ATHENS – Only a little over a week remains for the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs to prepare for the season opener against the No. 3 Clemson Tigers. But if there’s any sense of urgency inside the Bulldogs’ locker room, they’re hiding it pretty good at this point.
In fact, according to Warren McClendon and Kenny McIntosh, the two players UGA made available for Tuesday’s post-practice video-conference call, Georgia hasn’t even looked at Clemson yet. Three days after wrapping up the camp portion of preseason practice, the Bulldogs are still “working on ourselves.”
“We haven’t got into Clemson yet,” said McClendon, a sophomore and Georgia’s starting right offensive tackle. “We really haven’t watched any film yet. We’ve just been working on ourselves.”
McIntosh, a junior running back, echoed that sentiment. When asked if he was starting to get excited about that fast-approaching, highly anticipated top-5 matchup in Charlotte, he said, “not really.”
“Georgia is really focused on Georgia and what we can do on the field,” said McIntosh, who has rushed for 425 yards and three touchdowns in two seasons as a backup running back. “We’re not really too worried about what Clemson and what they can do. We’re just focused on what Georgia can do and cannot do and what we need to work on. So, the mindset hasn’t really changed coming out of camp until now.”
The Bulldogs might be well-advised to turn their attention to the Tigers pretty soon. Clemson opened as a four-point favorite Tuesday for the prime-time nationally televised matchup on ABC in the Duke’s Mayo Classic at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 4. The game has been sold out for months, ESPN’s “College GameDay” will be on hand for its Week 1 set-up show, and some pundits have characterized it as the non-conference game of the year in college football this year.
And while the Bulldogs aren’t necessarily breaking down Myles Murphy’s pass-rushing moves or DJ Uiagalelei’s targeting tendencies on second-and-long on Woodruff Practice Fields, you can be assured they’ve been examined ad nauseum in the back of the Butts-Mehre football complex by one of the deepest support staffs in college football.
And the players aren’t being completely honest when they say haven’t even looked at Clemson. What they didn’t actually study in the spring and over the summer, they know anecdotally. The challenges that are before them are quite clear, by reputation if nothing else.
The Tigers tied for the national lead with 46 quarterback sacks last season, an average of 3.8 per game. Murphy, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound sophomore defensive end from Marietta, earned freshman All-American honors last fall while leading the Tigers with 12 tackles for loss, four sacks and three forced fumbles.
He’ll be lining head-up over McClendon quite often the Saturday after next.
“They have a pretty good defensive line,” McClendon acknowledged. “You know, we’ll get in there and watch film on them when that time comes. They have a good defensive line, and we pride ourselves on being a good offensive line. So, it should be a good game.”
The matchup of the respective offensive and defensive lines figures to play a major role in the outcome of the game. Both Georgia and Clemson are undergoing minor rebuilds on their offensive fronts, while the defensive lines of both teams are expected to be among the best in college football this year.
After Georgia’s final intrasquad scrimmage Saturday, coach Kirby Smart pronounced the Bulldogs’ O-line as being pretty much set. McClendon has been largely unchallenged as a second-year starter at right tackle, while Jamaree Salyer has returned to left tackle, Justin Shaffer and Tate Ratledge will handle guard duties, and redshirt freshman Sedrick Van Pran has emerged as the starting center, with projected starter Warren Ericson sidelined with a broken snapping hand.
“Our O-line has been putting in the work,” McIntosh said. “Throughout the summer, throughout camp, they’ve been working hard and looking great. I feel like we’re all excited to go out there and have fun and play Georgia football.”
Said McClendon: “I’d say the main thing has been getting the chemistry and getting the reps and going through the progressions of every play. Our connection is really good now, being with each other every day for hours.”
McClendon said the best thing going for them is having to face Georgia’s defensive line in practice every day.
“With JD (Jordan Davis), Devonte Wyatt, Travon (Walker), Jalen Carter, shoot, you can go on and on; they’re just really good players,” McClendon said. “So we’re going against the best every day, and that helps get you get better.”
They need to. In the final four games of last season that quarterback JT Daniels started, he was sacked 10 times and pressured many others.
While the Bulldogs certainly will be looking to shore up the pass protection, McIntosh pointed out that they still know how to run the football at Georgia. He currently running is fourth in a rotation that includes junior Zamir White (1,187 career yards, 14 touchdowns), senior James Cook (775-9) and sophomore Kendall Milton (193-0).
“We have a plan on using the backs as much as we can,” McIntosh said. “I feel like they’re going to put the ball in our playmakers’ hands. So, whatever that is, we’re going to play Georgia football.”
And for now at least, it’s only Georgia on the Bulldogs’ minds.
