What happens if Clemson pulls off an upset against the mighty Georgia Bulldogs in just over three weeks?
The Tigers are currently 13.5-point underdogs against a Georgia team that’s ranked No. 1 in the preseason US LBM Top 25 Coaches Poll, whereas Clemson is ranked No. 14. The two teams meet at noon ET August 31 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The game will be televised on ABC.
ESPN analyst Greg McElroy recently pondered what a Clemson upset of Georgia would do for Dabo Swinney’s program — and what it would take to pull one off — on the Thursday edition of his Always College Football podcast.
“Would that officially put to bed the notion that Dabo can’t get it done in the current format of college football? Tyler from Spartanburg won’t be calling the next week, I can promise you that,” McElroy said. “It would be massive for Clemson in the court of public opinion. It would be enormous because regardless of what happens with Georgia (in) Week 1, whether they win or lose, people are going to know that Georgia has one of the best rosters in the sport.”
As for how Clemson could score an upset, McElroy pointed to three things the Tigers would have to do to get a win against a Georgia program that hasn’t lost a regular season game since 2020.
“When I look at Georgia… their Achilles’ heels last year was against the run. So, if Clemson beats Georgia, that means that they’ve probably gotten improved quarterback play, they probably were able to run the football pretty well, probably were able to create some one-on-one opportunities for their wide receivers… and Georgia still maybe has a couple issues against the run that plagued them at times last year. That’s probably the recipe.”
The former Alabama quarterback praised the Tigers for how they finished an otherwise disappointing season a year ago. Clemson won its final five games, including a 38-35 fourth-quarter thriller against Kentucky in the Gator Bowl.
McElroy, who serves as the color commentator on ESPN/ABC’s No. 2 broadcast team with Sean McDonough, said he believes the five-game win streak has left momentum in the Tigers’ program.
“Once you look at where they were after a 4-4 start, really at a crossroads and finishing with that five-game win streak, I think they have a lot of momentum coming into this season,” McElroy said. “And they’re going to look a lot like the team they had last year. They have the same offensive coordinator back in Garrett Riley. They’ve got the same quarterback back in Cade Klubnik. I would hope that Cade Klubnik would be a lot more comfortable this year.”
“But man, that would be a massive result,” McElroy added of a Clemson upset. “Not just for the ACC, but also for Dabo Swinney in quieting some of the critics with how he’s approached the portal and some other aspects of the current format in college football.”
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