For the Clemson Tigers football program, their 2022 season opener against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets represents a fresh start. It was a comparatively tough year in 2021 for the Tigers, finishing 10-3, their worst since 2014. Starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei is back after a shaky campaign in 2021 and will be looking to rebound and then some to meet the expectations set after his relief efforts for Trevor Lawrence in 2020.
The game is set for prime time on Labor Day at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as opposed to the Yellow Jackets' usual digs at Bobby Dodd Stadium, a now-annual tradition for the hometown school. All that out of the way, let's get a little bold and make three Clemson football predictions for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff against Georgia Tech.
3. Georgia Tech's defense holds Clemson to under 35 points
Georgia Tech may not have a very good team overall, evidenced by the nine wins they've logged under Geoff Collins since his hiring in 2019, but they do have one of the more underrated defenses in the ACC. In fact, the Yellow Jackets held the Tigers to only 14 points in 2021, though their own offense only scored eight of their own, ensuring a Clemson victory.
This is a better Clemson offense than we saw in the 2021 college football season, especially if Uiagalelei is playing better than he did during that game last season. However, the defense he's facing still comes into play, even if they've lost pieces like pass rusher Jared Ivey, who transferred to Ole Miss. With that in mind, Clemson should score, but not more than 35.
2. Clemson football still wins by three scores
Despite the best efforts from their defense, the Georgia Tech offense is, to put it lightly, not very good. This is also a Clemson defense that could very well be the best in the country, and the last three times they faced an outstanding defense (Georgia, Notre Dame, Clemson last year), the Yellow Jackets scored eight points across those three games. You read that right. Georgia Tech was shutout in back-to-back games to finish the 2021 season.
That's not a good sign! At all! Especially when you remember that Georgia Tech's offense lost their best weapon this offseason to the transfer portal, as running back Jahmyr Gibbs transferred to Alabama. So the matchup is a pretty weak Georgia Tech offense against possibly the best defense in college football, that's not lining up to be a very favorable matchup for the Yellow Jackets to take advantage of.
Don't expect Georgia Tech to keep up the scoring with Clemson, as they probably won't. Expect a final scoreline of somewhere around 31-10.
1. DJ Uiagalelei finally looks like the quarterback we're expecting, at least for now
As mentioned, it was not a very good college football season for DJ Uiagalelei under center for Clemson in 2021, with nine of his 13 starts finishing with the California native having under 200 passing yards, and four where he finished under 150 passing yards. There were also only three games in which Uiagalelei threw more touchdowns than interceptions.
In the modern age, a stat line of 2,246 yards, nine touchdown passes and 10 interceptions is just not acceptable. Those stats indicate a quarterback on the hot seat as far as being the full-time starter, though reports have had Uiagalelei pegged as having a good fall camp amid the arrival of star freshman Cade Klubnik.
That, combined with the team he's facing Week 1, even if he only threw for 126 yards against the Yellow Jackets last year, means that Uiagalelei will have a big game against Georgia Tech to open the year. Not quite the 439 yards and two touchdowns he tossed against Notre Dame in 2020, but somewhere along the lines of 300 yards and two or three scores seems fitting. The real challenge for Clemson will be making sure he keeps that pace up across the rest of a 2022 college football schedule that includes four games against teams ranked in the AP's preseason Top 25, those being away at Notre Dame and Wake Forest, and at home against North Carolina State and Miami.
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