Former Georgia Bulldogs Star Has Fearless Prediction for Clemson Tigers

At least one former Georgia Bulldogs star is high on the Clemson Tigers even after their awful season-opening loss last week.

Nov 23, 2013; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray (11) is tackled on a run by Kentucky Wildcats defensive lineman Mike Douglas (50) in the first half at Sanford Stadium. / Daniel Shirey-Imagn Images

For much of the week, there has been a lot of doom and gloom around the Clemson Tigers and their 34-3 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Tigers (0-1) dropped to the last spot in the AP Top 25 as a result of the defeat. Georgia maintained their No. 1 ranking in the country.

Given the lopsided final score, one has to dig into the box score to remember that Clemson was only down 6-0 at halftime.

At least one member of the media took a moment to remind everyone of that fact and provided a fearless prediction of what's next for the Tigers.

Oddly enough, that member of the media was once a Georgia quarterback.

Aaron Murray spoke to TigerNet.com’s Orange Crush podcast recently and dropped his prediction on how the season will end for Clemson.

“At the end of the year, you will look at Clemson and they will be 11-1 and playing in the ACC Championship (game),” he said.

Tigers coach Dabo Swinney has not been one to make excuses for his team as they prepare to face the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Saturday night.

He's pointed out a number of things that Clemson must get better at to beat the upset-minded Mountaineers, who can count historic wins over Michigan and Texas A&M on their all-time victories list.

But Murray, who now works for ESPN, was also quick to remind podcast listeners the Tigers were up against a team that look poised to make a run at their third national title in four years.

“They (Clemson) were going up against maybe the best defense in the country," Murray said. “Let’s absorb that real quick. It was a neutral site, but I’m willing to guess there were more Georgia fans than Clemson fans. You have a pseudo-away game against an elite defense that might have the best defensive end for the NFL Draft in Mykel Williams, the number one safety in Malaki Starks, and a bunch of first-rounders across the board.”

Point taken.

Georgia is good, but Murray said so are the Tigers, and he believes they’ll prove it this season.

The ACC race already looks wide open. Swinney has been quick to point out that, even though Clemson lost to Georgia, it wasn't a conference loss and the Tigers don’t play a league game until Sept. 21 against NC State.

After the first full week of college football, ACC favorite Florida State has already lost two conference games, while teams like Georgia Tech looked to be much improved from a year ago.

All of that is to say the Tigers should be in panic mode.

Even a former Georgia quarterback says so.