ESPN analyst on Clemson keys to upset of No. 1 Georgia

Cade Klubnik's improvement and Phil Mafah's running could be key to a statement win in Atlanta.

by TigerNet Staff - Aug 9, 2024, 8:42 AM

What if Clemson beats Georgia in Week 1?

It’s a simple question that ESPN analyst Greg McElroy tackled this week, pondering the ifs on Clemson turning a 13.5-point spread upside down.

McElroy analyzed the impact before some keys to a Clemson upset bid.

“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 this week. “It would be massive for Clemson in the court of public opinion. It would be enormous because regardless of what happens with Georgia Week 1, whether they win or lose, people are going to know that Georgia has one of the best rosters in the sport. Even if they lost that game, there’s plenty of meat on the bone for them to get back in the good graces, but it unveils some possible liabilities that I would be really interested to see. But you think back to just how rare a Georgia loss is.

“They’ve lost just twice in the last three seasons. Both of those losses have come in the SEC Championship Game. They’ve won 39 consecutive regular season games dating back to 2020. That’s the second-longest on-field streak in the AP era. Only Oklahoma had a longer streak, and guess when that was – that was when they won 45 straight from 1953 and 1957. So slightly different era of football back then. All due respect to those Sooner teams, I’m sure they were amazing...I just think winning 39 in a row now might be a little trickier now than winning 45 in a row back then…

“But man, that would be a massive result 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.”

McElroy compared the chances of an upset to Clemson’s opener at Duke last year, a 28-7 Blue Devils victory.

“Is it completely out of the realm of possibility? Georgia is currently a 14-point favorite (at some outlets),” he said. “Need I remind you that Clemson last year when it went on the road to Duke, was an 11.5-point favorite. And the home-field being at Duke last year was worth, what, about three points? At a neutral site, Georgia being about 14 and Clemson on the road at 11 is really not that wide of a gap when you take that into account. I think a lot of people look at Clemson and they failed to win ten games for the first time since 2010, and while that for many would be looked as a significant disappointment, I actually 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. And they’re going to look a lot like they looked last year.

“They have the same offensive coordinator back in Garrett Riley. They’ve got the same quarterback back in Cade Klubnik. You would hope – at least I would hope that Cade Klubnik will be a lot more comfortable this year.”

McElroy pointed to building on last year and overall offensive improvement to Clemson’s chance in Atlanta on Aug. 31 (noon/ABC/Mercedes-Benz Stadium).

“People forget, while Cade was a 5-star and (Clemson) sprinkled him into some action in his true freshman year, he’s only started 13 or 14 games," McElroy said. "It’s not like he’s played a ton of football…So maybe he’s poised to make a significant jump his second year in the offense. His second year with Riley. His second year with what should be a better wide receiver corps. Now, he’s got to make better decisions. He threw nine picks last year. He’s got to have better ball security…The good news is that I do think they’ll be able to run the football.

“I look at Phil Mafah, and while he was kinda used as a piece to spell Will Shipley throughout the first half of last year, down the stretch he really got it going. The last six games, nobody ran for more rushing touchdowns and there only two more guys in the league who had more rushing yards down the stretch than Phil Mafah last year. So when I look at Georgia, and I talked about it all last year, their Achilles’ heel 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. Their young wide receivers who are hopefully going to get a little better this year and a little more consistent this year, and Georgia still maybe has a couple issues against the run that plagued them at times last year. So that’s probably the recipe.”