Georgia Tech football joined an elite club with their final win of the 2013 football season. They are the 18th member of the 700 win club. It is curious to consider that they have reached this and have gotten 47 of those wins under current coach Paul Johnson, who left Navy and decided to bring his triple option with him to Georgia Tech. However, he also has 32 losses as well. Technically, they had even won the ACC in 2009 with an 11-3 record (although the ACC title win was vacated since they later wouldn't comply with an NCAA investigation). They haven't been able to draw the the top talent with this offensive scheme in place, probably because the triple option is decisively considered "old school." Here is a rundown of their games from the 2013 season.

2013 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Season

Georgia Tech was competitive in the losses against Virginia Tech, Georgia, and Ole Miss. Clemson, BYU, and Miami just were able to outscore the triple option machine that the Yellow Jackets have developed on offense. All things considered, it will be interesting to see exactly what the Rambling' Wreck will be able to do in the 2014 season.

Offense

The Yellow Jackets lost a lot of fire power on the offense from this past season. First, they lost their quarterback that started all 13 games in the 2013 season, Vad Lee. Lee ran for 513 yards and passed for 1561 yards combining for 19 touchdowns for Georgia Tech. Vad Lee is going to be replaced by the redshirt Sophomore Justin Thomas from Prattville, Alabama. Thomas played in 10 games last year and was serviceable, but it will be interesting to see exactly what he brings to the passing game. Thomas mainly came in when the games were largely over and it is a running offense. He led Prattville to the 2011 6A Alabama State title with 1,652 passing yards, 896 rushing yards, and 20 touchdowns. It's completely possible that Thomas could help lead the Yellow Jackets to new heights.

The Yellow Jackets continue the trend of losing their top talent from last year with their top two leading rushers graduating college. Those two were David Sims and Robert Godhigh. Their leading returning rusher goes by the name of Zach Laskey, who had 485 yards and 7 touchdowns. He is joined by returning runners Broderick Snoddy and Dennis Andrews. It seems likely that all three of these men will be on the field at the same time. Just because that is part of the excitement of the fake pitches and hand offs of the triple option. When studying games, it seems like the tendencies between the triple option and the new fangled run game popularized by Auburn and Gus Malzahn are very similar. Fake one way, go the other way, power running, and occasional throws.

The top returning receiver for the Yellow Jackets is DeAndrew Smelter a Senior from Macon, Georgia. The crazy thing is that Smelter was in his first year of collegiate football. He even stopped playing college baseball in March to focus completely on football, despite being drafted in the 2010 MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins in the 14th round. Smelter is hoping to have an incredible season for the Yellow Jackets and he has ideal size for a receiver at 6' 3" 225 lbs. It will be intriguing to see exactly what Smelter can do in the 2014 season.

Defense

The top returning defensive lineman is Adam Gotsis from Australia. He is a Junior, 6' 5" 285, and he had 5.5 sacks last year to go with 38 tackles and 14.5 tackles for loss. He has great size and will be targeted more by offensive lineman because defensive lineman Jeremiah Attaochu went to the NFL after having 12.5 sacks and 45 total tackles, 16 of which were for losses. Gotsis is the nose tackle and had played very little American football before arriving and got one start as a true Freshman.

Quayshawn Nealy is the top returning linebacker for the Yellow Jackets. He is a 3 year starter and last year he recorded 66 total tackles, which is the highest tackler of all of the returning players for the Yellow Jackets. He also had 2 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries last year. He was given an award during for ACC linebacker of the week during the game against Syracuse. He had a 18 yard fumble recover for a touchdown in that game, which Georgia Tech won 56-0.

The best returning cornerback is D.J. White. The 5' 11", 190 lb corner saved his best for last during the bowl game last year when he recorded career high in tackles with 13 (11 solo tackles). In addition, he got his first career interception against the Ole Miss Rebels in the Music City Bowl in Nashville. However, 50 tackles during the year and starting only 9 games was a positive surprise. White should be looking to continue his improvement in the upcoming season.

Special Teams

The leading scorer for the 2013 Yellow Jackets was Harrison Butker, the kicker. He scored a total of 83 points and is only a Sophomore. He was 10-14 on field goals and then was 53-54 on point after attempts. He is trying to go into the record books as the highest point scorer ever in Georgia Tech history and it will interesting to see how he does in 2014.

The punting competition is completely open, but Ryan Rodwell has a leg up on the competition. He is a redshirt Sophomore who played in 2012 as a true Freshman before getting redshirted last year. Since he has actual in game experience, that should make him a complete favorite to punt for the team. However, Paul Johnson is known to frequently roll the dice on fourth down so who knows how often the punter is actually on the field this season.

2014 Season Outlook

The Yellow Jackets have a lot of potential but are fighting an uphill battle in the ACC Coastal, but they did go 5-3 in conference play last year. It's difficult to see exactly how they will get more wins though because there is quite a bit of fluctuation in the offense and their defense leaves quite a bit to be desired. Here is the schedule for the upcoming season:

Their two toughest games are the first two ACC games of the season. Virginia Tech and Miami both beat Georgia Tech last year, as did Clemson and Georgia in the final two games of the year. It seems like 7-6 or 8-5 is about the best that the Yellow Jackets can do in their current system. How long will they continue to mire around like this under Paul Johnson? It is too early to know for certain, but the Yellow Jackets will have an intriguing season ahead.