WHAT WE ARE HEARING: PREVIEW AND PREDICTION FOR NO.14 CLEMSON vs. NO.1 GEORGIA

Welcome to the Season Opener edition of What We Are Hearing!

 

It’s hard to believe the wait is long over! The Tigers saw their 12-year streak of double-digit wins come to end last season with a 9-4 record, but they finished strong with 5 straight wins. They will try to capitalize on that momentum with a monumental matchup in Atlanta to start the season against No.1 Georgia. These two programs have won 4 of the last 8 national titles, and this is a playoff-type game right out of the gate! The Bulldogs missed the playoff last year, depriving them of the opportunity of an unprecedented three-peat, and they took their frustrations out on the Seminoles’ junior varsity team in the Orange Bowl. Despite Michigan’s championship last season, Georgia is still considered the “top dog” in college football right now, losing just 2 games in the last 3 seasons. Meanwhile, many in the national media foolishly think that Dabo has lost his magic touch and that Clemson is no longer an elite program, simply because they have missed the playoff for 3 straight years after an unmatched 6-year playoff run.

 

Don’t be fooled, folks. The Tigers have not been far from contention over the last 3 years. In 2022, they would have made the playoff if not for a one-point loss to the Gamecocks, ending a 7-year win streak by the Tigers. Just about all of their other losses over that stretch have been by one score or in overtime. Two of their four losses last season were in overtime. They never trailed undefeated FSU until double-overtime and would have won in regulation if not for a sack-fumble returned 70 yards for a touchdown or a 27-yard missed field goal. Weitz had exactly 4 days of practice when he missed that kick, and he would have made it with his eyes closed at the end of the season. The other overtime loss was on the road at Miami after leading most of the game. Another loss was at NC State thanks to a pick-six, and we all remember the fluke at Duke. Thanks to a comedy of errors, it was the first time in 120 years that the Tigers rushed and passed for over 200 yards and lost! Keep in mind as well that the Tigers have been plagued by injuries over the last 3 seasons—especially at the receiver position. It was so bad in 2021 that Will Swinney had to start at WR in the last 3 games, but they won all 3, including a Cheez-It Bowl win over Super Bowl quarterback Brock Purdy and Iowa State. During this so-called “drought,” the Tigers’ win-loss record is better than 94 percent of the FBS. Think about that. As down as the national media would have you believe that Clemson has been over the last 3 years, only 5 teams have had a better record over that period! 94 percent of the teams out there would give their right arms to have a “drought” like that.

 

The Vegas line on this game is reflective of that national perception that Clemson is not what it was 5 years ago. Georgia is a 12-point favorite, which is a big spread by betting standards—especially on a neutral field—and I think it is laughable. Sure, this might not be the most neutral of sites, being that Atlanta is a second home for the Bulldogs, but there will be plenty of Orange in the dome. I expect the split to be at least 40 percent Clemson fans and maybe even 45 percent. Let’s not forget, too, that the last time these two teams met 3 years ago in Charlotte, it was a 10-3 game decided on a pick-six! Neither offense scored a touchdown in that defensive fist-fight. Moreover, I think Georgia was better in 2021 than they are now, and I know the Tigers are better now than they were then. That 10-3 win propelled the Bulldogs to their first national championship in over 40 years and a repeat in 2022. Let’s hope for the opposite effect this time!

The past is merely prologue. Without further ado, let’s preview the big showdown at high noon on Saturday!

 

GARY STOKAN INTERVIEW

I had a fantastic phone interview with Gary Stokan, CEO of the Peach Bowl, for over an hour a few days ago to discuss the big game and a wide variety of topics. He told me a great story about why this matchup is near and dear to his heart as well. Gary was an Adidas rep in 1980 and had the great Herschel Walker wearing Adidas shoes when the Bulldogs won their first national championship. The following season, he got Clemson to wear Adidas, and the Tigers won their first national championship. Apparently, Gary is a good luck charm for both of these schools, and he told me that he still has a framed copy of Sports Illustrated on his wall with Clemson great Perry Tuttle from the Orange Bowl win over Nebraska, which is now, incidentally, an Adidas school. It was a great discussion, so click below to have a listen!

GEORGIA SYNOPSIS

Make no mistake: the Bulldogs probably have the most talented roster in the nation. They certainly do if you put any stock in recruiting rankings. Much like Clemson, their defense is always nasty, big strong, fast and deep. This iteration will be no different. However, the elephant in the room is the loss of Brock Bowers and WR Ladd McConkey to the NFL. Bowers was a once-in-a-lifetime tight end—one of the best the college game has ever seen—and McConkey was by far their best wide receiver last season. The two of them combined for a huge percentage of their offensive production, and they are the primary reason that QB Carson Beck completed nearly 75 percent of his passes and is a top Heisman candidate this season. Again, Georgia has an abundance of talent, and they brought in two impressive transfers to fill those vacancies: TE Ben Yurocek from Stanford and WR Colbie Young from Miami, who had a great game in the Canes’ win over the Tigers in overtime last season. Still, I am interested to see how much Beck and the Georgia offense will miss Bowers and McConkey, especially in the opener.

