Dabo Swinney shares high praise for Georgia, wishes Clemson played Bulldogs every year

Dabo Swinney and the No. 14 Clemson Tigers are putting in the final preparations for Saturday’s highly-anticipated season opener on the road against the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs.

With kickoff scheduled for noon Saturday, top-ranked Georgia will look to open the season with a win over the No. 14 Clemson Tigers, just as Georgia did to start the 2021 season. That campaign ended with Georgia winning the national championship.

While Clemson — who is always in contention for the College Football Playoff based on Swinney’s track record as head coach (170-43) and the program’s ability to keep premier talent — is viewed as the underdog, the Tigers’ head coach welcomes the challenge.

On Tuesday, Swinney met with the media and expressed his desire to play the SEC powerhouse more frequently.

Dabo Swinney: “I wish we played Georgia every year. It would save a lot of money for everybody.”

Obviously, a geographical fit. He also likes to bring a “you have to bring your A game” type of team, and a top Group of 5 squad.

“That’s kind of been our formula for a long time.”

— Jon Blau (@Jon_Blau) August 27, 2024

The Clemson coach likes having the opportunity to open against the top team in the country instead of a lesser-talented team, which has been the pattern in past seasons.

#Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney on Georgia:

“We have an opportunity to play the best team in the country right out of the gate. Anyone who doesn’t think so hasn’t been paying attention.”

— Grayson Mann (@gray_mann21) August 27, 2024

While it’s easy to point out that Georgia lost several key pieces from last year’s squad to the NFL, Swinney is fully-aware that a program of that caliber always reloads talent on an annual basis.

Dabo Swinney on Georgia losing a lot of offensive weapons to the NFL: “I don’t see any change.” Raves about UGA’s tight end room and transfer RB Trevor Etienne and says Bulldogs have reloaded. “Tackling’s always at a premium” in an opener but will be “critical” in this one

— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) August 27, 2024

It’s clear that the Clemson head coach understands the task ahead in Week 1, but welcomes this level of challenge more in the future. It will be interesting to see if the college football decision-makers schedule this matchup more often moving forward.

Sean Labar

Sean Labar is an SEC football contributor for Saturday Down South.