The Clemson Tigers vs The Georgia Bulldogs Week 1 Preview | The New SEC Podcast

[Music] let's shift gears and go talk about our first big game of the week and what we think is gonna happen so first big game that we have this week is one that I'm sure everyone has on their their calendars they circled it it's going to be 12 pm sit on the couch and turn on some football right after game day ends and it is Clemson Tigers going to Atlanta and play in the Georgia Bulldogs at the Mercedes Benz Stadium uh gonna be a good one it's been couple years since they've done this 2021 they played this game and Georgia won um 103 then I think we'll see a different game here yeah definitely think we'll see a different game here uh I think dju was the quarterback at the time for Clemson and uh JT Daniels was part part-time quarterback with sets and Bennett it was uh out in Charlotte so this year it's in Atlanta it'll be it's a great way to start off the season um both teams have a strong shot to win their conference and uh it'll be fun like Clemson last year you know first season in a while they didn't have a 10- win season they returned Kade Club Nick uh I was doing some research it feels like he's been in college for so long but he's only a junior he had 19 touchdowns last year to nine picks um showed a ton of bright upside as a team they ripped off five straight wins to end the season you know big wins over Kentucky and the Gator Bowl and some of the other games as well um and also another player to watch for Clemson would probably be Phil Phil mafa the running back uh he's going to replace the production from will Shipley who went to the NFL uh for the for the Eagles highly touted five star recruit in the NFL now but it should be an interesting one they return a lot of production on defense at Clemson so they they ranked about eighth in the nation when it comes to total yards allowed uh which will be fun to see how they match up against Carson Beck and that newly revamped Georgia offense yeah go ahead after you well I was gonna say you know you brought up Phil mafa and that's a great point you know he had that dynamic duo with uh will Shipley last year and now they lost half of that so what does the power back do this year you know he almost had a thousand yards last season and looking at Georgia where they the if you talk about how good Georgia is you're not you know bringing anything new to anyone's attention everyone wants to you know they hear how good Georgia is it's tough to find you know something to talk negatively about but the only thing to maybe bring up there when you talk about Phil mafa is that Georgia was 43rd last year in rushing yards allowed they were the first Georgia team since 2018 to let up over three yards per carry so when you bring a guy like Phil mafa in you have someone tough on the ground so it's a great point to bring up with with him and the power and seniority that he brings to this team definitely and and I think that you know a lot of people are looking at this matchup I can't speak for everyone of course but looking at this and just thinking of georg's traditional defense and um you know it you know it has ranked very highly but the rushing the rushing defense was definitely an area of opportunity um you know players such as Mel Williams at defensive end at first round projected uh defensive end has stated that like last season was not really like he felt like he could have provided more right um and you know on the offensive side Georgia made some really key pickups you know picking up Dominic love it from Missouri you know he had 63 yards and four touchdowns probably saw an even bigger role for himself at UG and then picking up uh Trevor at TNA of course with 753 yards eight touchdowns so it'll it'll be a really fun matchup to see how they kind of duke it out um and how each other how each team can really show off their strengths yeah no and it's the weapons on Georgia is is what people are going to be looking at you know he lost his two favorite weapons to the draft there's nothing there's no shortage of media out there about what LA makoni and Brock Bowers are about to do in the NFL but how do you fill the gaps that they leave at Georgia I mean Bowers went down last year and Oscar Delp stepped in and played great he was ready for that role I think he comes in is the great weapon for for Beck this year where he has that outlet someone he can throw to every time cross the middle that is going to be the key for them and also kobby young to Miami transfer coming in he's gonna be great at The X Out wide um it's it's Georgia it's recruiting it's it's how do you reload and continue to keep the momentum going year- over-ear so their their offense I don't think is going to be missing a step and they're gonna be firing on all cylinders again definitely definitely and and again like on the defensive front you look at you know some of the good players have come from the program Jordan Davis a d tackle you know Nolan Smith um you know obb uh Rush end and Kristen Miller is another one of those players who's really kind of hoping to step into that Jordan Davis type role for them to help uh you know take that leap on the run defense side uh as they're kind of matched and paired against you know Cade and and uh Phil mafa as well so you know I I think I had this game going to Georgia and I want to say my score was 28 to 17 yeah I think that's a good pick I think you're your spot on it where where the game is going to be you know we talked about georg's defense Clemson hasn't had a thousand yard receiver since 2020 they don't have that weapon I think where Georgia Georgia is going to be able to swarm the things that are working they're great at defensive adjustments at half Kirby Smart is great at adjusting to those things you got him 287 I think 317 I I love Georgia's chances here I love Georgia's chances this season although I have them dropping a couple games uh down the stretch um the big question for Clemson underutilization of the portal does that mean that they're set on what they got or have they not figured out how to use it so we both got Georgia this week yeah we both Georgia this week uh not not too many other thoughts there um like said I'm riding with Georgia it's by no means a home game you know Greenville South Carolina is relatively close to Atlanta uh there's a ton of Clemson alum I here in Atlanta I see him walking around all the time and in the city but uh I have Georgia taking this one I think that you know they want us the season off strong and uh it should be a fun one it's a great you know appetizer to start the season yeah now we love AC teams playing a big big week one they're trying to prove something here that they're not the the bottom they're not one of the bottom conferences that they can compete so we'll see we're excited to watch that one yeah maybe maybe it'll be an SEC tryy out for Clemson we'll see could be could be [Music]