Clemson vs. Georgia Prediction: Can the Tigers run the ball on the Bulldogs? |
A full stadium, a traditional rivalry game, two top-five teams. Clemson and Georgia. The Tigers and the Bulldogs. DJ and JT. Season opener.
This one is going to be fun. No. 3 Clemson takes on No. 5 Georgia in the season opener for both teams Saturday at 7:30 pm at Bank of America Stadium. While the game has national title implications, the loser is nowhere near out the running and the winner still has to navigate the rest of the schedule and possible conference championship games before talking about the College Football Playoff. .NO. 3/2 CLEMSON (0-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. NO. 5/5 GEORGIA (0-0, 0-0 SEC) WHEN: SATURDAY, SEPT. 4, 7:30 P.M. ET NOTABLE *Clemson has won its past six games at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, including the past five ACC Championship games. *Clemson and Georgia are staging only the fourth season-opening game of two AP Top 5 teams since 2000. The others include No. 1 Alabama's 24-7 win against No. 3 Florida State in 2017, No. 4 LSU's 40-27 win against No. 3 Oregon in 2011 and No. 5 Miami's 16-10 win against No. 4 Florida State in 2004. Prior to 2004, the two most recent such games were in 1999 (No. 3 Penn State 41, No. 4 Arizona 7) and 1986 (No. 1 Oklahoma 38, No. 4 UCLA 3). *Clemson is attempting to earn a 14th all-time victory against an AP Top 5 opponent. Ten of Clemson's 13 all-time wins against AP Top 5 teams have come under Head Coach Dabo Swinney. *Clemson is attempting to improve to 10-6 all-time in games between two AP Top 5 teams. Clemson is 7-4 since 2016 when both teams enter a game in the AP Top 5. *Clemson is playing a third straight contest against an AP Top 5 opponent for the first time in school history. Clemson has played back-to-back games against Top 5 teams five times, including the 2015 College Football Playoff (No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 2 Alabama), 2016 College Football Playoff (No. 2 Ohio State and No. 1 Alabama), 2018 College Football Playoff (No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 1 Alabama), 2019 College Football Playoff (No. 2 Ohio State and No. 1 LSU) and the current streak dating to the final two games of 2020. *Clemson is playing its third neutral-site season opener in school history (including games in Atlanta against Alabama in 2008 and against Auburn in 2012) and its fourth off-site opener, including one against Alabama in Birmingham in 1904. – *Clemson is opening a season against another Power Five Conference opponent outside of the ACC for the first time since 2016, when Clemson earned a 19-13 win at Auburn to kick off a national championship season. *Clemson is opening a season against an SEC opponent for the fifth time under Head Coach Dabo Swinney. Clemson is 3-1 in season openers against SEC foes in his tenure, including a 1-1 mark against Georgia. WHEN GEORGIA HAS THE BALL It’s no secret that Georgia wants to run the football, but no one is entirely sure what offensive coordinator Todd Monken will do Saturday. The Bulldog offense went from scoring 29 points per game under quarterbacks not named JT Daniels to scoring 37 with Daniels under center. Could the Bulldogs go to more of a hurry-up offense, which has given the Tigers trouble in recent seasons? Or will it be more of the same ground-and-pound we’ve seen under Kirby Smart? Georgia’s top receiving threat – George Pickens - is out indefinitely after a torn ACL in spring practice, No. 1 tight end Darnell Washington is questionable due to a foot injury suffered in the fall, and receiver Dominick Blaylock is out after ACL surgery. LSU transfer Arik Gilbert is away from the team. However, Daniels still has plenty of athletic options, including Jermaine Burton (27 catches last season) and Kearis Jackson (36 receptions). Add in Arian Smith, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, and freshman Adonai Mitchell and Daniels has plenty of weapons. The Tigers will counter with a secondary that includes Andrew Booth and Mario Goodrich at corner and Lannden Zanders and Nolan Turner at safety. That group has to have a good game for the Tigers. Georgia is talented at running back with Zamir White and James Cook, but the Tigers counter with one of the best defensive lines in the country. The Tigers registered 46 sacks and ranked second in the ACC in rush defense last season, and figure to be even better this season with a healthy Xavier Thomas and another year of experience for difference makers in Myles Murphy and KJ Henry. ADVANTAGE: SLIGHT TO CLEMSON WHEN CLEMSON HAS THE BALL DJ Uiagalelei pinch-hit for Trevor Lawrence twice last season and threw for 342 yards and two scores and added another touchdown on the ground against Boston College in the first start. Although Clemson fell short in an overtime defeat versus Notre Dame, Uiagalelei impressed by throwing for 439 yards – the most ever against the Irish - and two touchdowns in South Bend. That was without a full cast of receivers – Justyn Ross missed all of last season while Frank Ladson and Joseph Ngata battled injuries and were almost non-factors. Now Uiagalelei has a healthy Ross and Ngata and Ladson, the freakish Ajou Ajou and talented freshmen in Beaux Collins, Dacari Collins, and Troy Stellato. Georgia's defensive front headlined by defensive tackle Jordan Davis and linebacker Adam Anderson. Georgia’s size in the middle is expected to give the Clemson offensive line trouble. We expect Kobe Pace to carry most of the load, but Lyn-J Dixon and Will Shipley will also see plenty of action. Shipley might be the wild card – he can line up at running back, in the slot, or at wide receiver. The Tigers don’t have to run for 200 yards to win, but they do have to keep the Georgia defense honest. If that means using the screen game, pop passes, and plays to the perimeter, that’s what they will do. The big question mark for Georgia is the secondary – can they compete with Uiagalelei and those athletic receivers for four quarters? I think this is even because I’m not sure the Tigers will run with success. ADVANTAGE: EVEN SPECIAL TEAMS Both teams have good punters and kickers. Georgia punter Jake Camarda averaged 46 yards per punt last season and kicker Jack Podlesny beat Cincinnati with a late kick in the bowl game. Clemson has seniors Will Spiers (punter) and BT Potter (kicker) leading the way. Georgia will likely using Kearis Jackson at punt return, while we are unsure who the Tigers will trot out (even though Shipley is a good bet). ADVANTAGE: SLIGHT TO GEORGIA WHAT WILL HAPPEN I’ve looked at this every way possible. I’ve had moments where I thought Georgia would win and moments where I see Clemson winning. I don’t think either offense will have track meet numbers, and in games like this, I tend to lean towards the team that runs the ball the best – and that’s Georgia. But in a game like this, I also tend to look at the coaching – the Tigers have been wanting to get on the field since losing to Ohio State, and I’ve been told that practices have been some of the best since 2018. This one will be close. FINAL SCORE: CLEMSON 27, GEORGIA 20 More TigerNet picks
WHERE: BANK OF AMERICA STADIUM, CHARLOTTE, N.C
TELEVISION: ABC (Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Holly Rowe)
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