The SEC East starts the season off on a “high note” yet again. The Georgia Bulldogs will kick off their season in the comfort of their own hedges, as they take on the Clemson Tigers on August 30th. Last season, this highly talked about matchup was ESPN’s choice to start the 2013 College Game Day broadcast season.
While Georgia went back to Athens with the loss last year, it wasn’t the only thing that the Bulldogs would start to lose. Malcolm Mitchell, the highly recruited wide receiver for Georgia tore his ACL against the Tigers last year, which was only the beginning of the injury epidemic that would drain the depth charts of Georgia. Throughout the first month of the 2013 season, standout running backs, Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall sustained injuries that would put them out for weeks. The two remaining wide receivers, Justin Wesley-Scott and Michael Bennett, would join this laundry list of casualties with season-ending injuries against Tennessee.
Last season, Georgia fans never had the opportunity to see the potential of their offense. This season, given these players return healthy, we will see a whole new matchup between these two teams. Hutson Mason has big shoes to fill this season, as he is expected to be the starting quarterback, replacing Aaron Murray.
On the other sideline, Clemson has quite a few holes to fill on offense, as they lost their three big playmakers to the NFL Draft and free agency. All-American quarterback Tahj Boyd, All-American wide Receiver and the No.4 draft pick Sammy Watkins, and All-ACC running back Roderick McDowell will be three huge spots to fill on the depth charts of this Clemson attack.
While those are immediate needs for this Clemson team, they do have 19 senior scholarship players returning to field this season. However, head coach Dabo Swinney announced back in March, Clemson would have four players suspended for the first game of the season: offensive linemen Shaq Anthony and David Beasley, cornerback Garry Peters and defensive end Corey Crawford.
The Georgia Bulldogs have had an impressive run the last few seasons when playing at home, only losing twice in Athens in the past three seasons. With a lot of returning talent and a promising quarterback in Mason, this game is definitely in Georgia’s favor. It’s going to be interesting to see what the ‘cats drag in’ come August 30th.
