Top-ranked Georgia will begin its season on Aug. 31 against No. 14 Clemson at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Three years ago, the Bulldogs topped the Tigers 10-3 in a defensive battle at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. They also lead the all-time series 43-18-4 and hope to extend their winning streak to three this week.
“A rivalry that when you look back, I didn’t realize how many consecutive years Georgia played Clemson for a long time,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “Just have a lot of respect for their program and what Dabo (Swinney) has done. He’s done an incredible job. He’s got a great culture and environment there.”
Clemson is led by Cade Klubnik, who passed for 2,844 yards, 19 touchdowns, and nine interceptions last year. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound quarterback enters his second season as a starter for the Tigers.
“It seems like he’s been there forever, and this is his third year, but he’s a great athlete,” Smart said of Klubnik. “He’s played a lot of football for a guy that age, can scramble, make plays with his feet, and has more weapons around him. He’s a lot more comfortable now in their offense.
“You could see that throughout the year last year, as you watched the season go on, how much more comfortable he got, especially when they started going to Phil (Mafah) a lot more as their feature (running) back and became a more physical team.”
Mafah is one of Clemson’s top returning offensive weapons after rushing for 965 yards and 13 scores last year. A Loganville native, Mafah averaged 5.4 yards per carry last year and remains a real offensive threat.
“He’s got a downhill way about him,” Smart said. “He’s one of those guys that was that way in high school. The more carries he gets, the harder he is to tackle. He enjoys it the more he gets it. They hung their hat on him there later last season. He was physical and a good runner. I think with that offensive line tying the experience they have and size they have to him, it makes any offense work better when you can run the ball.”
Defensively, Clemson returns talent such as Peach State natives Khalil Barnes and Barrett Carter. Barnes, from Athens, shined at safety for the Tigers as a freshman, totaling 38 tackles and a team-high three picks.
Carter, who is from Suwanee, had the team’s second-best 62 tackles at linebacker. He also totaled 3.5 sacks, five pass deflections, one interception, and a fumble recovery during his junior campaign with Clemson.
“First of all, he’s a tremendous kid. He’s one of the high academic kids who attended a great high school at North Gwinnett,” Smart said. “Just a fun kid to recruit because he had a great personality. He enjoyed recruiting. He was upfront and honest. He didn’t get too enamored in the process; he handled it the right way and made the choice he thought was best for him. He’s become a really good player, a dominant player. You can see his instincts and athleticism on tape. He’s a playmaker, and they’ve got a good one in Barrett.”
Georgia and Clemson will kick off at noon on ESPN.