Why we can already call Georgia-Clemson the most hyped game of 2021
In August 2017, I had a conversation with Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl President and CEO Gary Stokan about how his upcoming season-opening matchup came together. When Stokan talked about it being “the best opening weekend game in college football history,” I didn’t blink. It was Alabama vs. Florida State. It was Nick Saban vs. Jimbo Fisher. It was No. 1 vs. No. 3. It was even being played in brand-new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Of course, nobody could’ve predicted that in addition to Alabama winning by 17, Florida State went on to win 6 regular-season games in what turned out to be Fisher’s last season in Tallahassee. That didn’t matter to Stokan, though. What did matter was that his game got 8 months worth of buildup, and tickets sold out 2 months before kickoff.
We don’t know how the 2021 season will play out, either. What do we know? Like “the best opening weekend game in college football history,” Georgia-Clemson will be the most hyped game of the year.
That’ll be true even if it isn’t No. 1 vs. No. 3, though I wouldn’t necessarily bet against that.
I can say that on a Tuesday morning about 200 days from watching Georgia-Clemson face off in Charlotte — not that I’m counting — that no game on the 2021 slate will have a bigger buildup.
Why?
In case you haven’t heard, there’s just a little bit of buzz in Athens this offseason. Much of that was sparked by the returns of draft-eligible standouts like JT Daniels, Jordan Davis, James Cook and Zamir White. For every one of those “unfinished business” posts on social media, the hype train picked up a little more speed. By the time Sept. 4 rolls around, there’s no telling how fast that train will be moving.
After all, Kirby Smart’s defense doesn’t have any games to play from now until Sept. 4, which means it won’t have to watch an elite passing offense put up 40 points with ease.
I know, Georgia fans. I shouldn’t make that joke because now, the Dawgs actually have an offense that can keep pace in that type of game. Hence, the hype!
Speaking of that Georgia offense, that’s really half of why this matchup will get so much attention. We got a sneak peek at Daniels, which is why the former 5-star recruit already has preseason Heisman Trophy buzz. Perhaps equally important, though much less documented, was the fact that Georgia retained offensive coordinator Todd Monken. His system, as we saw down the stretch, worked. Now, George Pickens, Jermaine Burton, Kearis Jackson and Darnell Washington will have an entire (somewhat) normal offseason to get on the same page with Daniels, who was a summer addition last year. That projects well.
You’ll notice that I said the Georgia offense is only half of why this matchup will get so much buildup. Eh, who are we kidding. It’s 2021. That’s probably closer to 60-70% of the reason this matchup will have so much buildup.
The other big reason? On Monday, we found out that Clemson safety Nolan Turner is taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility and is returning for 2021. Why is that significant, you ask? All of Clemson’s defensive starters are back.
With Nolan Turner returning, the ENTIRE Clemson starting defense will be back in 2021.
Clemson had the #1 defense in 2020 (EPA per play against) pic.twitter.com/shsfQUvkC7
— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) January 18, 2021
Yes, the Tigers are probably still licking their wounds after Justin Fields torched them in the Sugar Bowl. There’d probably be even more buzz surrounding Clemson had it at least kept it close in the semifinal showdown.
But Brent Venables returning all of his starters all but guarantees that Clemson will have a top-3 spot to start the season. That’s with the loss of Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne, who proved to be one of the most prolific 1-2 punches in college football history.
Notice how we’re 600 words into this, and I have yet to mention former 5-star recruit and 2020 backup D.J. Uiagalelei, who figures to have similar preseason Heisman buzz as Daniels. Barring injury, that means we’ll get a matchup of former 5-star quarterbacks who flashed major potential in limited work in 2020. There’s not any sort of media fatigue surrounding either guy yet. There could be by the time their college careers are over, but for now, we’re still in the hype phase.
Let’s talk hype for a second. As in, which other 2021 games will have it.
I tend to think after a season in which we didn’t get nonconference play among Power 5 teams during the regular season, those games will have a different type of buzz in 2021.
That’s not to say conference games will be lacking. Lord knows there are plenty of great conference games set like the Cocktail Party, Alabama-Texas A&M, Iowa State at Oklahoma, etc.. But nonconference play in 2021 will be welcomed back like your parents when you haven’t seen them in over a year because of a pandemic. Too real? OK, it’ll be like the return of the McRib.
With that in mind, I already picked the best nonconference games. Here’s how I’d rank the 5 best in terms of intrigue and national significance:
- Georgia vs. Clemson in Charlotte
- Oregon vs. Ohio State
- Cincinnati vs. Notre Dame
- Alabama vs. Miami (FL) in Atlanta
- Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame in Chicago
And if D’Eriq King can’t play in the opener against Alabama coming off his torn ACL, take that out and put in Cincinnati vs. Indiana. That’s not a joke.
