CLEMSON, South Carolina (Ticker) -- Ninth-ranked Georgia, coming off its first Southeastern Conference championship in 20 years, could be shorthanded defensively on Saturday when its opens the season at Clemson.
The Bulldogs may be without as many as four projected defensive starters for their 62nd meeting with the Tigers, who came close to upsetting Georgia last season in Athens. Nose tackle Ken Veal (ankle sprain), rover Kentrell Curry (stress fracture in leg) and safety Greg Blue (knee injury) are all nursing ailments and star defensive end Will Thompson is expected to miss the season with ankle and knee injuries.
The Bulldogs again will be led by David Greene, who passed for 2,924 yards and 22 touchdowns last while teamming with D.J. Shockley. Greene is 8-0 as a starter on the road.
However, Georgia has to replace running back Musa Smith, who last season became the Bulldogs' first 1,000-yard-rusher since 1992, and wide receiver Terrence Edwards, the school's all-time leading receiver. Tony Milton takes over for Smith, while Fred Gibson is the top receiving threat.
"I'm not worried at all about the injuries we have right now," Gibson said. "We have a couple key guys who are hurt right now but we have plenty of guys who are able to step in and fill their shoes or they wouldn't be here."
Georgia is opening a season on the road for the first time since 1994. Last season, the Bulldogs escaped with a 31-28 win over Clemson. They rallied from a 28-21 deficit entering the fourth quarter, then held on when Aaron Hunt missed a potential game-tying 46-yard field goal with 1:51 left.
Special teams hurt Clemson as Gibson returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown, while a botched punt and another long punt return set up two more scores for the Bulldogs.
Georgia leads the all-time series 40-17-4 but is just 8-9-2 at Clemson. In the last meeting in "Death Valley," the Bulldogs posted a 19-17 victory in 1995.
"We play in a lot of hostile environments and we're looking to playing at 'Death Valley' on Saturday," Greene said.
Clemson is coming off a disappointing 7-6 season that ended with an embarrassing 55-15 rout to Texas Tech in the Tangerine Bowl. Coach Tommy Bowden's job could be in jeopardy if the Tigers continue to struggle this season.
Clemson passed for a school-record 3,517 yards last season, but averaged just 120.7 yards on the ground. It also had the third-worst scoring defense in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Charlie Whitehurst started the final five games last season and passed for 1,554 yards. He won the starting job by default this year when Willie Simmons transferred to Florida A&M.
