Georgia State vs Clemson Preview With Shakin' the Southland

There's good news this week, as Georgia State doesn't have to play on the road against another Sun Belt team. The bad news is that they are playing on the road against #22 Clemson.

I reached out to Brian Goodison from Shakin The Southland for a quick Q&A session about this weekend's Georgia State Panther and Clemson Tiger game. My answers to his questions are posted here.

1. Are Clemson fans at all worried to be playing another team from the state of Georgia?

Brian: We are worried, but that has more to do with our QB than y'all being from Georgia. It may sound silly, but some of us are in a slight panic mode after whatever you want to call Cole Stoudt's "performance" at QB on Saturday.

2. Are there any players, who don't normally get playing time for Clemson, that you are excited to see play this weekend?

Brian: I would pay big money to see Nick Schuessler get some experience at QB, but that is unlikely to happen. Honestly I'm more excited to see the offense attempt to function properly. The past five games have been a bad competition of ugly, terrible, and downright hideous on offense. If the starters can put together two quarters of solid offensive football I might not be too upset.

3. Is there an area for Clemson that you think Georgia State might be able to exploit and have success?

Brian: Appropriately enough our offensive line acts like a set of traffic cones in more than just looks. We also enjoy playing patty cake with the defensive line, so you can expect an opportunity to hit the QB. Georgia Tech showed the blueprint to beat us. Be good enough on defense, which isn't that hard, then steal a touchdown in some spectacular way. Your offense isn't going to do much of anything, but that didn't stop Georgia Tech.

4. What are some other non-hill related Clemson traditions?

Brian: My favorite one is Solid Orange Friday. On campus it is rather simple as everyone is supposed to wear orange, but living far away from the Upstate the tradition is a great way to spot fellow Clemson grads. I've met several folks by wearing orange or seeing them wear orange on Fridays during football season. We also have a funeral for Cocky every year ahead of the South Carolina game. Chick-Fil-A shows up and gives out free chicken sandwiches which is a pretty fantastic thing.

5. What will Clemson have to do to consider this game a win?

Brian Goodison: My two big things are get out of the game without injuries and show a functioning offense. I'd also like to hear news of Deshaun Watson's impending return for the South Carolina game, but I'm not going to be greedy. I'll just hope for it as a Thanksgiving Day miracle.

6. Why is it so difficult to leave your stadium after a game?

Brian: Because we never want you to leave. We want you to stick around and enjoy the lovely lake and buy all the Clemson gear you can find. But in all honesty it is because of the lake. There are essentially 3 roads to leave campus and it makes it difficult to get 100,000 folks out of such a small area.