It is true that Georgia is favored heading into the game rather significantly. And yes, Clemson is coming off their worst season in over a decade finishing 9-4 a year ago. But if Kirby Smart and Georgia are actually going to pull off the victory they need to make sure that three key things happen throughout the game.
Georgia Must Pressure Cade Klubnik
This may sound obvious, as pressuring opposing quarterbacks is always important, but it's especially true with Clemson's Cade Klubnik. The rising junior has one of the worst drop offs in efficiency among all FBS quarterbacks from snaps where he is kept clean in the pocket versus when he faces pressure.
Last season when Klubnik was working with a clean pocket he threw 15 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions. Against pressure? He threw 6 interceptions and just 4 touchdowns. His completion rate drops from over 72% to below 38%. And his yards per attempt decreases by a full 2.2 yards (down to 4.5 yards per pass) when he faces pressure. His passer rating drops all the way to 43.2, which is just barely higher than a rating assigned to a standard incomplete pass. So essentially, Klubnik is nearly better off chucking the ball into the dirt instead of even trying to attempt a pass against pressure.
Georgia should be able to generate pressure with elite talents like potential first round pick Mykel Williams and hybrid off-ball linebacker edge defender Jalon Walker. However, outside of those two, Georgia doesn't return the bevy of elite defensive front pass rushers we're used to seeing. Nazir Stackhouse is great against the run, but never creates havoc as a rusher. Chaz Chambliss barely crested a 9% pass rush pressure rate last season.
The Bulldogs have to find a way to generate consistent pressure from more than a couple players. They'll likely figure out a way to make pressure happen early and often, but it's not a given.
Clemson has talent all throughout their defense, but they do have a very young and/or inexperienced set of defensive backs outside of their safeties. Avieon Terrell and Khalil Barnes saw a good chunk of work last season, but they're still just rising sophomores. Jeadyn Lukas missed a ton of time last year and logged less than 200 snaps.
Behind that trio of young players is an even younger, greener set of depth defensive backs for the most part as well. Georgia's wide receiver group isn't exactly the most experienced (together) either, but if they can consistently find ways to get open for Carson Beck it's going to be a long day for Clemson.
Dillon Bell can win in a variety of skills and pre-snap alignments as he demonstrated last year. Dominic Lovett should be a shifty slot mismatch to beat Barnes or any other slot defender. Miami transfer Colbie Young could be the size mismatch Georgia throws in at X in the red zone. Then Arian Smith and London Humphreys should be able to burn defenders with their elite speed.
Georgia has the talents to defeat Clemson's one potential area of weakness. But will they be able to exploit the right mismatches consistently throughout the game?
Offensive Line Must Hold Up Against Clemson's Elite Defensive Line
Lastly, the one area that never seems to be a weakness for Clemson (even in "down" years) is their defensive line. Peter Woods already looks like a lock to be a 2026 first round pick who can line up and win from any defensive line position. Payton Page and DeMonte Capehart are both size, strength, speed mismatch problems in the A and B gaps. And T.J. Parker, although just a true freshman last year, was already a wrecking ball off the edge last season tallying a pass rush pressure rate near 15%.
Georgia returns the vast majority of their offensive line experience from a year ago, only really replacing their center with Jared Wilson who might even be more monstrous than Sedrick Van Pran (last year's center). The Bulldogs have the heavy horses to fight off the best of the best defensive lines, even Clemson's. But it's one thing to have the talent. It's another entirely to line up and win consistently down to down for more than 60 snaps in an intense, competitive game. If Carson Beck can stay clean in the pocket the game is over before it's even really begun.
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