Week 1: Georgia Bulldogs vs. Clemson Tigers

Noon ET, ABC, Georgia -12.5

The Bulldogs are 13 ½ point favorites against the Taters this weekend in the Aflac Kickoff Game in Atlanta. The last time these squads met—another week one tilt at the 2021 World Famous Duke’s Mayo Classic (aka the Will Levis Bowl)—a nerve-wracking ordeal saw a dominant ‘Dawgs defense choke the Tigers out in a 10-3 victory. (A quick aside: Both starting QBs in that game were pre-season Heisman hopefuls—DJ Uiagalelei and JT Daniels—and both are somehow still playing college football, now at their third and fourth schools, respectively. That 10-3 final makes a lot of sense in hindsight… “DJ just isn’t a good fit for [insert school]’s system!!!!” Yeah, sure...)

This year, Georgia has a real Heisman hopeful and likely first round pick in starting quarterback Carson Beck. The ‘Dawgs did lose a lot of pass-catching talent in last year’s draft in Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey, and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, so it will be interesting to see who steps up on the receiving end of the passing game for Georgia. The obvious answer to most ‘Dawg fans is junior tight end Oscar Delp, who played well last year as TE2 behind Bowers. Delp is physically imposing and plays as more of a true tight end than Bowers IMHO.

A bigger question mark for the offense may actually be at running back, as there is still no word on whether Trevor Etienne will face some sort of suspension following his offseason—wait for it—traffic arrest. Behind Etienne are Roderick Robinson, who just had toe surgery, and the powerful Branson Robinson, who missed all of last season with a torn patellar tendon (hot take: we still think the latter's ceiling is Nick Chubb when healthy). 

As we mentioned in our Preseason Tiers preview last week, Georgia either returns veteran talent or has reloaded through the portal at virtually every position. On defense, it will be interesting to see what kind of run freshman safety KJ Bolden gets this weekend. Bolden has drawn comparisons to stud junior safety Malaki Starks, who endeared himself to Georgia fans with a pick against Oregon in his freshman debut in 2022.

As for Clemson, following a disappointing 9-4 season (by Clemson standards) and given Dabo’s head-scratching refusal to utilize college free agency, the Tigers are in a bit of a “We’ll believe it when we see it” spot for us. If we’re playing devil’s advocate for the sake of “impartiality,” we’ll say the Tigers’ best bet is to exploit the Dawgs’ secondary opposite whatever side Starks is on. 

It’s worth noting that Clemson capped last season off with five straight wins, including a Gator Bowl victory over a decent Kentucky team, and stud running back Phil Mafah played well down the stretch. Key question for us: Can Mafah and a veteran Tiger offensive line establish some semblance of a run game to take pressure off Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik? Klubnik comes into his second year as starter and has had some bright moments, but we’re hearing the same shit we hear all the time about young, highly-touted quarterbacks who don’t look quite ready when first thrown into the fire. “Last year really helped him grow.” “He’s improving each day.” Yada, yada, yada…We’ll see. 

Dr.ChimRichalds’ Pick: ‘Dawgs by infinity! Alright, fine…’Dawgs control this one in the second half, making Clemson's offense one dimensional and covering the spread. Georgia 35-14.