Bring on the Bulldogs: Elliott says offensive staff already preparing for Georgia

Elliott and the offensive staff are already preparing for Georgia.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat May 29 08:00:05 GMT-04:00 2021

The Clemson football offices have been mostly quiet since the end of spring practice, the coaches coming and going at irregular hours, enjoying just a tiny bit of freedom before next week’s high school camps begin. But tucked away in corner offices, graduate assistants, analysts, and full-time coaches have been poring over film of the 2021 season’s first opponent, the Georgia Bulldogs.

Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott appeared on the Packer and Durham Show earlier this week, and he said that the offensive staff is already making plans to face the Bulldogs in Charlotte on Sept. 4th as part of the Duke's Mayo Classic.

Draftkings has released lines for some of the high-profile Week 1 matchups, and the game between Georgia and Clemson has Clemson as four-point neutral-site favorites over Georgia. It won’t be the last time the two storied programs meet this decade.

In August, the two programs announced that they will face one another in the 2024 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta. In November, the teams added a home-and-home series that features a game in Clemson in 2029 and one in Georgia in 2030. An additional home-and-home series now in the mix results in five scheduled contests between the two historic geographical rivals between 2024 and 2033.

Georgia owns a 42-18-4 advantage against the Tigers, with Clemson winning 38-35 in 2013 at home and Georgia returning the favor in 2014 with a 45-21 home win. However, the September meeting between the two schools represents a chance to impress the College Football Playoff Committee. Georgia, which at this point has a stronger schedule, could more easily survive a loss than the Tigers, who at this point don’t have another ranked (preseason) team on the schedule.

The early work could make a difference.

"We've started our offseason preparation for Georgia. (The Bulldogs are an) outstanding football club," Elliott said Thursday. "They've got a lot of guys coming back on defense. We know they're going to add a couple of guys probably from the transfer perspective and they're going to be very, very talented."

The Bulldogs are expected to add former Clemson cornerback Derion Kendrick to the fold via the transfer portal. Kendrick was released from his Clemson scholarship in the spring and was later arrested in his hometown of Rock Hill. Georgia also added former Alabama defensive back Brandon Turnage via transfer this offseason.

Second-year cornerback Jalen Kimber and redshirt junior Ameer Speed are currently the projected starters at cornerback. High-profile redshirt freshman Kelee Ringo, the top-rated corner in the 2020 signing class, is coming off a healthy spring after missing the fall with a torn labrum.

The Bulldogs bring back a number of major contributors along the defensive line in Jordan Davis, Devonte Wyatt and Jalen Carter.

In other words, the Bulldogs have plenty of talent on the defensive side of the ball.

“It's gonna be a highly competitive game, but that's really where we started," Elliott said. "One thing that's great about our program is we treat every game as the biggest game of the season, so the preparation is not going to be any different depending upon who we open with."

Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei and his ability to run the football could make a difference against an athletic Bulldog front.

“DJ has got to be able to make us right within our system," he said. "That’s where the quarterback’s athleticism and his legs come into play with what we do offensively. He has to be able to make us right. He doesn’t have to be Travis Etienne and make explosive plays in the run game, but he has to keep us honest, and that’s what Trevor (Lawrence), Deshaun (Watson) and Kelly (Bryant) have done in the past, is be able to keep us honest."