Clemson football: Another analyst has picked UGA to beat Tigers

The overarching preliminary consensus coming from the national scene is that the Clemson football team will start the 2021 season with an 0-1 record.

At least, that’s what early returns have told us.

Though most analysts haven’t given their prediction on the monumental season-opener that’s set to take place in Charlotte between the Clemson Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs, the vast majority of those who have are going the opposite direction of Dabo Swinney and Co.

Last week, we saw 247 Sports’ Brad Crawford and SEC Analyst Paul Finebaum- though that one shouldn’t be a surprise- give their predictions that Clemson would lose to Georgia.

Now another national analyst has predicted a Clemson football loss

CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee published an article with SEC win totals, odds and predictions for the upcoming season. According to Sallee, this is the year for Georgia.

He predicts the Bulldogs winning every single game on their schedule and going over that 10.5 win total that has been set forth for this season.

Here’s what he had to say about the matchup and the Bulldogs’ potential heading into the season:

"“This is the year for Georgia. No, seriously, this is it,” Sallee wrote. “The Bulldogs are loaded on defense, have one of the best quarterbacks in the country, a loaded backfield and one of the best top-to-bottom rosters in the entire sport. Plus, they draw Arkansas as their rotating cross-division game and don’t exactly have a daunting road schedule. The experience should get them past Clemson in the opener. But even if they fall to the Tigers, an 11-win season still cashes.”"

Sallee has high hopes for Georgia, who is assumingly his favorite to win the SEC, and we can admit that there are reasons to be optimistic about the Bulldogs coming into this season. That being said, that doesn’t mean they have no questions.

For a secondary that is already being highly-touted, Georgia’s defensive backfield didn’t look anything special last season and there was plenty of talent then too.

Everyone knows and understands that Georgia has talent, but the Bulldogs can never seem to do anything with it.

While they have experience, let’s not pretend that it really surpasses the experience Clemson football possesses coming into this one. The Tigers actually have players who have competed in CFB Playoffs and it’s not as if Clemson is the program who has been known for coming up short in big games.

Even if Georgia does get past Clemson- which will be much more difficult than some are acting as if it will be- to expect that the Bulldogs are going to run the table seems absurd. Just in the past few years, Georgia has lost to South Carolina, a subpar LSU team and Auburn during the regular season.

But now, all of a sudden, we expect they’re going to beat Clemson with their “experience” and run the table? If Kirby Smart can get out of his own way, maybe, but that’s certainly a major ‘if’ heading into this fall.