Joel Klatt Previews Clemson vs. UGA, Gives His Prediction

On The Joel Klatt Show , Fox Sports’ lead college football analyst gave his previews and picks for the biggest Week 1 games in the sport.

Klatt weighed in on 14 ^th -ranked Clemson’s chances of pulling off a major upset against No. 1 Georgia.

The Bulldogs are a 13.5-point favorite entering Saturday’s matchup in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium (12 p.m., ABC).

“Close drive. I don’t think the crowd’s going to be a factor for either team,” Klatt said. “Maybe more so for Georgia just because their fan base is awesome – not that Clemson’s isn’t. Just because I didn’t say that doesn’t mean I’m implying that Clemson’s is not.”

Klatt’s prediction has the Bulldogs beating the Tigers, 24-10, and thus covering the 13.5-point spread.

“Georgia is the favorite, should be the favorite, has the better quarterback. Carson Beck was No. 1 in my ratings of the top five quarterbacks in college football,” Klatt said. “They’re a 13.5-point favorite, and guess what, I still like the Bulldogs. I love something in the neighborhood of like 24-10. Georgia’s not incredibly potent on offense because of the questions that I mentioned running the football, and even trying to replace guys like (Brock) Bowers and (Ladd) McConkey on the outside.

“So, they’re not going to light the world on fire. But guess what they’re not going to do? Give up many points to an offense that there’s some real question marks around. So 24-10, I like Georgia winning this game and covering the 13.5.”

Georgia is 46-2 in its last 48 games and has won 45 straight games against teams other than Alabama (last loss, 2020 vs. Florida).

The Bulldogs are hoping to win their third national championship in four seasons. Meanwhile, the Tigers enter this season riding momentum from 2023, when they won their final five games following a 4-4 start.

“On the Clemson side, I’m really intrigued to see what happens in this Cade Klubnik, Garrett Riley relationship on offense,” Klatt said. “I thought it was going to be highly beneficial for Clemson and Klubnik last year to have Garrett Riley, and I was wrong. It did not materialize. And now they go into this season, and to me, my question is, will it be different in year two of this relationship? I’m not sure. They did not have much success pushing the ball downfield last year, and it’s really unclear whether they’re going to have the talent on the outside to threaten Georgia, which has been the SEC’s best defense for basically, what, three straight years, and maybe longer.”

You can watch Klatt’s full commentary on the Clemson-UGA game beginning at the 10:25 mark of the following video:

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