Firewind's Fearless Preview, Clemson vs UGA

We are now just two weeks away from the first football game of the UGA season and I, for one, am more excited than a junebug on a smelly turd! It has been a loooong offseason and the Dawg nation is ready and anxious to see what Richter and Co will bring to the table this year. I personally don't remember expectations being this high, for a Georgia team, for a long time (the debacle of '08 not included), and so, excitement is in the air, Jedi knights and Imperial troops have raided the campus, a new saviour for the defense has arrived, and finally, finallllly you begin to get the sense that the other shoe has finally dropped, that said shoe is now on the other foot, that our time has finally come. So, without further ado, let's preview the first matchup of the season with the Tigers of Clemson South Carolina.

Dabo Swinney (just having your head coach have a name like Dabo, pronounced Daaaaaabo, is worth giving up a field goal) and his band of feline friskies make the relatively short trip to the hallowed confines of Sanford Stadium on August 30th. I'm pretty sure that there ain't a whole lot of Clemson fans running around Athens named "Howard", and probably even fewer of them lugging around a pet rock for the team to fondle before they enter the stadium. It's been said that oompah loompah's are deathly afraid of the colors purple and orange, and to be quite honest, those colors strike fear in me too, as in, those colors are so ugly it gives me the runs-kind of fear. Dabo needs to realize that the house he is about to walk into isn't friendly and there ain't 93,000 oompah loompah's in the stands between the hedges. The Red and Black will be in full force, the kitties are walking into the Dawg Pound, and all of a sudden, this has the makings of a beat down.

Clemson returns a solid nucleus on the defensive side of the ball, even boasting a pretty good front four. Linebackers are adequate and the secondary is question mark. On the offensive side of the ball, their strength will be along the line. The qb position will be manned by relative newcomer with very little game experience, although Dabo has said the Watson will get some snaps in this game. At the rb position, Clemson has five guys who are trying to vie for playing time, none of which will find their way into any regular conversation, unless it involves figure skating. At the end of the day, Clemson seems extraordinarily average, at least compared to last year. Yabo Dabo Doo was irate with his team after their scrimmage on Wednesday. He said the the way they were executing, they wouldn't beat anybody, mistakes on both sides of the ball, lots of penalties, missed assignments, and gave up several big plays on both sides of the ball. Is it just me, or do you get the sense that this Clemson team reminds you of someone UGA teams in the past? My how the tides have turned.

UGA, on the other hand, has a solid nucleus returning, with some very obvious strengths in play. It is no secret that our front seven on defense will be among the best in the nation. I would even go so far as to say that our linebackers are THE best in the nation. Our secondary, while unproven in game situations, and playing true freshmen at several positions, seems to be performing much better in practice than did our secondary last year. Pruitt has been a force for change for the defense and almost to a "t", every fan, player and recruits have seen a positive change (Deeprig excluded ). On the offensive side, we have a surprising turn of events, our O Line is actually pretty darn good, and we have depth. Richter says that we will have 8-9 who can play at any one time, and fresh bodies on the line can be devastating to opponents, and Clemson you're first, as they pave the way for what is quite possibly the best backfield in the nation. At RB, who doesn't know who Todd Gurley is? Add to him, Keith Marshall, super phenom freshman Nick Chubb, 5 star Sony Michel, and a littlebulldozer known as Brendan Douglas. In ancient Greek mythology, the Hydra was multi headed monster who lived in a lake and guarded the underworld. When you would cut off one head, two more sprouted out in its place. In 2014, our RB position is that Hydra. If one comes out for a rest, we have multiples ready to replace him, with NO drop off in production. Clemson prepare your arse good, cause it's gonna get real in a hurry by the end of the 3rd qtr . At QB, Hutson Mason takes over the reigns for Aarron Murray, no wait, he did that LAST year. Mason got valuable in game experience last season, as he finished out the last half of the Kentucky game and started against Georgian Technical College and Nebraska. He passed for almost 1000 yards in those 2 1/2 games, and didn't have the luxuries of the line or RB positions that he has this year. Another area of immense strength is the receiving corp. Deep doesn't begin to describe the play makers we have here, Mitchell, Scott-Wesley, Conley, Bennett, Rumph , and several newbies who have been balling out in practice. Add to this Hicks in a hybrid tight end set, and it's enough to make you drool, well, sorta like a bulldog. I know that there have been a few minor injuries to some in the receiving corp, but again, think Hydra, and know that these are not the major injuries we suffered last year.

So, in the grand scheme of things, we should absolutely curb stomp the "porange" kitties from Clemson, but as someone has already mentioned, games arent played on paper. This game will be played on grass, and as such, the discrepancies in talent on paper, will be even more abundant on the field. Look for UGA to name the score, and Richter to call off the Dawgs at the half century mark.

Firewind's Fearless prediction:
UGA - 55
Clemson - 17

Yes, it will be just this one sided, and the Dawg nation will be more excited and happy than folks in public housing when they see the free Obama cell phone tent set up shop.
2014, UGA National Champions.
Come and get you some!
Go Dawgs!