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By Brett Daniels
It’s Game Week for most of college football, the longest offseason of any major sport is finally over. In the SEC there are ranked versus ranked matchups to start the season as well as the usual “buy games” that serve as de facto preseason games. One game will have every one tuning in to watch and that is the AFLAC Kickoff Game from Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA featuring the #1 Georgia Bulldogs vs #14 Clemson Tigers. The game will kick off at Noon on ABC and have Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Molly McGrath on the call.
Georgia leads the all-time series 43-18-4
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Game Of the Week
Georgia enters the game sporting a 34-game regular season winning streak that dates to November 21, 2020. The Dawgs are 42-2 over the last three seasons with 2 National Championships. There are currently no active Head Coaches who have a win against Kirby Smart at Georgia. Heisman candidate Carson Beck will lead a high-powered offense that can strike through the air and on the ground. TE Oscar Delp, Lawson Luckie, and Stanford transfer Ben Yurosek will attempt to replace the production of the departed Brock Bowers while WR Colbie Young, Dominic Lovett, and Dillon Bell will stress defenses down the field.
The Dawgs will be down one RB for this game as Rodrick Robinson underwent surgery this week for turf toe and will be out until the latter part of the season. The status of RB Trevor Etienne is unknown as he is possibly facing a suspension for an offseason arrest. RB Branson Robinson is returning from a ruptured patella tendon last season and Cash Jones along with freshman Nate Frazier will have to carry the Dawgs this week. The offensive line led by preseason All-American G Tate Ratledge and second-team G Dylan Fairchild could be one of the best in Kirby Smart’s tenure at Georgia.
Defensively, Georgia will look to get back to the standard of the 2021/2022 groups after slipping a little last year. DL Christian Miller, Tyron Ingram-Dawkins, Warren Brinson, and Nazir Stackhouse will anchor the front 7. DE/OLB Mykel Williams will shift into a pass-rushing role in on 3rd down along with EDGE players Sam M’Pemba, and Jalon Walker. ILB is one of the deepest and most athletic units in the country. LB Smael Mondon, CJ Allen, and Raylon Wilson will be the primary players with Troy Bowles and freshmen Kris Jones and Chris Cole also rotating in.
The Secondary is led by two-time All-American S Malaki Starks and returning CB Daylen Everette. S Dan Jackson will start but super freshman S KJ Bolden will play a lot. The other CB position will be manned by former five-star Julian Humphrey and Daniel Harris. Freshman Ellis Robinson IV will also push for playing time.
On Special Teams K Peyton Woodring returns after making 21/25 Field Goals and 71/71 Extra Points in 2023. P Brett Thorson will also return in 2024 after making 32 punts for a 43.8 average in 2023.
Clemson and Coach Dabo Swinney are coming off a disappointing 2023 that saw the Tigers at 4-4 midway through the season before rallying to finish 5-0. It says something about your program when a 9-win season is considered a “down” year and the Clemson faithful are hoping for a big bounce back in 2024.
Offensively the Tigers are led by QB Cade Klubnik who was solid in 2023 throwing for 2,844 yards with 19 TD/9 INTS. The RB room is led by Phil Mafah who ran for just under 1,000 yards and had 13 TD’s last season, after Mafah the rest of the room is very young and unproven. The Tigers return four out of five starters on the Offensive line from a unit that gave up 28 sacks and 87 total tackles for loss in 2023 and will hope for improvement with new Offensive Line coach Matt Luke in the building. Clemson has one of the best TEs in the country in Jake Briningstool who logged 50 catches for 498 yards and 5TD last season. The WR corps is led by SO Tyler Brown who led the team in receptions as a freshman. Antonio Williams and Adam Randall will also be called upon to stretch the field.
During the recent run of championships. Clemson always had a stout defense, and the 2024 version is no different. The Tigers return one of the best Defensive Lines in the country led by super sophomores TJ Parker and Peter Woods at the defensive end positions. Senior LB Barrett Carter is a thumper at the second level and will direct a linebacking group that is also one of the best. An unproven, injured, and light-on-experience secondary will be tested on Saturday. The Tigers have six true freshmen on the 3-deep depth chart.
Key Matchups
Clemson Defensive Line vs the Georgia Offensive Line
This is strength-on-strength, grown-man football. Whoever wins this battle may well win the overall game. Can the Georgia Offensive line stop or slow down the Clemson pass rush and give Carson Beck time to pick apart the inexperienced Clemson secondary? Can the Clemson Defensive Line stuff the Georgia run game and make them one-dimensional?
Georgia Defensive Line vs the Clemson Offensive Line
Where the converse of this is strength on strength, this match-up is question mark vs question mark. Last season the Georgia Defensive Line did not live up to the reputation of the 2021 and 2022 units while the Clemson Offensive Line struggled to protect Klubnik and open holes for Mafah to run through. The unit that has improved the most over the offseason and can win this matchup will go a long way in determining who wins this game.
Prediction:
This will be a slow starting shadow boxing type of game with each team trying to figure out how they can move the ball against the other’s defense. A halftime score of 10-3 or 13-7 wouldn’t be a surprise at all. Georgia has the better players and the deeper roster and that will come to light in the second half where the Bulldogs pull away to a 31-14 victory.