Of course, the Bulldogs also plucked Trevor Etienne from the transfer portal. The talented brother of Clemson legend Travis Etienne had a couple of great seasons at Florida and can’t wait to run behind that big offensive line Georgia has. It might just be the best unit in the country. Etienne was arrested in Athens over the summer, and Kirby Smart refused to talk about his status for the Clemson game, but I will be shocked if Etienne doesn’t play. He may not get the first carry for the Bulldogs as a slight punishment, but Smart will pull out all the stops to win this game and knows that he needs all of his weapons in the arsenal to beat Dabo and the Tigers. In fact, UGA had multiple players arrested over the summer, and they will probably all play in this game and be suspended against an inferior opponent. More on that from CUTigers contributor Chris Hamby HERE.

Smart is playing it close to the vest, opting not to release a depth chart this week, and Dabo followed suit, which is highly unusual for him. However, here’s a look at who we expect to start for Geogia.

QB Carson Beck

                 

Gunner Stockton is the backup, should Carson Beck get hurt, but with no game experience, it would be a major blow to Georgia if Beck were to go down with an injury.

 

RB Trevor Etienne

      Nate Frazier

 

Nate Frazier gets the call as the backup thanks to Branson Robinson having a toe issue and surgery. That leaves Georgia thin at running back, as Trevor is the only running back with any real game experience.

 

WR Dillon Bell (X- Receiver)

       Arian Smith (Z- Receiver)

       Dominic Lovett (Slot)

These are probably your starters, but don't let that fool you because the Bulldogs have plenty of depth there. Look for Miami transfer Colbie Young, Landon Humphries and Sacovie White to play a lot in this game. The surrounding controversy here is White and his arrest for reckless driving and non-suspension for this game. 

 

TE Ben Yurosek

     Oscar Delp

     Lawson Luckie

                

Georgia brought in an outstanding transfer from Stanford in Ben Yurosek, who has 107 career catches and 5 touchdowns. And that was with the Cardinal’s lousy offense! It’s impossible to replace a Brock Bowers, but there might not be too much drop off with Yurosek. Todd Hartley has stated that the tight ends are going to be used significantly in the passing game this season. 

 

Offensive Line

LT Earnest Greene                                     

LG Dylan Fairchild

C Jared Wilson

RG Tate Rutledge

RT Xavier Truss 

 

Georgia has 7 offensive linemen that they will rotate, and this group is very versatile and very fast. While it isn't a senior laden line, this group has a ton of experience to be comfortable in a game like this. If the Tigers’ defense is to get to Carson Beck and put pressure on him, Wes Goodwin is going to have to pick and choose when and how to blitz. This line can hold its own and if the Clemson offense cant sustain drives, this defense is going to be in for a long day.

 

Defensive Line

DE Tyrion Ingram

NG Nazir Stackhouse

DT Warren Brinson

 

If there is a group that will be interesting to watch, it's the Georgia defensive line. This group, while loaded with talent, is banged up and very thin on experience right now with Jordan Hall and Xavier McLeod injured. If Mafah and the Clemson running game can sustain drives as mentioned, Georgia’s defense could be in for a long day as well. The Bulldogs will use both a four-man and three-man front, and they usually have no trouble getting pressure with three. They love to stem and move around a lot pre-snap, so the Tigers’ heavily experienced offensive line will have to be disciplined.

 

LB Mykel Williams

     CJ Allen

     Smael Mondon

 

           

Just like Trevor Etienne, the story here is Smael Mondon, who was also arrested for reckless driving. Rumors are that eventually suspensions will be handed down, but a date and time has yet to be determined. As I stated before, unless something changes over the next 48 hours, these players will be on the field this Saturday for the Clemson game.

 

Secondary

RC Daylen Everette

LC Julio Humphrey

N Joenel Aguero

FS Malaki Starks

SS Dan Jackson

                                     

As you can see, Georgia likes to use a nickel package with 5 in the secondary. This group is replacing 3 starters from last year's squad. It is anchored by Malachi Starks, who had an outstanding season, including an incredible interception against Oregon last year to start the season. Just like the defensive line, this group will be inexperienced and there will be opportunities for the Tigers to exploit those weaknesses. If that is to happen, Clemson's offensive line is going to have to give Klubnik time and help keep him upright.

