Clemson could 'change the narrative' with a Week 1 win vs. Georgia - Sean McDonough | Paul Finebaum

game noon in Atlanta and it will be a fascinating battle between Clemson and Georgia and Sean McDona will be on the call and Sean it's always great to see you uh especially during the college football season I hope all is well and uh I know how excited you are to get going tomorrow yeah I really am Paul it's a as you said a big game for our group to start the season I think there's a tremendous number of story lines here we're really looking forward to getting started as you've gone through the week uh and and some of the coaching conversations may come later but you certainly been uh digging deep uh what what what have you been able to determine I think the storyline in some ways is self-evident but I'm curious what it looks like Through Your Eyes well you know I we have talked to the Clemson folks already we did a zoom call with DB o Sweeney and his coordinators and a few of their players on Wednesday we have not yet seen Kirby Smart and his staff we did talk to a couple of his players on the zoom earlier this week Carson Beck and Malachi Starks and I think the big thing the biggest topic of conversation around this game coming into it is where is Clemson now obviously six out of seven years in the final four the college football playoff to National Championships but not in it in the last three years nine wins last year which a lot of schools would sign up for but you that ended as you know Paul they're 12 years in a row of 10 wins or more so you know dbo starting to get questioned about a lot of things and you know I think if they could win tomorrow it would certainly help change the narrative around their program right now at least uh for a week uh but uh and then Georgia you know did just reload and here they come again team that was number one almost all last year didn't make the playoff I think most people expect that they will now with the expanded playoffs so I'm looking forward to watching them play you know they're loaded with talent I think Carson Becks best quarterback in the country and if I had to pick the front runner to win the Heisman Trophy right now would be him and let me stay on the on the on the Georgia side because uh they're they're very quiet number one in the offseason probably a lot more conversation Shan about Ohio State because of their spendings free or whatever you legally call it now with with nil but what uh Beyond Carson Beck which is a pretty important Cog what else are you learning about Georgia because they they they don't look like they're complete full strength heading into tomorrow afternoon yeah and that's still to be determined uh you know particularly when it comes to etn is he going to play is he going to be suspended you know that's something that we're going to talk to Kirby about I don't know if we'll get an answer when we meet with him in a couple of hours but that'll be a factor you know I do think number one in large part because they start with to me as I said the best quarterback in the country you know maybe we're biased because the first time I saw him play Carson Beck last year was the game against Kentucky when he had about as good a game as you can have completed 80% of his passes 389 yards four touchdowns and Paul the thing that stands out to me about him is you know his completion percentage last year was right around 73% and they're not which is a School record by far and they're not as you know Dink and duck I mean they're uh drop back and throw it deep down the field you know they did lose a lot of talent especially in Brock Bowers and lad makoni you know they weren't really that deep at wide last year Beyond makoni although I thought Rosemary Jack Saint was a good college player but um seven starters back on defense they're always great on defense I think they will be again excellent in the Special Teams as well coached as a team can be so I think they're worthy of number one to start the year Sean I'm curious you said something a minute ago and uh you've done this for for so long at the highest level and every coach is different not trying to get you in trouble here but when you sit down uh with Kirby Smart the day before the game even though he may not tell the public what he is going to do until game time does he share that with you and your crew or is he as tight lipped as he seems all week yeah he more often than not he's tight lipped you know every now and then I think he will tell us something that uh you know and Paul the the difference between these two coaches in that regard is unbelievable you know we as I said we were on a zoom with Dabo on Wednesday and we're probably on with him for close to an hour and I would say that Greg Roy Molly McGrath and I maybe asked four or five questions combined as you know when he gets started he stays on a rooll and uh you know Kirby is generally very short answers a lot of times the body language and facial expressions would indicate that he'd really rather be someplace else so I never go into it with him expecting that we're going to get a lot of information but uh you know sometimes you're pleasantly surprised so I hope to be pleasantly surprised today Sean I'm I'm glad to hear that CU I thought that just me when he sits down here during this down good timesing down Clow some Hallelujah