Recruiting losses to UGA hurt, but Clemson football can settle it on the field

Clemson football can settle its recruiting losses on the field vs. Georgia

The Clemson football program has had a little bit of a letdown on the recruiting trail the past week as the Tigers saw two of their top-tiered targets choose the Georgia Bulldogs.

The first commit didn’t sting quite as much. 5-star S Malaki Starks had been recruited heavily by Clemson, but the overall feeling going into his decision was that he was a Bulldog and not much was going to change that.

The second one, however, hurt Clemson football in a big way.

If you’ve been actively following Clemson recruiting, you’ve known that 4-star LB Jalon Walker has been considered a lean to the Tigers for more than a year. If there was ever a prospect that you considered a ‘lock’ to Clemson, it would’ve been him.

When he announced that he would be making a decision, Clemson football fans were ready to receive him with open arms. Unfortunately, when it came time to commit, he didn’t want to go to where the Blue Ridge yawns its greatness. Instead, he chose Athens.

Despite those recruiting losses- and what could be on the horizon- Clemson football could settle the score with a win in September

Recruiting losses hurt here in the midst of the spring, especially when it’s a prospect that you’ve believed for so long was going to the Tigers.

That being said, Clemson can regain some of the love lost with a win against the Bulldogs when the Tigers open up the 2021 season in Charlotte against UGA and Kirby Smart.

Georgia is recruiting at the highest-level possible right now, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t come away with results on the field.

Clemson has a chance to score big with a few recruits sitting on the fence- in particular 5-star DT Travis Shaw– and a win over the Bulldogs isn’t going to hurt.

We’re not saying that a win is going to vault the Tigers back up in terms of prospect’s interest or how they’re viewed on the recruiting trail, but we are saying that a win can give the Tigers momentum and we all know that recruiting- in many ways- is nothing but a momentum game.

At the very least, if the win does nothing for recruiting, it will take the bad taste away for Clemson football fans and put the pressure back on the Bulldogs.