 

CLEMSON STATUS

To me, the biggest story coming out of camp is that the Tigers are healthy—especially at the receiver position. KNOCK ON WOOD! As I mentioned, they have been riddled with injuries over the past 3 seasons. Perhaps they were due after years of luck during that six-year playoff run. Last season, starting receivers Antonio Williams, a freshman All-American, and Cole Turner—the fastest player on the team—were already out for the season by week three. The Tigers had to rely on a true freshman, Tyler Brown, again due to injuries, and for the second straight year, they had a freshman All-American. Troy Stellato, who spent 2021 and 2022 beset by injuries, finally made it through a season and came through for the Tigers last season. Adam Randall, who has also battled injuries, made a huge play in the bowl game and a great catch in the spring game. The Tigers are finally fully-loaded at receiver going into the season, and in addition to the aforementioned, they have two very talented freshmen in Brian Wesco and TJ Moore. Wesco had a nice touchdown catch in the spring game, but Moore did not enroll early, so it may take him a little longer to see the field, but he is physically ready right now at 6’3 and 200 pounds. The slighter Wesco has gained 10 pounds of muscle since January and has speed to burn. WR Coach Tyler Grisham told me a month ago that Wesco actually beat Nate Wiggins in the “flying 10’s” sprint drill. Pretty impressive, given that Wiggins ran the fastest 40 in the NFL Combine last spring! The Tigers also have a couple talented redshirt freshmen in Noble Johnson and Tink Kelley, as well as 6’3 sophomore Ronan Hanafin. Dabo told us last season that Kelley has many of the same attributes that make Tyler Brown special, so I can’t wait to see what he can do this season. The Tigers’ passing game has a big ace up its sleeve in Jake Briningstool as well, who will be one of the top tight ends in the country if he can stay healthy. Behind Briningstool, Josh Sapp has taken a big step forward, as has Patt-Henry.

 

Of course, the Tigers’ offense will only go as far as Cade Klubnik takes it. With a season of starts under his belt, I expect him to have a big season in year two under Offensive Coordinator Garrett Riley. Cade showed glimpses of greatness last season but tried to do too much at times and had too many catastrophic mistakes. Let’s be clear, though, folks: that happens to young quarterbacks, no matter how talented. We’ve all been spoiled by the likes of Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence, expecting everyone that follows to have the same success in their first year as a starter. Those impossible and unfair expectations drove DJU out of town on a rail even though he was still a young quarterback with a very high ceiling. Incidentally, DJ’s QBR at Oregon State last year would have been the best in the ACC, ahead of Drake Maye and Jordan Travis! I submit to you that the Tigers would have won the ACC and made the playoff last season if DJ had stayed, so be careful what you wish for. The point is that it almost always takes time for a quarterback to become great. It took Bo Nix until he was 24 years old at Oregon and the same for Joe Burrow at LSU. Let’s not forget that Cade was the No.1 QB in the nation coming out of high school, beating out Texas superstar Quinn Ewers for the Elite 11 MVP Award. Cade is made of the right stuff, and he will get there. Fans may not have been enamored by his stats in the spring game, but what I saw was a more mature quarterback who took what was there and didn’t try to do too much. Instead of throwing the ball 40 yards into coverage, he checked it down. Instead of taking a sack, he threw it out of bounds. The game is clearly slowing down for him, and with this defense and the skill players he has around him, with an experienced offensive line, Cade doesn’t need to be Superman to win every game. All he needs to do is let the game come to him, and with his talent, the big plays will be there.

What better friend could a quarterback have to lighten the pressure than a sturdy running back like Phil Mafah? For the first time in his career, Mafah Man will be the featured back for the Tigers after splitting the carries with recruiting classmate Will Shipley for 3 years. CJ Spiller told me a month ago that he likened Mafah’s journey to his own as a player. Spiller split the carries with James Davis for 3 years before fully carrying the load as a senior in 2009, and to this day, I believe Spiller should have won the Heisman that year. Mafah is now the alpha in the running back room, but there is some great young talent behind him. We saw glimpses of how special Jay Haynes could be last season, but he was injured toward the end of the season. Keith Adams, Jr. runs the football like his legendary father played linebacker for the Tigers—with reckless abandon. Dabo says that it’s a business decision every time a would-be tackler takes him on.

Those backs will love running behind this offensive line this season. Everyone is back except for center Will Putnam, and Dabo has been very pleased with Ryan Linthicum, who will make his first start at center on Saturday. Harris Sewell and Trent Howard—who each already have starting experience—can also play center. Incidentally, I recently discovered that Sewell is the nephew of Fox News personality Will Cain. I knew that they were both from Texas but didn’t know that they were related. Sewell, of course, played for the Texas high school that was featured in “Friday Night Lights.” Matt Luke is the new OL Coach, and it will be a reunion for him on Saturday because he was Kirby Smart’s OL Coach in 2021. That’s right: the last time these two teams met, Luke was on the opposite sideline, and his team won the game and later the national championship. Luke had a short stint since then as the head coach at Ole Miss. Someone close to him told me that they didn’t think he would get back into coaching, but Luke told me a month ago that the opportunity to coach with Dabo at a place like Clemson was too good to pass up. As heralded as the Georgia offensive line is, the Tigers actually have more combined starts, so I expect great things from this unit and the offense this season.