Oregon-Ohio State would be different if the Ducks were starting inside the top 10 and if Justin Fields were returning, though neither is happening. Even as a true home-and-home series, that won’t be more buzz-worthy than Georgia-Clemson.
Plus, Georgia-Clemson is sort of in that sweet spot in terms of a nonconference rivalry. They have history as teams that met annually for a quarter century during the Vince Dooley era, yet they haven’t played each other since the 2014 opener. Neither program was loaded with 5-star talent like it is today. Rivalries renewed tap into the old school fans and the new school fans.
Given how high of a floor that both teams had in the last 4 years — neither program finished worse than No. 7 in the AP Top 25 — it’d be stunning to see the significance of this game fade like the 2017 Alabama-Florida State opener. By season’s end, the Crimson Tide’s résumé was a hot topic of discussion in large part because FSU became bowl eligible in the rescheduled regular-season finale.
If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that we don’t know what will happen in 2021. What seems unlikely is that Clemson or Georgia will torpedo like Florida State in 2017. And even if one does, it won’t change 8 months worth of hype.
“The best opening weekend game in college football history” might have some worthy competition.
If UGA can address some the concerns in the CB room, I believe they have a chance.
Also need for the O-Line to gel during camp.
Agree, much hype and anticipation. Tough game for week 1.
Honestly I don’t think UGA has that many questions in the secondary. Provided they STAY HEALTHY. UGA has the #1 defensive back in the country in K Dingo coming back. When already have Lewis Cine at safety. I think he is as good as they come. We have Jalen Kimber who can be a shutdown corner himself. And we have some pretty darn talented guys coming in and some pretty talented guys that were already at UGA waiting their turn. You know that Green guy is a 5 star cornerback don’t you? The 247 guys when you just look at team recruiting rankings. They show Green as a 4 star cornerback. But he has earned his 5TH star!!! Click on his name and you’ll see. He is considered a super great corner!!! Lewis Cine was right there at the 5 star level. You might as well consider him a 5 star. So with 3 5 stars and a bunch of elite 4 stars. I don’t see why everyone is so worried. Most teams would feel great to have just 1 5 star back there.
MOST IMPORTANT IS COACHING…….
Kirby Smart is the very best defensive mind in college football. Baker who won the award for TOP DEFENSIVE BACK IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL. He wasn’t elite when he came to UGA. HE WAS A 3 STAR WITHOUT ELITE SPEED!!! But look what the Georgia coaching did for him. And now we hired an up and coming star in defensive back coaching.
UGA MIGHT have some defensive hiccups early. But if we stay healthy we will be fine!!!! As far as the early hiccups. I know clemson is the team you don’t want to have them with. But there is a real good cure for the early hiccups in the secondary. ITS CALLED A PASS RUSH!!!! MEDIOCRE DB’s can look and play elite ball. When you have a healthy pass rush!!!! Because the less time any db has to cover, the better he will play!!!! If he has to cover for half an hour. Yea elite DB’s will get burned!!!! But with average dbs and a super pass rush making certain they only cover a short time. Then those dbs can look like SUPERSTARS!!!
UGA HAD 8 SACKS IN THE BOWL GAME. THAT IS THE CURE FOR ANY QUESTION MARKS.
Personally I think UGA is going to bring down the thunder and lightning on Dabo and his tigers!!! It might be close in the first half. And then UGA pulls away starting in the 3rd quarter and then UGA has a huge 4TH quarter!!! Then again we might dominate early and the whole game. But I think UGA will dominate clemson!!! I’m not going by their playoff performance either. Because hey, they got there!!! Clemson is an elite football team. But I’ll still take UGA!!! KEEP THE TEAM HEALTHY AND THIS IS OUR SEASON!!!!! NO HYPE, ONLY FACT!!!!! Alabama will still be good. But they WILL take a few steps backwards next season!!!! That is a fact!!!!
PS. Only injuries or UGA will beat UGA this next season!!! Florida will not even come close to beating UGA!!!! When ole Interception Emory aka Emory Jones is running the offense. Look for Florida to go back to Mullen’s typical offense and UGA will shut it down. Especially in the second half!!! Either way. I’m not worried!!!
King Negan
Our O LINE is already elite. Everyone gives up pressure and sacks. But the better Zamir White plays the better the whole team will play. Because we have the right QB in there now!!!!! As long as he and Zamir White stays healthy along with the front line players. UGA will be an elite football team. I’m confident Kirby Smart will put a defense on the field.
