ATHENS — Georgia hasn’t yet begun to focus on Clemson.
The defense has its hands full at practice every day, as Chaz Chambliss explained to reporters on Thursday.
“We like to focus on ourselves at this part of the season,” Chambliss said. “We don’t start preparing for Clemson really until the week of, but right now we’re going against the best offense in the nation.”
Having a quarterback like Carson Beck certainly helps in that regard. Beck is viewed as one of the top quarterbacks in the country coming off a stellar 2023 season.
But Beck alone isn’t why Chambliss feels as strongly as he does about the Georgia offense.
“We have some of the best talent in the world collectively with the best coaches,” Chambliss said. “The coaches take that talent and put it into a system that plays to everybody’s strengths. Every day that we’re out there we just know there’s going to be wins and losses. They’re just as talented as us on defense, and they’re just experienced.”
To Chambliss’ point, only Alabama can say it is has recruited on the same level as Georgia of late. And no program has had more players taken in the previous five NFL drafts — 48 — than Georgia.
Offensively, Georgia averaged 40.1 points per game a season ago. Georgia and USC are the only two programs to average over 40 points per game in the last two seasons.
Chambliss was quick to praise Georgia’s offensive line, a constant strength under Kirby Smart.
Even with the Bulldogs having to replace Sedrick Van Pran-Granger and Amarius Mims, Georgia is still expected to have one of the top offensive lines in the country this season. Georgia returns four starters from the Orange Bowl that saw Georgia win 63-3.
As for how one of those offensive linemen feels about Chambliss’ bold statement, Earnest Greene explained why the standard on the offensive side of the ball is so high.
“The sky is the limit,” Greene said. “We’ve got a lot of dynamic and explosive guys that can make stuff happen. It’s just a matter of us up front making sure that those guys can do that by protecting Carson, letting him get the ball where it needs to get to or running the ball wherever it needs to go. The ceiling is really high for this offense, and we’re making sure we do everything we need to to reach that ceiling.”
Greene and Chambliss acknowledged both sides of the ball will be put to the test at the end of the month, when Georgia takes on Clemson in Atlanta. The Tigers have a loaded defense, led by linebacker Barrett Carter and defensive lineman Peter Woods.
Offensively, quarterback Cade Klubnick and running back Phil Mafah return, as does offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.
Georgia knows it will need to bring its best against Clemson. But the Bulldogs are well accustomed to that, as they have to do so during each and every practice.
“We’re getting better every single day and trying to simulate what we need to work on, find our strengths, try to find our weaknesses and work on that leading up into game week prep,” Chambliss said. “At this time, it’s just all about the little inches. We talked about it today: all the inches add up to a win.”
