All eyes will be on the Duke’s Mayo Classic on Sept. 4 as Clemson and Georgia renew their historic rivalry at Bank of America Stadium.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is not exempt from the excitement surrounding the matchup that carries a rich history of hatred between the Tigers and Bulldogs. He showed his excitement for the game in an appearance on Packer and Durham on the ACC Network Wednesday morning.
“It’s Clemson-Georgia, the history of Clemson-Georgia that goes back for years and years and years. Fans are excited and always have been,” Swinney said. “We’ve had a couple matchups with them — one here, one there, now we’ve got a neutral site. So, I think people are excited.”
Only 70 miles separate Clemson, South Carolina and Athens, Georgia which creates a natural rivalry in terms of recruiting. But over the last two decades both Clemson and Georgia have played on the biggest stages in college football.
“It’s as expected. These are two great programs. For the last decade, these two programs have represented the best of the best,” Swinney said. “Both teams have been in the playoffs, both teams have been in national championships, both teams recruit well. We recruit a lot of the same territory and things like that. Both teams are in the top five preseason and all that stuff.”
Last season fans missed out on the pageantry and excitement that makes college football special as stadiums limited capacity in the midst of the pandemic.
But in less than two weeks Bank of America Stadium will welcome a full capacity crowd of 73,778 split right down the middle as the Tigers and Bulldogs play for the first time since 2014.
The return of a raucous environment and packed stadium add an extra layer of excitement for Swinney as he looked ahead.
“And then you throw in the fact that nobody was at the games last year and people are excited to come and get back in the stands and be able to see some football, in particular a game like this of this magnitude,” Swinney said. “I mean, it’s a heavyweight matchup right out of the gate.”
Since Swinney’s first season as the Tigers’ head coach in 2009 he set five goals for each one of his teams: to win the opener, win the division, win the state, win the conference and win the closer. This season the goals remain the same for Clemson as the date with the Bulldogs looms.
“In college football there’s so much unknown, especially in an opener. We don’t get any preseason games, so it’s for real the first time you step on the field,” Swinney said.
“And then throw in the fact that it’s two really high-level teams playing each other, just generates a lot of conversation.”
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