PS. KIRBY SMART MADE THOSE ELITE CHAMPIONSHIP DEFENSES AT ALABAMA!!!! Saban had NOTHING to do with it!!!!!
Negan
I’m thankful we get a better barometer for comparing teams with inter-conference play and a true offseason.
Louisiana’s defeat of Iowa State early on in the season carried the G5 to prominence they didn’t deserve in the polls.
Also James Cook’s face in the photo that was chosen for this article is hilarious.
It’ll be a good game. At least, I hope. Going to be tough.
Let’s just hope this ends in the same result as much of the where the Dawgs were 6-1 against the Tiggers. Their defense will be nasty again, but a lot of production gone from the offense. So it could be strength on strength of our offense vs CU defense. Even with the secondary losses, I think our front 7 can work well against an offense w/o Etienne, Lawrence, et all. I mean OSU confused them and shut Etienne down and their second tier backs aren’t that good.
Wow! After Georgia vs. Clemson and Oregon vs. Ohio State, there’s not much left.
Some of these Blue-Blood programs really need to clime out of their shell, and schedule a few marque opponents.
We scheduled Penn State for week 2. We scheduled them long before they had a horrible 2020 season.
Oh and by the way, it’s at Penn State.
The PSU that just went 4-5? LMAO
Aubie108, That’s what I’m talking about…
Penn State obviously can’t be any worse next year. Multiple teams have made the jump from a bad year to a good year in this era. Penn State, they’re gonna be talented. Ranked? Maybe not. But talented, yes. Laugh all you want. You’re clueless anyways.
To say they can’t be worse is foolish… They most surely can be worse. As an Auburn fan you should know that considering Chiziks time as HC..
Make $hit up all you like. There is nothing at this point to label that game a marquee matchup..
Wanna use, past Auburn coaches as examples? Sure. In 2012 Auburn was the worst team in the SEC. In 2013, Auburn was the best team in the SEC. Penn State could very well make a jump similar to that. Quit posting without thinking.
You’re a dumba$$. I never said PSU couldn’t get better.
I said for you to say they can’t get worse is stupid because they can get worse… Look at 2011 Auburn to 2012 Auburn….
Also right now it’s not a marquee matchup. Just saying they can get better means nothing. They had a losing season…
I’m not a dumba$$. Yeah, no. Okay, they can get worse. But is it likely? Absolutely not. 5 losses. And I’m pretty sure they started out 0-5. That’s bad. Especially in their conference. And it’s foolish to use 2011 to 2012 for Auburn. They were 4-4 in SEC play in 2012. They didn’t win an SEC game in 2012. That’s not a huge difference.
Aubie108: all you can do is schedule a blue blood and hope they are still up. Not sure why anyone is giving you grief about Penn State.
I think Penn State isn’t as good of a team as in years past but next year they will have a better team. Can they get any worse? Yes but I’d bet my house and my money that they don’t get worse.
When we scheduled them, they were like you said, a blueblood. Are they now? After 2020, probably not. But would it be a convincing win if we can beat them? Yes. And I can do this all day with BT. He’s talking nonsense and only fooling around making him look like an idiot. He’s wrong and he won’t accept that.
I’m wrong that it’s not a marquee matchup? Nobody is giving that game the time of day because of PSUs bad year…
Who cares if they’re a blue blood… If they have a losing season being a blue blood means nothing..
And yes you can post incorrect information all day as it’s not the first time you make completely false statements and try to defend them…
LMaO.. So OSU vs Oregon is something Special but Bama vs Miami isn’t?
Miami just had a better season then Oregon and finished higher ranked…
The dumba$& Homer in you runs deep…
#alwaysnextyearU
Bama Boy, there you go again. Still easily triggered I see…
I would put Oregon over Miami, overall as a program.
But Miami finishing No.22 is impressive, considering the state of their program since, what the 1980’s-90’s.
I’m sure it will be an epic match-up.
You putting a 4-2 team over an 8-2 team makes sense because you’re a dumba$$…Not a single person ranked Oregon over Miami…
I also love how you talk about Miami’s past yet they won a NC in 2001 while the preseason NC puppies haven’t in 41 years now…
Dumba$$
Bama Boy, trying to change my words, again.
That’s what you do when you can’t figure out any way to even approach making a point. How old are you?
I never said anything about rankings. I said Oregon has a better program. They do… Get over it…
Again with the taking out your a$$…. Oregon’s program is not better than Miami’s…
Since you make the claim that they’re how about this… Prove it….