 

As for the defensive side of the ball, not much has changed for the Tigers, and that’s a good thing! It was a top-10 defense, good enough to win the national championship, last season, and it will be nothing short of that this season. The Tigers lost some players to the NFL, but like every other year, they have simply reloaded. Freshman All-American TJ Parker is back at defensive end with fellow freshman All-American Peter Woods at defensive tackle. We can expect to see Woods move to the edge at times this season, like we saw with Christian Wilkins. Woods is that versatile and athletic. The Tigers might have the best linebacker corps in the nation this season with All-Everything Barrett Carter returning with Wade Woodaz, who made his Clemson debut in Mercedes-Benz with a fumble recovery against Georgia Tech. Enter Sammy Brown. The 5-star recruit from Georgia lived up to the hype in the spring game, posting a sack on his very first play in Death Valley and leading the team in tackles. I cannot imagine how amped up he is for this game! He will start on special teams, and it’s only a matter of time until he starts for the defense. The Tigers’ secondary will also be one of the best units in the country—perhaps the best Dabo has ever had. Barnes burst onto the scene last year at safety with big play after big play, and veteran Tyler Venables is back after missing last season with an injury. At corner, Aevion Terrell had an outstanding freshman season last year, as did Shelton Lewis and Kylon Griffin. Terrell is even further along than his brother, AJ, was at his age, and that’s saying something. AJ, of course, had the pick-six to start the national championship rout of Alabama and is now playing for the Falcons on the very same field on which Aevion will play on Saturday. In fact, AJ is the Tigers’ honorary captain for the game. Be sure to watch my interview with him below! I asked him if he’s done much trash-talking with Falcons teammate Lorenzo Carter, who was a linebacker for UGA. Terrell told me that they had already played this game out video game style on NCAA 2025. He and the Tigers beat Carter and Georgia 50-8! That’s gotta be a good omen.

 

One of the biggest storylines of camp was who would win the place kicking competition. The kicking woes of the Tigers last season cost them at least two games, maybe even all four losses, and although mid-season walk-on Jonathan Weitz was incredible at the end of the season, he is out of eligibility. Dabo told me on Tuesday that Nolan Hauser won the competition in camp and will be the place kicker on Saturday. It was tight, but he beat out Robert Gunn, who has a big leg but had major struggles last season before being replaced by Weitz off the street. Gunn will handle kickoffs for the Tigers, however.

 

The Tigers have a nice special teams weapon back in punter Aidan Swanson, who was outstanding last season. In a game like this, with two defensive juggernauts, field position and special teams will be absolutely critical. I don’t think we’ll see zero offensive touchdowns like the last meeting, but points will still be hard to come by, and having a guy like Swanson who can flip the field will be important. I asked Dabo on Wednesday who we could expect to see returning punts and kicks, and he wouldn’t tell me, which might mean he still hadn’t decided as of Wednesday because there isn’t much reason to keep that a secret.

 

Finally, the Tigers made it through camp without any major injuries. Knock on wood again! Corners Shelton Lewis and Jeadyn Lukus were banged up, but Dabo told us that they are both good to go.

 

AJ TERRELL INTERVIEW

PREDICTION

The atmosphere in Atlanta is going to be intense! Gary Stokan told me that they put 2,800 standing room only tickets on sale, and he thinks that the attendance will approach the stadium record of 79,000 set in the CFP Semifinal between Georgia and Ohio State. It may be an early noon start, but it’s going to be electric regardless. Georgia is used to being top dog, and I think they may be a little cocky and overconfident going into this game, thanks to the national narrative toward Clemson that I mentioned earlier. The Tigers, on the other hand, are hungry and have been waiting for this opportunity for months to announce to the world that they are back. The Tigers’ defense had them in every game last season, but this season, I truly believe this can be a top-10 offense as well in Garrett Riley’s second year. The new helmet communications can only help Cade even more. The only question that matters to me is whether the Tigers can erase the catastrophic mistakes that plagued them from week one last season. If not for those, they were a playoff caliber team last season and I think they are even better this season. I’m going to be optimistic and say they will at least break even in the turnover battle on Saturday, and if that happens, the Tigers will shock the nation with their third-ever win over a No.1 team. And first that isn’t named Alabama!

The Prowl toward the College Football Playoff and 4th National Championship begins...

 

CLEMSON    20        Georgia    17