The most wonderful time of the year has rolled around once again. It is college football season, and Tiger Town is getting ready to experience one of the most hyped up games of the year. Not only is this game the launch of the ACC, but it is the first time we have seen the Tigers make a snap since winning the 2018 National Championship. Since then, a lot has changed for Dabo Swinney’s squad.
The biggest difference in this year’s roster to worry about is losing the Power Ranger squad, the strongest defensive line that Clemson has ever seen, to the NFL. With Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence, Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant gone, it will be nothing short of a huge task for the new guys to fill those shoes. The current defensive line is definitely lacking in experience, but Coach Swinney has described the guys he has as “extremely tough”. One player that Coach specifically noted was KJ Henry. Clemson fans didn’t see a ton from him last year, but Swinney insisted that he has improved even within the last week.
With high hopes for the Clemson offensive, not a lot has changed on this side of the roster. However, one thing that Jeff Scott and Tony Elliot’s masterpiece will have to embrace in their game is the expectations that will be on them after dominating the Crimson Tide for the title. There is a lot of pressure going into this season. Yet, mistakes will be made, passes will be intercepted and routes will be miscommunicated. And while the five-touchdown point spread indicates that guys like Trevor Lawrence, Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross will be lighting up the scoreboard tomorrow night, don’t expect them to be flawless.
Alongside the changes Clemson will have to undergo, Georgia Tech’s program has basically hit the reset button as the Geoff Collins era has begun. The expectations for the Yellow Jackets has been deemed “year zero”, meaning the standard is low. As Collins took the job at Tech, their program was already having to adjust to a roster rebuild, such as bringing on a truck load of tide ends, considering they didn’t have any. Even though Yellow Jacket fans won’t expect much, it will be nice to see the program running under fresh vision. Don’t think Collins won’t have his guys anything less than energized to the max.
