Georgia Tech (1-1) at No. 6 Clemson (1-1), Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EDT (ABC).
Line: Clemson by 28 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Series record: Georgia Tech leads 51-33-2.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Clemson is seeking to win its seventh straight Atlantic Coast Conference opener and seventh straight over Georgia Tech. The Tigers also know another loss will likely eliminate them from a seventh consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff.
KEY MATCHUP
Georgia Tech RB Jahmyr Gibbs vs. Clemson’s defensive line. Gibbs, in his second season, is second in the ACC with 320 all-purpose yards: 155 rushing, 61 receiving and 104 on kickoff returns. The Tigers have been one of the best in the country early on in overall defense and limited run-heavy Georgia to 121 yards on the ground two games ago.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Georgia Tech: LB Ayinde Eley is a grad transfer from Maryland and is second in the ACC with 21 tackles.
Clemson: RB Will Shipley is a freshman who took a big step toward solidifying the Tigers running game with a team-best 80 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns in a win over South Carolina State last week.
FACTS & FIGURES
Clemson is 31-1 in its last 32 league games. The lone loss came a season ago at Notre Dame when the Irish joined the conference during the COVID-19 impacted season. … Clemson has won 29 straight games at home, the longest active streak in college football. … The schools first met in 1898 and 1899 with neutral-site games in Augusta, Georgia, and Greenville, South Carolina. The only other game not played on either of the two campuses came at the 2009 ACC title game played in Tampa, Florida. … The Yellow Jackets have allowed 174 points to Clemson in the teams’ past three meetings. … Clemson’s defense has not allowed a touchdown in its first two games. The last time it accomplished that in three straight games was 1990 against Appalachian State, Duke and Georgia. … Lyn-J Dixon had a TD catch last week. Should he catch one against the Yellow Jackets, he’d be the first Clemson tailback to do that since current Tigers RB coach C.J. Spiller against Florida State and North Carolina State in 2009.
