Will Clemson be ready on 'Game 1, Play 1' versus Georgia? (2024)

CLEMSON— Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik awoke on the Monday of game week, and he felt a buzz of excitement. As he should.

Eight months of training had built to this point, to an opener with preseason No. 1 Georgia on Aug. 31, to a moment when the Tigers' hopes of returning to the ranks of college football's elite can be realized.

Klubnik felt that electricity. But it prompted an older, wiser quarterback to see a potential error. He wrapped this revelation into a speech, which he delivered to his teammates to start a week of immense consequence.

"Hey, if you're waking up with a different energy today than you have been every single day of fall camp, we've been doing fall camp wrong," Klubnik said. "Because we should have had that mentality all camp."

Every day had to be seized heading into an opener like this. Every single one if the Tigers were going to be playoff ready, as Clemson coach Dabo Swinney put it, on "Game 1, Play 1" versus Georgia.

Clemson clearly wasn't ready for Game 1 in last year's shocking loss at Duke, and the Tigers fumbled around to a 4-4 start to the season until they finally collected themselves for a five-game winning streak to end the season.

That momentum, the Tigers said, carried into the offseason. They swear up and down this is a much different Clemson than the world has seen in the last couple of years. Much more mature, together, motivated.

Klubnik believed that as he spoke in front of his teammates, because Monday morning of Georgia week felt like every other Monday.

"If your mindset is different now than it was three weeks ago, you ain't ready," sophom*ore defensive tackle Peter Woods recalled his quarterback saying. "That's kind of been the message we have been driving into guys' heads. We started playing this game two months ago, three months ago, five months ago."

The question remains— will Clemson truly be ready, Game 1, Play 1, in a noon kickoff at Mercedes Benz-Stadium.

Defensively, Clemson appears to be stocked with a handful of pro-ready seniors and another handful of sensational sophom*ores. It's offensively where the Tigers have consistently lagged, but they hope to finally be caught up.

Garrett Riley, the splash hire of the 2023 offseason, found himself listing reasons why he feels Clemson's offense is in a better place after a disappointing first season. Certain words were delivered with emphasis.

"Healthy," the soon-to-be 35-year-old coordinator spit into a microphone, raising his eyebrows and his pitch as he said it.

There is just a greater "arsenal of guys" available in the receiver corps, Riley said, with the likes ofAntonio Williams, Tyler Brown and Cole Turner returned to health and blue-chip freshmen Bryant Wesco Jr. andT.J. Mooreadded to the mix.

Just greater maturity with Williams' and Adam Randall's leadership of the receivers, and Jake Briningstool the tight ends. And just a "better pulse" of ...

"Our identity," Riley said, perking up as he, again, accentuated each syllable.

Riley's identity in three seasons as a play caller at SMU and TCU was consistent. He'd never led a unit that produced fewer than 38 points per game. Until Clemson checked in at just under 30 a year ago.

Clemson's identity during a run of six straight College Football Playoffs included big pass plays. But the Tigers finished last season tied for 122nd in the nation, according to Pro Football Focus, in explosive pass play rate at 10.7 percent.

"Just trying to build chemistry," Riley said. "That’s the biggest thing we’ve been able to see and feel as an offensive staff."

That staff was bolstered by the addition of former Ole Miss head coach Matt Luke as offensive line coach. Players and coaches alike have raved about the fire and attention to detail Luke has brought to bear.

If a more experienced Klubnik is more capable of making the correct reads in the run-pass-option game, and a bellcow running back in Phil Mafah can roll behind an offensive line that returns four out of five starters— and might be seven- or eight-blockers deep— there is a real vision of what Clemson's offense can be.

But until it's seen, it will be questioned. Clemson left guard Marcus Tate was asked plainly if he could say the Tigers' offensive line is "much better" than a year ago. He quickly turned to the microphone to parrot those words.

"This offensive line is much better," Tate deadpanned, confident in his unit's wins over highly touted defensive linemen like Woods, DeMonte Capehart, Payton Page, and T.J. Parker every day in practice.

"It's prepared us for whatever is ahead," Tate added."I don't think we're going to face too many D-lines better than what we face in practice."

If any team can rival Clemson's defense in the trenches, it's probably Georgia.

Quickly, the Tigers will know if their offseason work has been sufficient. If they have truly attacked every day like it's the first Monday of game week.

To be ready, Game 1, Play 1.

"Coach Swinney kind of spoke on it yesterday and said, hey, there's teams all around the country that are working their butt off for 12 weeks straight to be able to go play a team like this in the playoffs, right? We can start out with them in a regular-season game," Klubnik said.

"So to have that right out of the gate is huge. And definitely a great way to kind of start off the season and kick-start it."

Clemson schedule

Aug. 31: Georgia, Noon

Sept. 7: App State, 8 p.m.

Sept. 21: N.C. State, TBA

Sept. 28: Stanford, TBA

Oct. 5: at Florida State, TBA

Oct. 12: at Wake Forest, TBA

Oct. 19 Virginia, TBA

Nov. 2 Louisville, TBA

Nov. 9: at Va. Tech, TBA

Nov. 16: at Pitt, TBA

Nov. 23: The Citadel ,TBA

Nov. 30: South Carolina, TBA