Tigers Must Be 'Playoff Ready Game One, Play One'

While Clemson has missed the College Football Playoff in each of the past three seasons, the Tigers are preparing for a playoff type game in the season-opener against Georgia.

Dabo Swinney’s teams are notorious for preparing for a faceless opponent and playing to a standard regardless of who lines up on the opposite side of the ball. However, with the Dawgs being that opponent this season, veteran defender RJ Mickens admits there will be a different feel for the opener in Atlanta. At the same time, he insists the preparation will be the same.

“There’s a little something in the air with this one, especially the way last time we played them,” Mickens said at the ACC Kickoff. “This is the most important game of the year just because it’s the next game.”

Clemson is also notorious for entering the season with the same goals, and the first one on the list is to win the opener.

“It’s the first game that we got, it’s the opener,” Mickens added. “One of our goals is to win the opener and if we were to win this game and lose the next one, you see how important the App State game, that next game is. So every single game is a huge game of its own. Every single game.”

While the preparation will remain the same, the Tigers know what kind of challenge Georgia presents. Kirby Smart has taken that program and turned it into a perennial power, having won back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022. And with a roster that is once again loaded, the Dawgs are again one of the favorites to win it all in 2024.

“I don’t think we’re preparing any different,” Mickens said. “We’re still preparing to a standard, not an opponent.”

“We got to be playoff ready game one, play one. It’s going to be a playoff atmosphere, a playoff caliber opponent out there. They’ve got all-stars, NFL players on both sides of the ball. Offense and defense. They’re just a really loaded team.”

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