We are finally here, it’s game week. Clemson vs Georgia!!
The No. 14 Tigers will be playing football this week, going to Atlanta to face the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs in the Aflac Kickoff Classic on Saturday afternoon. For Tigers head coach, Dabo Swinney, he knows the stakes that a mere-College Football Playoff-like game has.
“[It’s] going to be a huge challenge playing in a game like this,” he said to the media on Tuesday. “You only get opportunities like this in the postseason, in the playoffs [or] in a national championship, but this just happened to be on our schedule. It’s a great opportunity to play the best team in the country, right out of the gate.”
Despite a “very physical football team on both sides of the field”, according to Swinney, he opened up his opponent’s analysis with Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, who returns for his senior year and a second full season under the Bulldog offense.
“He’s a very good player and kid,” Swinney said. “He’s accurate. He’s opportunistic with his legs. He really understands his scheme . . just puts a lot of pressure on you.”
Another huge factor for Clemson football in recent years has been the injury bug, which has haunted the team before big games. However, Swinney brought some good news regarding recent injuries, especially to cornerbacks Shelton Lewis and Jaedyn Lukus.
“Everybody’s right now ready to play,” he said. “Everybody’s good to go . . everybody’s day-to-day.”
Another piece of news, which was a question mark going into the season, was the question of who would be the kicker to open the season. On Tuesday, Swinney announced that it would be the freshman, Nolan Hauser, who beat out former starter Robert Gunn III for the job and will take kicks.
“He’s won the job in camp,” he said. “It could change next week, it could change in two weeks, but he clearly won the job. It’s not like it was tied, I mean it was for a while, but he separated.”
A lot also lies on the shoulders of Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik, who enters this season as a “prove-it year” with a full year of playing time under his belt. Whether a loss is put on Klubink or not, Swinney echoes the confidence that his quarterback has while playing a tough group in practice.
“I think he’s very confident and he goes against a bunch of good people in practice every day,” he said. “It’s not easy on our practice field, it’s not. I think that’s one of your reasons for success is you practice against good people because a majority of your time in football is who you practice against. He goes against a great group every single day.”
Dabo Swinney on Cade Klubnik
If Clemson does pull off the upset, it will be the first time since 1980 that a team has beaten the No. 1 team in the country in the opening game. Swinney, who was a redshirt sophomore for Alabama football when that occurred, embraces the opportunity and presents it to his team as motivation.
“It’s a great opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done,” Swinney said, “not saying it has never been done, but it hasn’t been done in 34 years, so a great opportunity.”
The Tigers and Bulldogs will kick off at noon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, and the game will be broadcast on ABC.
