Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney wants Clemson and Georgia to play every year.
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Somewhat lost in the chaos of Week 1 was an interesting statement made by Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. He wants Clemson to play Georgia every year the way it used to be. The game is still considered a rivalry even though the Tigers and Dawgs no longer meet annually.
After all, the two schools are located approximately 90 miles from each other. The last two meetings (which occurred in 2013 and 2014) were definitely competitive as Clemson beat Georgia by three points at home in 2013 and then got (shockingly) blown out on the road in Athens in 2014.
Since then, Clemson had one of the best seasons it has had in recent memory as they went 12-0 in the regular season led by superstar quarterback Deshaun Watson and narrowly lost to Alabama in last year’s CFP National Championship.
Deshaun Watson and Clemson had a magnificent season in 2015 even though they fell just short of Alabama in the CFB Playoff National Championship Game. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
While an annual Georgia-Clemson matchup would be awesome to watch, this series would profit Swinney’s program tremendously and would not help Georgia all that much. Here’s why.
Clemson knows what many teams do in this region. It is paramount to recruit the state of Georgia well. While Clemson always gets some recruits from the Peach State and have made a better impression due to recent success, they do not get near the players Georgia or other SEC schools get.
A Georgia-Clemson series could go a long way to change that. Clemson could stamp an even firmer footprint in the state if the Bulldogs and Tigers played every year.
While technically this would benefit Georgia when it comes to scheduling for the CFB Playoff, the Bulldogs could still add top non-conference teams to their schedule without being limited to Clemson every year.
As an ardent fan of college football, I, as well as many others, would enjoy a Georgia-Clemson annual meeting. However, upon looking deeper, one can see that this is all about the benefit of Clemson.