This site and others in the social media-verse get plenty of jabs in about Dabo Swinney. At times, he is an easy target.
But there are times when he is worth agreeing with.
This is one of them.
Dabo: “I wish we played Georgia every year.”
— ️
(@ADavidHaleJoint) August 27, 2024
There was a time, and older fans of Georgia remember it well, when the Dawgs and Tigers played each year. As many things do, that changed over time. But spend a bit of time with fans from the era of the 1970s and 1980s especially, and they will tell you all about how intense the Georgia-Clemson rivalry was.
Clemson fans will proudly point out that Herschel Walker never scored a touchdown against them, and one of Lewis Grizzard’s most-famous columns came following the famed 1984 victory.
With the two schools being so closely located and so similar, it was hard for the two schools to be not linked. Ironically, Georgia’s 1980 national title was followed by Clemson doing likewise a year later.
With conference schedules expected to expand soon, games like Georgia and Clemson being an annual thing are not likely, which is why, even if it’s a neutral site game, Saturday should be exciting.
Run The Damn Ball?
How Georgia does that on Saturday against Clemson could be complicated.
With Roderick Robinson sidelined with toe surgery and Trevor Etienne’s status unknown, the running game may be led by a possible candidate for Comeback Player of the Year as Branson Robinson, who missed all of 2023 with an injury, primed to get most of the carries at running back.
Obviously Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens could see time carrying the ball as well, due in part to necessity.
The last time Georgia opened the season in Atlanta, fans saw the on-scene arrival of freshman Malaki Starks at defensive back. The very same could be on the verge of happening on the opposite side of the ball.
Inevitably, if talent from a high school football program is regularly good, chances are good that multiple players will play in a power conference. That’s absolutely true for Georgia’s Malaki Starks, who on Saturday in Atlanta will be on the opposite side of the field from his teammate at Jefferson, Sammy Brown.
Much like Florida State and Florida to players in south Georgia, it’s to expected for Clemson to target players who can play at a high level in northeast Georgia. A big way for Georgia to keep an upper-hand tilted its way in those recruiting salvos, however, will be to win on Saturday in downtown Atlanta.
Stetson Bennett will begin the season as the Rams’ No. 2 quarterback. But where did the rest of the Dawgs end of following the final round of cuts? Nick Chubb is not yet ready to play yet but the fact that he is on Cleveland’s PUP list (physically unable to play) says that the Browns are looking for him to contribute at some point.
Speaking of Lewis Grizzard razzing Clemson….
Go Dawgs!