ATHENS — Georgia football starts practice this afternoon with a College Football Playoff appearance in mind.
Some 70 miles away, Clemson football opens its fall drills with the College Football Playoffs as an expectation. The Tigers have made six straight CFP appearances and plan on making it seven.
“Every year, that’s how we think,” said Clemson linebacker James Skalski, a graduate student who is a returning team captain. “That’s how you have to think. We’ve got everything we need.”
RELATED: Clemson ‘grown men’ committed to championship reload
The Tigers will find out if they’ve got enough to beat the Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 4 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
Clemson is a 4-point favorite, but Skalski said he’s watched enough film in the offseason to know Georgia quarterback JT Daniels will present a challenge.
“There’s enough (film) to know that he’s good, he’s damn good,” Skalski said. “There’s enough to justify the kind of quarterback everybody thinks he is. I have a lot of respect for him, he can make every throw.
“He looks mobile, hard to bring down in the pocket, slippery,” said Skalski, who is originally from Sharpsburg, Ga., and played at Northgate High School in Newnan. “(Daniels) adds an aspect to their offense that they may have not had for a while.”
Daniels has shown the ability to push the ball downfield like few others, recording Georgia’s first 400-yard passing game last season in seven years.
Clemson, however, features one of the best defensive fronts in college football and will look to keep the heat on Daniels in the pocket.
The Tigers’ 46 sacks tied Pitt for most in the nation. Georgia, by contrast, had 32 sacks in 2020.
Skalski said he feels good about what Clemson has up front again this year, and what the team showed in spring drills.
“I think we show a lot of physicality,” Skalski said. “Maybe we had some fits wrong, but that’s just because a guy is young. What we want to see is collisions.
“Maybe we didn’t fit it right, but did you jack that guy up? And we have plenty of that.”
Skalski, himself, is known for his big hits, including one that forced Justin Fields out of the College Football Playoffs for a play last season and led to his ejection.
Skalski makes no apologies for his style of play, which he believes makes him a prototypical middle linebacker.
“I think I do fit the mold, instinctive, smart player,” Skalski said. “Instincts is number one on that list, being able to sniff out the football, and play fast sideline to sideline and violent. ‘m a violent player.”
And a confident one, to boot.
