Staff score predictions for Clemson’s Week 2 matchup vs. Georgia Southern

Clemsonfootball returns to Memorial Stadium on Saturday night looking for a much-needed reset.

The Tigers’ 2026 season could hardly have started worse, as LSU handed Clemson a 51-10 loss in Baton Rouge, the largest defeat of the Dabo Swinney era. Now Clemson gets its home opener against Georgia Southern, a matchup the Tigers will be heavily favored to win but one they cannot afford to overlook.

Clemson found that out a year ago against another Sun Belt opponent. Troy gave the Tigers all they could handle before Clemson finally took control with 24 unanswered points. Georgia Southern will arrive in Death Valley with an experienced quarterback capable of making things interesting.

Seventh-year quarterback Max Johnson threw for 281 yards in the Eagles’ 31-0 Week 1 win over Charleston Southern. Meanwhile, Clemson still has plenty of questions at quarterback after Christopher Vizzina and freshman Tait Reynolds struggled to generate much offense against LSU. Swinney has already confirmed that both will play Saturday.

A comfortable Clemson victory is expected, but after what happened in Baton Rouge, exactly how the Tigers respond may matter almost as much as the final score.

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Here are our staff predictions for Clemson vs. Georgia Southern.

Alex Turri: Clemson 38, Georgia Southern 17

I don’t think Clemson will have as much trouble as people expect here, but they shouldn’t have an easy time either. This Clemson team is one of the worst we’ve seen in some time on paper and they proved it against LSU in Week 1.

I think Greg McElroy said it best, Clemson has recovered from things like this before, they did it just two years against Georgia. While it wasn’t a perfect season, they overcame that Week 1 loss and a lot of doubt and proved to be a solid football team. I don’t see Georgia Southern being the team to keep that from happening.

Steve Holley: Clemson 27, Georgia Southern 16

Clemson is coming off the most lopsided loss in Dabo Swinney’s entire tenure as head coach, so — famous last words — things can’t get any worse in Week 2, right? The Tigers struggled mightily in their Week 2 game against Troy last season and needed 24 unanswered points just to beat the Trojans. Unlike then, an 11-point win against a Sun Belt team at home would be considered an improvement  based on what I saw in Week 1. I’m going with the same score prediction as that game against Troy until or unless the Tigers prove me wrong. 

Clemson’s offensive line struggled mightily against LSU. That’s probably the biggest concern for me, outside of the gap in speed and how slow Clemson looked against an elite team. Don’t expect a response similar to 2024’s win over App State. I have doubts ether Christopher Vizzina or Tait Reynolds can produce those types of numbers. Clemson wins, but it’s another ugly one. 

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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Staff score predictions for Clemson’s Week 2 matchup vs. Georgia Southern