: Johnson was never in as much trouble as fans or media might think. Beating Georgia buys a lot of good will and beating the three teams Tech has traditionally struggled against in ACC play (Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech) adds another level of good will. I think seeing how Justin Thomas runs Paul Johnson’s offense has turned a lot of fans back on to it. The lack of big plays at times from the quarterback position from Tevin Washington and Vad Lee really started to sour the fans, but Thomas has an impressive command of the total offense.

Laing: What’s your Orange Bowl prediction?

Quinlan: I have been wrestling over this game in my mind since it was announced. I think Mississippi State wins a close game 31-24, but the score could flip if Tech’s defense plays well. One other to thing to keep in mind is other than the 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl, Tech has either been winning or had a chance to win in the fourth quarter of every bowl game under Paul Johnson.