BamaTime, by program, what do you mean? Better team, or better facility? Better coaches? Miami has a better team and better coaches but it’s incredibly obvious that Oregon has a better facility.
What does it take to have a better program? More wins? Better facilities? Championships? Draft picks?
It’s all subjective… He loves to talk as though his opinion is fact but it’s not….
The quality of the team taking the field next year is what will determine the games… Miami was clearly better than Oregon this past season and there is no reason to think they won’t be next year with the players they return….
Ole Timmy boy talks out of his a$$
Bama Boy, Here Ya Go…
247 -: College football’s 25 best facilities in 2020
Oregon ranks No.2 Miami didn’t make the list.
Oregon has a better record over the last 4 years Oregon went 32-15. Miami went 31-19.
ESPN 2021 Way-Too-Early college football top 25 teams.
Oregon is ranked No. 13. Miami did make the list at No.25.
The Miami program is a dump compared to Oregon’s. Everybody else already knew that…
Rupert wins this argument.
The only thing you listed that wasn’t subjective about the program is the win loss records of the last 4 years…
Miami as a program has more championships, better coaches and just finished the season with twice the wins of Oregon and ranked higher… Their win/loss records are almost identical and Miami plays in the tougher conference by far…
Nope, sorry, that’ll be a beatdown of Miami… may not qualify as a game to watch!
Like Bama Vs UGA? Florida vs UGA?
Now, why you wanna go there? Not to worried about UF, that will correct itself. Now you Gumps, that is a mountain Kirby has to scale to really be elite.
I think Georgia – Clemson will be decided by which O-line makes the most improvement. Both of which were part of why neither team advanced farther last season.
Easy Clemson win. Easy.
Clemson wins 31-17
Aubie 108. I’ll take that bet. Just say when…
LOL giving score predictions and spring ball hasn’t even started yet.
boxter355, more like a wish tossed up to Heaven…
A wish tossed up to heaven? You are just so biased mr Rupert. You show that in every post.
True. But looking at this game as a “rough draft” if you will, Clemson will dominate.
Based on what? Clemson got manhandled on both lines of scrimmage against Ohio State, which underscores Dabo’s limited recruiting success there. If UGA can win the line of scrimmage, Clemson will absolutely not dominate.
Aubie 108, I just don’t that as a possibility. Any team can implode and have an off day with 4 turnovers.
But outside of that, these teams look very well matched.
First off, Clemson was not a top 1-2 team last season. More likely 6-10. They had problems on the O-line, that’s why Etien’s numbers and production fell off.
Both teams will have top 5 D-lines. Georgia may actually have a slight advantage at QB. Their QB is a great play, but Daniels has more playing experience.
Georgia brings the larger part of the offense back. Clemson lost two all time players at QB and RB.
It will likely be a 3 point type spread either way. How you think Clemson will dominate is beyond me.
“What seems unlikely is that Clemson or Georgia will torpedo like Florida State in 2017. And even if one does, it won’t change 8 months worth of hype.”
LMAO… Hype and UGA?
BamaTwat
Don’t you have a goat or close relative you should be humping?
You’re a complete bore, run along.
BamaTard
BamaTampon
BamaTwat
BamaTurd
BamaTwink
each and everyone fits you to a T
#alwaysnextyearU, #moralvictoryU, #blametherefsU, #wastingtalentU……
There is just so many for UGA…. Well except National ChampsU…. #1980U
BamaisTDOW’sBytch
Opps, left one off the list
I left off a lot…. #racistU, #underachievingU, and the list can go on…
Lol
All I have to do is bark and you ask for how long can you sniff my aass!
#transferU, #preseasonchampU, ….
I didn’t realize how much talent Clemson is returning on their Defense.. Going to be a great barometer for the Dawgs and we’ll definitely be motivated this entire offseason. Here’s to hoping we can parlay our gains into a 1-0 start and return to Atlanta come December! Go Dawgs!
It’s definitely a great match up of two teams that have been among the best lately. The good news is that whichever team loses will be able to play their way back into playoff contention so it isn’t do or die. Of course, Clemson doesn’t play anyone else while UGA faces the Sec rather than a bunch of glorified high school teams.
You finally spoke some truth. Bravo Gator.
We all just witnessed what happens when Clemson doesn’t have the opportunity to collect signals. They’ve got great talent but rely heavily on that strategy, which bit them in the @ss against Ohio State who decided to counter it.
Georgia by two touchdowns. Maybe three.
For this game…I’m a Georgia Dawgs fan. Go Dawgs !
Looking forward to this game, Georgia and Clemson should be motivated. May the best team win. Go Tigers!!!