Geoff Collins has Georgia Tech prepped for exciting Mercedes-Benz environment, Clemson

One of the first things Georgia Tech football coach Geoff Collins did to prepare his Yellow Jackets for Monday night’s season opener against No. 4 Clemson at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is take them to a soccer game.

“We took our guys to an Atlanta United soccer game because we have so many newcomers on the roster, and we didn’t want the first time they were in the ‘Benz it was for a game they were playing in,” he said. “The guys have gone into the stadium. We understand it will be a great environment.”

The Yellow Jackets will go from spectators to attraction when they take the field for the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in front of a raucous crowd and national television audience against one of the country’s best teams that has beaten them seven straight times.

“One of the biggest things you look at with Clemson is the amount of success they’ve had on both sides of the ball. They have great players across every position on their roster,” Collins said. “We have to be ready to adjust in the game to anything that arises that is different than in years’ past.”

Georgia Tech’s first adjustment will be how it handles Clemson’s two-quarterback system that features D.J. Uiagalelei and Cade Klubnik.

Uiagalelei is the starter, but Klubnik is a freshman who arrived on campus as a five-star recruit who was considered the country’s best prep quarterbacks after leading Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, to three consecutive championships in the state’s largest classification. He passed for 7,390 yards and 86 touchdowns against just seven interceptions, in addition to rushing for 1,286 yards and 29 touchdowns during his illustrious career.

“He’s a problem in the pocket because he’s really, really fast,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said of Klubnik. “It’s just awesome because he can really create. It’s also good for our defense to see speed like that because he can really, really run.”

Clemson and Georgia Tech enter their season opener after finishing last year heading in opposite directions.

After starting 3-3, Georgia Tech ended the season on a six-game losing streak culminated by being outscored 100-0 collectively in losses to then-No. 8 Notre Dame and eventual national champion Georgia.

Clemson was 4-3 after a 27-17 loss to Pittsburgh before reeling off five straight wins to end the regular season. The Tigers ended the season with a 20-13 win over Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl to finish 10-3, securing an 11th straight season of posting double-digit wins.

Clemson, which saw its string of six straight berths in the College Football Playoffs end, was picked by the media to win the ACC title for the seventh time in the past eight years. Georgia Tech was picked to finish sixth in the Coastal Division, only ahead of woeful Duke.

But as good as Clemson was last season, the Tigers struggled against Georgia Tech. The Tigers held on for a 14-8 win over the visiting Yellow Jackets.

Clemson, which is a three-touchdown favorite over the Yellow Jackets, can’t afford an early season loss like last year, when Uiagalelei struggled mightily in a 10-3 loss to Georgia in Charlotte, N.C.

The quarterback was sacked seven times and threw for 178 yards on 19-for-37 passing, which included an interception that was returned for a touchdown by Christopher Smith late in the second quarter.

Uiagalelei never regained his confidence, finishing the year completing just 55.6 percent of his passes for 2,246 yards with more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (nine). He ranked 15th in the ACC in passing efficiency.

Regardless of how Uiagalelei plays against Georgia Tech, Klubnik will get snaps against the Yellow Jackets.

“It’s always based on what we’re doing on offense and how we’re moving the ball and all those things,” Clemson quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter said. “We roll in plays based on what their skill set is. He can move out of the pocket a little better than D.J. He can run the ball on the edge a little better than D.J.”

Georgia Tech’s quarterback situation is much simpler.

Jeff Sims enters his third season as a starter, but he’s played just 17 collegiate games. He was limited to 10 games in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and seven last season due to injury. He has amassed 4,213 yards of total offense (3,349 passing, 864 rushing) and 35 touchdowns (25 passing, 10 rushing).

Collins hired Chip Long as offensive coordinator and former Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke as quarterbacks coach to get the most of out Sims this season. Sims’ favorite target, Malachi Carter, who had 37 receptions for 489 yards and two touchdowns last year, returns, as do Nate McCollum and Kalani Norris.

“I am really excited about Jeff. He has really taken it upon himself to really improve his game,” Long said. “You can just see a gradual guy getting better, better and better. He’s getting more comfortable with certain guys, and certain schemes and I just can’t say enough.”

While Clemson’s defense improved as the season progressed, Georgia Tech’s regressed.

If the Yellow Jackets are going to earn the biggest win of Collins’ time in The Flats, they’re going to have to contain Clemson’s running game that returns Will Shipley (739 yards, 11 TDs) and Kobe Pace (641 yards, 6 TDs).

Georgia Tech lost its premier running back when Jahmyr Gibbs (746 yards, 4 TDs rushing; 470 yards, 2 TDs receiving) transferred to Alabama.

Now, it’s up to Dontae Smith, who rushed for 378 yards and four scores on 68 carries, to lead the ground game along with Dylan McDuffie, who transferred from Buffalo, where he ran for 1,049 yards and 11 TDs last season.

“The biggest thing is this is a whole new team and getting ready to play together at a high level,” Collins said. “Nothing is easy. We have to fight through things. How we handle those things will say a lot about us.”